The purpose of this policy is to ensure that everyone understands their responsibility to fundraise appropriately, according to guidelines and within the law. For the purpose of the policy fundraising means to ask for money on behalf of SSAFA for charitable purposes and it covers a wide range of fundraising methods.

 For the purposes of this policy and the law, collection envelopes and collection boxes are treated in the same way, unless otherwise stated. The following guidance covers donations received in person and donations received through the post.

 This policy aims to protect all volunteers involved in fundraising and to highlight the behaviours expected and required by SSAFA.

1.1  How to use this policy

The policy is laid out in sections to cover a wide range of principles. Each section provides more detail on specific topics surrounding fundraising. There is a useful links section at the end of this document as well as useful links throughout. 

Information for this policy was sourced from the Fundraising Regulator. 

• Your fundraising must be legal and must be open, honest and respectful.
• You must always be polite to people.
• You must not unfairly criticise or insult other people or organisations. 
• You must not encourage a donor to cancel or change an existing donation in favour of a donation to another charitable institution.

While reasonable persuasion is allowed; 

• You must not fundraise in a way which is an unreasonable intrusion on a person’s privacy, is unreasonably persistent or places undue pressure on a person to donate.
• You must not continue to ask a person for support if that person clearly indicates – by word or gesture – that they do not want to continue to speak to you. You must end the conversation in a polite way.

You and the fundraising materials you use must not mislead anyone, or be likely to mislead anyone, either by leaving out information or by being inaccurate or ambiguous or by exaggerating details. Fundraising/awareness materials should be obtained from the Marketing Hub. Branches may create their own material; it must be cleared by the Brand and Marketing team before it is produced. To submit any drafts for review, ideas or related enquiries contact via [email protected] 

Before you make any direct or implied claim in your fundraising which is likely to be taken literally, you must make sure that there is evidence to prove the claim.

You must not take advantage of mistakes made by a donor.

When talking about finances and financial benefits, you must tell donors that you are not in a position to offer formal financial advice.

Your fundraising must meet equality law as it applies in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. You must not discriminate against people with characteristics protected under the law of these countries. You can get more information from the Equality and Human Rights Commission and the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland.

•  You must take all reasonable steps to treat a donor fairly, so that they can make an informed decision about any donation.
• You must take into account the needs of any possible donor who may be in vulnerable circumstances or need extra care and support to make an informed decision.
• You must not exploit the trust, lack of knowledge, apparent need for care and support or vulnerable circumstance of any donor at any time.

You must not take a donation if you know, or have good reason to believe, that a person lacks capacity to make a decision to donate, or is in vulnerable circumstances which mean they may not be able to make an informed decision. Among other things, you should consider:

• Any physical or mental-health condition the person may have. 
• Any disability the person may have. 
• Any learning difficulties the person may have.
• Whether the person is facing times of stress or anxiety (for example, following the death of a loved one or redundancy). 
• Whether a donation is likely to affect the person’s ability to sufficiently care for themselves or leave them in financial hardship.
• How well the person can communicate and understand what they are being told.
• Whether the person is under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
• The person’s age.

If a donor makes a donation while they do not have the capacity to make an informed decision, you must return the money to them.

You must take all reasonable steps to avoid asking for regular donations (for example, by direct debit) from anyone aged under 18. Young people aged between 16 and 18 can take part in charity lotteries, but if you receive money for a lottery from a child or young person aged under 16 you must return the money.

All donors and events attended must be added to SAVI to ensure the donor journey is consistent throughout SSAFA. This must include the amount donated and/or raised at such events. For assistance contact Liz Graham, Head of Supporter Engagement. [email protected]

• You must take reasonable steps to assess and manage any risks fundraising poses to SSAFA activities, beneficiaries, property, work and reputation. 
• You must meet the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, which applies to money or other property that has been gained through criminal behaviour, even if the behaviour is legal in another country. 
• You must meet any legal obligations to protect the health and safety of employees, volunteers, the public and anyone else who might reasonably be considered to be affected by your  fundraising activities. For more information, see the websites of the Health and Safety Executive and Health and Safety Executive Northern Ireland.

For Further advice on completing Risk Assessments see the article/chapter Risk Assessments.

