Fundraising Code: Your Guide to Compliance Success

Person sitting on their sofa on their laptop — Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

*scroll to the end of the blog for answers and sign posting to questions asked during the webinar.

Hello, reader! And if you joined our ‘Getting Code Ready’ webinar, welcome back!

When I found out nearly 2,000 of you had signed up for the webinar, I’ll be honest, I thought either we all really love compliance or we’re all simply curious (worried?!) about how to get it right.

I get it. I know it can seem complex, but we’ve captured highlights below from the webinar, and practical tools to support, as well as signposting to info from the source.

Either way, that curiosity, that desire to do things right, is exactly where we should start.

By the end of this read, I hope you’ll feel a little less worried, a little more confident, and maybe even a little bit in love with compliance.

A note on Fundraising Everywhere & our role:

Fundraising Everywhere is a community-based platform that shares learnings, insights and inspiration across all areas of fundraising and marketing. If you’d love to find out more about what we provide and how we can support you/your team – get in touch.

We do not provide legal advice or regulatory guidance, but do provide space to have a conversation and share with others who do so willingly and authentically. We’re always so grateful to our community for this.

As ever, the best place to get regulatory guidance is the new code via the Fundraising Regulator: https://www.fundraisingregulator.org.uk/code

Compliance as a Creative Enabler, yes!

I’ve been fundraising for over 15 years. I started as a telephone fundraiser – think; headset, script, and a lot of “no thank you”s, and somewhere between rejection and resilience, I fell in love with fundraising and compliance.

The fact you could inspire a complete stranger in the space of 5 minutes to part with their hard-earned cash to support someone/something else, gripped me – that and the fact it was the closest I could get to being an ‘actor’ off stage, or on!

Our scripts were covered in yellow highlights marking what we had to say versus what we couldn’t. Those limits didn’t frustrate me, they gave me clarity, guidelines. Within those boundaries was space to connect, inspire, and build trust.

I think that’s what compliance really is: guardrails. It’s the framework that lets us innovate safely and say “yes” more often knowing where the boundaries are and why they matter.

From Rules to Principles

The code has shifted from more prescriptive rules to ones guided by principles.

What remains, as always, are the principles of openness, honesty, respect, and legality.

But that shift means we’re empowered to interpret what’s reasonable and proportionate for your own context. A small regional charity won’t apply the Code in the same way as a large national one.

At the webinar, there were some useful conversations already happening in the chat with small charities, coming together to look at what this might mean for them. Keep those going!

Compliance is not about ticking boxes; it’s about thinking ethically and being able to show our reasoning.

Documenting

Recording decisions and rationale might not sound that glamorous, but it’s what turns compliance into proof of integrity and demonstrates our care & consideration.

Documentation shows transparency, accountability, and care. It protects your team, your supporters, and your organisation – ultimately & most importantly your mission and the communities you serve, and if something ever did go wrong, it can help show that you acted reasonably and proportionately.

Top Tip: Start small, note down why you made each decision, not just what you did.

Another Top Tip (members only): Use the Vulnerable Path’s BDA framework that they shared in your Members Workshop. This will help you really assess and embed best practice.

The Cycle

Try embed compliance into your daily rhythm, and work through a simple, repeatable cycle:

Due diligence: Assess activities and partners using a proportionate, risk-based approach.
Document: Record your reasoning and risk mitigations.
On-going monitoring, feedback, and review complaints: Green light Sites along with MSF, spoke about how they have done so in the webinar and how to get in touch.
Review & learn: Capture lessons learned to improve or keep doing next time.
Report: Share compliance insights (not just financials) with trustees and teams. (also share supporter insights/feedback too ;))

This cycle can keep compliance alive, practical, and continuously improving.

Collaboration can help to build Confidence

Compliance feels lighter when it’s shared. When fundraisers talk openly about how they’re applying the Code, what’s working, what’s tricky, it becomes a collective learning process, not a solo stress test.

I’ve seen charities create ‘compliance champions’. Teams channels for sharing updates, even coffee-and-code chats. It doesn’t just have to be formal, just shared.

Perhaps also sharing with others from charities would be helpful too. We provide space for this at FE. If you’re a Member why not connect at one of our virtual monthly drop in’s, through members matching or getting a group together.

Top Tip: Build a small cross-team group that meets to swap compliance wins, challenges, and examples of good practice. They don’t all have to be fundraisers, in fact even better if not.

Some practical suggested ways to Get Code Ready mentioned in the Webinar:

Run a light-touch audit: Bring together fundraisers and non-fundraisers to explore what the Code’s principles mean in practice for you and your organisation.

Create documentation habits: Record decision-making and reasoning, especially around proportionality.

Empower champions: Nominate people who love the detail (we exist!) to keep knowledge flowing internally. (Jo- Ann Alves spoke about how they did this at GOSH Charity during the webinar – defo have a watch/re-watch).

Engage creatively: Use newsletters, videos, or lunch-and-learns to keep compliance visible and human. (if this is relevant to your charity and size)

Review & reflect: Make compliance part of every campaign debrief. Reflection = confidence. And speak to other charities to find out more.
If you’re a Member of FE you can do this through drop ins, members matching or connecting with others through our Members linkedin group.

Wellbeing: Remember that safeguarding and fundraiser protection are part of ethical, sustainable fundraising.

Final Thoughts

As we know compliance isn’t something you do once. It’s something you practice and bake into day to day.

It’s about transparency, trust, and doing right by your supporters and fundraisers alike, more importantly, the communities you serve.

Keep documenting your reasoning. And keep finding the confidence that comes from knowing you’re doing it right, with care and compassion.