Membership

Charity membership

We provide leadership, guidance and a supportive community for charity retailers in the UK. Our 470 members range from the largest national charities to locally based charities and hospices, running over 9000 shops between them.

Renew an existing membership
Apply for a new membership

Who can join?

  • Registered charities in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
  • Exempt charities
  • Charity subsidiary trading companies
  • Charitable community benefit societies
  • Overseas charities

The benefits

Leadership

  • Lobbying on issues such as business rates, reuse, recycling, safeguarding and Gift Aid
  • Gift Aid training and guidance in collaboration with HMRC
  • Regular and exclusive market analysis and bench-marking, covering turnover, number of shops, all sales streams, Gift Aid conversion, rag prices, salaries, selling prices
  • The leading sector events
  • Charity Retail Safeguarding Scheme (CRSS)
  • COVID: Regularly updated and reviewed COVID guidance for shops in all four nations complete with template risk assessments, shop operation procedures, posters and more.

Support

Community

  • A packed calendar of events
  • Regular online communications, keeping you in touch with the latest sector issues and opportunities
  • Online forum, giving you access to the best charity retail brains in the country
  • Case studies of innovation from across our membership
  • A board of directors who are representative of our membership as a whole

Annual fees

We have updated our membership fee structure to reflect the increase in store formats (e.g. superstores) and expansion into online operations. A full explanation for these changes is available here.

Please note that net selling space does NOT include the backroom, office, warehousing or rooms where selling is not done and the public is not admitted.

If your charity has 0-4 shops then it will not need to calculate selling space and will continue to be charged the flat rate of £233 + VAT for physical shops.

For other chain sizes, calculate your rate according to the size of your chain, as follows:

Charities with 0 – 4 physical shops

Your rate remains at £233 + VAT

Charities with 5 – 20 physical shops

A) Multiply the number of shops with a net selling space of 4,999 sq ft (464.5 sq m) or less by £47.50

B) Multiply the number of shops with a net selling space of 5,000 sq ft (464.5 sq m) to 9,999 sq ft (928.9 sq m) by £71.50

C) Multiply the number of shops with a net selling space 10,000 sq ft (929 sq m) or more by £142.50

Calculate your membership rate: Add the results of A, B, C together, add £50 if you have an online shop, and add VAT.

Charities with 21-100 physical shops

A) Multiply the number of shops with a net selling space of 4,999 sq ft (464.5 sq m) or less by £45.50

B) Multiply the number of shops with a net selling space of 5,000 sq ft (464.5 sq m) to 9,999 sq ft (928.9 sq m) by £68.25

C) Multiply the number of shops with a net selling space 10,000 sq ft (929 sq m) or more by £136.50

Calculate your membership rate: Add the results of A, B, C together, add £100 if you have an online shop, and add VAT.

Charities with 101 or more physical shops

A) Multiply the number of shops with a net selling space of 4,999 sq ft (464.5 sq m) or less by £38.50

B) Multiply the number of shops with a net selling space of 5,000 sq ft (464.5 sq m) to 9,999 sq ft (928.9 sq m) by £57.75

C) Multiply the number of shops with a net selling space 10,000 sq ft (929 sq m) or more by £115.50

Calculate your membership rate: Add the results of A, B, C together, add £200 if you have an online shop, and add VAT.

Application

Now you know your fees – go ahead and renew an existing membership or apply for a new membership.

Renew an existing membership
Apply for a new membership

Cancellation policy

If you cancel an applied-for membership and have been using our services we will charge a pro rata fee up to the point of cancellation, plus a £10 + VAT admin fee.

If you cancel an applied-for membership and we can see that you have not been using our services we will charge 25% of your membership fee as an admin fee.