Follow link Responsibilities of charitable institutions and those who govern them | Fundraising Regulator

Adhere to GDPR guidance and training. Follow link for SSAFA data protection policy. Data Protection Policy | Policy Library | SSAFA Policies & ISO Library

Follow link for more information from the fundraising regulator. Processing personal data (information) | Fundraising Regulator

This section includes standards about handling different forms of payment to make sure donations are secure (this includes one-off payments and ongoing donation commitments). It also includes rules on Gift Aid.

• You must not leave unsecured cash unattended. 
• You must count cash in a secure place.
• You must make sure that all cash you have collected is counted and recorded by two unrelated people, wherever possible.
• You must make sure that cash donations are placed in a sealed container or collecting box. If you are collecting in Scotland or Northern Ireland, or in a licensing authority which follows the model regulations in England and Wales for street collections, you must do this.

SSAFA insurance specifics for cash handling as follows:

Money not contained in a locked safe in:

1. The premises outside business Hours GBP 250
2. The Private dwelling houses of the principles or authorised employees GBP 500

Money contained in locked safes outside Business Hours:

1. Unspecified Safe GBP 2,500
2. Money on the premises during Business hours or in a bank night safe GBP 5,000
3. Any other loss of money GBP 5,000

• You must make sure the promoter of the collection and one other responsible person are present when you examine and open collecting boxes for licensed collections in a public place. If the licensing authority is following the model regulations in England and Wales for street collections, you must do this. This can be two volunteers from the same branch. 
• For collections on private land, if it is not practical for you to open and count collecting boxes, you must have effective procedures and instructions for the person who owns or manages the site to count, record and bank or deliver the money in the boxes.
• If you do not bank cash immediately, you must put it in a safe or other secure place. The safe place must be agreed by the branch.
• You must bank cash as soon as possible. To help with this, branches must have a procedure for banking donations, including who does it and when.
• You must check that the cash you have banked matches your income summaries, as soon as possible. If possible, someone who is not involved in counting or cashing up the money must do this.
• You must meet any extra rules local authorities set about making deductions from collections.

Branches can collect cash on private property, such as supermarkets or railway stations, as long as they have permission from the owner or manager. For public sites, such as the street, you need the permission of the local authority or, in London, the Metropolitan Police.

 For more information about licenses and street collections please see section 7 of this policy.

Further standards for cash collections in Scotland

In Scotland, for collections licensed by the local council which will be carried out using a collecting box, you must only accept donations by allowing the donor to put them in the collecting box. Or, if the collection can be carried out by sealed envelopes, the collector must only accept donations in sealed envelopes using the numbered envelopes you have issued to them. As a result, it is not usually possible to give receipts for donations.

If you receive cash in collection envelopes or collecting boxes as part of a public charitable collection, you must count and bank it in line with the Public Charitable Collections (Scotland) Regulations 1984, as amended.

A person you have nominated should sign for your floats. 

• You must count your floats with two unrelated persons at the start of an event and agree the amount. The float must be counted at the end of the event where possible and practical with the same two persons.
• You must keep floats, and any money made from sales separate from the cash handler’s personal money.
• If you use money from a float for petty-cash spending, you must record this separately and keep any receipts.

If you do not use a sealed collecting box, the collector must issue and sign a receipt for the donated amount. If you are collecting on a private site, you must give the person who owns or manages the site a receipt if they ask for one. The receipt should include the address of the site, the box number, the date and the amount collected.

You must bank as soon as possible. Each branch will need there own procedure in place for this. The overall responsibility sits with the Branch Chair to ensure everyone understand the procedure in place. You must not give change in return for cheques. You must not issue a refund for a cheque donation until the cheque has cleared and the money has appeared in your Branch admin. The Branch Treasurer will be able to offer support and advice where needed. 

This section applies to transactions both where the donor is present and when they are not. The steps you need to take to make sure payments are secure will vary depending on the number of transactions that are made.

You must meet the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS).

For more standards on processing data, see section 4 of this policy Processing personal data (information).

You must use extra security measures such as Verified by Visa and 3D Securecode for online transactions if you have the resources for this.

If you are charged for transferring payments, you must record the total donation amount as income, and record the charges in your accounts as ‘expenditure’.

Best practise is for all branches to obtain a stand-alone card machines such as SUMUP. Set up for the branch account. Follow link SumUp Shop - Order your product. See SOLO SUMUP which does not require a phone connection.

