The Equality Trust

What The Equality Trust does

The Equality Trust is a registered charity in England and Wales (Charity no. 1161545) founded in 2009 by Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson, the co-authors of The Spirit Level. It operates as an advocacy and research organization focused on dismantling inequalities of income, wealth, and power in the United Kingdom, with its registered office at Square Root Business Centre, Windmill Road, Croydon. Its offerings comprise research publications (including the Billionaire Britain series, The Spirit Level at 15, Cost of Inequality, and Money, Media & Lords reports), policy manifestos at national, local, and individual levels, the weekly 'On The Level' newsletter reaching over 25,000 subscribers, activist toolkits, digital petitions hosted via ActionNetwork, videocasts/podcasts, and coordination of 16+ affiliated local equality groups across the UK.

The underlying technology is a standard nonprofit stack — Google Apps for Business for email and cloud storage, SendGrid for newsletter distribution, PayPal and GoCardless for donation processing, and a password-protected encrypted CRM — with no proprietary AI or ML components disclosed. The organization is GDPR-compliant and operates under standard charitable governance with co-executive directors, a board of trustees with two co-chairs, and a small distributed team of approximately five staff based across London, Birmingham, and Bolton.

The business model is grant-and-donation funded rather than commercial. Revenue streams consist of one-time and recurring individual donations processed via PayPal, GoCardless, and standing orders through CAF Bank Ltd, plus institutional grants from charitable trusts and foundations including Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, Trust for London, Barrow Cadbury Trust, Esmee Fairbairn, Friends Provident Foundation, Network for Social Change, National Lottery, Arts Council, ESRC, and Citizens for Financial Justice. The Trust engages specialist agencies for fundraising research, does not charge for any products or services, and explicitly states it does not accept billionaire donors. Its go-to-market is community-led, combining newsletter engagement, petition campaigns targeting UK MPs and policymakers, grassroots organizing through local groups, and coalition-based policy advocacy.

Name

The Equality Trust

Legal name

The Equality Trust

Website

https://equalitytrust.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Equality Trust is a UK registered charity, founded in 2009 by Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson, that conducts research, publishes reports, and runs advocacy campaigns to reduce economic inequality in the United Kingdom. It serves the general public, UK policymakers, and a network of 16+ local equality groups via a weekly newsletter reaching 25,000+ subscribers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Advocacy and Inequality Research

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311), Civic and Social Organizations (8134), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Civil Liberties & Constitutional Rights Advocacy (BPAGAFAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Social Justice & Human Rights Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAN)

Keywords

• Inequality advocacy
• Charitable research
• Policy campaigns
• Social equality
• Community organizing

Headquarters

HQ city

Croydon

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Fundraising: The Equality Trust operates as a charitable nonprofit organization funded primarily through donations from supporters. They accept one-time and recurring donations through their website using PayPal, GoCardless, and standing orders processed through CAF Bank Ltd. The organization also undertakes in-house fundraising research and engages specialist agencies to identify potential donors.
2. Newsletter Subscription (Free): Weekly newsletter 'On The Level' with over 25,000 subscribers distributed free of charge as part of the organization's advocacy and awareness-raising mission.
3. Grant Funding: Funding from charitable trusts and foundations including Bowland Charitable Trust, Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, Trust for London, Barrow Cadbury Trust, Esmee Fairbairn, Friends Provident Foundation, Network for Social Change, National Lottery Funded, Art Council, ESRC, Citizens for Financial Justice, and others.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The Equality Trust is a UK registered charity that produces and disseminates original research on economic inequality and runs advocacy campaigns and policy engagement to reduce inequalities of income, wealth, and power. Its deliverables include research reports (Billionaire Britain series, The Spirit Level at 15, Money Media and Lords), policy manifestos, a weekly newsletter reaching 25,000+ subscribers, digital petitions, and an activist resource pack, all provided free to the public and funded by donations and charitable grants.

