Charity membership
“We are delighted to become members and the wealth of information and resources is already proving to be invaluable!”
Beth Marsh, Guide Dogs for the Blind, CRA Member 2016
We provide leadership and support for charity retailing in the UK. Our 388 members range from the largest national charities to locally based charities and hospices, running over 8500 shops between them.
- Industry-standard Gift Aid training and guidance in collaboration with HMRC, following the successful completion of negotiations on the revised guidance
- Effective lobbying and PR on key issues, such as business rates, waste disposal charges, Gift Aid improvements, and donated stock
- Promotion of best practice and high standards, including our Primary Authority partnership with Salford City Council and Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service
- Generating increased public support for charity retailing, for example Style Me In Seconds, our one-week pop-up fashion event from Spring 2016 with ongoing Instagram promotion, and our Social Value work – both of these projects now have toolkits so you can run such projects yourself.
- Discounted attendance to the sell-out, two-day Charity Retail Conference, Exhibition and Awards
- Regular, exclusive market analysis and benchmarking reports, covering shop chain number change and turnover, all shop sales streams, gift aid conversion, rag prices, salaries, selling prices and more
- Free legal advice line and free security hotline
- Interest groups and members’ meetings – valuable networking opportunities in 6 subject areas
- Sharing of knowledge through our online forum, giving you access to the best charity retail brains in the country
- Discounted recruitment advertising and property advertising
- Access to the exclusive members’ area of our website, containing a wealth of guidance and resources
- Regular news and events updates, keeping you in touch with the latest sector issues and opportunities
Membership is open to:
- Registered charities in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
- Exempt charities
- Charity subsidiary trading companies
- Charitable community benefit societies
… that run or are interested in running shops.
Charities outside the UK may apply to be Overseas Members (this also applies to the Channel Islands and Isle of Man).
Membership applications are subject to approval by the CRA Board of Directors.
We run a 15 months for the price of 12 offer. This commences in December 2016 so applications can take effect as of 1 January 2017, seeing your membership through until 31 March 2018.
Charities who join between 1 September – 30 November 2017, and were not already a member between 1 April 2016 and 31 March 2017, can take advantage of our half price membership offer – which offers a taster of membership with the CRA. The membership year ends 31 March 2018, when ALL 2017-18 members will be requested to renew membership.
If you would like to go on our mailing list to receive these mailings please contact Susan Meredith.
Please read carefully as invoices will be based on the following information. The appropriate fee band will be calculated based on the number of permanent shops.
Permanent shops
- Minimum fee: £220 plus VAT pa
- Charities with 0-4 shops: £220 plus VAT pa (ie. the minimum fee)
- Charities with 5-20 shops: £52.25 plus VAT per shop pa
- Charities with 21-100 shops: £44 plus VAT per shop pa
- Charities with 101+ shops: £36 plus VAT per shop pa, up to max 550 shops
Temporary and overseas shops
- Temporary shops are in, or expected to be in operation for less than 6 months at 1 January 2016
- Overseas membership is for charities running shops outside the UK
- Temporary and overseas shops are charged at half the rate for permanent shops plus VAT, subject to minimum fee of £220 plus VAT per annum.
Membership year: 1 April to 31 March
Please do not send payment with your application as you will be invoiced for your membership fees. You can then pay by either cheque or BACS. We do not accept credit card payments.
Membership fees at a glance
Fees below are net and per annum. No price increase from 2016-17.