Where to take a concern depends entirely on what the concern is. Sending a fundraising complaint to the Charity Commission, or a safeguarding matter to the Fundraising Regulator, usually just delays it.
Start with the charity, in most cases
Registered charities are expected to have a complaints procedure, normally published on their website. Regulators generally expect you to have used it before escalating, and most issues — poor service, a rude fundraiser, a disputed refund, a communication you did not consent to — are resolved fastest by the charity itself.
Write to the trustees rather than the individual involved if the complaint concerns staff conduct or how a decision was made.
Do not go to the charity first if raising it directly could put a person at risk, allow evidence to be destroyed, or if you suspect fraud, abuse or criminal activity. Report those externally straight away.
Who handles what
| Concern | Where it goes |
|---|---|
| Misuse of charitable funds, serious harm to beneficiaries, criminal activity, trustee misconduct, persistent failure to file accounts | The charity’s regulator — Charity Commission (England and Wales), OSCR (Scotland), CCNI (Northern Ireland) |
| Fundraising conduct: pressure selling, doorstep and street collections, unwanted contact, misleading appeals | Fundraising Regulator (England, Wales, NI) or the Scottish Fundraising Adjudication Panel |
| Fraud, fake appeals, money lost to a scam | Action Fraud, and your bank immediately |
| Unwanted marketing, data-protection and consent breaches | Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) |
| Safeguarding risk to a child or adult at risk | The local authority safeguarding team, or the police if someone is in immediate danger |
| Employment disputes | The charity’s grievance process, then Acas or an employment tribunal |
What to include in a report
Regulators act on specifics. A useful report contains:
- The charity’s full name and registration number.
- What happened, when, and where, in date order.
- Who was involved and their role, if known.
- What harm has occurred or is likely — to funds, beneficiaries or public trust.
- Evidence — accounts, emails, photographs, screenshots, receipts.
- What the charity said if you have already complained to it.
- Whether you have reported it anywhere else.
Say clearly if you believe someone is at immediate risk, so it can be triaged urgently.
What happens next
Regulators do not act as a complaints service and usually will not tell you the outcome of an assessment. The Charity Commission triages concerns by risk, and most are resolved through engagement and guidance rather than formal action. Where risk is serious it can open a statutory inquiry, appoint an interim manager, freeze accounts or remove trustees.
An open statutory inquiry is public information. On CharityCompare it sets that charity’s Clarity Score to 0 automatically and displays a regulatory warning on the profile, because no amount of good financial reporting offsets an active investigation.
Checking a charity’s record yourself
Before reporting, it is worth checking what is already public. The register shows filing history, trustee names, and whether the charity is in default. Every rated CharityCompare profile shows filing record, governance signals, red flags and a direct link to the official register entry.
If your concern is that an appeal may be fake rather than that a real charity is failing, read how to spot charity scams and fake appeals first — the reporting route is different.