Governance and funding

We are proud to be primarily funded by members of the public, which keeps us fiercely independent.

We operate on a not-for-profit basis.

Governance and funding

Good Law Project is a private not for profit company limited by guarantee (Company Registration Number 10556197). You can read our Articles of Association here. Our Code of Conduct is available here. Our assets and funding are used for the benefit of the community and no one in the organisation can be paid more than the annual salary of a backbench UK MP. We maintain a strategic risk register which is reviewed and updated at every board meeting.
Good Law Project uses the law to hold power to account, protect the environment and ensure no one is left behind.
When Good Law Project was established, our founder, Jolyon Maugham, wanted a legal form that maximised its freedom to act. He did not want the restrictions on what we can do that come with being a charity. So it was established as a company limited by guarantee with him as its only ‘member’ (companies limited by guarantee don’t have ‘shareholders’).

It has an ‘asset lock’ written into its articles which stops its assets from being distributed to Jolyon. And companies limited by guarantee cannot pay dividends. And Jolyon, who owns the Good Law Project trademark, licensed the not-for-profit uses of the trademark to Good Law Project for fifty years for a nominal consideration.

Nevertheless, it has an individual as an owner. And it would be desirable for Good Law Project to be held in a structure that ensures that long term, not just short term, it continues to operate for the public benefit. We are exploring, and will continue to consider approaches as to, what this structure looks like. This might include it becoming owned by – a non-charity can be owned by – a charity.
We use the law to tackle important issues of unlawfulness, wrongdoing and disadvantage. We recognise there are many ways of winning:
1. We litigate: where the law is being ignored we act.
2. We campaign: we increase the costs of breaking the law with public pressure.
3. We empower: we help people to understand and use the law themselves.
Read more about our work and how we make a difference here.
Our areas of work:
Holding power to account
- - We strengthen and enforce the law against the government and others with power.
  - We fight for transparency, good Government and good governance.
Protecting the environment
- - We strengthen and enforce the law against those who harm the environment or fail to adequately protect it.
  - We prioritise local geographic areas and natural assets with national significance.
No-one left behind
- - We help marginalised communities access what the law can do.
  - We support and amplify marginalised voices and communities.
You can read more about our campaigns here.
Good Law Project is primarily funded by members of the public through regular and one-off donations, as well as crowd-funded donations to cover the costs of specific litigation. We are incredibly grateful to all our supporters without whom we could not continue our work. Regular and one-off donations fund the core costs of our strategic litigation programme, including costs of legal staff who identify and develop our cases. They also cover our general running costs, including our financial management and administration, donor support and fundraising activities.

For all grants and donations given for specific activities, the Good Law Project takes 10% to cover our core running costs. We are committed to transparency in our finances, and we accept donations and grants in accordance with the donations policy. We are hugely grateful to have received support from Avaaz, Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust, Lund Trust, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin, Necessity, 38 Degrees, and Dale Vince, CEO of Ecotricity.

Our accounts for the year to 31 January 2023 can be found here. We publish information about our finances in our annual report each year. Our 2022 annual report is available here.
The Good Law Project manages its finances in accordance with policies and procedures approved by its board. We do not exist to generate a profit. We plan to match our expenditure with our income whilst maintaining a reasonable level of reserves to ensure that we are able to respond to opportunities and adapt should we face adverse events.
We use monthly and one-off donations to cover the staff and other costs of researching potential cases, developing and progressing our litigation, keeping our donors and supporters updated and communicating more widely about our work, ensuring that our finances are well-managed and controlled and running our organisation. Case-specific donations are used to cover the costs of the relevant litigation, with a modest contribution towards our ongoing core costs. Any case funds remaining after all the litigation costs have been covered are used in accordance with the case details published.
Good Law Project is committed to treating its employees fairly, stewarding to the best of its ability the funds generously given by our supporters and operating with transparency. In 2022, the annual pay review was brought forward from October to July that year. Given that the cost of living crisis continues to create a significant impact across society, we decided that the annual pay award for 2023 would again be implemented in July.

Again, for 2023, we have conducted extensive market analysis of national pay awards and have taken into account the current and projected financial climate, and have made increases of between 5% and 10%, prioritising higher increases for staff at the lower end of our payscale. We have focused on increasing salaries rather than awarding any one-off payments this year. We believe the above represents a fair, sensible and simple approach, in line with the values of Good Law Project, and our commitment to ensuring our supporters’ donations are well stewarded.

In line with our organisational values and commitment to a better, fairer world, Good Law Project has established a pay ratio in which the highest salaries will not exceed three times the lowest. Our current ratio is 2.74.

We thank all who continue to support Good Law Project: your donations are particularly appreciated at what we know remain difficult times for many.

We rely on your support

Good Law Project only exists thanks to donations from people across the UK. We are incredibly grateful to all of our supporters, without whom our work would not be possible.

Every single penny that we receive makes a huge difference to our ability to hold those in power to account and demand a better, fairer future.

If you’re in a position to support our work, you can setup a donation through the button below. Thank you

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Governance and funding