Research Charitable Giving

Research Charitable Giving

The Research Charitable Giving tool helps you find and research charities to include in your Will. It has two sections: a Curated List of highly effective charities and giving funds, and an All UK Charity List where you can search the full UK Charity Commission register by name or registration number.

Both sections give you the charity's registered details, so it can be added to your Will with complete clarity.

Curated List

The Curated List shows a hand-picked selection of highly effective charities and giving funds, filtered by the causes that matter most to you.

Use the category filter above the list to browse by cause, or the search bar to look for a charity or theme by name. Each card gives you a short description of the charity's work and an Impact Example, a concrete illustration of what your donation could achieve, for example how much it costs to protect one person from malaria for three years. Select Show More on any card to read further detail.

Select Learn More at the top of the page to read more about effective legacy giving, including why choosing an effective charity or giving fund can help your gift achieve more.

Why effective giving

Choosing one of the world's most effective charities, or an effective giving fund, can help your legacy achieve the greatest possible good.

Many of us hope to have decades of life ahead when we write a Will. But a cause that matters today may be less relevant, or less effective, by the time we die. Effective legacies aim to maximise impact at the point your gift is actually given, not just today.

Research by charity evaluators suggests the most effective charities can be many times more impactful than better-known names, pound for pound, saving more lives, preventing more sickness, and protecting more of the environment. An effective giving fund goes further still: your gift is professionally managed and directed to the most effective interventions at the time of your passing, so your legacy does the greatest possible good, even decades from now.

All UK Charity List

If you already have a specific charity in mind, switch to the All UK Charity List tab and search the full UK Charity Commission register by name or registration number.

Enter at least two characters and press Enter, or select the search icon. You can search by a keyword, such as a condition or cause (for example "parkinson" or "cancer"), or by a charity's registration number if you know it. Each result shows the charity's registered name and objects, so you can confirm it is the right one before adding it to your Will. Select Show More on any result to read its full description.

Why leave a gift to charity

A gift to charity in your Will, sometimes called a legacy gift, lets you support the causes you care about after your lifetime. It costs your estate nothing while you are alive, and you can update or remove it at any time as your circumstances change.

Charitable gifts can also reduce the Inheritance Tax due on your estate. Gifts to registered UK charities are exempt from Inheritance Tax, so they come off the value of your estate before tax is calculated. If you leave 10% or more of your net estate to charity, the Inheritance Tax rate on the rest of your estate can also drop from 40% to 36%.

Beyond the practical benefits, many people find real value in knowing their legacy will make a lasting difference, whether that is to a cause close to their heart or to the wider world.

Adding a charity to your Will

You can research charities in two places on adeus: here, in My Planning Tools, or directly within the Will creation flow, in the charity section, where you can research and select a charity while naming it as a beneficiary. Wherever you start, once you have found the right charity, its registered details carry through to your Will.