Gift Aid allows registered charities to reclaim tax on donations made by UK taxpayers. This effectively increases the amount of the donation.

You must only claim Gift Aid for a donation if all of the Gift Aid conditions are met. One of these is that a donor's Gift Aid declaration must meet HMRC’s guidance on Gift Aid. Follow link to HMRC guidance: Chapter 3: Gift Aid - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

If you want to make a tax relief claim under the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme, you must only do so if all the scheme’s conditions are met. Further details on small donations scheme Claiming Gift Aid as a charity or CASC: Small donations scheme - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

It is important to take particular care when involving children in fundraising, whether as fundraisers or as donors. This section includes standards on minimum age restrictions that apply when fundraising, and standards to protect children and their data. SSAFA has a minimum age of 18 for volunteers joining us. However, if any events involve cadets please note the information in this section. Cadets should be supervised by the cadet leaders at all times.

In this section ‘you’ refers to the volunteer organising the event for SSAFA.

There are some activities which children and young people cannot carry out. The age restriction depends on the activity and where it is carried out. These activities include:

• street and house-to-house collections;
• lotteries or raffles; and
• events involving alcohol.

• You must keep to any relevant age limits set by law when organising fundraising activities.
• You must make sure that your staff understand their responsibilities and what they must do in relation to activity organisers, the children taking part, and the parents or guardians of those children.
• You must give the children or young people taking part, and their parents or guardians, guidance on how to carry out fundraising safely and legally. 
• You must not give children under 16 overall responsibility for handling money or responsibility for counting collected money.
• You must use the Disclosure and Barring Service (in England and Wales), Disclosure Scotland (in Scotland) and Access NI (in Northern Ireland) to carry out checks on any adults working with children, if the law says you must do this.
• You must only contact children on school premises if you have the approval of the head teacher or a member of the school’s staff chosen by the head teacher, and you must follow any procedures you have agreed with them.
• You must get permission before taking or publishing photographs of children. If the child is over 13 years old they can give this permission themselves. If they are under 13, you must get permission from their parent or guardian. 

Further requirements for England and Wales

You must not allow anyone under the age of 16 to carry out house-to-house collections, unless the collection is taking place in the City of London, in which case, you must not allow anyone under the age of 18 to take part. 

You must not allow anyone under 16 to carry out street collections, except in London where, if you have special permission, you can use street collectors aged 14 or over.

Further requirements for Scotland

If a street collection qualifies as a public charitable collection, you must not allow children under 14 to take part, and must not allow children under 16 to carry out house-to-house collections.

Further requirements for Northern Ireland

You must not allow anyone under the age of 16 to carry out street collections or house-to-house collections. The exception to this is if a house-to-house collection is taking place across Northern Ireland and you are a youth organisation which the Department for Communities has approved for carrying out the collection under an exemption order, in which case you can have collectors aged 12 and over.

The law does not set a minimum age for when a child can give an organisation consent to process their data. However, you should consider that Article 8 of the GDPR says that a child must be at least 13 years old to give consent for an organisation to process their personal data in order to provide ‘information society services’ (in other words, a service a person asks an organisation to provide electronically, at a distance, in exchange for a fee)

If you rely on consent as the lawful basis for processing a child’s data: 

• You must get their parent’s or guardian’s consent for this until the child is able to give informed consent themselves.
• You must not share any data you collect from anyone aged under 14 without consent from their parent or guardian, unless you have to do so by law (for example, during a police investigation).

This section covers collections of money or other property (including goods and regular gifts) for SSAFA, whether carried out on the street, house-to-house or on private sites. This includes secure collection procedures and standards to make sure you respect local people and places. If you plan to carry out charitable collections on public or private sites, you need to be sensitive to the communities you are likely to encounter and any permissions that you may need to do so. 

The law on collecting money or other property caries according to the type and location of the collection.

• On public land you will need a licence or permission to collect from the relevant local authority (or in Northern Ireland, the Police Service of Northern Ireland).
• On private land, you will need permission from the person responsible for the site. 

The controls on public collections apply to collections for charitable purposes and includes collections for benevolent and philanthropic purposes.

 While fundraising for SSAFA, you must not:

• Act in any way that might reasonably cause members of the public to be or become startled or anxious.
• Act dishonestly or manipulatively, or deliberately try to make a potential donor feel guilty.

