The Association of Charitable Organisations (ACO) is the UK’s umbrella body for benevolent funds and charitable organisations. Benevolent charities provide vital financial and well-being support to help individuals through modern-day challenges. 

Since ACO was founded in 1946, they have enabled these organisations to benefit from the collective experience and expertise across the network. They encourage benevolent charity members to work together to resolve common issues and develop shared solutions through pooled knowledge and peer support. 

Benevolence charities as needed and relevant as ever

Over the past few years, ACO has witnessed a sharp increase in demand for their members' grant-giving and other charitable services. During the Covid-19 pandemic, benevolent charities have provided vital financial and wellbeing support to individuals who had lost jobs, faced reduced income, struggled to afford essentials due to rising living costs, or suffered from poor mental health.

The ACO has seen that this corner of the charity sector is just as needed today as it was in 1946. But despite the crucial work of benevolent charities to help people, they are often a lesser-known part of the wider charity sector. The team at ACO realised that their previous website wasn’t doing enough to raise awareness of the sector and showcase its work. 

Member directory and jobs board

ACO was impressed with IE Digital’s experience in the charity sector and with other membership associations, and selected our team to design and build a new site to meet the needs of its members. 

The new ACO website is visually appealing, dynamic and focused on making it simple for users to find the information they need. The site explains what benevolent charities do and how they can help individuals. 

The new WordPress website features a membership directory, which showcases the number of charities the ACO supports and the work they do. The directory allows users to filter the list by charity type, as well as a keyword search, to find organisations based on the people they support. As well as promoting the full range of benevolent charities, the directory is a useful tool for anyone looking for help in a time of crisis or financial hardship.

The website also features a job board for benevolent charities to promote vacancies through the ACO, encouraging career development for those already working in the sector, and encouraging others to get involved. 

A valuable resource for assisting members

Speaking on the launch of the new site, The ACO’s Chief Executive Donal Watkin said, “Our new website marks an exciting evolution for ACO and we’re really excited to be launching it today. Its improved user-friendly interface and design should mean it acts as a better hub to raise awareness of the vital work of the benevolence sector and provide support to our member charities.”

“As we look to extend our reach and expand our network of benevolent charities in 2022, we not only hope our new website is a valuable resource for assisting our members, but also helps cement ACO as the voice of benevolence and charities that provide support to individuals within the charity sector.”

75 years of benevolent charity support

ACO has been helping benevolent charities for 75 years, and we were honoured to attend its anniversary celebrations in London in November. The event really highlighted the importance of the work of ACO’s benevolent charity members, and the level of demand for their support. It was a real celebration of the achievements of both organisations and individuals in the sector, and showed the importance of support across the charity community. 

IE’s Managing Director Ollie Leggett commented, “Having recently completed successful brand and digital projects for several ACO members, we were delighted to have the opportunity to support the association, in its 75th year, in the creation of a brand-new website that will enable members to view upcoming events, other members and all the latest information that ACO has to offer.

“We are huge admirers of the fabulous grant-giving and welfare support work that the ACO and its members perform, and it has been a great privilege to help to drive their digital transformation forward.”

You can visit the new ACO website at www.aco.uk.net and read the ACO launch press release. 

You can also read more about IE in our guest article from ACO's latest newsletter.