You can verify almost any UK charity in about five minutes. The checks below move from “does this organisation exist” to “is it well run”, and every one of them uses public information you can look up yourself. For the short “check charity number / is it legit?” version, start with how to check a charity number UK.
Is the charity registered?
Start with the registration number. UK charities are regulated by nation:
- England and Wales — the Charity Commission. Registration is compulsory above £5,000 income.
- Scotland — the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR). All Scottish charities must register regardless of income.
- Northern Ireland — the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland.
Search the name or number on the relevant register. If an organisation asking for money cannot tell you its registration number and it is not one of the recognised exceptions below, treat that as a serious warning.
Exceptions that are still legitimate. Charities with income under £5,000 in England and Wales are not required to register. Some “excepted” charities — including many churches, scout and guide groups — and “exempt” charities such as most universities also operate without a Commission number. Community Amateur Sports Clubs are registered with HMRC rather than the Commission.
Does the register entry match what you were told?
Open the register entry and compare it against the appeal in front of you. Check that the charity’s stated purpose covers the cause being fundraised for, that it operates in the area claimed, and that the website and contact details match. Scammers commonly borrow a real charity’s number, so verify the number belongs to the organisation actually receiving your money.
Are the accounts up to date?
Every registered charity above the audit threshold must file annual accounts and a trustees’ annual report. In England and Wales the deadline is ten months after the financial year end. The register shows filing history, so you can see at a glance whether returns arrive on time.
On CharityCompare, filing record is part of the Accountability and Transparency beacon, which is worth 40 of the 100 points in a Clarity Score. A charity filing years late scores poorly there even if everything else looks healthy.
How do I know if a UK charity is financially transparent?
You know a UK charity is financially transparent when its latest accounts are filed on time and you can see how income was spent — charitable activities, fundraising and support — in a report that explains odd figures. Verify the charity number, open the register entry, then use the CharityCompare profile: Clarity Score and the Accountability & Transparency beacon are built as a filing-based transparency check. Opaque charities hide behind late filings, vague reports or “100% to the cause” slogans without numbers.
Where does the money go?
Once you know the charity is real, the accounts tell you how it operates. Three figures matter most:
- Spending on charitable activities as a share of total expenditure — the money reaching the cause.
- Fundraising costs — what it spent to raise that income.
- Reserves — how many months of running costs it holds.
Our guide to reading charity accounts explains each one, and why a low overhead ratio is not automatically a sign of a better charity.
How is it asking you for money?
The way an appeal reaches you is often more revealing than the appeal itself. Legitimate UK fundraising follows the Code of Fundraising Practice, and you can check membership on the Fundraising Regulator website.
Warning signs worth acting on:
- Pressure to decide immediately, or emotional escalation when you hesitate.
- Requests for payment by bank transfer to a personal account, gift cards, cryptocurrency or cash only.
- A charity name that closely resembles a well-known charity but differs by a word.
- No registration number, no address, and no way to contact the organisation independently.
- Unsolicited links or QR codes, particularly after a disaster when fake appeals spike.
The safest habit is simple: never donate through the channel that contacted you. Look the charity up, then give directly through its own website.
What to do if something looks wrong
If you believe a charity is being misrepresented or funds are being misused, report it to the relevant regulator — the Charity Commission takes concerns about charities in England and Wales, and OSCR and CCNI do the same for Scotland and Northern Ireland. If you have lost money to a fake appeal, report it to Action Fraud.
A five-minute checklist
- Find the registration number.
- Look it up on the official register for the right nation.
- Confirm the register entry matches the appeal and the website.
- Check the accounts are filed on time.
- Look at charitable-activities spend, fundraising costs and reserves.
- Donate through the charity’s own site, never through an unsolicited link.
You can complete steps one to five for any rated charity from a single CharityCompare profile, which shows the score, the beacon breakdown, the filing record and a direct link to the official register entry.