Scotland has around 24,000 charities of different sizes and wide-ranging purposes, including community groups, religious charities, schools, universities and care providers. Many people give their money and time generously to help charities, which play a valuable role in enhancing life in our communities and beyond.  Particularly important are the tens of thousands of trustees who, on a voluntary basis (with some exceptions), sit on the boards and committees that run these charities.  It is a highly responsible and essential role, very demanding both in terms of the time and the energy required.

To be a Scottish charity, organisations must first meet the ‘Charity Test’ and then comply with on-going responsibilities, including reporting annually to OSCR. Our ‘Being a charity in Scotland’ guidance explains a charity’s duties in more detail.

Every Scottish charity has an entry in the Scottish Charity Register, a free resource maintained by OSCR that provides a varying amount of information on an organisation depending on its income.

Under the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005(the 2005 Act), all organisations that represent themselves as charities in Scotland must register with OSCR. This includes bodies that are established and/or registered as charities in other legal jurisdictions, such as England and Wales. The 2005 Act provides some exceptions where a cross-border charity represents itself as a charity but does not have substantive activity in Scotland. More information on cross-border charities can be found here.

The Scottish Charity Constituency Map is an online tool that shows Scottish charities by constituency regions and areas. It uses data from the Scottish Charity Register from October 2021 and excludes cross border charities.

Access the map here.

OSCR is a Non-Ministerial Department and part of the Scottish Administration following commencement of the 2005 Act.

Our work as Regulator ultimately supports public confidence in charities and their work.  Our vision is one of charities you can trust and that provide public benefit

We achieve this through:

Registration

We are Scotland's independent registrar of charities. We publish the definitive Scottish Charity Register of around 24,000 charities at http://www.oscr.org.uk, enabling the public to check charitable status and view financial and other information about charities. We consider over 1,000 new charity applications a year and grant our consent to over 700 existing charities to make changes.

Engagement

We aim to be a proportionate, fair and transparent regulator. We undertake outreach work with charity trustees and advisors through our own events and speaking at events organised by others, meeting around 2,000 charity trustees face to face each year. We publish a wide range of guidance material to assist all charity trustees in meeting legal and accounting requirements.

Enforcement

While we strive to be a supportive, preventative regulator, public confidence in charities demands that we take decisive, robust action where required. We consider around 350 concerns about charities each year. Over 80% of concerns are resolved within 9 months.

More information about OSCR’s work can be found in our Annual Reviews.

You can receive regular updates on our work and developments in the charity sector by:

• Following us on Twitter @ScotCharityReg and Facebook.
• Regularly visiting our website, http://www.oscr.org.uk
• Subscribing to OSCR Reporter, our e-Newsletter
  
  

All of our guidance is available on our website. If you are an elected member who holds a trusteeship, then the pieces of guidance described below are the basic essentials.  However, even if you are not, they should be useful in your current role. 

• Being a Charity in Scotland – designed to be used throughout a charity’s life, this guidance uses simple graphics and straightforward language to help those who run Scottish charities understand their responsibilities.
• Who’s in Control? - this guidance explains why clarity about who is in charge of a charity is crucial. This is particularly important for elected members who are also charity trustees. 
• Checklist for Elected members - assists newly elected members in understanding the role of a charity trustee and the associated duties and responsibilities.
• Charities and campaigning FAQs - general guidance for charities on campaigning about political issues.
• ALEOs report - a detailed review into the Arm’s External Length Organisations (ALEOs) that are registered as charities in Scotland.
  
  

These organisations help support charities:

• Local Third Sector Interfaces offer a range of support to voluntary organisations. A map of local Third Sector Interfaces can be found here.
• The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO).
• Third Sector Intermediaries are third sector organisations (TSOs) whose members are other TSOs and whose role is to support and represent those members. In May 2017, SCVO published an introduction to Scotland’s national TSOs that includes a directory.  Read the SCVO's introduction to intermediaries here.
• If a charity is part of an umbrella organisation, such as Early Years Scotland or the Development Trusts Association Scotland, the umbrella organisation or parent charity may be able to give them support
• Charities may need to consult a professional advisor. The Law Society of Scotland and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Scotland may be able to help identify a professional firm with expertise in charity law or accounting.