Guidance

Fundraising for an emergency: guidance for charities (CC40)

Updated 26 February 2026

Applies to England and Wales

Charities play a vital role in times of emergency. In situations that are often complex and uncertain, they work quickly to get help to affected people by:

• giving the public clear and easy ways to donate
• using their specialist experience and local knowledge
• co-ordinating their work with others

When an emergency happens, at home or overseas, your charity may have a role in delivering relief in the affected area. Or you may want to fundraise or help in other ways.

Use this guidance to help you to understand:

• if your charity can fundraise for a particular emergency
• your options for using the funds you have raised (the ‘appeal funds’)

You must: 

• make sure that your charity’s work helps to carry out its purpose, and not any other purpose
• comply with the law and follow the Code of Fundraising Practice
• make decisions only in the best interests of your charity

Read this guidance if you are a member of the public who wants to help when an emergency happens.

Check if your charity can fundraise for an emergency

You can only raise funds for your charity’s purposes.

Your charity’s purposes are in its governing document. They say what your charity is set up to achieve, and they often set limits on:  

• what your charity can do to help to carry out its purposes
• who it can support
• where it can operate

If raising funds for an emergency would not help you to carry out your charity’s purposes

For example, a charity’s purposes limit its work to supporting people in a particular Welsh town. The charity cannot fundraise for an overseas emergency.

In this type of situation your:

• charity can direct donors to the appeals of other charities whose purposes allow them to respond to the emergency
• members or staff can collect donations for these appeals in a personal capacity

For personal collections, donations must not be:   

• collected in your charity’s name
• banked by your charity

You can share fundraising guidance for the public with your charity’s members and staff.

This guidance includes more information about charitable purposes.

Donations of goods

Donations to appeals are usually money. But they can be property of any kind. For example, goods.

It is usually more effective to transfer money rather than goods to an area affected by an emergency.

Donated goods may not be needed to help the people affected by the emergency. In other cases, donated goods can slow down or hinder the emergency relief work because of the time and resources needed to sort, clean or transport them.

Only ask for or accept donations of goods if you are sure that this is the best way to help. You can ask other expert charities or organisations working in the area for advice.

Be clear about what your charity will do with the money you raise

Emergencies require a quick response so, before you start fundraising, consider what you will do with the money you raise (the ‘appeal funds’).

Your appeal wording

Your appeal must:

• say what you are fundraising for
• what you will do with the money you raise

Your appeal should:

• be as clear and transparent as possible
• say how you will report back on success

This is fair to donors and will help you to plan effectively.

You must follow any restrictions that apply to your emergency appeal funds.

Read Commission guidance on charity fundraising to help you get your appeal wording right.

Your options

Your charity will usually use the appeal funds in one or both of the following ways:  

• supporting the work of other charities or organisations with the experience to get help quickly to people who need it
• carrying out your own emergency relief work. Depending on the terms of your appeal, your charity can carry out short and longer-term relief work

The next sections of this guidance have more detail on these options.

Supporting the emergency relief work of other organisations

Passing all of your appeal funds to another charity or organisation

Supporting an experienced charity or other organisation can be the best way to help people affected by an emergency. Charities and others with the right capacity, experience and local knowledge know how to: 

• get help quickly to people in urgent need
• navigate complex and risky situations
• co-ordinate, so that work and responsibilities are not duplicated
• support people and communities to recover

For an overseas emergency you can consider passing your appeal funds to:  

• a relevant appeal launched by the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC)
• expert aid charities and other organisations working in the affected area

For a UK emergency you can consider passing your appeal funds to:   

• a relevant appeal or fund launched by a local community foundation
• a relevant appeal launched by the National Emergencies Trust
• expert charities and other organisations working in the affected area

Remember that fundraising for a particular emergency must help you to carry out your charity’s purposes. This is the case even if you are passing your appeal funds to other charities or organisations.

Operating as a grant-maker

Rather than passing all of the money you have raised (the ‘appeal funds’) to one organisation, your charity may plan to allocate some or all of the money by making separate grants to:

• those affected by the emergency
• other charities or organisations working in the affected area

For example, following an emergency:

• a local community foundation uses some of its appeal funds to make grants to people directly affected by a local flood. The terms of the appeal mean that the foundation can also make grants to support longer-term recovery work
• an overseas aid charity uses some of its appeal funds to make grants to organisations working in a conflict zone. The grants are to support relief and recovery work. The terms of the appeal mean that the charity can also make grants to support longer-term recovery work

Consider if you have the right experience and capacity to operate as a grant-maker

If your charity is planning to operate as a grant-maker, consider:

• if you have the right experience and capacity to do this
• if you can process and account for any large sums of money that your charity receives
• what criteria you will set for which people and organisations can apply for funding
• how you will make decisions about funding and applications
• how you will monitor the grants you make
• what the risks are and how you will address them

Your charity’s funding and grants must help you to carry out its purposes. For example, a charity can only pay for funeral costs if this will help to carry out its purposes.

