Glossary

Plain-English definitions for terms you will see on charity profiles and guides.

C

Charitable activities: Money spent directly on the charity's purpose — care, research, grants, and delivery — as reported in annual accounts.
Cause spend ratio: The share of total expenditure going to charitable activities. One of our three scoring pillars.
Charity Commission: The regulator for charities in England and Wales. We source scores from their public register and filings.

F

Fundraising costs: Money spent to raise donations — advertising, events, agency fees. High ratios may trigger a red-flag card.

G

Gift Aid: A UK scheme letting charities claim an extra 25p per £1 donated if the donor is a taxpayer. Does not affect our scores.
Give with Confidence: Our badge for charities scoring 4+ stars with up-to-date filings and no serious red flags.
Governance costs: Spending on running the board, compliance, audit and administration necessary to operate legally.

I

Income band: We group charities by annual income (£100k–500k, £500k–1m, etc.) for fair peer comparisons.

O

Openness: One of our three pillars — whether accounts are filed on time and information is available on the register.

P

Peer benchmark: How a charity compares to others of similar size in the same cause area.

R

Red flag: A factual alert on a profile — late filings, sharp income drops, etc. — with a link to evidence on the register.
Reserves: Money held for future work. We show this as months of operating costs where accounts allow.

U

UK-wide charity: A charity operating nationally or internationally, not limited to one city or region.