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Fundraising software is a type of technology designed to help charities and not-for-profits manage and run their fundraising activities efficiently.
Most fundraising software streamlines various aspects of the fundraising process to help charitable organisations make the greatest impact.
Though every fundraising platform is different, most help organisations with:
In a UK context, the right fundraising software should also handle Gift Aid declarations and claims through HMRC's Charities Online service. UK charities can reclaim 25p from HMRC for every £1 a UK taxpayer donates, a significant income stream that many platforms fail to automate properly. (Gift Aid guidance, HMRC)
All UK fundraising platforms are also subject to the Fundraising Regulator's Code of Fundraising Practice (current version effective 1 November 2025, with a new Section 9 covering online fundraising platforms). Charities should confirm that any software they use does not undermine the Code's requirements for transparency with donors.
Before comparing feature lists, UK charities should screen every platform for three non-negotiables:

Choosing the right platform is a significant decision. When comparing your options, look for these features:

It is tempting to think that a well-organised team can manage donations and donor information on a spreadsheet. In practice, doing this by hand makes information prone to error and severely limits what you can achieve.
Fundraising software streamlines and automates the fundraising process, from collecting donations to supporter management, saving time and reducing the administrative burden on small teams.
The best platforms also offer event registration, Gift Aid declaration capture, and prospect research tools in one place.
Online fundraising platforms help organisations reach more donors. Supporters can share campaigns on social media, via email, and sometimes by text, expanding your reach well beyond traditional networks.
Robust fundraising software gives donors a convenient way to contribute and gives your team a shared database for important information. Online donation forms, mobile-friendly interfaces, and multiple payment options make it easy for people to support your cause from anywhere, at any time.
A UK taxpayer's £100 gift becomes £125 to your charity once you reclaim through HMRC. Your software should capture the declaration, store it for at least six years, and submit claims through HMRC's Charities Online service. (HMRC Gift Aid guidance)
Fundraising software helps organisations meet their regulatory obligations. In the UK, this means generating the records needed for annual returns and the Trustees' Annual Report and Accounts (TAR) submitted to the Charity Commission for England and Wales, OSCR (Scotland), or CCNI (Northern Ireland). It also means maintaining HMRC Gift Aid records for a minimum of six years, and operating within the Fundraising Regulator's Code of Fundraising Practice.
If any of this sounds complex, consider working with a fundraising consultant who knows the UK regulatory landscape.







| Software | Ideal for | Standout feature | UK pricing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zeffy | All-in-one free fundraising | No platform fee, no transaction fee | £0, completely free |
| JustGiving | Cold donor brand recognition | Household-name URL for peer-to-peer | 0% platform fee + 1.9% + 20p card processing; optional donor tip |
| Enthuse | London Marathon and Great Run P2P | Official partner to TCS London Marathon and Great Run to 2034 | 0% platform fee + 1.9% + 30p processing; events 3.5% + 75p/ticket |
| CAF Donate | Embedded donate buttons | Built by CAF; used by 8,000+ UK charities | No subscription; staggered transaction fees |
| Wonderful.org | Truly 0% via Open Banking | Pay by Bank with no platform or Gift Aid fee | 0% via Open Banking; card processing only |
| Ticket Tailor | Paid events above £10 | Flat per-ticket fee with 50% charity discount | From 22p/ticket (credits) or 60p PAYG + Stripe processing |
| TicketSource | Community theatre, schools, church events | Zero organiser fee; buyer-facing booking fee | 0% organiser fee; booking fee charged to buyers |
| Eventbrite | Public-facing events needing discovery | Large discovery marketplace | ~6.95% + £0.59/ticket + processing (paid events) |
| Crowdfunder UK | Time-bound campaigns | National Lottery match funding partnerships | 0% platform fee for charities + card processing |
| GivenGain | P2P outside flagship events | Subscription-free with automatic Gift Aid | Free for charities; optional donor tip |
| Beacon | Growing fundraising-led charities | Native Gift Aid claim submission; #1 UK CRM 6 years | From £33.50/month |
| Donorfy | Charities starting with a CRM | Free to 500 constituents; broad integrations | Free up to 500; from ~£50/month above |
| Givergy | Charity galas and gala dinners | 'Keep it FREE' donor-covered fee model | Free for UK charities; donor-covered fees |
| GoodBox | In-person contactless giving | Dedicated GBx tap-to-donate devices | Device cost + per-transaction fee |
| Fundraising software | Best for | Best feature | Price | G2 rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Zeffy |
All fundraising activities |
100% free (no platform fee - no transaction fee) |
100% free |
4.9/5 |
|
GoFundMe Pro (formerly Classy) |
Enterprise feature access |
Robust event management |
Custom Pricing (sales-quoted) |
4.4/5 |
|
DonorPerfect |
Donor management |
Donor data collection |
Custom quote required, starting at £99/month |
4.4/5 |
|
QGiv |
Flexible fundraising |
Customizable forms and event capabilities |
£0 - £259/month and up to £0.95 - 4.95% in processing fees |
4.7/5 |
|
GoFundMe |
Crowdfunding |
Easy social sharing |
Charity: 2.2% + £0.30; personal: 2.9% + £0.30 (+ optional donor tip) |
4.6/5 |
|
Bloomerang |
Donor retention |
CRM |
£79–£1299+ /month, 1% platform fee, and processing fees up to 2.2% + £0.30 |
4.7/5 |
|
Fundly |
Social media fundraising |
Peer-to-peer fundraising |
0% platform fee, 2.9% + £0.30 transaction fee |
2.9/5 |
|
DonorBox |
Recurring donations |
Flexible payment options |
£0–£139+/month, 1.5% platform fee, up to 2.2% + £0.49 in processing fees |
4.6/5 |
|
CauseVox |
P2P campaigns |
Engaging, customized P2P pages |
£0 - £315 /month, and up to 4.25% + £0.30 in processing fees |
4.3/5 |
|
Blackbaud |
Scalability |
AI-powered tools |
Custom quote required |
3.5/5 |
|
BetterWorld |
Raffles |
Text-to-donate |
£0 + 0% platform fee, and up to 2.9% + £0.30 processing fees |
5/5 |
|
OneCause |
Event fundraising |
Auction management |
Custom quote required |
4.7/5 |
|
Fundrazr |
School fundraising |
Coaching and support |
0%-5% platform fee, plus standard processing fees |
4.2/5 |
|
Charity Auctions today |
Auction management |
Robust item features |
£0 -£1500, 0% to 5% platform fees, and up to 3% + £0.30 processing fees |
4.5/5 |