• Act in any other way that a reasonable person might consider would damage SSAFA’s reputation. This includes:

  Smoking or drinking alcohol while wearing clothing that is SSAFA branded.

  1. Taking or being under the influence of illegal drugs.
  2. Lewd or aggressive behaviour, including swearing, while wearing clothing that is SSAFA branded.
  3. Putting undue pressure on members of the public to donate. 
  4. Exploiting your position for personal gain (for example, asking for a job, asking someone for a date, or asking for a discount on goods or services);
  5. Any other behaviour that harms the reputation of the fundraising profession or SSAFA.

   

• You must avoid causing an obstruction, congestion and nuisance to the public. You must not deliberately block the path of members of the public.
• You must treat the locations you are working at or visiting with respect.
• You must not suggest to any member of the public that the conversation you are attempting to start is not about money or that you are ‘not fundraising’.
• When asking for a regular gift, you must not suggest to any member of the public that it is ‘without commitment’.

• Unless this is authorised under an agreement with a private site, you must not approach members of the public who are:

                                             a. Seated, unless the seating is part of the promotional stand.

                                             b. In queues, unless the queue is directly related to the fundraising                                                      activity.

• You must not knowingly approach people who are carrying out official duties, such as uniformed officials while they are on duty or people who are clearly working.
• You must not obstruct, interfere with or disrespect members of staff from local businesses.

In this section ‘You’ refers to the SSAFA volunteer organising the collection.

If you are collecting on public land, you must get a licence or permit from the relevant authority to collect in that area, unless the relevant authority does not require you to hold a licence for your activity.

You must apply for licences in good time before the collection is due to take place.

You must carry out all collections in line with the terms of the relevant permit or licence. You must also make sure that:

• You must carry out due diligence to check that a collector is a fit and proper person to collect.
• Collectors are at least the minimum age allowed to fundraise in the relevant country and that they meet the obligations they have by law.
• You must provide collectors with any official materials or authorisation needed under a licence or permit, such as written authorisation, a certificate of authority, an identity badge, collecting boxes, receipt books or public liability Insurance and anything else the permit or licence requires.
• You must meet any other legal requirements relating to official materials or authorisation.
• If required (for example, by the person issuing the permit), you should provide full details of all collectors in a certain area, including their names, addresses and phone numbers, the precise area to be covered and the exact period during which the collector is authorised to collect. Collectors should be aware this information is needed and the purpose so they can consent to the information being shared.
• If you are a collector; you must meet any legal requirements relating to collecting boxes, certificates of authority and badges.
• If you are a collector; you must only approach people in areas and during operating hours allowed under agreements, licences and permission (unless you agree to a follow-up meeting with a person outside these areas and times).
• You must make sure that materials include contact details for SSAFA and the collector, if different.
• You must make sure that people and, where possible their vehicles, can be clearly identified as representing SSAFA.
• You must record the issuing and return of all materials connected with the collection.

In Scotland:

• Unless the relevant authority does not require you to hold a licence, you must apply for a licence in writing at least one month before your collection (or within any other period the local authority decides). 
• The organiser of a collection must record the name and address of each collector as well as the number of collecting envelopes issued to them, or the identification number marked on the collecting box given to each collector.

In Northern Ireland:

• For street collections you must apply for a licence in writing before the first day of the month before the month in which the collection will take place.

If you do not need a licence or permit, you must meet Chartered Institute of Fundraising (CIoF) site management agreements that are in place with the local authority for regular gift (face-to-face) fundraising on the street. 

You must be identifiable by the public from a distance of at least five metres. SSAFA branded clothing: 

• Must be visible and identifiable.
• Must not be tied around your waist or covered by non-SSAFA branded clothing or other property, or be in any way obscured.
• Must be clean and in good condition to make sure the brand can be seen and to protect its reputation.

You must wear an ID badge, that:

• Includes your identity as a fundraiser, who you volunteer for and a phone number for SSAFA.
• Is clearly displayed and has not been tampered with.
• Is in the form of a badge fixed to the upper front part of your body. Or on a lanyard. 
• Is at least the size of a credit card; 
• Is authorised by SSAFA.
• Is accessible for people with sight difficulties (for example, the information on the ID badge could be available in large print).

To obtain an ID badge contact [email protected] with your name, your branch and a photograph.

You must not leave bags unattended on any public road or right of way. A team member must always stay within three metres of the bags and be able to see a ‘team bag’ (if one is used).

