THE UK'S LEADING CHARITY VERIFICATION EXPERTS

CAF is a not-for-profit organisation helping to make giving count.

To do this our Charity Verification team helps to make the process of giving secure and efficient, so that donations from our individual and corporate donors go to legitimate charities in a timely manner. We have recently launched a new online grant eligibility application for charities, making it easier and quicker for charities to get verified.

Overview of Charity Verification

Providing robust due diligence to ensure your donations go to genuine charitable causes.

WHAT IS CHARITY VERIFICATION?

Charity verification is the process by which we check a charity is legitimate. It’s often the most important reason our clients choose to work with us. The process is especially valuable for donors who want to give money to overseas charities. Some organisations operate in countries that don’t have a charity regulator, or where laws on financial crime and money laundering are weak. Our charity verification work service makes it possible for donors to give confidently to non-regulated charities.

Charity verification also protects charities, because we make sure every donation complies with all relevant UK laws.

 

Secure

Our expert team approve millions of pounds worth of donations for our donors every year.

Trusted

Our donors trust us to approve their donations to thousands of charities and social enterprises every year.

Global

Our expert team approve donations to charities and social enterprises from over 40 countries around the world every year.

Connected

We are founding partners of the CAF global alliance and the Transnational Giving Europe network.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

CAF’s robust charity verification and due-diligence process gives us reassurance and allows us to focus our efforts on the programme delivery and implementation.

ViiV Healthcare

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

  • How long does charity verification take?

    Our standard charity verification process, which we use for UK registered organisations, is usually quick. We’ve already vetted thousands of UK charities, meaning we can pass on donations almost immediately. If an organisation is not on our vetting list but is registered as a UK charity, then we can usually vet them within a week and pass on donations very quickly after.

    If an organisation is not registered in the UK, then verification takes longer. This is because we use our non-standard verification process, which involves more checks. We allow a maximum of three months for organisations to complete the GEA and send us the relevant documents. Once we receive the information, we can usually complete our checks within two days. We’ll then let the donor and organisation know whether we’ll be passing the money on.

  • How can I help speed up the verification process?

    If you’re a donor, you can help us by making sure your donation request includes: the full name and address of the organisation you’re donating to, their charitable registration number (if they have one) for non-UK registered organisations, the name and email address of a person at the charity. It also really helps if you let them know you’re intending to make a donation, and that we’ll be in touch with them.

    If you’re a charity, you can help us by: sending us all the information we ask for quickly and only sending us information in English. As a UK-based charity, we won’t be able to translate any material which is not in English.

  • Do you carry out re-verification of charities?

    Yes. We carry out re-verification from time to time, to check the charity is still legitimate and that any donations will continue to be put to good use. For UK charities, we regularly monitor publicly available details, periodically consult the organisation’s regulator, and carry out further checks when we’re told about any changes at the charity. Normally re-verification is quick, and we can do it without having to get in touch with staff at the charity.

    We also carry out periodic re-vetting of non-UK organisations. This involves repeating the initial non-standard charity vetting process, so we’ll ask for a full GEA as well as relevant documents.

  • Once a non-UK registered has been verified, how quickly can repeat donations be made?

    Once an organisation has been verified through our nonstandard process, repeat donations can normally be made quickly. We’ll check the organisation is still legitimate and that the money will once again be put to good use. But, so long as a re-verification isn’t due, we can usually make these checks without getting back in touch with the charity. Just how quickly a repeat payment can be made will depend on the size of the donation, and on the current circumstances in the country the organisation is operating in. We do sometimes need to ask for more information on the donation, including details of how previous donations were spent.

Some important changes

We regularly review and update our processes and policies and are pleased to announce a change to some of the requirements for our overseas beneficiaries.

Read about the changes

RESOURCES FOR DONORS AND CHARITIES

Find a charity


Our charity search tool allows you to find charities working in the areas you're interested in and donate to them straight away.

Resources for charity trustees


Good governance is essential for charities to be effective, accountable and sustainable. Explore our useful resources for charity trustees and leaders.

Donations tools: CAF Donate


CAF Donate makes taking donations easier. Use it to set up online donation pages, process Direct Debits, manage postal/phone donations, and much more.