TIPS FOR USING THE CHARITY SEARCH

SEARCHING FOR A CHARITY

Our charity search database holds details of thousands of charities based in the United Kingdom.

The fewer search criteria you use, the more likely you are to find matches in our database. However, you may want to find charities in a particular cause area or location. The filters described below will help you focus your search and find the charity you are looking for.

KEYWORD

Think of a keyword or phrase that best sums up what you want to find. This might be:

  • the name of a charity, eg 'Charities Aid Foundation'
  • a cause area, eg 'famine relief'
  • a beneficiary group, eg 'support for parents of autistic children'
  • a location, eg 'Whitstable'
  • a medical condition, eg 'cancer'

USING WILDCARDS

Can't remember the exact spelling of a charity? You can use a "wildcard" to increase the chances of finding a match. For example, entering 'barnardo*' as a keyword will find all instances of the charity Barnardo's.

EXACT MATCH

Ticking the 'exact match' box will return results which precisely match your search terms. You can use this to limit the number of results.

For example, you might know that the name of the charity you are looking for includes the term 'child welfare'. However, a search using this phrase returns over 120 results. If you tick the 'exact match' box, the number of results are reduced to fewer than 30, making it easier to find the charity you want.

CHARITY LOCATION

You can filter your search results based on the charity's location -  this is restricted to charities based within the United Kingdom. Just enter a town, city or postcode, and the results will be limited to charities based within a five mile radius.

Within radius

Used together with the 'Charity location' field, this allows you to change the radius to ten or twenty-five miles.

Charities operating outside UK*

Ticking the 'Charities operating outside UK' box will include only those charities based or operating outside the United Kingdom.

CHARITABLE ACTIVITY*

You can narrow your search based on the activity area of the charity.

INCOME RANGE*

You can filter your search results based on the annual income of the charity. The income bands are:

  • under £1,000 per annum
  • £1,000 - £9,999 per annum
  • £10,000 - £99,999 per annum
  • £100,000 - £249,999 per annum
  • £250,000 - £999,999 per annum
  • £1 million - £1.5 million
  • £1.6 million - £9.9 million
  • over £10 million per annum

CHOOSING A CHARITY FROM THE RESULTS

The search results display a list of the charities that match your criteria. The number of charities found is shown at the top of the page.

The results are listed in order of relevance, so the charities that most closely match your search criteria will be first in the results.

You can sort the results using the links above the table.

If you want to read a charity's profile, click on its name.

If you can't find the charity you want, or there are too many results, you can refine your search and try again.

VIEWING A CHARITY'S PROFILE

The charity profile page displays information about the charity:

  • Mission statement
    Details of the charity's activities and cause
  • Contact details
    Address, telephone number, website and email
  • Financial information
    The charity's income and expenditure
  • Area of operation
    Whether the charity operates locally, nationally or overseas

MAKING A DONATION

Once you have chosen a charity, you can click the 'Donate' link on either the search results page or on the charity's profile page.

You will then be asked to select a method of donation:

  • From your CAF Charity Account: You will be asked to log into your account. You will have the option of proceeding with your donation, or searching again for another charity to donate to.
  • Using a credit/debit card: Make a one-off donation to the charity using your credit or debit card

Return to charity search

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* Please note that using the advanced options may mean that some charities will be excluded from the search results. This is because we don't have information such as income range for every charity.