Common questions about Start Network's rating, finances, and Charity Commission status.
Is Start Network a good charity? +
Start Network scores 81 out of 100 (4 stars — Good) on CharityCompare's Clarity Score, our independent read of its UK regulator filings. Around 95% of its spending goes to charitable activities (3-yr avg) and its accounts are up to date. That reflects how transparent and financially healthy it looks on paper — it does not measure the real-world impact of its work, so treat it as one factor alongside the cause you care about. CharityCompare never tells you where to donate.
Is Start Network a legitimate charity? +
The register data used for this profile lists Start Network as a registered charity (charity number 1159483). Verify it on the official register: https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?regId=1159483&subId=0. Check the current entry and the identity of anyone requesting money. Registration does not verify a particular appeal; Clarity Score summarises filing transparency, not programme impact.
What is Start Network's charity number? +
Start Network's charity number is 1159483. Check that number on the official register (Charity Commission, OSCR or CCNI) or this CharityCompare profile before you donate — scammers sometimes reuse real numbers on fake appeals.
What is Start Network's charity rating? +
Start Network scores 81 out of 100 on CharityCompare (4 stars — Good). The Clarity Score (method v1.1) sums four pillars from UK regulator filings: Accountability & Transparency (40 pts), Financial Health (30), Financial Efficiency (20), and Community Support (10). Stars use the same bands as those labels — 90+ is 5★ Exceptional. It is not an impact ranking.
Does Start Network have reviews and complaints? +
CharityCompare does not host public user reviews for Start Network. Instead you get a filing-based Clarity Score, cause spend, reserves and red flags such as late accounts (none flagged on this profile). For formal complaints about a charity, contact the Charity Commission, OSCR, CCNI or the Fundraising Regulator as appropriate.
How much of my donation reaches Start Network? +
Across the recent disclosed accounts used for this score, 95% of Start Network's total spending went to charitable activities (3-yr avg across disclosed years). That is the closest official figure to "how much of your donation reaches the cause" — it is an average across all spending in the filing, not a pound-by-pound breakdown of an individual gift.
What are Start Network's overheads? +
Across the recent disclosed accounts used for this score, fundraising costs were about 5% of total expenditure and fundraising plus separately reported governance figures amount to about 5% of expenditure (2022–2024, disclosed years); these categories can overlap, so this is not a distinct total of all administration costs at Start Network. Start Network's annual return for the year ending 31 December 2024 reports 7 employees paid more than £60,000, including 2 employees paid more than £100,000. The highest reported pay band is £100,001–£110,000 (2 employees). Individual salaries, including the chief executive's, are disclosed in the trustees' annual report rather than on the register.
How much income does Start Network receive? +
Start Network reported £24m total income in its 2024 accounts, based on UK regulator filings. Five-year trend: growing.
Are Start Network's accounts up to date? +
Filing status: up to date (last filing 2025-10-31). CharityCompare flags late or missing accounts separately from the financial score.
Where is Start Network based? +
Start Network's registered contact address is in London (EC1V 9DD). It tells the regulator it operates in Islington, with a focus on international aid.
How much is Start Network's chief executive paid? +
The Charity Commission register does not name individual salaries. Start Network's annual return for the year ending 31 December 2024 reports 7 employees paid more than £60,000, including 2 employees paid more than £100,000. The highest reported pay band is £100,001–£110,000 (2 employees). Charities normally disclose the chief executive's pay, or the pay of their highest-paid staff, in the remuneration note of the trustees' annual report and accounts.
Where does Start Network's money come from? +
Start Network reported £24m total income for the year ending 31 December 2024. The largest sources were donations and legacies £23m (98%), charitable activities £542k (2%).
Can I claim Gift Aid on a donation to Start Network? +
The register does not record Start Network as registered with HMRC for Gift Aid. Ask the charity before assuming a donation can be Gift Aided.
Are Start Network's trustees paid? +
Start Network's annual return for the year ending 31 December 2024 reports that no trustee received remuneration or other benefits from the charity.
When was Start Network registered as a charity? +
Start Network was entered on the register on 3 December 2014. It is also a company registered at Companies House (company number 09286835).
How does CharityCompare score Start Network? +
We calculate a Clarity Score of 0–100 from four pillars in Start Network's regulator filings: Accountability & Transparency (40 points — filing history, trustees, policies), Financial Health (30 — reserves, income trend, debt), Financial Efficiency (20 — cause spend and fundraising cost, on a graduated scale) and Community Support (10 — volunteer-to-staff ratio). An open statutory inquiry scores 0. The score measures reporting on paper, not programme impact. CharityCompare is free for donors, takes no commission on donations, and scores cannot be bought.
How often is this page updated? +
This profile was last updated on 6 September 2026 from the latest UK regulator data available to CharityCompare, and Start Network's most recent accounts cover 2024. Scores and figures refresh whenever we re-ingest the register, so the page reflects our latest data pull rather than a one-off review.