Charitable & political donations

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Charitable and political donations can give rise to higher risks of bribery and corruption. They can be (or be seen to be) bribes in disguise.

Charitable donations

A charitable donation is a gift made by an individual or company to a non-profit organisation or charity.

It can include giving or providing cash, venues, equipment, personnel time, or other benefit to a charity or to an individual or organisation nominated by or connected with a charity.

Charitable donations carry risk; they can be a conduit for corrupt payments, eg a government official in negotiations with a business may disclose that they are on the board of a charitable organisation and request a donation made to the charity or a charity could be connected to a political party or a person with a decision-making function. You need to have strong and clear control arrangements in place for charitable donations. See further Practice Note: Anti-bribery and corruption—charitable and political donations—What is the risk?

Political donations

The Companies Act 2006 controls political expenditure incurred and political donations made by companies.

Donations are defined in the

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