--- title: "How to check a charity is legitimate | CharityCompare" description: "A step-by-step guide to verifying a UK charity is real and registered — check the charity number, the register, the accounts and how it asks for money." source: https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/guides/how-to-check-a-charity-is-legitimate retrieved: 2026-08-18T01:27:32.712Z license: "Charity data © Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0" --- # How to check a charity is legitimate **In short:** Verify a UK charity by finding its registration number, checking it on the official register, confirming its accounts are filed on time, and matching the contact details on its own website. Data from [Charity Commission register](https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/), last updated 25 July 2026. 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](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/guides/how-to-check-a-charity-number). ## 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](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/methodology). 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](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/guides/how-to-read-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](https://www.fundraisingregulator.org.uk/members/) 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](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/charity-directory), which shows the score, the beacon breakdown, the filing record and a direct link to the official register entry. ## Common questions ### How do I check if a UK charity is registered? + Search the charity's name or registration number on the official regulator's register — the Charity Commission for England and Wales, the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) for Scotland, or the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland. Every registered charity appears there with its accounts history and trustee list. CharityCompare links to the register entry on every profile. ### Do all charities have a charity number? + Almost all, but not all. In England and Wales, charities with income above £5,000 must register and receive a number. Small charities under that threshold, and some exempt or excepted charities such as certain churches and armed-forces charities, can operate legitimately without one. A missing number is a reason to look closer, not automatic proof of a scam. ### What does it mean if a charity's accounts are overdue? + Overdue accounts mean the charity has missed the regulator's filing deadline, which is ten months after its financial year end in England and Wales. It is a governance warning sign rather than proof of wrongdoing — small charities sometimes file late for innocent reasons — but a pattern of late filing suggests weak administration. ### How can I tell a charity fundraiser is genuine? + Genuine fundraisers will give you the charity's full name and registration number, carry ID, and never pressure you to pay immediately or by unusual methods. Look the charity up yourself before giving, and donate through the charity's own website rather than a link or QR code you were handed. ### How do I know if a UK charity is financially transparent? + Check on-time filings, a clear trustees' annual report, and visible spending figures — cause spend, fundraising costs and reserves. CharityCompare's Clarity Score and Accountability & Transparency beacon summarise that picture from regulator data. Being registered proves existence; transparent filings prove the charity accounts for money openly. ## Read next - [The CharityCompare donor guide Verify the charity number, match the delivery model to what you want funded, then use the four Clarity Score pillars from UK regulator filings — not a single overhead ratio — before you give.](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/guides/donor-guide) - [How to check a charity number UK — verify a charity is legit Every registered UK charity has a regulator number. Check it on the Charity Commission, OSCR or CCNI register — or search name and number on CharityCompare — before you donate or give to a doorstep collector. Registration proves legitimacy of status, not programme impact; Clarity Score then summarises filing transparency on rated profiles.](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/guides/how-to-check-a-charity-number) - [How to compare charities in the UK Charity comparisons work when you match like with like — same cause, similar delivery model — then check legitimacy, cause spend, reserves, fundraising costs and filing record from Charity Commission accounts. Use Clarity Score to rule out weak administration, not as a measure of impact. Put up to four charities side by side on CharityCompare before you give.](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/guides/how-to-compare-charities) Ready to check a specific charity? Every profile shows a free Clarity Score from regulator filings. [Search charities](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/charity-directory) [Compare](https://www.charitycompare.org.uk/compare-charities) **Information only** — not donation advice.