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Part of How to conduct a communications audit for a UK charity
How to conduct a communications audit for a UK charity
A communications audit for a UK charity weighs objects, trustee oversight and fundraising rules. Here is the sequence, the evidence and the measures to set.
What to take away
- A communications audit for a UK charity tests output against the charity's objects, trustee duties and fundraising promises, not a commercial brand scorecard.
- The evidence pack is supporter records, consent trails, campaign copy, volunteer briefings, complaints and the published annual report.
- Trustee sign-off is the finish line, so every finding should be written as a decision they can take.
- Fundraising asks, public benefit claims and case studies carry rules that general marketing audits leave out.
- Fix the scope to one financial year and name an owner for each action before the report circulates.
Why a charity audit differs from a commercial review
Commercial reviews ask whether the brand sells more. A charity audit asks whether the message is true, lawful and consistent with a charitable purpose. That reframes what counts as a finding.
Trustees carry legal responsibility for what the charity publishes, so treat the report as a governance document rather than a marketing one. State the evidence, the decision and the risk of doing nothing.
Supporter lists, consent records and case-study permissions sit under data protection law. Check how each was collected and whether the charity can still rely on it before quoting any of it in the report, using the Data Protection Act 2018 as your reference.
Reading a message against the rule that applies to it takes practice; the corporate communications and UK law guide sets out how to classify a message before you judge the wording.
Begin with governance, then channels
Open the governing document and the latest trustee report before the analytics. The report is filed with the accounts, and for a charitable company the narrative must sit consistently with what goes to Companies House under the Companies Act 2006.
List the audiences the charity has promised to serve: beneficiaries, donors, volunteers, commissioners and regulators. Weight them by duty rather than by spend, because an unfunded beneficiary group can still be the most important reader of the audit.
Charity brand voice rarely sits in a formal style guide. It lives in a tone note, a house style sheet and the memory of whoever writes most of the copy. Test it against real examples from two very different services and ask whether they read as one organisation.
Findings land better with trustees when they map to areas the Charity Commission already asks about, including fundraising practice and complaints handling. A finding tied to an existing duty is acted on; a finding tied to a preference is not.
Comparing a commercial review with a charity audit
The table below shows where the two methods part company, and why a charity report reads differently.
| Question | Commercial review | Charity audit |
|---|---|---|
| What counts as success | Revenue, share of voice | Progress against charitable objects |
| Who signs off | Marketing director | Board of trustees |
| Whose data is in scope | Customer records | Beneficiary and supporter records, often sensitive |
| What constrains the copy | Advertising codes | Fundraising rules, public benefit claims, defamation |
| What the reader expects | Persuasion | Evidence and accountability |
Campaign copy that criticises a named supplier, rival or individual can attract a claim. Check the wording for the defences in the Defamation Act 2013 before it goes out.
Run the audit in five steps
The sequence works for a charity of any size, as long as the evidence pack is closed before scoring starts.
- Agree the scope in writing: one financial year, named channels, named owners and a stop date.
- Assemble the evidence pack: published reports, campaign copy, consent logs, complaints and coverage.
- Score each output against the agreed criteria, recording the evidence behind every score.
- Interview a small group, including at least two beneficiaries or frontline staff.
- Present findings to trustees as decisions, each with a review date.
Common questions
Does the audit need trustee approval?
Yes. Trustees are accountable for published communications, so findings should reach a board meeting with the evidence attached. Approving the report is separate from approving each change that follows.
How long should a charity communications review take?
A review covering one financial year can be run by one person working part time, provided the evidence pack is closed before scoring starts. Federated charities take longer, because each branch keeps its own records.
Should fundraising copy be audited separately?
Yes, because an appeal makes a direct ask and carries its own regulatory expectations. Run the general audit first, then re-read every appeal, legacy ask and lottery page as a separate sample.
What should the charity measure afterwards?
Set a small number of measures with definitions and blank thresholds before anything changes, so the next audit compares like with like. A comparison of communications measurement tools for UK PR teams is a sensible next step once the measures are agreed.