Our criteria for organisations

Reach Volunteering is a charity supporting charities and other similar organisations. To join your organisation must be:

• Based in the United Kingdom
• Able to demonstrate public benefit

You should already be operating, have demonstrated impact, and have a team involved. You must have a legal or organisational structure that ensures this public benefit is at the core of your operations. We define this in the following categories, each of which has its own criteria, outlined below:

• Charity
• Educational body
• Small or unincorporated organisation
• Society, cooperative or credit union
• Social Enterprise
• Not for profit
• Public sector body
• Other/not sure

Charity

You must be registered with the charity commission in England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.

We will ask for your charity number. This can usually be found at the bottom of your website, or by searching the relevant charity commission website.

• In England and Wales: the Charity Commission
• In Scotland, the Scottish Charity Regulator
• In Northern Ireland, the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland

Educational body

Non-fee paying or those with charitable or charity exempt status, including primary and secondary schools, academy trusts, universities, etc.

Small or unincorporated organisation

• Small unregistered voluntary associations (eg Scout groups, local sports clubs, out-of-school educational groups)
• Groups currently seeking to register as a charity
• Membership based unincorporated associations
• Non-political campaign groups
• Trade unions

To register under this category, we will ask you to confirm that you have articles of association and a defined community or membership benefit. You can not be registered as a for profit company (for instance as a limited company with Companies House). You should already be operating, have demonstrated impact, and have a team involved. 

Society, cooperative or credit union

Mutual societies including any of the following types:

• Cooperative society
• Community benefit society
• Credit society
• Building society
• Credit union
• Friendly society
• Registered society

Most housing associations and care homes would fit here.

You will be asked to provide your Financial Conduct Authority registration number so that we  can confirm your registration type. This can usually be found at the bottom of your website, or by searching the FCA Mutuals register.

Social enterprise 

To register as a Social Enterprise on our site, your organisation should have a clear social or environmental mission.

You must also be registered with one of the following bodies:

• Companies House, with one of the following structures: 
  • Limited by guarantee (without share capital)
  • Community Interest Company (CIC)
• Financial Conduct Authority, as a Registered Society
• Social Enterprise UK

You will be asked to provide your Company number or your Financial Conduct Authority registration number. This can usually be found at the bottom of your website, or by searching Companies House  or the FCA Mutuals register.

Alternatively, if you are a Social Enterprise UK member, you will be asked to provide a link to your listing in the Social Enterprise UK directory.  

Please note that we do not accept Social Enterprise organisations who are registered with Companies Houses as Limited Liability Partnerships or Limited Private Companies, except where they are also registered as CICs or are limited by guarantee. 

Not for profit

Your organisation should have a public benefit and should be registered with one of the following bodies:

• Companies House, with one of the following structures:
  • Not for profit
  • Limited by guarantee (without share capital)
  • Community Interest Company (CIC)
• Financial Conduct Authority, as a Registered Society;

You will be asked to provide your Company number or your Financial Conduct Authority registration number. This can usually be found at the bottom of your website, or by searching Companies House  or the FCA Mutuals register.

Public sector bodies

Eg Local government department, police, fire and rescue, Independent Monitoring Boards

Other/Not sure

We've designed our criteria broadly to accept many different types of organisations working towards good causes. If you think your organisation fits the spirit of our criteria, but is not included in the list above, you may still be able to register. 

To help ensure our limited resources are used in line with our mission, our service is not available to organisations:

• who are not based in the UK
• who are not yet operational 
• where there is not a team involved (e.g. a solo enterprise)
• whose primary purpose is profit making (e.g. private limited companies or LLPs, except where they are also registered as CICs or are limited by guarantee).

If you aren’t sure if your organisation meets our criteria to register, you can email us before registering for advice at help@reachvolunteering.org.uk. Be sure to describing your existing team, legal structure, and how you have provided public benefit through existing operations. 

Please note that we are a small charity with a very busy team. Selecting this option will, unfortunately, delay your organisation’s registration.