How to set up a charity: a step-by-step guide
Setting up a charity is more achievable than most people expect. There is no single form to fill in and no gatekeeper deciding whether your cause is worthy. There is a sequence of decisions, and if you take them in the right order the registration itself is largely administrative. This is that sequence.
Before you start: is a charity the right vehicle?
A charity must have purposes that are exclusively charitable and for the public benefit. That word "exclusively" does a lot of work. If your aims are broader than charitable purposes allow, or if you want to trade freely, or pay the founders in ways a charity cannot, then another structure such as a community interest company may fit you better and leave you far less constrained.
It is worth sitting with this honestly for an evening before going further, because it is the one decision that is genuinely hard to unwind. Assuming your purposes are charitable, the steps below take you through it.
The nine steps
1. Line up your trustees
Your governing document sets the legal minimum number of trustees. Beyond that, the Charity Commission generally recommends at least three unconnected trustees who understand they are taking on legal responsibility for the charity. "Unconnected" matters: a board of three siblings is not really three people making independent decisions.
A committed, suitably skilled board is the foundation of everything else, and it is far easier to recruit before you launch than after. If you are struggling, our guide on recruiting trustees when nobody replies covers what works beyond word of mouth.
2. Settle your charitable purposes
Write clear objects that fall within the recognised charitable purposes, and check they deliver identifiable public benefit. Your purposes shape everything the charity can and cannot do for the rest of its life. They are the boundary of your legal authority, not a mission statement. Vague objects feel liberating at the start and become a cage later, when a funder wants to give you money for something just outside them.
3. Choose a name
It must not be the same as, or too similar to, an existing charity, and must not be misleading or offensive. Check the register before you commit, before the logo, before the domain name, and certainly before the printed leaflets.
4. Choose your legal structure
Decide between an unincorporated association or trust, a CIO, or a charitable company. This determines your governing document, who regulates you, and whether trustees carry personal liability for the charity's debts. It is the second-hardest decision to change later, so it is worth a proper look: see our guide on choosing a legal structure.
5. Adopt a governing document
This is your charity's rulebook, its constitution, trust deed or articles, depending on the structure you chose. Using the Charity Commission's model document for your structure saves time and avoids mistakes, and it is what the Commission expects to see. Adapting a model is normal; writing one from scratch rarely repays the effort.
6. Open a charity bank account
A dedicated account keeps the charity's money separate from anyone's personal funds, and you will need its details when you apply to register, so open it before you register rather than after. Banks can be notably slow to set up accounts for new charities, sometimes taking months, so start this early. It is the step that most often holds people up.
7. Register with the Charity Commission
You must register once your annual income is £5,000 or more, and a CIO must register from the outset whatever its income. Different arrangements apply to exempt and excepted charities. You will need your trustees' details, your governing document, your bank details and a description of your public benefit.
8. Register with HMRC
Separately from charity registration, and this catches people out, you apply to HMRC to be recognised as a charity for tax purposes. This is what lets you claim Gift Aid and access charitable tax reliefs. Being on the Charity Commission register does not do it for you.
9. Put the basics in place
Get your essential policies, appropriate insurance and simple record-keeping set up so you start on a sound footing rather than retrofitting it in year three. Our guide to your first year as a registered charity covers what to have ready before your first board meeting.
Thresholds and the four nations
The £5,000 registration threshold and the process above apply in England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own rules and their own regulators. Notably, both currently require charities to register regardless of income, so there is no threshold to sit below, though Northern Ireland is considering introducing one in future.
Scotland's regulator is OSCR and its equivalent incorporated structure is the SCIO rather than the CIO. If you will operate across a border, check where you need to register before you launch: our guide to charity law across the four nations sets out who answers to whom.
Take your time on the foundations
The parts that are hardest to change later, your purposes, your structure and your governing document, are worth getting right at the start. Everything else can be refined as you grow. A charity that takes three months to set up properly will spend the following ten years not fixing things.
Frequently asked questions
How long does registration take?
It varies with how complete your application is and how straightforward your purposes are. Applications that stall usually do so because the objects are unclear or the public benefit is not evidenced, so time spent on those two before you apply is time saved afterwards. Allow for the bank account taking longer than the registration.
Can we start operating before we are registered?
An unincorporated group can exist and act before registering, subject to the income threshold that triggers the duty to register. A CIO is different: it only legally exists once the Commission registers it, so it cannot enter contracts or hold funds before that point. Build the wait into your timeline.
Do we need a solicitor?
Not usually, if you are using a Commission model governing document and your purposes are conventional. Advice is worth paying for where you are taking on property, staff or an unusual structure, or where your objects sit close to the edge of what is charitable.
Can trustees be paid?
Trusteeship is almost always unpaid. Expenses are fine and should be offered. Payment for the trustee role itself needs explicit authority in the governing document or Commission consent, and if paying founders is central to your plan, revisit whether a charity is the right vehicle at all.
This guide is general information for trustees and committee members, not legal or financial advice, and every charity is different. Rules can change, so always confirm the current position with the relevant regulator or a suitably qualified adviser before acting. Last reviewed October 2026.
Starting out and not sure what you have taken on?
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