Licking their Own Lollipops: What do Charities and the Public Think about the Regulation of Charitable Activities?

In the UK and beyond, the ways in which charitable activities are regulated have undergone substantial change in recent years (Breen et al., 2016; McGregor-Lowndes and Wyatt, 2017). The drivers for this change are not always clear, with media pressure and a desire by governments to cut costs often play a crucial but unspoken role (Hogg, 2018). The voices of charities and donors are often trumpeted loudly by policy makers driving this change, yet comparatively little is known about charities’ and donors’ attitudes to the regulation of charitable activities. This chapter looks beyond legal perspectives on charitable governance to focus on the attitudes and behaviours of those with a key stake in the regulation of charitable activities – donors and the charities themselves. Drawing on a comprehensive review of theoretical and empirical research and four focus groups with members of the public, it explores what donors and charities want from regulation and the extent to which this squares with the regulatory provision currently in place. The chapter argues that while donors do not necessarily have a clear understanding of how charitable activities are regulated they want charities to be regulated but want this regulation to be supportive and not place an onerous burden on smaller charities in particular. This desire to be seen to be being well regulated is shared by the charities themselves, for whom reputation is vital.