Fundraising policy

Policy last updated 1 November 2025.

See change log for recent updates to this webpage.

Fundraisers for Girlguiding help us give more girls the chance to learn skills, make friends, have adventures and grow in confidence.

Without you we simply couldn’t do this - your hard work and positive attitude is incredibly important. So we want to help you as much as we possibly can.

This policy explains how Girlguiding approaches fundraising, and it also gives information about how to fundraise. This policy applies to all Girlguiding volunteers and staff who fundraise for Girlguiding, other charities, or who take part in any other social enterprise activity.

Definitions used in this policy

Our glossary lays out a few definitions of key terms that are used across our policies - take a look.

• Code of Fundraising Practice – the standards that apply to all fundraising in the UK.
• Chartered Institute of Fundraising – the professional membership body for UK fundraising.
• Donor – a person or organisation who gives money to a charity.
• Fundraising - the seeking of financial support for Girlguiding as a charity or raising funds for other charities. Fundraising covers things small and big - from raising £5 from a tombola to getting a £5k grant - and everything in between. You can find out more about the different types of fundraising on our website.
• Fundraising partner – a separate business that works with Girlguiding, including but not limited to fundraising, pro-bono support and giving other donations and gifts in kind.
• Fundraising platform – websites and apps (like JustGiving) that allow charities to raise funds for charitable purposes.
• Fundraising promise – a commitment made to donors and the public by organisations who register with the Fundraising Regulator, to make sure their fundraising is legal, open, honest and respectful.
• Fundraising Regulator – the independent regulator of charitable fundraising in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
• Scottish Fundraising Adjudication Panel –the independent regulator of charitable fundraising in Scotland for Scottish registered charities.
• Social enterprise – income generation activity where profits are reinvested to benefit the community or charity.
• Third party fundraiser – a business or agency that fundraises on behalf of a charity.

Girlguiding’s commitment to responsible fundraising practice

Girlguiding is committed to responsible fundraising practice. We’re registered with the Fundraising Regulator, and have signed up to the fundraising promise.  

All fundraising by Girlguiding volunteers or members of staff must be in line with the Code of Fundraising Practice. This makes sure that all fundraising is legal, open, honest and respectful.

Trustees must take responsibility for the fundraising activities of their unit or level. Trustees can ask others to do specific fundraising activities, but they’re still responsible for making sure all fundraising activity follows this policy and the Code of Fundraising Practice.

If you have concerns about our fundraising practice, and can’t resolve your concerns within Girlguiding, you should share them with the Fundraising Regulator (England, Wales & Northern Ireland) or the Scottish Fundraising Adjudication Panel (Scotland). You can find more information about this on their websites.

Expectations

All volunteers and members of staff fundraising for Girlguiding, or fundraising for another organisation in their Girlguiding role, must make sure their fundraising is:

• Open: Be clear with the public about what you’re fundraising for. Make sure they have all the information they may need to make an informed decision. This might include details about what the fundraising is for, what charges an online fundraising platform has, and your relationship to Girlguiding or the organisation you’re fundraising for.
• Honest: You, or your fundraising materials, must never mislead anyone. Never take advantage of a donor’s error.
• Respectful: You must be polite and respectful at all times. Never pressure someone into making a donation, and never take advantage of any donor who might be in vulnerable circumstances. See our donation acceptance policy for more information.
• Legal: You must have the right permits or licenses to fundraise on the street, on a private site (like a supermarket), or when fundraising house to house. You must protect donor’s details in line with our managing information procedure.

Volunteers or members of staff responsible for fundraising for Girlguiding must:

• Make sure that if you’re fundraising for a particular purpose (like a unit trip), you include a statement saying what will happen to funds you receive if you raise more money than needed, or not enough.
• Make sure that funds raised for a particular purpose are used for that purpose.
• Follow any conditions attached to a donation.
• Make sure that funds are only raised for purposes in line with our charitable objectives.
• Make sure that children under the age of 16 never have overall responsibility for handling or counting money when fundraising.
• Make sure that accurate financial records are kept in line with our finance policy.
• Make sure that you have an appropriate written agreement in place with any third-party fundraisers you work with (unless they're a volunteer). Please see the procedure for more information.
• Make sure that fundraisers know how to direct existing or potential donors to our fundraising complaints process page. If you’re working with a fundraising partner, ensure they have a fundraising complaints procedure or fundraising complaints process page. If they don’t, make sure that they agree to follow ours.
• Manage all complaints received about your fundraising activity in line with our complaints policy and procedure.
• Make sure that any complaints are reported in line with our fundraising complaints process page. Anyone who wants to make a complaint should be directed to our fundraising complaints process page.
• Report any concerns about Girlguiding’s fundraising practices in line with our speaking up policy. 

If you’re fundraising for another charity as a Girlguiding volunteer or member of staff, you must:

• Make sure that the other charity’s aims are consistent with ours.
• Get permission from the charity before doing any fundraising activity.
• Tell your donors where the funds are going, and if you’re raising funds for more than 1 charity, explain what proportion will go to each.

If you want to fundraise with trusts, foundations, corporate partners or major donors, you must follow the partnership screening policy and associated guidance.

If you suspect any illegal activity, or have a serious concern about Girlguiding fundraising activity, please get in touch with our HQ fundraising team on [email protected].

How Girlguiding supports responsible fundraising practice

• Our HQ fundraising team offers support and guidance. You can get in touch with them on 020 7592 1821 or by email at [email protected].
• We have information and guidance on fundraising, including our fundraising pack, guidance on raffles and lotteries, collecting Gift Aid, working with partners and local businesses, and working with trusts and foundations. You can also get guidance from the Chartered Institute of Fundraising. 
• We have a fundraising complaints process page which outlines how third parties, including members of the public and our supporters can make a complaint about our fundraising practices 
• Our complaints policy sets out how we manage, address, and learn from complaints, including our expectations for volunteers managing a complaint. 
• Our speaking up policy protects volunteers and members of staff who raise concerns about our fundraising practice. Concerns can also be raised with the Fundraising Regulator or Scottish Fundraising Adjudication Panel.
• If a complaint is made about our fundraising activity, we’ll investigate and respond fairly in good time, and review and learn from complaints to make improvements to how we fundraise. 
• Breaches of this policy by volunteers will be managed in line with our managing concerns about adult volunteers policy.