Making checks on other organisations

You must ensure that other organisations, including other charities, are suitable to receive your appeal funds. This is the case whether you are:

• passing all of your appeal funds to another organisation
• operating as a grant-maker

This means that you must make appropriate checks on the recipient organisation: For example, checking that:

• it has the right experience and capacity to deliver the emergency relief effectively

• it can be monitored to check that the work you have funded has been carried out
• if operating overseas, it can address any risks and comply with relevant laws and guidance

This is sometimes called due diligence.

The level of checks that you carry out can reflect the risks. For example, you may decide to make fewer checks if the recipient organisation is another charity or is experienced in responding to specific emergency situations.

Keep a record of your approach to due diligence and the checks you decided to make.

Find out more about making grants to charities and other organisations, including:

• making appropriate checks before making a grant
• situations where you need to take extra care

Carrying out your own emergency relief work

Your charity may plan to deliver relief work in the area affected by the emergency. If so, consider all relevant factors including:

• the nature, scale and location of the emergency
• if you have the right experience and capacity to respond safely and effectively
• if you know what is needed and what other organisations are providing so that you can avoid duplication
• if you have enough money, time and other resources
• what the risks are and how you will address them
• if it would be more effective to pass the appeal funds to another charity or organisation that is responding to the emergency

Use our decision-making guidance to help you.

Extra factors to consider if the emergency relief work is overseas

Experienced aid charities and other expert organisations play a vital role when an emergency happens overseas. They have the right experience and capacity to:

• properly train, support and safeguard their staff
• deliver expert life-saving work
• operate in, or close to, conflict zones
• navigate challenges and risks

Before your charity decides to carry out emergency relief work overseas, you must  comply with any law that applies. For example, laws about:

• employing local people in affected areas
• financial sanctions
• terrorism and proscribed organisations

You must also be able to address risks. For example, risks linked to:

• operating in particular areas
• receiving, holding and moving money safely
• protecting your staff and beneficiaries
• working with partner organisations

Find out more about how to manage risks when working internationally.

Starting or joining an aid convoy

Starting or joining an aid convoy can bring risk. The risks are higher when charities are operating in, or close to, conflict zones.

Before starting or joining an aid convoy, consider if it is the most effective and safe way to get help to those in need.

Consider if your charity has the right expertise to ensure safe delivery and can keep everyone involved safe.

You must manage the following risks:

• risk that your charity is targeted by, or inadvertently supports, terrorist groups
• fraud and theft risks

Aid convoys may be restricted in some areas. You should check government foreign travel advice. This gives information on entry requirements and travel restrictions. It can change quickly so sign up for email alerts

If your charity appeals for or buys medicines, you must comply with the regulations and you should also follow any relevant guidance.

Foreign armed forces

Your charity must not provide either lethal or non-lethal supplies to any foreign armed force for use in carrying out its military role.

This is because this activity will not carry out any recognised charitable purposes.

Examples of non-lethal military supplies are combat clothing and battlefield medicines.

Comply with the law and follow the Fundraising Code

When your charity is fundraising you :

• must comply with the law. The law that applies to fundraising for an emergency is the same as for any other appeal
• should register with the Fundraising Regulator
• should follow the Fundraising Code which sets out fundraising standards for charities and fundraisers

Commission guidance on charity fundraising includes information to help you to:    

• plan your fundraising
• get your appeal wording right. For example, how to set the terms of your appeal widely enough
• protect your charity and its funds. For example, protection from fundraising fraud
• know what information you need to keep. For example, keeping the right records for gift aid claims
• be open and transparent about your fundraising activities

Follow any restrictions that apply to your appeal funds

Emergency appeal funds are usually ‘restricted’.

This is because the appeal is often for a specific emergency rather than to support your charity’s wider purposes. For example: 

• an aid charity has purposes that allow it to work internationally. It runs an appeal for its work in a specific conflict zone
• a local community foundation has purposes that allow it to work on a range of projects. It runs an appeal for its specific work after a flood or act of terrorism in its area

If your charity has a restricted appeal fund, you must:

• only use it for the purposes set out in your appeal
• show it separately in your charity’s accounts

Include a secondary purpose in your appeal

A secondary appeal purpose says what you will do with the appeal funds if you:

• have money left over
• do not raise enough money to carry out the work set out in your appeal
• cannot spend the funds as you intended

Closing your appeal

Emergency appeals often have an end-date for donations.

At the outset, you should think about:

• how long your fund will exist for
• the costs and benefits of running it over time
• why and how it will close

Include closure dates in your appeal where possible.

You can revise your closure dates. You may need to do this for some large scale or complex emergencies. Always aim to keep your donors up to date with any changes to your appeal closure dates. 

You should be able to show donors how funds have been raised and used.