Charities Aid Foundation

The Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) "puts donors in control of their giving, and helps charities make the most of what they get." But one look at the headings on their website (http://www.cafonline.org/) and you might start to think that you would be better off with a political lobbyist:
:*Change the world today - We can help you make a little gift go a long way
::Take control of your giving
::Engage your employees
:*Make more of your money — With our award-winning charity financial services
::Bank with us
::Investigate investments
:*Informing big decisions — From government to grass roots
::Our research
::Influencing policy
There is a feel of 'millionaires only' with its statements such as:
:"If you have more than $10m (£5m) to give to charity, we can help you to register your own independent charitable foundation, regardless of your nationality." 
So who are these guys? CAF trace their history back to the General Strike when the National Council of Social Service (now the National Council for Voluntary Organisations or NCVO) set up a Charities Department to encourage more efficient giving to charity. Then we leap ahead to 1959 when the Charities Department was named the Charities Aid Fund, then ahead again to 1974, when the National Council of Social Service (now the NCVO) decided to set up an independent registered charity called the Charities Aid Foundation, with a board of independent trustees. In 1986, with the launch of CAFCash – a bank account with competitive interest rates, they became a bank. In 1992, they set up their 'sister charity', CAF America, and with the fall of the Soviet Union, in 1993, they opened CAF Russia, and 1995 saw the launch of Bulgarian CAF. In 1997, brought CAF Southern Africa and CAF India and 1999 saw the opening of CAF Australia.
To become a bank seems to have been the dream, even although just about everyone is in debt to a bank:
:"In 2002, the culmination of 10 years work with the HM Revenue & Customs and the Charity Commission led to the launch of Charity Bank – the UK's first not-for-profit bank. In the same year, we appointed Stephen Ainger as our new CEO." 
CAF has some £273,270,000 total incoming resources with fund balances of £449,358,000. CAF is one of the Permanent Members of Crown Agents.
==Trustees, committees, officers and professional advisers==
===Board of Trustees===
*Lord Cairns CVO CBE, Chairman
:Deputy Chairman of Celtel International BV, Chairman of Look Ahead Housing and Care, and a trustee of the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund. Between 1992 and 2004 he was Chairman of Actis (formerly CDC Group plc), Chairman of Allied Zurich plc and Vice Chairman of Zurich Financial Services and Zurich Allied. He has also served as the Chairman of Voluntary Service Overseas, Receiver-General of the Duchy of Cornwall, Chairman of the Overseas Development Institute and Chairman of the Commonwealth Business Council.
*Peter Berry CMG, Vice Chairman
:Chairman of the Crown Agents for Overseas Governments and Administrations, which he joined in 1982, and President of the Crown Agents Foundation. Berry is a non-executive director of three UK-quoted companies, and a director and trustee of Charity Bank. He is President of the UK chapter of Transparency International, is on the Governing Board of the Scottish Crop Research Institute (SCRI). 
*Adele Blakebrough
:Chief Executive and co-founder of Community Action Network (CAN) – the UK's leading organisation for the development and promotion of social entrepreneurs. Blakebrough was part of the Mezzanine – an office space for more than 50 social sector organisations in London. This successful social enterprise, created by CAN, has now grown to become Mezzanine 2.
*Stuart Chandler
:Chandler joined the Bank of England in 1966 and, excluding a secondment to the Cabinet Office between 1972 and 1974, spent the following 22 years in a variety of roles. He joined National Westminster Bank in 1988. During his time there he held the posts of Deputy General Manager, Manager of Group IT, Director of Group Audit, General Manager of Human Resources, Strategy and Communications, and Deputy Chief Executive. He was Chairman of NatWest Insurance Services and NatWest Home Loans from 1994-1996. In 1997 he joined Hambros Bank, where he was Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer. After Société Générale acquired Hambros Bank in 1998, Stuart became Chief Operating Officer of SG Investment Bank.
*Gary Hoffman
:Barclays Group Vice Chairman.
*Connie Jackson
:Moved to London from America as one of ten Atlantic Fellows in Public Policy for 2002–2003 by the British Council. Before this, served as President and CEO of TCA Health in Chicago. She was appointed Chief Executive of St Bartholomew's and the Royal London Charitable Foundation in 2003.
*Kim Lavely
:Appointed Chief Executive of the Prince of Wales' Foundation for Integrated Health in September 2005. Prior to that, she served as the interim Director General of Consumers International. Until December 2004 Kim was Deputy Chief Executive of Which? (formerly Consumers' Association), which she joined in 1988. From 1976 until 1988 she worked for Marie Stopes International – the last ten years of which as UK Director.
*Sir Graham Melmoth
:Chairman of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) in February 2004. Retired from the Co-operative Group in September 2002 after six years as Chief Executive. He also initiated the Co-operative Commission, chaired by John Monks. Prior to his appointment as CEO, Melmoth was the Co-operative Society's Secretary, and served as a director of the Co-operative Bank and Co-operative Insurance, amongst others. Before this, he worked for BOC, Fisons and Letraset. Has been a trustee of NACRO (National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders) and the New Lanark Conservation Trust, and a Council Member of Public Concern at Work. Until his retirement he was also Chairman of Manchester Enterprises, the not-for-profit regeneration group, working in partnership with most of the ten Greater Manchester local authorities.
*Keith Niven
:Schroder Investment Management, where he was appointed joint Vice Chairman in 2000. He held a number of senior positions with Schroders, including Managing Director of its UK institutional fund management business between 1986 and 1992, and Chairman of its retail business, Schroder Unit Trusts, from 1992 to 2001. He retired from Schroders in 2001. Non-executive Chairman of Matrix Income & Growth VCT plc and a non-executive director of three investment trusts: Schroder UK Growth Fund plc, Schroder Income Growth Fund plc, and Impax Environmental Markets plc. He is also a non-executive director of Healthstar Group and an investment advisor to the Rolls-Royce Pension Fund.
*David Weymouth
:Recently retired from the Barclays Group where his senior positions included Chief Operating Officer for Corporate Banking, Group Chief Information Officer and Corporate Responsibility Director. He was a member of the Group Executive committee for five years. An associate of Deloitte, member of the Board and Audit Committee of Chordiant Inc, creating an advisory board for ISBAN and serving as a member of the DTI Resources Committee.
*Michael Lake, CBE
:Currently Director General of Help the Aged as well as being a trustee of the Disasters Emergency Committee and Chairman of the British Gas Energy Trust. Lake spent more than 30 years in the armed forces before beginning his career in the charity sector. He is also Chairman of the Chelsea Arts Club.
===Members=== 
*Adele Blakebrough - Chair, Grants Advisory Council
*Sir Patrick Brown KCB - Chairman, Nominations & Remuneration Committee
*Stuart Chandler Chairman, CAF Bank Limited
*Constance G. Jackson	 
*Kim Lavely	 
*Sir Graham Melmoth	- Chairman, NCVO
*Keith Niven - Chairman, Investment Advisory Committee
*John Stuttard FCA	- Chairman, Audit, Risk & Compliance Committee
*David A. Weymouth	- Chairman, IS Management Committee
 
