Press Release

Charity information made more accessible than ever - new online profiles launched today

1 October 2008

Information on charities is now more accessible than ever before, thanks to a new version of the Charity Commission’s online register. The independent charity regulator has today launched the new register at www.charitycommission.gov.uk providing colour graphics and details of activities, trustees, key financial information and whether charities file their accounts and returns on time. For charities with incomes over £500,000, new financial profiles show what they receive and how they spend their money.  
 
The move is aimed at increasing the transparency and accountability of the charity sector and to help people access information about charities. Previously, the same financial information was available to the public but only in the form of written documents held online.   
 
Key features of the enhanced online Register of Charities include:
A detailed profile for charities with an income over £500,000 including easy-to-read graphs and text showing the charity’s income and spending, how many volunteers and employees they have and their track record for submitting accounts. A more succinct financial profile is available for smaller charities.  
Enhanced search facilities to search for recently registered charities, charities that have not filed their accounts with the Commission on time, and charities working in a particular field or particular geographical area.

Trustee cross-referencing and new print options that show if a particular trustee is also a trustee of other charities, and options to print off copies of a charity’s entry in colour or in black and white.
A Feedback section on the Welcome Page which invites users to tell the Commission what they think of the new online register and how it can be further improved.

Chair of the Charity Commission, Dame Suzi Leather, said:

“The public quite rightly expects to be able to see how charities are using their money. The new register will help the public do this by showing information about charities in a far more accessible way. It will enable us all to be better informed charity givers and supporters and make charities even more accountable to all their donors and beneficiaries. Most charities have an excellent story to tell and we hope this will lead to a more open, transparent sector that welcomes the scrutiny of those that fund it.”
 
Ben Wittenberg, Director for Policy and Research at the Directory of Social Change said;
 
“In terms of improving public access to information on charities, I think the new site functionality is a really big and positive step and absolutely what the Commission should be doing.”

Last year 98% of the charity sector’s income was accounted for in the accounts sent into the Charity Commission. Of the 190,000 charities on the Register of Charities, two-thirds have an income of less than £10,000 a year. The 9,000 charities that have an income of more than £500,000 are expected to provide more detailed information on their finances due to the larger amounts of money they are responsible for. The new colour graphics are charts generated from this information. Smaller charities with an income of less than £10,000 are required to send in annual updates and prepare accounts but not submit those to the Commission.
 
According to recent Ipsos MORI research for the Charity Commission,* 96% of people believe it is important that charities provide public information on how they spend their money.
 
The Ipsos MORI research, conducted in February 2008, also found that:
85% of the public say they give to charity
nearly half (47%) say they have donated goods in the last year
nearly one third (32%) say they have given time.
 
Last year (June 07-June 08) there were nearly 15 million page views of the current online Register of Charities, which accounts for more than half of all page views on the Charity Commission website.