Product overview

The Equality Trust operates as a charitable advocacy organization rather than a software product company. Its offerings consist of research publications, policy manifestos, activist guides, communication services (including a weekly newsletter), engagement tools (weekly polls), digital petition platforms, and multimedia content. The core portfolio includes three manifesto documents at national, local, and individual levels; regular research reports including the Billionaire Britain series; the Inequality Is Not Inevitable activist pack; the On The Level weekly newsletter reaching over 25,000 subscribers; and videocasts/podcasts. These resources work together to advance the organization's mission of dismantling inequalities of income, wealth, and power in the UK.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• On The Level Newsletter
• Research Reports
• Manifesto for a Fairer Society (National Manifesto)
• The Fairness Fifteen (Local Manifesto)
• Ten Things You Can Do (Individual Manifesto)
• Inequality Is Not Inevitable (Activist Pack)
• Online Petitions and Campaign Actions
• Weekly Poll

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 25,000 newsletter subscribers engaged weekly with equality content
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Together AllianceminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 March 2026Coalition of trades unions, charities, and campaign organizations opposing far-right growth. March scheduled for March 28, 2026 to show unity against division.
• Media Reform CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on research into Money, Media and Lords, examining structural corruption and billionaire control of media. Joint panel presentation with UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights.
• UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights (Olivier De Schutter)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-presentation of research on inequality and democratic deficits. The UN Rapporteur publicly praised The Equality Trust as 'one of the most important references within the UN system'.
• CompasscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint advocacy for electoral reform. The Equality Trust contributed to editing Stuart Donald's paper 'Lifting the Lid' examining how inequality broke UK elections.
• Tax Justice UKcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerJoint petition campaign for stronger Elections Bill to stop big money buying politics. Coordination on letter-writing campaigns to MPs about political donation reform.
• Democracy for SaleminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partnership providing data analysis on political donations and corporate influence in UK politics, cited in Equality Trust campaigns.
• Autonomy InstituteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partnership identifying the donor-contractor nexus in government. Research found 373 companies that donated to political parties and received public contracts.
• #1forEquality AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition advocacy for equality policies. The Equality Trust represents the alliance on the SED Expert Advisory Group to the Cabinet Office.
• Make Equality Real Campaign CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition campaign for equality policies where Vanessa Boon represents The Equality Trust.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• New Economics Foundation: UK think tank producing research on economic inequality and alternative economic models; overlaps directly with Equality Trust's research-led advocacy approach and target policy areas.
• Living Wage Foundation: UK charity campaigning on in-work poverty and employer wage standards; operates in the overlapping economic-inequality advocacy lane and shares similar UK funder ecosystem.
• Citizens UK: UK community organizing alliance running broad-based campaigns on social issues; comparable operating model of local-chapter mobilization, MP engagement, and coalition-led campaigns.
• Compass: UK progressive political pressure group; coalition partner on electoral reform and inequality campaigns, sharing analogous community organizing and policy advocacy models in the UK.
• Joseph Rowntree Foundation: Major UK poverty and inequality research/advocacy organization; overlapping funder relationship (Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust also funds Equality Trust) and shared focus on UK socio-economic inequality evidence base.
• Transparency International UK: UK chapter focusing on corruption, lobbying transparency, and democratic accountability; adjacent advocacy on money-in-politics that overlaps with Equality Trust's billionaire-influence work.
• Tax Justice UK: UK advocacy organization focused on tax justice and economic inequality; direct coalition partner that jointly campaigns on political donation reform and influence of wealth, sharing overlapping funder networks and advocacy tactics.
• Media Reform Coalition: UK coalition advocating for democratic media reform; directly partners with The Equality Trust on the Money, Media and Lords research agenda and operates in the same economic-power/democracy intersection.

Broad incumbents

• Friends of the Earth England, Wales & Northern Ireland: Established UK environmental and social justice advocacy charity; comparable scale of grassroots networks, coalition campaigns, and donor-supported advocacy infrastructure.
• Amnesty International UK: Larger UK human rights advocacy organization with overlapping civil-liberties mandate, including economic and social rights, providing a broader institutional reference point for rights-based campaigning.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/ProfRGWilkinson
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC6S8lxn90ZCUX2nmJm6G5qQ?view_as=subscriber
• Facebookfacebook.com/equalitytrust
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-equality-trust
• Instagraminstagram.com/theequalitytrust
• TikToktiktok.com/@equalitytrust

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Equality Trust