Guide
How to choose an animal charity to support
What should I check before supporting an animal charity?
Run six checks before you give: the organisation’s legal structure, where the money goes, whether impact is costed in pounds and actions, whether partner shelters are named, whether claims carry review dates, and whether you can reach a real person easily. This page shows how, with worked examples.
The six checks, one by one
Six questions separate a trustworthy animal cause from a vague one, and each takes minutes:
- Legal structure. Is it a registered charity, a community interest company, or a private business? Each is legitimate — what matters is that the form is stated plainly.
- Where the money goes. Can you trace a donation to a destination, not just a mission statement?
- Costed impact. Are claims priced in pounds and actions — "£10 feeds a dog for a week" — rather than left as sentiment?
- Named partners. Are the shelters or rescues doing the work identified, so you could check them too?
- Review dates. Do impact claims carry a "reviewed" date, so you know the prices are current?
- Easy contact. Is there a real email address a human answers?
A worked example: checking this site
Apply the six checks here. Legal structure: donations are received by World Animal Rescue Network CIC, a community interest company with a statutory asset lock — not a registered charity — which you can verify free at Companies House under company number 17298990. Costed impact: every gift tag in the shop is priced at the real cost of a named piece of care, and the prices are reviewed quarterly with partner shelters. Proof: every donation triggers a personalised e-certificate stating exactly what was funded. Contact: [email protected] reaches the team directly. Our about page sets the whole structure out in full.
Red flags that should stop you
Walk away from: impact claims with no numbers and no dates; no legal name or registration number anywhere on the site; pressure tactics that rush you past your own checks; and — a genuine warning sign — Gift Aid offered by an organisation that is not a registered charity, because only charities can claim Gift Aid. A cause that welcomes your questions is telling you something; one that deflects them is telling you more.
Common questions
What is an asset lock?
A legal rule written into a community interest company’s constitution — and overseen by the CIC Regulator — that the company’s assets must be used for its community purpose and cannot be stripped out for private gain. It is the closest equivalent CICs have to the protections charity law gives charities.
Is a CIC as trustworthy as a charity?
Different structure, same test: verifiable facts. A registered charity answers to the Charity Commission; a CIC answers to the CIC Regulator and files accounts at Companies House like any other company. Judge both on transparency — legal identity, costed impact, named partners — not on the label alone.
How do I check a company at Companies House?
Search the free public register at find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk by name or company number. You will see status, registered office, filing history and officers — for example, World Animal Rescue Network CIC under company number 17298990.