You must not begin collecting before 9am Monday to Saturday or 10am on Sundays and public holidays or continue after 7pm on any day. (If different times are stated in a site management agreement, you must keep to the times in the agreement.)

You must not position yourself within three metres of:

• A shop entrance.
• A pedestrian crossing.
• A cashpoint machine.
• A station entrance.
• A market stall.
• A street trader, vendor or busker.

If you have approached a member of the public, you must meet the ‘three-step’ rule. 

• You must not take more than three steps alongside the person or to follow them, even if they ask you to. 
• If the member of the public has not come to a stop within the three steps allowed, you must end your attempt to talk to them. 

Collections on private land and bookable private sites

• You must have permission from the property owner or manager to collect and must keep to the dates, times and areas allowed for collecting.
• You must record all bookings and include the full name of the person you made the booking with, the dates that were agreed and the type of activity that was agreed. You must keep these records for at least 28 days.

 Collecting regular gifts (face-to-face fundraising) on bookable private sites

• Whenever possible, you must introduce yourself to the relevant member of staff responsible for the private site.
• You must tell the person responsible for your operations before beginning volunteering if the location changes.
• You must not work outside the boundaries of the private site as explained by the site owner and, you must work within sight of the promotional stand, if there is one. 

When working at high-street locations: 

• You must work within one metre of the promotional stand (or equivalent) which must be no more than one metre away from the shopfront.
• your position and the stand must not affect other businesses. 

If this standard contradicts or conflicts with any conditions included in an agreement with the relevant site owner or manager, the site agreement will apply.

Static collections involve the use of collecting boxes which stay in one place − either on the floor or on counters in places such as shops, pubs, hotels, hospitals and reception areas. 

• You must get the permission of the site owner or those with authority to give you permission to hold a static collection on the site. The permission must be in writing.
• You must give a letter, certificate of authority or badge to anyone you have authorised to collect on your behalf. The letter, certificate or badge should contain information that identifies you as a collector and identifies SSAFA as the beneficiary of the collection. The specific information that must be included for different categories of collector is as follows. 
• For collectors who are directly volunteering for SSAFA: 
  • The collector’s name.
  • The name and contact details of the SSAFA branch.
  • The name of the organiser (if different to the collector) 
• You must have a letter, certificate of authority or badge as described above.
• You must show your certificate of authority to the site owner or those with authority to grant permission to hold a static collection on the premises.
• You must make it clear to the site owner or those holding a static collection on the premises that if a box is lost or stolen, or if they want to end the collection, they need to contact you or the branch (preferably in writing).

All fundraising communications can be found on the marketing hub. If you want to design your own posters/leaflets send your ideas to cc&[email protected] They will ensure all communications meet our brand and marketing guidelines.

For further information see document brand and marketing guidelines. This can be found in the document hub on Assemble.

For all information regarding SSAFA social media policy follow link below. 

Social Media Policy | SSAFA Policies & Guidance | SSAFA Volunteer Knowledgebase

Event fundraising is a way to bring communities together to fundraise for a particular cause. This section contains standards for planning and carrying out events (including challenge events) in the UK or overseas, including getting any permission that is needed to use a site, making sure the event is safe and managing the risks responsibly.

In this section 'you' refers to the volunteer/branch organising the event. 

When identifying a suitable venue or location for an event, you:

• must consider issues of equal access for all, even if an event is being targeted at a specific group of people.
• must make sure the venue meets the legal requirements on health and safety.
• must make sure the venue or location is fit for purpose, taking note of any restrictions, and be able to justify any environmental effect the event might have.

If any specialist equipment is needed by (or recommended for) anyone taking part, you must give a list to each team or person taking part in enough time for them to borrow or buy any necessary items. The list should say who is responsible for the kit and who it is suitable for. People taking part must not go ahead if the equipment mentioned above is not suitable.

 If those taking part need to use vehicles, you must tell them to take rest stops and plan their journey in a way that recognises road safety, especially speed limits.

• You must carry out a suitable risk assessment before holding an event of any size.
• You must be able to produce a risk assessment if the organiser of the event request to see it.
• You must make sure that health and safety arrangements (for example, medical cover and evacuation arrangements) are appropriate for the event and the country it will be held in.
• You must make sure that any insurance policies you have by law are in place. 
• You must make sure you have sufficient third-party public-liability cover in place and must consider whether you should take out any other insurance cover.
• You must be clear who (for example, you or the building owner) is insuring against which risk.

