What is a Voluntary, Community, or Social Enterprise organisation

Understanding VCSE organisations

VCSE stands for Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise.

To be eligible, your organisation must:

• be based in England
• serve communities only within England
• meet the definition of a VCSE, provided on this page

You may be a registered charity, a social enterprise, or another type of organisation with a clear social mission. If you're not sure whether your organisation qualifies, read the full definition that follows or contact us for guidance.

Legal definition

VCSE means an incorporated voluntary, community or social enterprise organisation which serves communities solely within England and which is either:

(a) a charity, Community Interest Company or Community Benefit Society, registered with the relevant registry body; or

(b) an unregulated organisation which:

• has a clear social mission which, in the reasonable opinion of the Fund Administrator, is analogous to a recognised charitable purpose;
• distributes less than 50% of post-tax profits and reinvests at least 51% of surpluses into pursuing its social mission;
• has a constitutional or contractual lock on its social mission, its dividend and surplus distribution policy and “asset-lock”;
• carries out, or has ambitions to carry out, trading activities in support of and which are causally linked to its social mission;
• offers its products and services for general public benefit without restrictions and barriers, such as affordability;
• is open to undertaking an independent social impact audit;
• has remuneration and benefits policy which it is willing to make publicly accessible, and which is reasonable and proportionate relative to the market practice for VCSEs;
• in the case of a sale of the organisation, the directors make best efforts to preserve the social mission under new ownership;
• can demonstrate that no private benefit will arise from the Grant; and
• no state aid issues have been identified.