Helping you prosper
Impact reporting under Charities SORP 2026 should not send charities rushing to build complicated systems or commission glossy standalone reports. The core task is much simpler: explain what you were trying to achieve, what you did, and what changed as a result.
The change matters because trustees’ reports are no longer just activity summaries. Funders, regulators, beneficiaries and the public want to understand the difference charities make. The good news is that much of the evidence should already exist in trustee papers, service data, feedback, funder reports and day-to-day management information.
SORP 2026 applies to reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2026 and to charities preparing accruals accounts. Its income-based tiers are cumulative: Tier 2 charities follow Tier 1 and Tier 2 requirements, while Tier 3 charities follow all three.
What does each tier need to report?
Within the SORP, must means required for compliance; should indicates recommended good practice; and may means optional. Not following a “should” is not itself a departure from the SORP.
| Tier | Gross income | Must | Should | May |
| Tier 1 | Up to £500,000 | Summarise the charity’s main achievements. | When preparing the summary, consider how the charity’s work changed beneficiaries’ circumstances and whether it provided wider benefits to society. | Use statistics, infographics or beneficiary and volunteer testimonials; include additional Tier 2 or Tier 3 information if useful. |
| Tier 2 | Above £500,000 and up to £15 million | Meet Tier 1 requirements; explain how well activities were delivered, performance against aims and the impact being made; and consider the long-term effect on beneficiaries and society. Trustees must also explain the changes sought, how activities contribute and the criteria or measures used to assess success. | Summarise measures or indicators; explain outputs, particularly where numerical targets exist; link activities, outputs and outcomes to aims; and discuss significant positive and negative factors. | Use personal or society-wide impact stories and, where practicable, volunteer hours or staff equivalents. |
| Tier 3 | Above £15 million | Meet Tiers 1 and 2. Additionally, report on material fundraising performance against objectives and the effect of material fundraising expenditure on net returns. Tier 3 charities must also summarise how environmental, governance and social matters are managed. | The Tier 2 good-practice recommendations continue to apply. | Include, for example, climate-related indicators and calculation methods, where relevant. |
The detailed technical basis is in SORP Module 1, paragraphs 1.24 and 1.27–1.33, with Tier 3 sustainability requirements at paragraphs 1.61–1.64.
This distinction is important. For Tier 1, the summary of achievements is mandatory, but the questions about beneficiary and wider societal impact are prompts trustees should consider, rather than a checklist requiring extensive evaluation. For Tier 2, explaining impact and considering long-term effects is a must; the more detailed package of indicators, outputs and outcomes is a should. Case studies and infographics can help, but they are not compulsory. The SORP itself confirms that its prompt questions are intended to assist trustees, not operate as a reporting checklist.
A practical, low-burden framework
The front end of the Trustees’ Annual Report should tell a simple story: vision and mission; objectives; what the charity planned to do; what it achieved; and what difference that made. Start with information trustees already see: trustee papers, service records, grant reports, feedback, complaints and case notes. Then build the impact narrative around five questions:
- What were we trying to change? Link this to the charity’s aims.
- What did we do? Keep this brief and focused on the main activities.
- Who did we reach? Use simple numbers where they help.
- What changed? Explain outcomes for beneficiaries, and wider society where relevant.
- How do we know? Use a small number of meaningful measures, supported by brief case studies or feedback where useful.
This was also the approach we discussed in UHY’s Helping you prosper: SORP 2026 webinar series, including the Trustees’ Annual Report session on moving from activities to outputs, outcomes and impact. The practical message was: use what you already have, but make the language clearer about the change created.
For a small Tier 1 charity, this could be only a few paragraphs covering its main activity, achievement, one relevant piece of feedback and a careful explanation of the difference observed. Tier 2 charities will need a clearer line between objectives, measures and results. Tier 3 builds on this foundation; it does not require a completely different impact model.
From activity to difference made
Example 1: Food bank or community support charity
Activity: We distributed food parcels to households referred by local partners.
Output: We distributed 850 food parcels during the year.
Outcome: In a short follow-up survey, 42 of 50 respondents said the support helped them manage an immediate food shortfall. We also referred 18 households for benefits or debt advice.
Impact: the support provided immediate relief for households experiencing food insecurity and helped some families access wider support before their financial situation worsened.
Example 2: grant-making charity
Activity: awarded core funding to local advice charities.
Output: 20 grants made.
Outcome: funded organisations kept advice lines open and supported more households.
Impact: more people accessed help earlier, reducing crisis demand and improving financial resilience.
Example 3: service delivery charity
Activity: ran weekly day services for older people.
Output: 1,000 attendances during the year.
Outcome: families reported reduced isolation and more confidence at home.
Impact: beneficiaries remained connected, independent and better supported.
Avoiding over-reporting
Do not bury the story beneath dozens of KPIs, repeat operational detail or collect information solely for the annual report. Avoid turning one positive testimonial into a general claim, and do not imply causation where partners or external factors contributed.
A separate glossy impact report is not required. If a charity already collects stories, grant reports, quotations from beneficiaries or feedback from families and service users, it may be able to lift and shift the best material into the Trustees’ Annual Report. The key is to connect those examples back to objectives and explain what changed, not simply describe what happened.
For grant-making charities, this might mean using reporting already received from funded organisations, with permission, to show what core funding enabled. For service delivery charities, it may mean using concise feedback from beneficiaries, volunteers or families to show the human impact alongside a few simple numbers.
The starting point is therefore a short trustee and management conversation: what do we already know, what evidence is reliable, and what story do we need to tell? Choose a few useful measures, collect them consistently, and explain the results honestly. Done well, impact reporting gives trustees better information, helps funders and supporters understand the value of the work, and turns the annual report into a clearer account of purpose, performance and public benefit. For further practical guidance, charities can watch UHY’s Helping you prosper: SORP 2026 webinar series, including the session on the new Trustees’ Annual Report requirements and impact reporting.
