Fundraising terms and conditions
All RSPCA fundraisers
We are very grateful that you have chosen to fundraise for the RSPCA as we could not carry on our vital work without your support. The terms and conditions below are intended to help you carry out your fundraising safely; please read them carefully before you start to fundraise. If you have any questions regarding the terms and conditions please contact the team on events@rspca.org.uk or 0300 123 0598.
1. By registering you are signing up to fundraise for the RSPCA (England and Wales), registered charity number 219099 If you wish to fundraise for your local RSPCA branch a separate, volunteer-run charity with its own charity number. Please contact them directly, to find out about your local RSPCA branch visit: Your local RSPCA.
2. When fundraising you must refer to your fundraising as “in aid of” the RSPCA, due to being an independent supporter (as opposed to an employee or paid fundraiser for the RSPCA). This means you do not represent the charity.
3. When fundraising in aid of the RSPCA we ask that you do not behave in a way that could cause reputational damage to the RSPCA. For example, don’t act in a way that could cause reasonable upset or anxiety, be dishonest, or behave in an aggressive way or use inappropriate language. This also includes not smoking, vaping or drinking around your fundraising. You understand that the RSPCA will ask you to stop fundraising if this occurs.
4. You may only use fundraising materials that you have a right to copy and use, from our Fundraising resources and downloads webpage. Otherwise, you will need our written consent to reproduce the RSPCA name, acronym and logo (all registered trademarks) yourself, and to use certain RSPCA copyright materials. Apply to use RSPCA trademarks and materials.
5. In law, you will be a trustee of any funds raised and must ensure that all donations and sponsorship money from your event is paid to the RSPCA. You must inform potential donors if any amount or percentage of the funds you raise will not be paid to the charity e.g expenses or fees.
6. You may need to carry out a health & safety risk assessment for your event and to ensure that all participants are fully briefed and adequately supervised. Depending on the nature of your event, you may need insurance to cover your liabilities. RSPCA insurance will not cover your fundraising event or activities.
7. You may need a licence for your activity or event e.g. a licence from the local authority to collect funds on the street, in a public place or by going from house to house; a licence under the Gambling Act for a raffle or lottery; or a licence for the sale of alcohol/entertainment. You accept responsibility for abiding by these rules and regulations.
8. Depending on the nature of the activities at your event, you may need to account to HMRC in respect of VAT or income tax.
9. If you are collecting personal information from donors, remember that there are requirements under the Data Protection Act 1998 relating to how you deal with that information.
10. Please encourage eligible donors/sponsors to make gift aid declarations. This will make the most of your fundraising efforts by enabling us to recover basic rate tax on their donations. A simple example: “I am a UK taxpayer and would like the RSPCA to reclaim all the tax on donations I have made in the last four years and for all future gifts of money I make to be Gift Aid donations”.
11. If the fundraiser is under 18, your parent/guardian agrees takes responsibility for you under these T&C’s.
12. You agree to abide by the regulations set out for ‘in aid of’ fundraisers in the Code of Fundraising practice.
13. If you no longer wish to receive hints and tips about your event(s) and/or you wish to change your communication preferences, or find out information on how we use your data, including details of our Privacy Policy, please contact the Customer Engagement Team on 0300 123 0346.
14. If you have a complaint please contact us at fundraisers_support@rspca.org.uk, we also operate a complaints handling procedure.
RSPCA Challenge event terms and conditions
- Challenge event refers to any supporter taking part in a sporting event either through a charity place or their own place in the event.
- By taking part in a challenge event you are agreeing to the ‘All RSPCA Fundraisers' terms and conditions in addition to the challenge event terms and conditions listed below.
All Challenge event fundraisers:
1. By undertaking a challenge event you understand this is organised by a third party event organiser and it is your responsibility to comply with their terms and conditions relating to your participation in the event.
2. You acknowledge that training and participation in challenge events involves a high level of physical activity and risk of personal injury. You confirm that, to the best of your knowledge, you are suitable, healthy and fit to take part in the event and the RSPCA strongly advises consulting with your GP prior to your registration to confirm suitability for the event and training.
3. By taking part in a challenge event you are participating at your own risk.
4. The RSPCA is not responsible for sharing event timings or race packs, these are sent by the event organiser and the RSPCA is not responsible for sharing this information.
5. By registering with the RSPCA you confirm you are the minimum age required to complete the event. This age is event specific and details can be found on the race organisers website.
6. If you live outside of England and Wales, we will be unable to send out your RSPCA technical clothing in the post. If you provide us with an alternative UK address we will be able to post this to you ahead of your event participation. - Please email events@rspca.org.uk to provide the UK postal address.
7. By registering for an event you acknowledge that the RSPCA will contact you using your information e.g. via email, phone, SMS and post, solely in relation to your event place to provide support and fundraising ideas, to support your participation in the event. All other contact will be in accordance with your marketing preferences.
8. All Personal data will be held in accordance with our Privacy Policy: https://www.rspca.org.uk/utilities/privacy
9. By registering to a challenge event you agree to photography or video and audio recordings of you being taken at the event for use in RSPCA publications and the media in the future, to promote the work of the RSPCA.
