# What is a charity number?

**Charity number**: A charity number is the unique registration number a charity receives from its regulator: the Charity Commission for England and Wales (six or seven digits), OSCR in Scotland (SC plus six digits) or the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland (NIC numbers). Funders use it to check the register.

- Also called: registered charity number, charity registration number
- Author: OpenGrant
- Updated: 2026-10-26
- Canonical URL: https://opengrant.co.uk/glossary/charity-number

A charity number is the registration number a charity receives from its regulator. In England and Wales the Charity Commission issues a six- or seven-digit number, in Scotland OSCR issues numbers in the form SC followed by six digits, and in Northern Ireland the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland issues NIC numbers. Charities in England and Wales with income under £5,000 need not register, and excepted and exempt charities do not appear on the register.

**Why it matters when applying.** The number is the key to a charity's public record. A funder types it into the register and sees the charity's name and address, trustees, "work and aims" and finances, including the accounts it has filed, which is why [due diligence checks](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/grant-due-diligence-checks) start there. It is also how open data identifies organisations: in 360Giving records a charity appears as GB-CHC- plus its number, an [org-id](https://opengrant.co.uk/glossary/org-id), so every grant it has received can be found by number.

**For prospect research the number works both ways.** Enter your own charity number into OpenGrant's [peers lookup](https://opengrant.co.uk/peers) and it finds organisations with similar registered purposes and shows which funders have published grants to them. Enter another charity's number into GrantNav and you see its published funders, which is the method in [how to find out who funds a charity](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/how-to-find-out-who-funds-a-charity).

**Example.** A fictional CIC with no charity number can still apply to National Lottery Awards for All England, which accepts constituted community organisations and CICs, but not to a trust whose criteria say "registered charities only". The CIC's Companies House number, written as GB-COH- plus the number, serves as its identifier in open data.

## Frequently asked questions

### Do I need a charity number to apply for grants?

Not for every funder. National Lottery Awards for All and most community foundations accept constituted groups with a bank account and two unrelated committee members. Many large trusts fund registered charities only. Each scheme's eligibility section says which, and our guide to grants without registered charity status lists the patterns.

### Where do I find a charity's number?

On the register for its nation. The Charity Commission register at gov.uk covers England and Wales and can be searched by name, number or where the charity operates. OSCR keeps the Scottish Charity Register and the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland keeps the Northern Ireland register. Registered charities must also show the number on their website and documents.

## Read more

- [Grant application tracker: what to record and why](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/grant-application-tracker-what-to-record)
- [How to find out who funds a charity](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/how-to-find-out-who-funds-a-charity)
- [How to read a grant-making trust's accounts and annual return](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/how-to-read-a-grant-making-trusts-accounts)
- [How to use 360Giving data to find funders](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/how-to-use-360giving-data-to-find-funders)
- [Funders A–Z](https://opengrant.co.uk/funders/a-z)

## Related terms

- [org-id](https://opengrant.co.uk/glossary/org-id): An org-id is a standard way of identifying an organisation in open data: a list code naming the register, then the organisation's number on it, for example GB-CHC-200051 for a registered charity or GB-COH-09506232 for a company. 360Giving uses org-ids for every funder and recipient.
- [Grant-making trust](https://opengrant.co.uk/glossary/grant-making-trust): A grant-making trust is a charity set up to give money to other organisations or individuals rather than to run services itself. Most are registered with a UK charity regulator, file annual accounts, and record in the register that they make grants to organisations.
- [CIO (charitable incorporated organisation)](https://opengrant.co.uk/glossary/cio): A charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) is a legal form for charities in England and Wales that gives the charity a corporate body of its own, so its trustees are generally not personally liable, while registering only with the Charity Commission. It has foundation and association forms.
- [SCIO (Scottish charitable incorporated organisation)](https://opengrant.co.uk/glossary/scio): A Scottish charitable incorporated organisation (SCIO) is a legal form for charities in Scotland that gives the charity its own legal personality and limits the liability of its members and trustees, while registering only with OSCR, the Scottish Charity Regulator. It is the counterpart of the CIO.

## Sources and further reading

- [GOV.UK: Find a charity](https://www.gov.uk/find-charity-information)
- [OSCR: Search the Scottish Charity Register](https://www.oscr.org.uk/about-charities/search-the-register/)
- [Charity Commission for Northern Ireland: Charity search](https://www.charitycommissionni.org.uk/charity-search/)

Full glossary: https://opengrant.co.uk/glossary.md