The Regulator for Charities in England and Wales

Apply for it from the Charity Commission

Follow the links below to find further information, forms and guidance to help you when you need to contact us about any of the following:

You can file some of our documents online : visit our Click Online service if you want to send us your charity’s:

  • Updated correspondent and trustee details
  • Accounts
  • Annual Report
  • Annual Return

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Starting up a charity

When you’re setting up a charity, you need to set out in a document (a “governing document”) the purposes of your charity and how it is to be administered. You don’t need to start with a blank sheet of paper : we’ve prepared the three “model” documents, listed below, containing standard provisions which are suitable for many charities. Use our guidance Choosing and Preparing a Governing Document (CC22) to decide which model to use. When you have made this decision, print off the relevant document and fill in the details for your charity.

The three model documents are:

Many nationwide organisations also provide governing documents for local charities associated with them – check our list to see if any relate to the charity you’re setting up.

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Registering a charity

Once you’ve set up your charity, you’ll need to register it with us. To help with this, we’ve produced a booklet and some forms.

On 1st October 2007 the Commission launched a new streamlined application form. This form replaces all other application forms. Charities applying for registration after this date should note that old style application forms will only be accepted until 30th November 2007. From 1st December 2007 applications in the old format will be returned with a request that a new style application be completed.

Registering a charity is not the same as registering a charity merger. See below for more information about merging charities.

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Accounting for your charity

Trustees must produce accounts for their charity every year. We have provided forms (which can be downloaded for completion) and guidance to help you prepare accounts which comply with the law relating to charities’ accounts.

  • If your charity is not a company, and has a yearly income of less than £100k, you can use our Receipts and payments accounts pack (CC16). It contains standard accounts forms and guidance on completing them.
  • Our Accruals accounts pack (CC17) is designed for charities which have to prepare accruals accounts but which don't require an audit - typically this covers non-company charities with yearly incomes of between £100k and £250k.

We provide other guidance on accounting for charities.

Small Charities changes, transfers and winding up

Along with other non-company charities, small charities can make changes to the administrative procedures in their governing documents – see Changes to your governing document.

Small charities which:

  • have a yearly income of less than £10,000; and
  • do not have land which has to be used for the purposes of the charity; and
  • are not exempt charities,

have a further range of powers available to them.

We have information sheets that describe these powers and how to use them and appropriate declaration forms for charities that wish to:

See also our small charities page that outlines our approach to small charities and links to a range of operational guidance and useful publications.

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Changes to your charity’s governing document

If you wish to make changes to your charity’s governing document (that is, the document setting out the charity’s purposes and administrative provisions), we have provided a range of guidance and forms to help you complete the process.

Our booklet Changing your charity’s governing document (CC36) provides a general guide to the process. Exactly which process to use depends on:

  • the structure of your charity (company or non-company)
  • the powers in its governing document
  • its yearly income
  • the nature of the change.

The following information sheets provide more specific information:

  • changes to administrative powers and procedures for unincorporated charities – read this information sheet  CSD 1342A
  • changes to purposes for small unincorporated charities with a yearly income of £10k or less – read this information sheet  which also links to a declaration that can be used for this purpose

For charitable companies, our staff guidance Charitable Companies: Amendments to memorandum and articles of association (OG47) sets out which changes need our authority before they can take effect and which do not. There is also:

  • an information sheet pdf icon small (CSD1388A) that gives a summary of the law and our policy on regulated alterations to the memorandum and articles of association of charitable companies; and
  • an application form pdf icon small (CSD1388B) to use when you need the Commission’s consent to alterations and to notify us of a change of name.

Non-company charities that have yearly incomes over £10k but no power of amendment should contact Charity Commission Direct with details of the changes.

Whenever a change is made to a registered charity’s governing document, the trustees must send us the details. Linked to our information sheet CSD 1342A is a form you can download to tell us about changes made using a power of amendment which :

  • is appropriate to the change that’s being made; and
  • does not require our consent for the change to take effect.

For charities with incomes of £20k or less, there are special forms which can be used to let us know of changes which need our consent before they take effect.

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Selling your charity’s land

If your charity’s trustees are planning to sell or lease land to someone closely connected with your charity (for example, a trustee or an employee or their close relatives) they'll need our consent before completing the transaction. Find out more about this and use our forms pdf icon small and guidance pdf icon small to enable them to apply to us for this consent.

