Printing for Charities and Not-for-Profits

fPrint gives registered charities and registered non-profits up to 10% off print, checked against the public register, and a free manual proof on orders with £50 or more of print (ex VAT, after the discount). Every price includes VAT, with the VAT on each line shown, and delivery is free to UK mainland addresses.

Charities need print that works hard on a small budget: fundraising leaflets, event posters, a banner for the fun run, a roller banner for the stand at the community fair. On every order you get:

• a free automatic check of your file as soon as you upload it;
• an on-screen proof you check before you pay;
• prices that include VAT, with the VAT on each line shown;
• free delivery to UK mainland addresses.

Our page on printing for charities, schools and PTAs covers the jobs they print most often.

What charities order most

Each product page shows live prices for every quantity, so you can compare options before you commit.

The charity and non-profit discount

Registered charities and registered non-profits get up to 10% off the print price. On a few items where our margin is already very thin, the discount is smaller; your basket shows the exact amount before you pay.

Always the full 10%. At today's prices the discount is never reduced on these products and sizes, at any quantity:

• Business cards: soft-touch velvet laminate; matt laminate single-sided
• Leaflets and flyers: 135gsm gloss A6 double-sided; 170gsm gloss in A6 and DL; 170gsm silk in A6 and DL; 170gsm silk A4 double-sided
• Folded leaflets: Z fold to DL 135gsm gloss
• Posters: A3 and A2
• Stapled booklets: A5; A4 in 16 pages, 20 pages and 24 pages
• Stickers: clear plastic, white PVC, matt paper, recycled gloss paper and kraft paper; white plastic in every size except 50mm circle; gloss paper 55 x 85mm rectangle
• Sticker sheets: every size and option
• Correx boards: single-sided in A3 and A2; double-sided A0
• PVC banners: 340gsm mesh; 440gsm PVC in 1500 x 500mm and 2400 x 600mm
• Foamex boards: every size
• Aluminium composite signs: every size

A free manual proof. When your order has £50 or more of print (ex VAT, after the discount), the manual proof is free on every design that has one: a person checks your file for print problems and sends you a proof to approve before anything prints. Below £50 it is the usual price. Delivery to areas we quote for, and other paid services, such as an artwork fix or design, are charged in full.

Who qualifies

• Charities on the register of the Charity Commission for England and Wales, the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) or the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland, including charitable incorporated organisations (CIOs, and SCIOs in Scotland).
• Community interest companies (CICs) registered at Companies House.
• Community amateur sports clubs (CASCs) on HMRC's list of registered clubs.
• Co-operative and community benefit societies on the FCA Mutuals Public Register.

Schools and PTAs qualify when the school or the PTA is itself on one of these registers. For anything else, such as an unregistered community group, contact us before you order.

How to claim it

1. At checkout, open Ordering for a charity or non-profit?
2. Choose your organisation type, then enter its name and registration number exactly as they appear on the register.
3. Select Apply discount. The discount appears as its own line in your order summary and on your VAT invoice, and a free manual proof shows as its own line too.

We check before we print. Before your order goes to print, we look up your registration number on the public register. If we can't confirm it, we may contact you.

The discount is worked out line by line. On a few lines that are already priced close to our cost, the discount on that line is smaller, and your order summary shows the amount. Where VAT applies, it is charged on the discounted price.

VAT for charities

Charities pay VAT on print in the same way as any other customer, with one useful exception for everyone: leaflets, booklets and brochures that meet HMRC's conditions are zero-rated. Broadly, a qualifying leaflet:

• is a single sheet no larger than A4, or up to A2 if it is printed on both sides and folded to A4 or smaller;
• is printed on limp paper rather than card;
• is meant to be held in the hand and read, and conveys information;
• is complete in itself;
• is ordered in a run of at least 50 copies, enough for general distribution;
• has no more than 25% of its area given over to blank spaces for filling in or parts to detach and return. A form designed to be sent back whole after completion is always standard-rated.

Brochures and booklets (several sheets folded or fastened together) have their own conditions. HMRC's VAT Notice 701/10 sets out the full rules, and our VAT on printing guide explains them in plain English.

Posters, banners, correx boards, business cards and stickers are standard-rated at 20%. Your basket and invoice show the rate on each line, which makes it easy for your treasurer to reconcile.

Every paid order has a VAT invoice showing the net price, VAT rate and VAT for each line, and our VAT number (GB409288574). If your charity is VAT-registered, you can reclaim the VAT where your activities allow.

Campaigning around elections

Charities can campaign on issues linked to their purposes, but must not support or oppose a political party or candidate. Each UK charity regulator publishes its own guidance:

• England and Wales: the Charity Commission's Charities, elections and referendums, part of its CC9 guidance. It also says that during an election a charity should steer clear of explicitly comparing its views with those of the political parties.
• Scotland: OSCR's Charities and campaigning on political issues.
• Northern Ireland: the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland's Charity and politics, which covers election periods.

