CAF is a group of charitable organisations in the UK and North America operating globally – the Charities Aid Foundation in the UK, Charities Aid Foundation America, Charities Aid Foundation Canada, and our American Donor Fund. These organisations work with corporate and individual donors to ensure their giving is impactful and provide strategic support to help charities.

In the UK, CAF also owns CAF Bank Limited and CAF Financial Solutions Limited (CFSL). They help charities to manage their finances and funds so they can continue to support causes and communities that matter to them.

What we do

- Make impactful giving easier

- Serve the charity sector

- Extend international reach

- Provide charity financial services

Where our journey began

It started with a £1,000 legacy.

At the Battle of the Somme in 1916, Captain Edward Vivian Dearman Birchall, a passionate philanthropist – wounded, yet still leading his men – wrote this note to a friend:

“If I am scuppered, I’m leaving you £1,000 to do some of the things we talked about.”

Three years later, his legacy was used to set up the National Council of Social Service (NCSS), which is known today as NCVO. In 1924, the NCSS set up a Charities Department to make giving easier – a department that would later become Charities Aid Foundation.