Local animal charity not displaying charity number

Fen1 · 3 September 2015 at 10:19AM

I've donated some stuff to a local charity, but then realised that I didn't see a charity number on their website. Do all charities have to display their number? How can I double check that they are legitimate?
My donation was just a few cans of pet food- nothing major to have lost, but I am concerned about donating more, especially money.

Mojisola · 3 September 2015 at 10:21AM

Have you asked them what their registration number is?

Stevie_Palimo · 3 September 2015 at 10:24AM

Don't donate to them then if you are unsure.

martindow · 3 September 2015 at 12:05PM

You can check here

https://www.gov.uk/find-charity-information

It does say though that very small charities are not required to register so they could be in that category.

PlutoinCapricorn · 3 September 2015 at 12:31PM

A charity needs £5,000 to register, so many tiny ones have not got a Charity Commission number. I would not give to an unregistered charity unless I knew them personally.

Fen1 · 3 September 2015 at 12:48PM

Thank you for all the replies. The charity is very small and dependent on goodwill. They probably don't meet the £5000 limit. I will ask next time I meet one of their volunteers.

PlutoinCapricorn · 3 September 2015 at 1:27PM

After all the recent revelations, such small local charities might be the ones who put your money to best use.

princeofpounds · 3 September 2015 at 4:04PM

Even if they are a bit over 5k, it's still possible they haven't registered properly.

But this is often no sign of anything more than bureaucratic sloppiness - it's still quite possible that all the money goes on charity work even if they don't realise they need to fill in a form.

But I would agree that you would need to know the charity to be confident in donating. In this case, if they are clearly looking after dogs that need care, and they are accepting dog food, it is highly likely the donation is going where needed. Unless the staff have a personal taste for dog food or a back-street pet food shop!

Often charities run by one or two volunteers are technically more efficient to donate to, as there are no administrative costs, but obviously they only work for causes that don't require scale to tackle.

I would also note that actually having a charity number isn't a guarantee of anything much. The charities commission is not an especially effective regulator and there are probably many registered charities out there that are involved in dodgy activities - I personally have seen examples of muslim and ethnic 'relief' organisations sending resources to nasty people and 'charitable' accommodation organisations run for the enrichment of staff , but I'm sure it happens in all sorts of areas.

Seanymph · 10 September 2015 at 7:38AM

I found myself smiling - I can see how the reassurance of a properly registered charity, and vision of accounts, is vital if you are handing over cash, or making a bequest.

But in this case what on earth would these people do with a few tins of dog food? What sort of scam would it be where that was what they were trying to 'con' out of the OP?

It's probably safe to say that the donation was to ensure a pooch got some food - it's dog food, it got fed to a dog without a shadow of a doubt.

I don't gift to chuggers at all, I try not to put in a tin if it looks like someone is paid for it, I've cancelled all my direct debits, and pick the odd charity now that comes across my path and give them money direct (Smalls for All was last month).

So I'm not for chucking money at profiteering scam mongerers. But I think a couple of tins of dog food are pretty much guaranteed to be used for the intended purpose.

Local animal charity not displaying charity number

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