From national controversy over charity executive pay to questions around the effectiveness of the Charity Commission, 2013 was an eventful year for civil society. Here are the ten most-read stories on civilsociety.co.uk from 2013.

1. Macmillan launches Go Sober for October fundraising challenge

Macmillan Cancer Care partnered with the Australian fundraising campaign, Dry July, to launch Go Sober for October in the UK. Much like the Dryathlon, which Cancer Research UK ran in January, Macmillan through Go Sober challenged people to raise money by giving up alcohol for the month and getting their friends and family to sponsor them. By the end of the month the campaign had raised more then £1m.

2. Charity tax-avoidance scheme did not break any charity laws

Back in January The Times exposed the Cup Trust as a scheme that was set up to enable its donors to avoid £46m in tax through gift aid incentives, which had been allowed to continue operating despite having been investigated by the Charity Commission. HMRC has since revealed that no gift aid has been paid either to the charity or the individual donors.

The scandal resulted in renewed interest in the effectiveness of the Charity Commission from the Public Accounts Committee, which published a damning report into the Commission. In April the Commission opened a statutory inquiry into the Cup Trust and appointed an interim manager. The Cup Trust’s corporate trustee, Mountstar PTC, challenged this action at the Charity Tribunal - unsuccessfully.

3. Pegram: Women are still not engaged in the thinking in fundraising

In February a number of women fundraisers took to Twitter to condemn the lack of female speakers at a new fundraising event organised by former NSPCC fundraising director Giles Pegram and Professor Adrian Sargeant.

The speaker line-up at the Summit comprised nine men and just one woman, Professor Jen Shang, who is also Sargeant’s partner. Speaking to civilsociety.co.uk, Pegram explained the Summit programme was based on market research and academic research, and the people that have done that research happened to be mostly men.

4. Health Lottery licenses brand to Coral for £1m jackpot game

Richard Desmond’s controversial Health Lottery appeared to have got around society lottery restrictions that effectively limit its jackpots to £100,000, by joining forces with high-street betting shop Coral to launch a new game offering a top prize of £1m. Health Lottery Plus allows punters to bet on the Health Lottery’s five numbers and also choose an additional Million Pound Number for a chance to win £1m.

A Health Lottery spokeswoman denied that it was sidestepping the rules, and said: "The Health Lottery Plus is a well-established model under which a betting operator offers bets on the outcome of an event, in this case the numbers drawn by the Health Lottery. The launch of Health Lottery Plus means that even more money will be raised for good causes."

5. Beneath the charity CEO salary scandal - what the figures show

In the summer a Daily Telegraph article criticised the high levels of chief executive pay at Disasters Emergency Committee member charities. Celina Ribeiro investigated the charities’ accounts and found a more nuanced story.

6. Charity lawyer warns new lobbying bill poses 'existential threat to charity campaigning'

When the lobbying bill was introduced in the summer of 2013, sector bodies voiced strong opposition, saying that it would hamper campaigning activity.

Speaking to civilsociety.co.uk Rosamund McCarthy, a partner at Bates Wells Braithwaite, said new laws on non-party campaigners would have a “chilling effect” on charities' campaigning, and could be in breach of article 10 of the Human Rights Act.

7. Pegram apologises for remarks about women in fundraising

A day after civilsociety.co.uk reported Pegram’s comments about women in fundraising, he apologised unreservedly. He said: “I am dismayed and apologise unreservedly. I accept I have caused offence and I am deeply sorry. I have nothing but the highest regard for the individuals I have inadvertently maligned, this is not what I intended or anything like it."

8. 'Threatening' Cancer Research direct mail campaign banned

In January the Advertising Standards Authority upheld complaints regarding a direct mail advert by Cancer Research UK, finding it to be "threatening" to cancer sufferers, their families, and other vulnerable people.

The mass mailout arrived on people's doorsteps in a plain envelope with only the words "It Doesn't Matter To Me Who YOU ARE" in an old-fashioned typewriter-style font on the front.

9. Charities involved in unpaid work schemes 'named and shamed' on website

The campaign group Boycott Workfare, which was protesting against mandatory work activity and other similar schemes, collated a list of charities which it believed were involved in such schemes and requested that people ‘name and shame’ more charities on its website. A number of charities withdrew from the government’s mandatory work activity scheme in response. 

10. IoF chair: I'm sick of charity 'cowards' leaving fundraisers in the firing line

At the Institute of Fundraising’s National Awards, Mark Astarita issued an incendiary challenge to charity sector leaders to get behind fundraising rather than "watching the lions take chunks out of us".   

In a speech which referenced gladiatorial battles, Astarita intimated that some charity leaders were hypocritical in their aversion to supporting the techniques and individuals which fund their work.

"I am getting pretty sick of the fact that it is the fundraisers of this country... who seem constantly in the firing line, and every time we rush out of the trenches defending our right to ask, every other charity leader happy to take the cash has run for the hills with their petticoats showing," he said. "Since when have they become such cowards?

"Too many of our leaders don't get it, don't care enough about it, don't shout about it and frankly see us as nothing more than a necessary evil."