Complaints about charities

There are different aspects of a charity you might want to complain about: 

• the service a charity provides 

• a charity’s fundraising activities 

• employment issues with a charity. 

You can check if an organisation is a charity by searching the Scottish Charity Register on the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) website. 

Service complaints

If you have concerns about a service or an activity a charity provides, you should raise these directly with the charity or its trustees. For example, you should contact the charity or its trustees if you have concerns about:  

• a service being stopped 

• an item you’ve bought from a charity shop 

• the prices of the charity’s services going up. 

You can also contact a charity or its trustees about:  

• disputes or disagreements involving trustees, members, beneficiaries or staff  

• a charity’s debts or contractual disputes with a charity  

• decisions taken by trustees that are within their powers.

Fundraising complaints

There are 3 stages for complaining about a charity’s fundraising activities, for example, if you’re concerned about the way you’ve been asked for donations or how fundraisers have behaved.  

Stage 1: Complain to the charity directly

You should contact the charity’s head office by phone or in writing. You can find the charity’s contact details on the Scottish Charity Register on the OSCR website.

Stage 2: Appeal to the charity’s trustees

If you’re not satisfied with the outcome at stage 1, you can appeal to the charity’s trustees. You should write the words ‘For the attention of the Chair’ at the start of your letter or email.

You can find the trustees’ contact details on the Scottish Charity Register on the OSCR website.

Many small and medium-sized charities only have a 1-stage process, so your stage 1 complaint might go directly to the trustees.  

Stage 3: Refer to the Scottish Fundraising Adjudication Panel

If you’re still unsatisfied with the way the charity has dealt with your complaint, you can refer the issue to the Scottish Fundraising Adjudication Panel on the panel's website.

Employment issues

If you have an employment issue with a charity, you can find out how to get help with a problem at work.

If an employment tribunal finds that there are serious governance issues at a charity, you can tell the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR).   

When to complain to The Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR)

The OSCR is the independent regulator for charities in Scotland.

You can tell the OSCR if it looks like:  

• a charity’s assets are a risk  

• a person or organisation is profiting from a charity when they shouldn’t 

• a charity is not meeting its legal duties  

• a charity might be putting the people it helps at risk of harm  

• an organisation is calling itself a charity when it’s not. 

Issues the OSCR cannot deal with

The OSCR cannot deal with:  

• fundraising issues  

• employment issues  

• a charity’s debts or contractual disputes with a charity  

• decisions taken by charity trustees that are within their powers  

• issues that are the responsibility of another regulator.

You can find a full list of what the OSCR can and cannot deal with on the OSCR website.

How to contact the OSCR

You can find the OSCR's contact details on the OSCR website.

When to contact another regulator

In some cases the issue you’re concerned about might be the responsibility of another regulator, even if a body is a registered charity, for example:  

• The Scottish Housing Regulator deals with registered social landlords  

• The Care Inspectorate deals with registered care providers  

• HM Revenue and Customs deals with issues about charities’ tax affairs.  

You can find a full list of when to contact another regulator on the OSCR website.