The British Museum has confirmed that it will be paying the Fundraising Regulator’s banded levy as it applies to exempt charities, a week after the RNIB also confirmed it would pay.
The British Museum was previously one of the five top 50 fundraising charities in the UK who were approached by the Fundraising Regulator to contribute towards its start-up costs and refused.
A spokeswoman from the British Museum told Civil Society News that the British Museum has agreed to “pay the Fundraising Regulator’s levy that applies to exempt charities”.
According to the regulator's recently published arrangements for the levy and registration system, exempt charities will contribute a flat annual fee of £1,000. The British Museum is exempt due to it being regulated by the Department for Culture, Media and Sports, as opposed to the Charity Commission.
The decision to relent on the levy by the British Museum follows one week on from the news that the RNIB would also be contributing to the Fundraising Regulator.
A spokesman from the Fundraising Regulator said: "The Fundraising Regulator welcomes the decision taken by the British Museum, and others, to demonstrate their support for best practice in charitable fundraising.”
As of 15 September, the Tate have now also confirmed that they will also be paying the Fundraising Regulator's levy.
MSF and Roman Catholic Diocese yet to confirm payment
Two of the five charities, which previously said they would not contribute start-up costs, have yet to confirm whether they will pay the Fundraising Regulator’s levy, which came into effect on 1 September. They are Médecins Sans Frontières and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster.
A spokesman from MSF said that the organisation’s board would make a final decision on the levy at its next meeting on 26 September.
A spokesman from the RCDOW said a decision would be made by the organisation when it “receives the letter and invoice detailing the levy, and registration”.
Stephen Dunmore, interim chief executive of the Fundraising Regulator, said on Monday that letters would “shortly go out to the approximately 2,000 charities and fundraising agencies eligible to pay the levy”.
Civil Society Media understands that, once the letters are sent out, invoices will soon follow.
Dunmore said that one of the three key priorities for the regulator up until the end of the year was to “roll out the levy to ensure that we can meet our operating costs”. He also confirmed that it would soon be publishing its “business plan and budget” on its website.
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