I'm not yet an ACF member

As a membership organisation, we can’t help you set up a trust or foundation but we can offer some signposts.

The Charity Commission for England and Wales offers a step by step guide. There’s a different process if you are in Scotland or Northern Ireland.

If you want to know about charity tax law, do also check out the government information.

We’ve written a brief note with some FAQs that you might also find helpful. And once you’re set up, please do consider joining the ACF community.

Yes. Whether your organisation is an ACF member or not, you can still create an account on our website. You just need to select 'Register' and fill in the form. Once you've submitted, your account will need to be manually approved by us. You'll receive a confirmation email once that's done.

ACF is a membership body for grant making organisations, it does not make any grants itself. If you are looking for funding, there are a number of organisations who provide further information including NCVO and Directory of Social Change (for organisations) and Turn2Us (for individuals).

Yes, some of them. While network meetings and other special events are exclusive to ACF members, some learning events are open to non-members that work in grant-making. You can find more information under each event listed. For more information, please contact [email protected].

Most research and resources are open to everyone regardless of membership status. However, member briefings and some publications are exclusive to ACF members. If you do not work for an ACF member, but do work within the grants/foundation sector, you are welcome to join ACF's Funder Network here.

The Stronger Foundations tool is only available to ACF members. You can still access the reports here.

You can indeed – while you won't receive any member only content, we can still send you news about ACF's work and details of any upcoming events that are open to non-members.

Yes. However, while ACF members benefit from a discounted rate, non-members pay full price.

If your organisation is not an ACF member, you will be required to pay by card at the time of booking.

No. All charitable foundations are invited to sign the Commitment whether or not they're an ACF member.

If you work for a grant-making organisation or charitable foundation, we offer a paid-for jobs posting service. To find out more about how to post a job and the costs please click here. (Please note, it’s part of ACF’s transparency policy that every job post includes the salary a range can also be accepted).

Membership fee will depend on your organisation's grant expenditure in the previous financial year. You can find the full table here or contact [email protected] with any questions.

ACF membership brings foundations together and provides support and information. Our activities support the growth and development of your staff team and foundation to help you be more ambitious and effective in the way you use your resources for social good. Becoming a member enables you to: • Connect with and learn from peers’ experiences
• Enhance your knowledge and skills in key operating factors and subjects relevant to foundations
• Stay abreast of the main issues affecting foundations across the UK
• Make evidence-based decisions on the best practice operation of your foundation
• Engage directly with ACF policy and policy-makers in government to ensure matters of importance to foundations are on the political agenda.

Membership applications can be made online through the ACF website. An individual from your organisation will need to register on the website here. Once their registration has been approved, they can submit an application by:

- Logging in to the website

- Click on ‘Become a member’ from the top menu bar and ‘Join ACF’

- Read the information on the page, and if you wish to submit an application click on ‘Compete our application form’ at the bottom on the page and fill in the form.

Once submitted your application will be reviewed by our membership team who will be in touch if they need any more information. If you have any questions about membership or need the application form in a different format, please email [email protected].

ACF is a membership body for grant making organisations, it does not make any grants itself. If you are looking for funding, there are a number of organisations who provide further information including NCVO and Directory of Social Change (for funding for organisations) and Application Portal | Lightning Reach (for funding for individuals)