Material that could be seen as promoting candidates or parties may also bring in the Electoral Commission's rules, including imprints. Before you print anything that mentions candidates or parties around an election, read the Electoral Commission's guidance for non-party campaigners, and contact us before you order.

Artwork help for small teams

Many charities design in Canva or Word. Both can produce a print-ready PDF:

1. Start from the right size. Our free templates are the exact size for each product, with the trim, bleed and safe area marked. Or set the page to the finished size plus bleed on every edge: 3mm on most items (an A5 leaflet is 154 x 216mm), and 5mm on stickers, correx boards and other signs, and roller and PVC banners.
2. Run backgrounds out to the bleed edge.
3. Keep text and logos inside the safe area: 5mm inside the trim on leaflets, business cards and compliment slips, 8mm on booklets, 10mm on posters, letterheads, signs and roller banners (and 160mm clear of the bottom of a roller banner), 50mm on PVC banners and 3mm on stickers.
4. In Canva, enter the full size with bleed as a custom size, leave Show print bleed off, and download PDF Print with Crop marks and bleed unticked. Keep text the bleed plus the safe area in from the page edge: 8mm on an A5 leaflet. Canva Free has no CMYK option; we accept RGB files and the check shows a warning. Our Canva to print guide has the size for each product.
5. In Word, set the page to the full size with bleed and save as PDF.

When you upload, our free automatic check looks at the size, bleed, colour mode, resolution and fonts. It does not read your words, so check spelling, names, dates and phone numbers yourself. The on-screen proof shows where the trim falls before you pay. Our proofs and file checks page has a checklist, and our artwork guidelines list the size with bleed for every product.

Ordering for an event

• Leave time for the proof and delivery. Each product page shows the dispatch time, counted in working days from the day you approve your proof. Most mainland deliveries then arrive 1 to 2 working days after dispatch; both are estimates. Allow some spare time before an event in case the artwork needs changing, and see our delivery page for how to plan.
• Banners and correx boards can be reused. A neutral design (charity name, logo, website) without a date can go out at more than one event. Print date-specific details on posters instead.
• If the date matters, contact us before you order.

Questions

Do you give discounts to charities? Yes. Registered charities and registered non-profits (CICs, registered sports clubs and registered societies) get up to 10% off the print price; on a few very low-margin items the discount is smaller. It is always the full 10% on business cards (soft-touch velvet laminate; matt laminate single-sided); leaflets and flyers (135gsm gloss A6 double-sided; 170gsm gloss in A6 and DL; 170gsm silk in A6 and DL; 170gsm silk A4 double-sided); folded leaflets (Z fold to DL 135gsm gloss); posters (A3 and A2); stapled booklets (A5; A4 in 16 pages, 20 pages and 24 pages); stickers (clear plastic, white PVC, matt paper, recycled gloss paper and kraft paper; white plastic in every size except 50mm circle; gloss paper 55 x 85mm rectangle); sticker sheets (every size and option); correx boards (single-sided in A3 and A2; double-sided A0); PVC banners (340gsm mesh; 440gsm PVC in 1500 x 500mm and 2400 x 600mm); foamex boards (every size); and aluminium composite signs (every size). Orders with £50 or more of print (ex VAT) also get a free manual proof. Other paid services are full price. Claim it at checkout with your registration number; we check it on the public register before your order goes to print.

Can the invoice go to our treasurer? Yes. Every paid order has a VAT invoice showing the net price, VAT rate and VAT for each line, with any charity discount as its own line. Open it from your order page or the link in your order confirmation email, then forward it to your treasurer or print it for your records.

Is there VAT on our leaflets? Leaflets that meet HMRC's conditions in VAT Notice 701/10 are zero-rated, so there is no VAT on them, whether or not you are a charity. Qualifying stapled booklets are zero-rated too. Posters, banners, correx boards, business cards and stickers are standard-rated at 20%. Your basket shows the VAT on each line before you pay.

Can we pay by invoice? Orders are paid by card at checkout, through Stripe, and payment is taken when you place your order. Your VAT invoice is ready as soon as the order is paid, so your treasurer has a record straight away. For a large or unusual order, use our quote form or contact us before you order.

Do you deliver to Northern Ireland and the Scottish islands? Yes, by quote. Delivery is free to UK mainland addresses. For Northern Ireland, the Scottish Highlands and islands, the Isles of Scilly, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, please contact us before you order and we will confirm the delivery cost and time. Those orders cannot be paid for online, and nothing is charged until you agree the quote.

What size should our artwork be? The finished size plus bleed on every edge: 3mm on most items, so an A5 leaflet is 154 x 216mm, and 5mm on stickers, signs and banners. Keep text inside the safe area for the product. Our free templates have the trim, bleed and safe area marked, and the automatic check tells you if the size or bleed is wrong before you pay.