The Fundraising Regulator has increased its levy fees by up to 50%.

The hike will be phased in over two years with increases in September 2024 and September 2025.

The largest charities, with a fundraising spend of between £10m and £50m face a 25% increase this year and a further 25% in 2025.

The fee for a charity with a £50m plus fundraising spend will see their fee increase from £15,000 to £18,750 this year and then again to £22,500 next year.

Charities with a fundraising spend of between £850,000 and £9,999,999 face a 30% hike over the next two years. This will see the fee for a charity with a spend of between £2m and £4.99m increase by £1,200 over the next two years, with a 15% rise in September and a further 15% rise the same month next year.

Meanwhile, small charities with a fundraising spend between £100,000 and £849,999 will see their fee increase by 20% over the next two years.

For example, a charity with a spend of between £100,000 and £149,999 will see their fee increase by £30 over the next two years.

The changes follow a consultation that took place in December last year. A total of 222 responses were received. This had proposed hiking fees by 50%.

The phased hike has been put in place based on views received “to mitigate the impact of the increase”.

After the increases over the next two years further increases will take place. These will be tied to Consumer Price Index “to ensure they are more gradual”.

In addition, the registration fee for charities outside of the levy will increase from £50 to £60.

The regulator says that the levy “has always and will continue to represent a small fraction of a percentage of a registered charity’s total fundraising expenditure”.

The regulator’s chair Toby Harris added: “In December 2023 we consulted the sector to seek responses to our proposed changes to the fundraising levy.

“Taking into account the responses received we agreed that whilst the levy will have to go up for the first time in eight years, the proposed increases will be phased in over two years (in September 2024 and September 2025).”

“We are committed to supporting charities in this rapidly evolving sector, and tackling the emerging issues that affect public trust in fundraising.

“Simply put, it is the levy that enables us to do this and to continue doing it effectively in the shared interests of charities and the generous public so that there is a continuing positive environment for fundraising to prosper.”

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