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CaritasData receive a monthly data feed form the Charity Commission with updated information on 163,000 registered charities in the UK which is utilised within the Caritas database. This then formulates the prioritised landscape for in-depth research.

The Caritas database structure reflects SORP (Statement of Recommended Practice – which dictates the structure of information a charity must show in the composition of their annual accounts) ensuring accuracy and consistency throughout the data capture process. Financial headings as denoted by SORP (e.g. voluntary income) are further subdivided to ensure that every possible stream of both incoming and outgoing resources are accurately captured. This provides the most detailed dataset of financial information available in the UK.

The next stage in the data capture process is to accurately target the largest charities by income, expenditure and net assets in the UK. Once identified these are profiled by a dedicated team of experienced analysts who dissect and input the components of all revenue streams, costs, asset structures and liabilities to provide a true level of segmentation. This analysis is applicable for the top 5,000 charities of any given month (which represents 70% of all charity income). The Caritas commitment for data processing is a sixty day timeframe.

The final stage combines this content with equally detailed financial information on other third sector sub-sectors including Scottish charities, universities, independent schools, further education colleges and housing associations to give an absolute overview of the sector.

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