Who are the top fundraisers?

By Tobin Aldrich

19th March 2025

I’ve long been frustrated by the lack of really good information on which charities in the UK raise the most money. The Charities Aid Foundation used to produce a Top 100 Charities list but it has been many years since that has been updated.  So, at AAW, we have been developing our own data and now we are making it available to the sector.

We have carried out an in-depth analysis of the top 100 fundraising charities in the UK based on voluntary income for the financial year ending in 2023. And we have compared that to the same data from 2019.

The data is sourced from audited accounts and curated to exclude entities that, while appearing in the rankings, do not primarily engage in fundraising (for example, grant-making trusts, universities and religious organisations primarily serving faith communities). The report categorises charities by their primary cause area and evaluates income growth, legacy and donations income, and fundraising expenditure.

We’ve tried to deal with the major anomalies that bedevil such exercises, such as the different ways charities categorise income and expenditure. The results won’t be perfect, but this should be the most reliable list that’s available.

The results are very interesting. You’ll have to read the report for the full story but some snippets are:

• 81 of the charities in the top 100 in 2019 feature on the 2023 list. Seven charities in the top 10 in 2019 also remain in the 2023 top 10 list.

• The highest proportion of income in the top 100 came from charities dealing with international causes and that has risen since 2019. But this was heavily influenced by major humanitarian appeals, such as raising funds for Ukraine.

• Armed forces, disability and children’s charities all fell as a proportion of income compared to 2019.

• The charity which raised the most money in donations from the public in 2023 isn’t who you probably think it is.

We are making the report available for free to the first 100 people who ask for it. Please click here to order your copy.