Question 1

Are you affiliated with any charities?

Accepted Answer

No. CharityCompare is independent. We do not accept payment for scores. Enhanced listings may exist in future but will never change independent ratings.

Question 2

What is Gift Aid and should I use it?

Accepted Answer

Gift Aid adds 25p per £1 from HMRC if you are a UK taxpayer who has paid enough tax. Tick the box on donations to eligible charities — it costs you nothing extra.

Question 3

What is a good admin cost ratio for a charity?

Accepted Answer

There is no single perfect number — context matters. Many well-run medium and large charities spend 70–85% on charitable activities. Compare peers of similar size in the same cause rather than chasing zero admin.

Question 4

How does CharityCompare score charities?

Accepted Answer

The Clarity Score V1 awards up to 100 points — Accountability & Transparency (40), Financial Health (30), Financial Efficiency (20), and Community Support (10). A Charity Commission statutory inquiry automatically scores 0. See our methodology page for thresholds.

Question 5

What does UK-wide vs local mean?

Accepted Answer

UK-wide charities operate nationally or internationally; local charities focus on a city or region. Both can score well — choose based on where you want impact.

Question 6

What are charity reserves?

Accepted Answer

Reserves are savings held for future work. We express them as months of operating costs — very low can mean risk; very high may mean your donation sits unused.

Question 7

Do you cover Scottish or Northern Irish charities?

Accepted Answer

Not yet — v1 uses the Charity Commission for England and Wales only. OSCR (Scotland) and CCNI (Northern Ireland) are planned for future releases.

Question 8

Can I trust a 5-star charity completely?

Accepted Answer

Stars summarise filings — they are not a guarantee of impact or values alignment. Read profiles, red flags, and the charity's own reports before giving.

Question 9

How often is data updated?

Accepted Answer

We refresh from the Charity Commission register on a regular cadence — each profile shows a last updated date and link to the official register entry.

Question 10

Why only charities over £100k income?

Accepted Answer

We curate quality over quantity — smaller charities often lack full accounts, making fair comparison harder. We may expand with better data over time.

Quick answers