Starting a charity is more like incorporating a company than most founders expect — a sequence of decisions and registrations, in the right order. Here's the whole path, condensed.

Before you register

  1. Confirm your purposes are charitable. UK law recognises specific charitable purposes (relief of poverty, education, health, community development, environment and more), and everything you do must be for public benefit. If your aims don't fit — or you want founder control and salaries — a CIC may suit you better (see our structure guide).
  2. Choose a structure. For most new charities that will employ people or hold assets, a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) gives charity status plus limited liability with only one regulator. Charitable companies and unincorporated associations are the alternatives.
  3. Recruit trustees. Usually at least three unrelated trustees, unpaid, who genuinely govern. Funders and the regulator look at your board — assemble it thoughtfully, not from whoever's nearest.
  4. Adopt a governing document. Your constitution — purposes, powers, how trustees are appointed and decisions made. The Charity Commission's model documents are a sound starting point.

Registering

  • England & Wales: you must register with the Charity Commission once income exceeds £5,000 — except CIOs, which register at any level (a CIO doesn't legally exist until registered).
  • Scotland: register with OSCR (from the outset).
  • Northern Ireland: register with CCNI.
  • Then HMRC: register separately for charitable tax status and Gift Aid — this is what unlocks the tax reliefs, and it's a distinct step from charity registration.

Your first-year compliance calendar

  • Annual accounts — prepared under the right framework for your size (receipts-and-payments or SORP accruals — see our accounts guide).
  • Annual return to the Charity Commission (and Companies House too, if you're a charitable company).
  • Trustees' annual report — your story and public benefit, increasingly what funders read first.
  • Independent examination once income passes £25,000.
  • Gift Aid claims — start collecting declarations from day one; you can claim back up to 4 years.
  • Payroll & pensions from your first employee.
Set the finances up right on day one A separate bank account with dual authorisation, fund-aware bookkeeping from the first transaction, and Gift Aid registered early. Retrofitting these after a year of mixed records and lost declarations is the expensive way — we set new charities up properly from the start.

Or skip the untangling

We help social founders choose a structure, register correctly with the right regulators and HMRC, set up the right fund-coded bookkeeping for your type of organisation, register and run Gift Aid, and stay compliant through year one — from £39 + VAT a month. Start here.