Because it holds detailed information on every charity in England and Wales, GuideStar UK is a great resource for people who to give to charity. You can use keywords to find charities that are doing work that interests you, and to help you with your search, you can use the advanced search tab to identify charities by income, size, location and area of benefit.
Beyond GuideStar there is a wide array of organisations that promote giving and advise on ways to do it. We have listed some of them below. This is not an exhaustive list and if we’ve missed something you think is useful, please get in touch!
Online Giving Websites
We do so much on line now a days and use the internet to make so many of our daily activities easier, from banking to shopping to deciding what film to watch or which restaurant to eat at. So why not use the internet to give to charity? There are several online giving websites that help you give to causes that you care about. Here are some of them:
Tax Effective Giving
Gift Aid
If you are going to give to charity, why not increase the value of your gift by make the government contribute as well? If you're a UK taxpayer, make sure you are aware of the
Gift Aid scheme - opens new browser window that promotes tax efficient giving.
Payroll giving
Your donation is deducted from your salary before tax – so the charity receives your donation before tax is deducted from it. This means that the charity doesn't have to reclaim it from HMRC, and it costs you less to give. For example each £1.00 you give will only cost you 80p, and if you're a higher rate tax payer it will only cost you 60p.
Capital gains tax
When you give an asset away to a charity, or sell it to a charity for less than it cost you, you're treated as making no gain or loss for Capital Gains Tax purposes, so you won’t have to pay any Capital Gains Tax.
Find out more - opens new browser window.
Income tax
If you give UK land, property or qualifying shares to a UK charity, or sell them to a charity at less than their market value, you can claim Income Tax relief and lower your tax bill.
Find out more - opens new browser window.
Other ways of giving
Give to charities in your local area
Donating shares
You can donate shares to
Share Gift - opens new browser window, which will sell them on the stock market and distribute the proceeds to charities. This is a good way to donate shares if you have a small number of shares that would cost more to sell than they're worth.
Legacies and Wills
Remember a charity in your will
Legacies give you the chance to continue making a difference even after you're gone, and most gifts to charities are free of inheritance tax. You can either name a particular charity in your will or leave a sum of money to your executors with instructions as to how this should be distributed.
Your solicitor will be able to give you information on how charitable legacies can be including in your will. But you can also get guidance about leaving a legacy from
Remember a Charity - opens new browser window, an organisation that encourages people to leave legacy gift.
The CAF Legacy Service
As an alternative to naming a specific charity in your will you can make a gift through your will to the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), and let them know which charities you wish your money to go to. This service provides flexibility because it allows you to change your list of charities at any time without needing to update your will. You can find out more about the Legacy Service at the
Charities Aid Foundation - opens new browser window.
Reports about giving in the UK
Some of the information above was sourced from Which?. If you have any suggestions for additions please send them to info@guidestar.org.uk - opens new browser window.