Our publication Disposing of Charity Land - (CC28) provides advice generally about trustees’ duties when selling or leasing their charity’s land.

If your charity is a recreation ground, we’ve provided an information sheet on the special considerations that apply when selling or leasing them.

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Simplifying the legal title to your charity’s land

If your charity owns or leases land, you will need to make sure its ownership (or “title”) is properly set up. Unless your charity is a company, it is not possible simply to register the title in the name of your charity – instead, it has to be held in the names of individuals on behalf of the charity. A simpler, free alternative is for the Official Custodian to hold the title for your charity. Read our guidance pdf icon small (CSD 1343A) on what is involved and use this application form pdf icon small (CSD 1343B) to apply to do this.

You can find further information about the Official Custodian on our website.

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Making payments to your charity’s trustees

The law says that a trustee can claim essential expenses for acting as a trustee but cannot receive any other payment from their charity unless there is a specific authority. For example, the Charities Act 1993 (as amended by the Charities Act 2006) provides a specific power to pay trustees for good or services they provide to the charity. It is also possible that such authority exists in your charity’s governing document. In all cases, it is essential that any conditions attached to the authority are strictly followed. Where none of these authorities is suitable, it will be necessary to approach us if the trustees consider that paying one or more of their number is necessary.

We have a range of guidance covering this area.

Spending permanent endowment

Most charities with permanent endowment can consider spending such property. Deciding what is or is not permanent endowment can sometimes be a complex area. We suggest you read our guidance – information sheet CSD1347A – which helps to explain it.

Having read the guidance, you can decide what action is appropriate for your charity and you can then access the necessary form(s) available on that page.

Bringing your charity to an end

If your charity’s trustees have decided to close your charity, they need to remove it from the register by supplying us with certain information.

  • If your charity’s yearly income was under £20k, use this form pdf icon small (CSD 1344B). We have provided a guidance note pdf icon small (CSD 1344A) with further information on this;
  • If your charity’s income was over £20k, use this form pdf icon small (CSD 1077) after reading, if necessary, our guidance note pdf icon small (CSD 1077A).

For information generally about the law and policy that we follow when removing a charity from the register, when it has closed or stopped operating, see the Operational Guidance we provide for our staff.

Many small charities cannot wind up because they have investments which can never be spent (“permanent endowment”). But there are special provisions which allow these restrictions to be removed so that charities can spend the permanent endowment and wind up.

Our publication Maintenance of an accurate register (RR6) provides guidance about removing from the register organisations that still operate but are no longer charitable.

Registering a charity merger

For charities that have merged, registering a charity merger will ensure that legacies and gifts can be applied to the successor charity.

If you:

  • wish voluntarily to register your charity merger; or
  • are required to register because you have used a 'Vesting Declaration'

you will need to use the notification form CSD-1162 pdf icon small. Before completing the form please read the notes that accompany it and also Operational Guidance OG60 The Register of Mergers. The official Register of Mergers is held and maintained by Charity Commission Direct. You can see a web version of the register which is updated weekly.

For more general information please see:

Registering a merger is not the same as registering a charity. See above for information on Registering a Charity.

Apply for an independent examination in place of an audit

Provided a charity's governing document does not require an audit, trustees may apply to the Commission for a dispensation to have an independent examination in place of an audit provided there are exceptional circumstances that mean that even though the charity's income for the year exceeds the audit threshold an independent examination is more appropriate. When applying, trustees need to provide the Commission with the necessary information so a decision can be made. For more information about when you might apply for a dispensation refer to section OG 15 B3 of our guidance OG15 Charity accounts and reports and for the relevant application letter refer to section OG 15 L1.

Apply for consent for the Audit Commission, NAO or Wales Audit Office to act as our charity's auditor

Charities where an NHS Foundation Trust or Local Authority are the managing corporate trustee and certain charities closely linked with Central Government may wish to appoint the Audit Commission, National Audit Office or Wales Audit Office to review their charity accounts. Our approval is required where a non-Companies Act auditor is to be appointed. The process involves a letter of application and refer to section OG15 L1 of our guidance OG15 Charity accounts and reports for the application letter.

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