The Statement of Recommended Practice for Charitiies 2026 (SORP) will change the way UK charities report their work, finances, and impact. The big shift is simple: impact reporting moves from nice to have to must have. If you are preparing a Trustees’ Annual Report, you will need a clear, evidence-based story about the difference your work makes.
What is changing
- Three reporting tiers by income – Tier 1 up to £500k, Tier 2 £500k to £15m, Tier 3 over £15m. Proportionate requirements for each tier.
- Stronger narrative in Trustees’ Annual Reports – clear explanation of activities, reach, outcomes, learning, and next steps.
- Greater integration with ESG and strategy – charities should explain how impact links to risks, governance, and future plans.
What this means for impact reporting
Trustees will need to move beyond outputs alone. Your report should cover who you reached, what changed for them, how you know, and what you learned. Credible methods, proportionate to your tier, will matter. Small charities can keep it simple. Larger charities should expect deeper analysis and consistent indicators across services.
A practical checklist
- Define outcomes – link outcomes to your mission and strategy. Keep wording plain.
- Map indicators – choose a small set of meaningful measures for reach and outcomes. Avoid vanity metrics.
- Collect data consistently – decide who collects what, when, and how. Document sampling choices.
- Evidence change – show direction of travel with baselines or before-after questions. Use simple visuals.
- Explain limits – be open about gaps, bias, and what you will improve next year.
- Align to the report – prepare short exports and narrative summaries that drop into the Trustees’ Report.
Proportionate by tier
- Tier 1 – a compact framework, a few outcome indicators, short beneficiary quotes, simple charts.
- Tier 2 – consistent indicators across services, segmented results, clearer methods, annual learning cycle.
- Tier 3 – organisation-wide indicator library, data quality controls, cross-programme synthesis, links to risk and ESG.
How The Impact Lab can help
- SORP 2026 readiness audit – gap analysis against the new expectations plus a priority plan.
- Impact framework design – outcomes, indicators, tools, and guidance tailored to your tier.
- Live dashboards – capture reach and outcomes, export charts and short narratives into the Trustees’ Report.
- Training for trustees and teams – what good evidence looks like, and how to avoid common pitfalls.
Our view
SORP 2026 is a chance to turn reporting into learning. Keep your approach proportionate, make methods transparent, and focus on what helps you improve services. If you start now, next year’s report can be clearer, more honest, and more useful to beneficiaries and funders alike.
If you want to better understand the requirements, you can try our readiness assessment and if you want further help you can get in touch