The Charities Aid Foundation is a registered UKcharity. CAF provides services and assistance to UK and international charities and their donors, and promotes general donation to charities. Its head office is located in the Kings Hillbusiness park, West Malling, Kent with a second office in London on St Bride Street, EC4A 4AD.
History
In 1924 the National Council of Social Service set up a Charities Department to encourage efficient giving to charity. This department was later renamed the Charities Aid Fund while the National Council of Social Service became the National Council for Voluntary Organisations. The Charities Aid Foundation took its current name in 1974 when it was spun off from the NCVO as an independent organisation. Its projects include the CAF Venturesome, a high-risk investment fund, and Charity Bank, which became independent in 2002.
Activities
CAF provides services to charities, businesses and individuals in the UK and abroad, including help with fund raising, consultancy, and loans and grants.
Services to charities
CAF owns and operates CAF Bank which offers banking services to UK charities. Products include current accounts, free online banking including dual authorisation, term loans, development funding, working capital facilities, overdraft facilities and cashflow funding. On 17 October 2016 CAF will be changing their terms and conditions, including introducing a £5 monthly charge for every cash account held. It was the first bank to offer its services exclusively to not-for-profit organisations. CAF Bank Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority and is covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service. CAF also owns and operates CAF Donate, an online donation processing platform giving charities the tools to fundraise through the web, mobile devices and Facebook and process donations received by post and phone. In 2016 CAF announced that the platform had processed over £50 million in donations to 2,300 charities. CAF supplief financial services to 1,250 charities and its profile has increased as US/UK anti money laundering rules has threatened existing charity bank accounts because they are considered high risk.
Services to businesses
CAF Give As You Earn is the most popular payroll giving scheme in the UK, helping around 2,700 companies and 200,000 staff to give over £70 million to charity each year. CAF Company Accounts enable companies to give tax effectively and to donate safely to any charitable organisation around the world. CAF also produce an annual report examining corporate giving by the FTSE 100.
Services to individual donors
CAF operates a Charity Account scheme, a system which acts like a current account for charitable giving. The account allows account holders to donate to charities through a personal account, by phone, post or online and can be opened with a minimum of £10. Donations are eligible for tax relief under the Gift Aid rules. Donations may be anonymous and, because payments can only be made to registered charities, the account prevents account holders from donating to bogus charities. Financial journalistMartin Lewis uses a Charity Account to hold the £10 million he pledged to charity following the sale of MoneySavingExpert.com
CAF release a global study of generosity, entitled the World Giving Index each year, which benchmarks most countries in the world across three measures - helping a stranger, donating money, and volunteering. Myanmar topped the CAF World Giving Index 2015