This Includes but is not limited to: the RSPCA website and associated external organisations websites, leaflets and brochures, social media/television marketing and other promotional materials. If you do not wish for your image to be used please let us know via events@rspca.org.uk and also inform any photographers/videographers present on event day.
10. All event sponsorship should be sent to the RSPCA within 4 weeks of the event date. Via our online paying in form, your event online giving page, over the phone by calling 0300 123 0346, or by cheque made payable to RSPCA and sent to: Fundraising Events Team, RSPCA Parkside, Chart Way, Horsham, West Sussex, RH12 1GY.
Charity place participants
1. You understand the event you are registering for via the RSPCA is organised by a third party and the RSPCA accepts no liability for any injury, illness, death, loss, or damage due to your participation in the event or for those cheering you on on the day.
2. You will pay a registration fee to the RSPCA to secure your charity place which is non refundable in any circumstance, bar the event organisers cancelling the event and we are unable to defer your place to the same event in the following year. This fee helps to cover the RSPCA’s costs.
3. You acknowledge that your charity place in the event is non deferable or transferable to another event or participant.
4. You will be required to complete an event console for the event organisers to finalise your place in the event. You understand that this is your personal responsibility to complete by the given deadline and if you do not complete this you will lose your RSPCA charity place, will not be able to participate in the event and your registration fee will not be refunded. You understand that the RSPCA will need to share your personal data from your RSPCA registration with the event organisers in order for you to participate in the event.
5. By registering via an RSPCA charity place you are pledging to raise a minimum fundraising amount listed on the event registration page, which does not include your registration fee or Gift aid. This is an important method of fundraising to continue our work, as the RSPCA has invested in participation at the event, and you are not limited to the minimum fundraising amount when raising funds for the RSPCA.
6. If you are no longer able to take part in the event, you must contact events@rspca.org.uk at your earliest convenience, your registration fee paid at the point of registration will not be refunded. Any money raised prior to this will be kept as a donation. If your donors wish to be refunded they must contact the RSPCA in writing individually as they will be refunded directly.
7. If the event organisers cancel the event, we will inform you by email and call in the first instance we become aware of the event cancellation and let you know your options for future event participation.
8. Some RSPCA events operate on an application basis due to a limited number of places being available, applying for a place in such events does not guarantee your application will be successful. If successful, you must pay your event registration fee within one month of being notified otherwise you will lose your place offer and this will be passed onto another applicant.
Own place participants
1. You understand that the event you have registered with is organised by a third party and the RSPCA accepts no liability for any injury, illness, death, loss, or damage due to your participation in the event or for those cheering you on on the day.
2. By registering your own place with the RSPCA, you agree to fundraise as much as you can to support the work of the RSPCA with no fundraising target.
3. The RSPCA will send a technical t-shirt or running top to all ‘own place’ participants only after they have raised £50 sponsorship and this has been received by the RSPCA.
4. If you no longer are taking part in the event, you should contact the event organisers and the RSPCA (events@rspca.org.uk) at your earliest convenience. Any money raised prior to this will be kept as a donation. If your donors wish to be refunded they must contact the RSPCA in writing individually as they will be refunded directly.
5. If the event organisers cancel the event, they are responsible for informing you and providing you with information on your event place. This is out of the control of the RSPCA and we will inform you in the first instance we become aware of the event cancellation.
Collection tin terms and conditions
1. Permission for a collection must be granted from the appropriate persons. If the collection tin(s)/bucket(s) are for use in a private property, written permission should be granted from the property owner - including who is responsible for the collection and how and when the collection will take place.
2. If the collection tin is for use in a public place, the local authority must be contacted and an appropriate licence acquired.
3. No door to door fundraising is permitted.
4. All collectors must be aged 18 or over.
5. Any donations collected must be donated to the RSPCA National Society registered charity number 219099. If you wish to fundraise for your local branch please contact them directly.
6. All donations collected must be submitted in full to the RSPCA. No deductions made for expenses or fees can be made.
7. A witness, over the age of 18 must be present at the counting of donations.
8. If the tin(s)/bucket(s) are lost or stolen, or you believe the contents are being pilfered or interfered with in any way, you must contact RSPCA immediately and report it to your local police as soon as possible.
9. If the tin is going to be unattended at any time, the attached chain should be used to secure it.
10. Collectors should undertake their work in a courteous and ethical manner which maintains the high standing of the RSPCA and which places no undue pressure on potential site holders or donors to participate in collections.
11. Collection tin(s)/bucket(s) must only be used with unbroken seals. If the collection is static and ongoing, (e.g. a collection tin on a shop counter or bar), the tin must be emptied after three months and all donations must be submitted to RSPCA. If you wish to continue your collection after three months, please contact events@rspca.org.uk, who will supply you with further security labels.
12. Your collection tin(s)/bucket(s) may be kept for a maximum of 12 months if undertaking a static collection and within one month of an event or collection.
13. When your collection tin(s)/bucket(s) are full, please count your collection and pay it into your own account then send it to us by filling in the online paying in form (https://www.rspca.org.uk/getinvolved/fundraise/payingin), calling our Supporter Services team to pay over the phone (0300 123 0346) or sending us a cheque with your contact details and a brief description of the donation to RSPCA Events, Parkside, Chart Way, Horsham, West Sussex, RH12 1GY. Please then return the tin to the RSPCA Events address above.