Charities API Reference
Daily Charity Commission register data for England and Wales, including annual-return income history and Companies House cross-references.
Base URL: https://api.govdata.dev/v1
Search charities
Returns paginated core-register records for charity finders, due-diligence workflows, and geographic or income-segment research. Use a name prefix to power autocomplete, or combine status, postcode area, income band, and legal type.
/v1/charities/search
Waiting for request...
Parameters
| Name | Type | Required | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
name |
string | No | — | Case-insensitive, index-backed name prefix. |
status |
string | No | — | registered, removed, or unknown. |
postcode_area |
string | No | — | Leading contact-postcode letters, such as E, SW, or CF. |
income_band |
string | No | — | under_10k, 10k_100k, 100k_1m, or over_1m; lower inclusive, upper exclusive. |
charity_type |
string | No | — | cio, charitable_company, other, previously_excepted, trust, or unknown. |
page |
integer | No | 1 | One-based page. |
per_page |
integer | No | 25 | Rows per page, clamped to 1–100. |
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" "https://api.govdata.dev/v1/charities/search?name=THE%20%C2%A31&status=registered&per_page=5"
uri = URI("https://api.govdata.dev/v1/charities/search") uri.query = URI.encode_www_form(name: "THE £1", status: "registered", per_page: 5) res = Net::HTTP.start(uri.host, uri.port, use_ssl: true) { |h| h.get(uri, "Authorization" => "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY") }
response = requests.get("https://api.govdata.dev/v1/charities/search", headers={"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"}, params={"name": "THE £1", "status": "registered", "per_page": 5})
const url = new URL("https://api.govdata.dev/v1/charities/search"); url.search = new URLSearchParams({name: "THE £1", status: "registered", per_page: "5"}); const response = await fetch(url, {headers: {Authorization: "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"}});
Captured response
{"data":[{"registered_charity_number":1162150,"suborder":0,"organisation_number":5063053,"name":"THE £1 HOSPITAL","status":"registered","charity_type":"cio","cio":true,"registered_on":"2015-06-11","removed_on":null,"activities":"Our directors consists of a dedicated team of professionals who share a common passion and dream to provide high quality healthcare to some of the word's poorest and most needy people. Included in their ranks are marketing and healthcare professionals including two medical Doctors. The charity continues to provide humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable people in UK and in Bangladesh.","postcode":"E1 4SA","postcode_area":"E","website":"www.onepoundhospital.org.uk","company_number":null,"financial_year_start":"2024-11-01","financial_year_end":"2025-10-31","latest_income_gbp":43270.0,"latest_expenditure_gbp":25258.0,"source_extract_on":"2026-08-07"}],"meta":{"api_version":"v1","licence":"Open Government Licence v3.0","source":"Charity Commission for England and Wales","source_url":"https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/register/full-register-download"},"pagination":{"total":1,"page":1,"per_page":5,"total_pages":1}}
Money is returned in pounds; absent source values are null. suborder is the Commission's linked-charity number (0 is the main charity).
Errors
400 applies when no filter is supplied; 422 applies to unknown coded filters. Search has no 404 branch.
{"error":{"code":"missing_parameter","message":"Provide at least one search filter.","documentation_url":"https://docs.govdata.dev/errors/missing_parameter"}}\n{"error":{"code":"invalid_parameter","message":"registration_status is not recognised.","documentation_url":"https://docs.govdata.dev/errors/invalid_parameter"}}
Get charity by registered number
Returns the full main record, annual income/expenditure trend, and—when the source company number matches GovData's companies domain—a compact company number, name, and status. Use it for charity profiles or cross-register checks.
/v1/charities/:registered_charity_number
Waiting for request...
Parameters
| Name | Type | Required | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
registered_charity_number |
integer | Yes | — | Commission registered charity number. |
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" "https://api.govdata.dev/v1/charities/1162916"
uri = URI("https://api.govdata.dev/v1/charities/1162916") request = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri, "Authorization" => "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY") response = Net::HTTP.start(uri.host, uri.port, use_ssl: true) { |http| http.request(request) }
requests.get("https://api.govdata.dev/v1/charities/1162916", headers={"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"})
await fetch("https://api.govdata.dev/v1/charities/1162916", {headers: {Authorization: "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"}})
Captured response
{"data":{"registered_charity_number":1162916,"suborder":0,"organisation_number":5059808,"name":"CWN CYMORTH CYMRU – ASSISTANCE DOGS WALES","status":"registered","charity_type":"cio","cio":true,"registered_on":"2015-07-30","removed_on":null,"activities":"To provide training to the dog's owner to pass the high standard that is necessary for an Assistance Dog training also for the dog's handler, to became a partnership once training and passed their Assistance Dog training.For disability in Ceredigion and surrounding area to have a trained dog for day to day tasks.","postcode":"SA43 1RN","postcode_area":"SA","website":null,"company_number":null,"financial_year_start":"2018-01-01","financial_year_end":"2018-12-31","latest_income_gbp":41.0,"latest_expenditure_gbp":0.0,"source_extract_on":"2026-08-07","annual_returns":[{"financial_period_start":"2024-01-01","financial_period_end":"2024-12-31","gross_income_gbp":null,"gross_expenditure_gbp":null,"annual_return_received_on":null,"accounts_received_on":null,"suppressed":true},{"financial_period_start":"2023-01-01","financial_period_end":"2023-12-31","gross_income_gbp":null,"gross_expenditure_gbp":null,"annual_return_received_on":null,"accounts_received_on":null,"suppressed":true},{"financial_period_start":"2022-01-01","financial_period_end":"2022-12-31","gross_income_gbp":null,"gross_expenditure_gbp":null,"annual_return_received_on":null,"accounts_received_on":null,"suppressed":true},{"financial_period_start":"2021-01-01","financial_period_end":"2021-12-31","gross_income_gbp":null,"gross_expenditure_gbp":null,"annual_return_received_on":null,"accounts_received_on":null,"suppressed":true},{"financial_period_start":"2020-01-01","financial_period_end":"2020-12-31","gross_income_gbp":null,"gross_expenditure_gbp":null,"annual_return_received_on":null,"accounts_received_on":null,"suppressed":true}]},"meta":{"api_version":"v1","licence":"Open Government Licence v3.0","source":"Charity Commission for England and Wales","source_url":"https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/register/full-register-download"}}
annual_returns is newest first. Suppressed source years retain filing metadata but may have null finance values; company is omitted when no Companies House match exists.
Errors
404 applies to an absent number. There are no endpoint-specific 400 or 422 branches.
{"error":{"code":"not_found","message":"Charity not found.","documentation_url":"https://docs.govdata.dev/errors/not_found"}}
Data notes
Coverage and cadence: all registered, removed, and linked Charity Commission records for England and Wales; daily extract. The 2026-08-07 core file measured 397,826 rows (357,600 main and 40,226 linked; 185,460 registered and 212,366 removed). Annual-return history measured 1,245,957 rows.
Licence and attribution: Charity Commission Public Register extract, “Open Government Licence v3.0”. Attribute the Charity Commission for England and Wales.
Caveats: contact postcode is not necessarily operating geography; removal date is not necessarily when an organisation ceased; finances are charity-submitted, can be late or suppressed, and do not imply Commission endorsement. Company linking is exact on the supplied company number.
This bounded slice imports the core and annual-return-history tables. Trustees, classifications, operating areas, events, governing documents, other names/regulators, policies, published reports, and Part A/B detail are deferred.