The following served as members of the Board of Trustees during the year 2005/2006
*Sir Tim Chessells Retired October 2005
*David King Resigned January 2006
*Catherine Wood Resigned April 2006
 
====Audit, Risk & Compliance Committee====
*John Stuttard FCA, Chairman
*Constance G. Jackson	 
*David A. Weymouth	 
Co-opted members:	 
*Philip Hardaker Appointed May 2006
*Hugh O'Brien
 
====Investment Advisory Committee====
*Keith Niven Chairman
*David King Resigned January 2006
Co-opted members:	 
*Lionel A. F. Anderson
*Graham Nutter Appointed January 2006
*Peter Wolton
*John White Appointed May 2006
====Nominations & Remuneration Committee====
*Sir Patrick Brown KCB, Chairman. Appointed October 2005
*Sir Tim Chessells Chairman. Retired October 2005
*Peter F. Berry CMG	 
*Lord Cairns CVO CBE	 
*Constance G. Jackson Appointed January 2006
*Kim Lavely Appointed January 2006
====Grants Advisory Council====
*Adele Blakebrough Chair. Appointed March 2006
*Kim Lavely Chair. Resigned March 2006
Co-opted members:	 
*Elizabeth Balgobin Appointed January 2006
*John Bateman
*Gillian Crosby Resigned November 2005
*Mike Eastwood Appointed September 2005
*Fiona Ellis Resigned September 2005
*Julia Kaufman Appointed September 2005
*Steve Myint Appointed January 2006
*Sue Nyfield
===Principal officers===
Executive Management Group 
*Chief Executive - Stephen Ainger
*Finance Director - Anthony Rogers FCA
Executive Directors	 
*Charity Financial Services - Tracey Reddings
*Company Giving - Russell Prior
*Individual Giving - Sheila Hooper
*Information Systems - Teresa Merricks
*Philanthropy Services - Sharon Stearnes
===Professional advisers===
*Auditors
:Deloitte & Touche LLP, Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors, London
*Bankers
:National Westminster Bank Plc, Bloomsbury, Parr's Branch, 214 High Holborn, London WC1V 7BX
*Solicitors
:Bates, Wells & Braithwaite, 2-6 Cannon Street, London, EC4M 6YH
==References==
# CAF homepage http://www.cafonline.org/
# Starting a charitable foundation, CAF website http://www.cafonline.org/default.aspx?page=7145
# CAF history, CAF website http://www.cafonline.org/default.aspx?page=7305
# SCRI website http://www.scri.sari.ac.uk/press/Governors.htm
Category:Foundations