Office of the Third Sector Homepage
Last updated: 23 November 2008
In 2002 the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit reviewed the charitable and not-for-profit sector and recommended self-regulation of fundraising. The Government accepted the recommendation, and made provision in the Charities Act 2006 for statutory regulation should self-regulation fail.
In March 2005 the Home Office published a consultation paper on the criteria which would be used to assess the success of the Regulation of Fundraising Scheme, and to determine whether the Home Secretary would need to bring in statutory regulations. A written ministerial statement gave more details of the proposed scheme.
The consultation ended on 3 June 2005.
We were grateful to those who responded to the consultation, and produced a summary of consultation responses. On 6 February 2006 Paul Goggins MP set out the Government's position following the consultation on assessing the success of self-regulation in a written ministerial statement.
As a result of the consultation, the Fundraising Standards Board, the new self-regulatory body for fundraising in the UK, was launched to the public early in 2007.
All charities involved in public fundraising are encouraged to become members of the Fundraising Standards Board scheme, to ensure they have the highest fundraising standards and a robust complaints procedure. Further details are available from the Fundraising Standards Board [External website].
The main aim of the scheme is to maintain and build on the high levels of public trust and confidence in the voluntary sector's fundraising activities. The scheme operates across the UK, and membership is open to all organisations involved in public fundraising. The Office of the Third Sector and Scottish Executive have provided financial support to establish the scheme and support it during its first five years, after which the scheme will become self-financing by its members.