Welcome to the Charities Aid Foundation

We help donors to give more impactfully and charities to build their resilience so they can do more of their life-changing work.

Personal giving From one-off donations to long-term giving, or designing your personal philanthropic strategy, we work together to help you realise your giving ambitions. Corporate giving You have the vision for making a difference. So do we. We help you plan how to give based on your goals. Services for charities Helping your charity or social enterprise become more resilient. Insights Discover the latest insights for donors and charitable organisations to help create a greater impact About us We are a leading charity, working at the centre of the giving world. We help donors to give more impactfully and charities to build their resilience so they can do more of their life-changing work. Donate  
 
 
 

Personal giving

From one-off donations to long-term giving, or designing your personal philanthropic strategy, we work together to help you realise your giving ambitions.

DISCOVER OUR PERSONAL GIVING SOLUTIONS

Corporate giving

You have the vision for making a difference. So do we. We help you plan how to give based on your goals.

DISCOVER OUR CORPORATE GIVING SOLUTIONS

Services for charities

Helping your charity or social enterprise become more resilient.

DISCOVER HOW WE SUPPORT CHARITIES

Insights

Discover the latest insights for donors and charitable organisations to help create a greater impact

Explore

About us

We are a leading charity, working at the centre of the giving world. We help donors to give more impactfully and charities to build their resilience so they can do more of their life-changing work.

Find out more about CAF

Elevating impact for the charities you support

Tailored support to help funders, donors and change-makers do more for the charities they support.

Enabling greater impact for funders

We work to enable funders and individual donors from all sectors be more effective in their giving. By investing in the health of the charities you support, you can help realise their potential so that they can thrive in the long-term. 

Are you looking to give more than project-based funding? Our bespoke, strategic advisory services draw on decades of experience, in-depth sector knowledge and respected research, to provide the tools and insight to strengthen charities’ long-term resilience.

Contact the charity advisory team

Our core areas of organisational development expertise

Strategic planning 

We can help create strategies that will produce real results over the long-term. We work with charities and their funders to identify options, deliver the agreed course of action and articulate the impact. This may include:

  • Developing a theory of change
  • Reviewing internal and external stakeholders
  • Benchmarking
  • Analysing return on investment
  • Promoting a culture of philanthropy

Diversifying income 

We can help develop a plan to strengthen and diversify cash flow, identify which untapped sources of funding offer the best potential and develop a fundraising strategy to capitalise on these opportunities. This may include:

  • Fundraising strategy
  • Fundraising techniques
  • Identifying new income streams
  • Mapping a proposition
  • Developing a case for support
  • Prospect research

Governance 

We can advise on structuring and recruiting charity boards, fostering effective team work, and review how well an organisation's governance meets its obligations. This may include:

  • Skills audit
  • Terms of reference
  • Role of trustees in partnership building
  • Trustee recruitment

How we work with funders

A bespoke approach

We work with trusts, foundations, government departments, corporates, and individual philanthropists to strengthen the capacity of their partners, national offices or grantees. From one-off pilot projects to long-standing arrangements, our support for funders and their grantees is tailored to meet our clients’ needs.

To kick-start a conversation about how we might best be able to support your specific needs and those of the charities you support, simply fill in our contact form. 

Some of our recent clients: 

  • Corporates: Lloyds Bank Foundation, Warburtons, ABI. 
  • Trusts and foundations: Young Camden Foundation, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, John Lyons Foundation, Impetus, The Fore
  • Government departments: Environment Agency, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Office for Civil Society

Why funders choose us

Experience 

As a funder and grantmaker ourselves, we understand what’s required to make an impact where it’s needed most. During the pandemic, we delivered £6.5 million as part of our CAF Coronavirus Emergency Fund and a further £19 million through the CAF Resilience Fund.

Our decades of experience supporting charities stretches across broad areas including:

  • Organisational reviews
  • Funding and income generation strategies
  • Strategic planning, including futurology
  • Innovative fundraising strategies, i.e. digital fundraising and blended finance
  • Board development and governance

Charity insight

CAF’s offices support over 100,000 charities worldwide, with 14,000 charities using our award-winning banking and financial services.

We partner with businesses, individuals, social entrepreneurs and Government to realise greater impact through their giving. We are a market-leader in a wide range of corporate giving plans, working with household names and global corporations across sectors and borders.

All this gives us an excellent understanding of the sector and means we're well placed to help charities understand what motivates donors and how to attract their support.

Sector influence 

CAF acts as a voice for donors, charities and their beneficiaries to ensure their needs are heard.

Our respected research and policy work helps inform Government, industry, the media and the charitable sector, and shapes the giving landscape in the UK and around the world. 

We draw on our world-class research and expertise in the sector to develop our proposal for you and your grantees. 

Looking for expertise to help support the long-term resilience of the charities you care about? 

If you are a funder looking to invest in the long-term sustainability of your grantees or partners, CAF is here to help. Let us help you create meaningful change. 

Get in touch
heart monitor icon
Photo from the environment agency

Environment Agency: supporting catchment partnerships

How our pilot programme helped strengthen catchment partnerships’ resilience and long-term sustainability through better understanding the value of investment from the private sector.

Find out more

Group listening to team member, Streetscene

Lloyds Bank Foundation for England & Wales: enhanced support for local charities

How our advisory services help develop strategic planning, fundraising and governance for small and local charities in England and Wales to enhance their organisational resilience.

Find out more

Insights for funders

Our Creating Resilience report presents the key learnings from our three year pilot programme. It explores what resilience could mean for small charities, how resilience funding can be structured and the impact it can have.

Our findings detail key recommendations for funders looking to support charities to plan for the long-term and strengthen their resilience.

Creating Resilience report

Place-based giving schemes are a means of fostering local philanthropy, increasing investment in local communities and supporting the development of local places.

It’s an exciting way for funders to use their funds to respond to community needs and ensure the community has a genuine say in how funds are used.

Read our Insights for Funders