SSAFA public Liability Insurance documents can be obtained from the document hub on Go Assemble. 

Document Hub | Assemble

SSAFA risk assessment template can be obtained from the document hub on Go Assemble.

Document Hub | Assemble

For help with using the document hub follow link below.

Searching the Document Hub | Assemble User Guides | SSAFA Volunteer Knowledgebase

You must make sure that you have any permission or licences you need for the event from the local authority or other relevant body. 

See section 7 of this policy for further details on licences and permission.

If you refuse permission for a person to take part in an event, you must meet consumer and discrimination laws.

You must get any permission you need by law for a person to be involved in an event in writing before the event. (This includes, where relevant, accepting legal terms and conditions and to protect health and safety.)

You must make sure people taking part are aware of any fundraising targets they are expected to meet.

If a certain age, level of fitness, preparation or training is necessary for a person to be able to take part safely, you must agree this beforehand with the people involved.

For more details organising and taking part in a fundraising event see 'your guide to raising money for ssafa' in the document hub on assemble. 

For more information about fundraising as a wider SSAFA community see the following policy:

Fundraising Together Policy | SSAFA Policies & Guidance | SSAFA Volunteer Knowledgebase

In this section 'you' refers to the branch/volunteer organising the event. 

In all promotional materials about taking part in an event, particularly materials sent as part of ‘fundraising packs’, you must clearly indicate if any part of the money a person taking part raises will be used towards their expenses or otherwise to benefit them.

If you use recruitment materials such as adverts in the press, that are designed to encourage people to take part in an event, you must not mislead readers into believing that their commitment would be limited to any minimum personal registration fee.

All marketing materials must be sent to the brand and marketing team to be authorised. The brand and marketing team will also assist you with any design work. Contact [email protected] 

You must make sure that all marketing materials have accurate and clear details of the event and clearly state how the money raised from the event will be used.

If the person taking part does not personally pay the whole cost of the trip, but uses some of the sponsorship money for this purpose, you must make sure they know that they must make this clear to every donor.

For further assistance with promoting and running an event contact Head of Network and Community Fundraising Helen Fergie [email protected] for England and overseas.

For Wales contact the Regional Fundraising Officer Annie Lawrie [email protected] 

For Scotland contact the Fundraising Development Manager David Black [email protected] 

You must make sure that sponsorship forms are clear about whether the fundraiser needs to meet any conditions in return for the sponsorship money (for example, run a marathon).

If sponsorship money is given under certain conditions and the sponsored event is cancelled, or a person is unable or unwilling to take part in or complete the event for any reason, the person who collected the sponsorship money must contact donors and ask if they are still happy for the money to come to SSAFA, and issue refunds if they are not. If sponsorship money is given without conditions, it automatically belongs to SSAFA, whether or not an activity is completed.

If you plan a fundraising event, you must have a plan to cover all situations you could reasonably anticipate, and make sure the people involved understand exactly what you expect of them.

Before the event, you must carry out a final check to make sure everything is in place, especially fire exits, first aid and equpiment. 

You must put in place procedures at the event to avoid congestion (in particular, if an emergency evacuation is needed).

You must have marshals and stewards with relevant experience, where necessary.

Selling and Trading 

If you will be selling products or services at an event, you must make sure you are allowed to trade under the documents that govern SSAFA. You must consider the tax consequences of trading.

You must make sure that any product being sold at the event meets relevant safety standards.

You must make sure that any food being supplied meets hygiene regulations (the Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2006, the Food Hygiene (Wales) Regulations 2006, the Food Hygiene (Scotland) Regulations 2006 or the Food Hygiene (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2006). For more details, contact the environmental health department of the relevant local authority.

If you are selling or providing alcohol, you must have the relevant licences and permission, and keep to any age limits.

You must meet any tax and VAT laws and regulations that apply to the event, including those related to record keeping.

You must have financial procedures in place for money received before or during an event. See section 5 of this policy for more information on processing donations. 

You must have a procedure in place to follow up with donors who have not paid or who have not met the minimum sponsership. 

