Following a consultation in autumn last year, the Fundraising Regulator has now announced that the new Fundraising Code of Practice will be effective from October this year.
The “new and improved” Code is intended to make the Code easier to navigate, to make it clearer where there are differences to the law in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and to consolidate the former Code, rule books and appendices into one new Code.
The essentials of the Code have not changed, but the layout is very different, with the Code being divided into three parts:
- Part 1, which sets out the standards applicable to all fundraising;
- Part 2, which includes the standards applicable to working with others, including professional fundraisers, volunteers and fundraising involving children; and
- Part 3, which sets out standards applicable to specific fundraising methods, including fundraising communications and advertisements, events, legacies, lotteries and so on.
The new Code will be applied by the Fundraising Regulator to any incidents which occur from October onwards. Incidents that pre-date the new Code will continue to be considered in the light of the Code in place at the time of the incident.