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

Find a charity and donate

Search our database of over 160,000 charities and donate to the organisation that mean the most to you.

Donate now

Discover effective ways to give

We match our strategic, insight led approach with your giving ambitions, so you give in the way you want, to the causes you want, at the right time for you.

DISCOVER OUR PERSONAL GIVING SOLUTIONS

Get a giving account Give through a Charitable Trust Make a large, one-off gift Give through your payroll Give as a dual US/UK taxpayer Leave a legacy gift

Maximise your impact

From strategic advice to grantmaking and social investment, we can work together to drive meaningful change.

Explore our impact accelerator

Get strategic advice Provide social investment

Services for professional advisers

We offer seamless support and expertise to strengthen your own. A trusted philanthropy partner to help your clients make a measurable difference to the causes they care about.

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Resources for effective giving

Expert content to help inspire and inform your giving

EXPLORE OUR PERSONAL GIVING RESOURCES

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

Discover effective ways to give

We combine our in-depth sector expertise, governance support, and tax-efficient giving solutions to help your company (and your employees) make meaningful change.

EXPLORE OUR CORPORATE GIVING SOLUTIONS

Get a company giving account Set up payroll giving Set up a corporate foundation Inspire workplace fundraising

Maximise your impact

From strategic advice to grantmaking and social investment, we can work together to drive meaningful change beyond corporate charitable giving.

EXPLORE OUR IMPACT ACCELERATOR

Get strategic advice Create a grant programme Provide social investment

Resources for effective giving

Resources to help inspire and inform your corporate giving.

EXPLORE OUR CORPORATE GIVING RESOURCES

Services for charities

Helping your charity or social enterprise become more resilient.

DISCOVER HOW WE SUPPORT CHARITIES

Funding for charities

As a charity, we understand the financial challenges you face. We’re here to help strengthen the long-term resilience of your charity or social enterprise.

EXPLORE OUR FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

Fundraise online Manage your CAF donations Apply for an unsecured loan Apply for secured loan Prepare a grant application

Charity banking and investments

Through our subsidiaries CAF Bank and CAF Financial Solutions Limited (CFSL), we work with you to find the best place for your money.

EXPLORE OUR FINANCIAL SERVICES

Current account Savings accounts Secured loans Investments

Strategic consultancy

We've been working with charities for over 100 years. So, we know that if your charity is going to have real impact you need the right support and strategy in place.

LEARN MORE ABOUT CHARITY ADVISORY

Resources for charities

Expert resources to help navigate rising costs and build your charity’s resilience.

EXPLORE OUR RESOURCES FOR CHARITIES

Insights

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

Explore

Research

Discover insight into donor behaviour, key issues affecting charities and responses to significant UK events.

Explore

Blog

News and opinions from the experts in charitable giving and the sector

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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

100 years of CAF

From a £1,000 legacy to distributing over £1 billion to charities annually.

FOLLOW OUR JOURNEY

Governance and policies

As a registered charity (number 268369) we operate in a specific way. Learn more about how we are run with essential information on leadership and governance.

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Annual reports Our trustees and executives Legal and regulatory information Standards and conduct policy Sustainability commitment

Press office

View our latest press releases or contact us for commentary on philanthropy, corporate giving and issues facing the charity sector.

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Press releases Spokespeople

Public affairs and policy

We use our expertise in philanthropy and charitable giving to amplify the charity sector’s voice and needs, working with government, policy makers and regulators to bring about change.

EXPLORE OUR POLICY WORK

Partner with us

The CAF Network is a group of locally led, independent organisations from across the world. Our partners work at the forefront of philanthropy. They offer local expertise on pressing causes, and offer expertise on donating into their countries

Find out more

Careers

At the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), we don’t just talk about impact, we actively shape it. Find a rewarding and meaningful career at CAF, where together, we give more.

View our vacancies

Home Insights Research Charity Landscape

Inside Giving

Charity Landscape report

Charity leaders reveal the challenges and opportunities they're facing.

Read the report

Tracking the challenges facing the UK charity sector

Each year we survey charity leaders to understand the challenges they face, and assess how these challenges are impacting the sector’s ability to meet the needs of its beneficiaries.

The Covid-19 pandemic showed just how essential charities are within the community. Yet they face their own challenges of financial sustainability and addressing the increasing digital charity landscape. See the findings and recommendations for the future in our latest report.

Download the report

The obstacles and opportunities facing charity leaders

Income challenges

More than half of charity leaders (58%) say that generating income and achieving financial sustainability is one of their top three challenges, with an increasing number of charities planning to use reserves to cover income shortfalls.

Optimism for the future?

The majority of charity leaders (81%) are optimistic about the future of their organisation, however fewer are optimistic about the future of the charity sector in general (50%).

Government

While charity leaders agree that over the next five years government will view charities as service providers (69%), charities in Scotland and Northern Ireland are more likely to feel government values their input.

Technology

While the majority of charity leaders (89%) believe that technological change is relevant to their organisation, larger charities are more likely to have invested in tech solutions during the pandemic.

Online fundraising

Seven in 10 charity leaders (72%) reported introducing, or planning to introduce, new methods of giving; however only two in five charity leaders (41%) are increasingly adopting online fundraising and only a quarter (24%) report having the knowledge to make this online fundraising truly effective.

Previous Charity Landscape reports

Our Charity Landscape report was first published in 2015 and was previously called the Social Landscape report.

Method

The survey was undertaken by CAF, working in partnership with ACEVO. Charity leaders were invited by email to take part in the online survey between 19 March and 26 May 2021.

A total of 1,080 responses were recorded, of these 699 were fully completed submissions and 381 were partial completes. Respondents were either customers of CAF Bank, or else members of ACEVO, ACOSVO or CO3 (all organisations which represent civil society leaders). Data is unweighted. Not all respondents answered every question. At least 708 CEOs answered this series of questions, including 440 respondents with a head office in England, 163 with a head office in Scotland and 87 with a head office in Northern Ireland.