All donors and events attended must be added to SAVI to ensure the donor journey is consistent throughout SSAFA. This must include the amount donated and/or raised at such events. For assistance contact Liz Graham, Head of Supporter Engagement. [email protected]

If you intend to run a lottery, prize competition or free draw for SSAFA, you need to follow any gambling regulations that may apply, including laws relating to the process of allocating prizes fairly. This section sets out the responsibilities for fundraising organisations taking part in these activities.

he law in England, Wales and Scotland 

Lotteries include raffles, tombolas, sweepstakes and some other activities.  

In the law of England, Wales and Scotland, a lottery is a type of gambling which has three essential characteristics.

• You must pay to enter the game.
• There is always at least one prize.
• Prizes are awarded purely by chance.

The Gambling Act 2005 created six categories of lotteries.

1. Private lotteries, including:
   • private-society lotteries;
   • work lotteries; and
   • residents’ lotteries.
2. Lotteries held at events (known as ‘incidental lotteries’).
3. Customer lotteries. (Please note that, as customer lotteries cannot make a profit, they are not suitable for fundraising.)
4. Small-society lotteries.
5. Large-society lotteries.
6. Local-authority lotteries. (These are run by local authorities and so are outside the scope of the code.)

Each type of lottery has its own standards and you can find an overview of these in the Gambling Commission Guidance.

A lottery run by or for the benefit of a SSAFA will fall under the definition of a society lottery. However, that does not prevent you or those fundraising on your behalf from running lotteries under another appropriate category.  

Lotteries which fall within categories 1 and 2 above do not need a licence or permission from any authority if the charitable institution meets the rules that apply. Tombolas, lotteries and raffles held at events which fall within category 2 are a common type of fundraising. These do not need a licence or permission from any authority (although you should get permission from the event organiser or site owner). For more information see the Gambling Commission’s guidance on organising small lotteries.

For lotteries which fall within categories 4 and 5, the society must have the relevant permission from either a local authority (in the case of small society lotteries) or the Gambling Commission (in the case of large society lotteries) before marketing or selling tickets. You can visit the Gambling Commission’s website for more information on small-society lotteries that don’t need a licence and society lotteries which need a licence or registration.

For further information and guidance for England and overseas contact Head of Network and Community Fundraising, Helen Fergie [email protected] 

For further information on guidance for Wales contact Regional Fundraising Officer, Annie Lawrie [email protected] 

For further information on guidance for Scotland contact Fundraising Development Manager, David Black [email protected]

The law in Northern Ireland

Lotteries in Northern Ireland must meet the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries (NI) Order 1985, as amended by the Betting and Lotteries (NI) Order 1994 and as added to by the Lotteries Regulations. 

There is no legal definition of a lottery in the law of Northern Ireland. 

Under the order, all lotteries are unlawful unless they are:

1. Small lotteries which are a small part of exempt entertainment (that is, entertainment which does not need a licence).
2. Private lotteries. 
3. Society lotteries.
4. Part of the National Lottery. 

Each type of lottery has its own rules. For more details, see the Northern Ireland Department for Communities’ guidance.

• You must meet the relevant national legal requirements for lotteries.

• You must make sure you are not running an illegal lottery.

• You must meet the conditions set out in law.

If you need to hold a licence for the type of lottery you are running you must meet the relevant codes of practice, licence conditions, and conditions set out in law and relevant regulations.

In England, Wales and Scotland, if you hold a licence for the type of lottery you are running, you must tell the Gambling Commission about any matters that will have a significant effect on your organisation or that the Gambling Commission would reasonably need to be aware of when carrying out its duties. For more information on what you need to tell the Gambling Commission about, see its licence conditions and codes of practice.

The draw must be witnessed and you should make a record of the result.

You must include all paid-for, valid ticket entries in the draw.

If you are going to transfer late entries to the next draw, you must be clear about this when you sell the ticket.

If, for any reason, the draw date needs to be delayed from that shown on the ticket, you must take all reasonable steps to make sure that everyone who has bought a ticket knows about the change, and you must discuss it with the issuer of the licence.

After the draw

You must return all filled-in ticket stubs and payments to the promoter for audit purposes.

If the owner of a winning ticket donates their prize back to SSAFA, this must be shown in our lottery’s accounting records as a donation.

You must not make details of winners public without their permission.

You must contact all winners within seven days of the draw.

You must make all reasonable efforts to award prizes to the holders of winning tickets.

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