Charity funding and fundraising

Fundraising is a key function for many charities and one that is subject to increasing scrutiny from regulators and the general public. We have significant experience of advising charities in this area, encompassing the more traditional funding and fundraising methods as well as commercial trading and newer forms of fundraising such as crowdfunding and bonds.

Our charity law solicitors understand the importance of raising large sums of money and the balance that has to be reached in order to satisfy the regulators and ensure that all fundraising materials and activities comply with the appropriate rules and regulations.

Blending high quality technical knowledge with a common sense approach, we work closely with other legal practice areas across the firm to deliver an integrated service which is fully geared to client needs. Our commercial, defamation, data protection and intellectual property specialists all offer expertise which is relevant to the field of funding and fundraising.

We regularly provide guidance to charities on the use of their existing funds, which includes reviews of restricted funds, conditional gifts and endowment funds. Our solicitors advise on fundraising legislation and compliance with best practice as well as on structuring income generation programmes. We also have a dedicated team assisting on all aspects of legacies including legacy fundraising, legacy management, the administration of estates and legacy disputes.

Many charities engage us in relation to their trading subsidiaries. We are asked to advise on setting up new subsidiaries and on non-primary purpose trading, funding trading subsidiaries and agreements and SLAs. Clients consult us when activities are hived off into subsidiaries and on reviews and restructurings.

Another important area of focus is working with charities on new fundraising contract templates and providing training to the charities’ fundraising teams on the best use of template documents.