Zeffy is a 100% free online fundraising platform built for charities and not-for-profits. Unlike other fundraising software, Zeffy is a genuine all-in-one solution: from event ticketing to membership management, from online raffles to peer-to-peer campaigns, Zeffy is the only platform that lets UK charities raise money and reach more donors without taking a penny of what they earn.
Pros:
Cons:
Pricing:
£0, no platform fee, no transaction fee. When someone donates through your Zeffy form, they have the option (but are never required) to leave a voluntary contribution to Zeffy. Enough donors do so to cover every fee, so your charity keeps 100% of what it raises.
What Zeffy users are saying:
"Besides being free, Zeffy has become an invaluable tool as it provides a way for our donors to give knowing that 100% of their donation will be received by our organisation. Besides that, it is very user-friendly. Easy to set up and customer support is amazing!", John W.
JustGiving is the UK's most recognised charity fundraising platform and has been since 2001. When a donor sees a JustGiving URL, they know what it is, and that brand recognition genuinely helps convert cold donors on peer-to-peer pages.
The honest caveat: JustGiving's default optional tip prompt of around 17% is the most widely criticised feature in UK charity fundraising circles. UK VoC research consistently shows donors feel the tip is added without their knowledge, which erodes trust and reflects on the charity, not the platform.
Pros:
Cons:
Pricing:
0% platform fee on donations + approximately 1.9% + 20p card processing + 5% on Gift Aid value. Optional donor tip default ~17%. Some charities pay a monthly subscription (£15 to £39 + VAT). See Zeffy vs JustGiving for a full comparison.
What JustGiving users are saying:
"JustGiving is brilliant for reaching donors who already trust the platform. The peer-to-peer pages are simple for fundraisers to set up. My only gripe is the tip prompt, donors ask us about it and it's an awkward conversation."
Enthuse puts the charity's brand front and centre, fundraisers see your charity, not Enthuse. It is the official online fundraising partner for London Marathon Events (TCS London Marathon) and the Great Run series under an exclusive contract running to 2034. If your charity holds places in either event, Enthuse is effectively mandatory.
Pros:
Cons:
Pricing:
0% platform fee on donations (with a tipping default); approximately 1.9% + 30p card processing; 5% on Gift Aid value. Events: 3.5% + 75p per ticket. Optional Enthuse Fundraising and Events subscription from £29.99 + VAT per month. See Zeffy vs Enthuse for a full comparison.
What Enthuse users are saying:
"If you have London Marathon places, there is no choice, you use Enthuse. The branded pages are excellent and fundraisers love that donors see our charity name, not a third-party platform."
CAF Donate is built by the Charities Aid Foundation, itself a registered charity and one of the UK sector's oldest infrastructure bodies. That institutional backing gives CAF Donate a trust signal that commercial platforms simply cannot replicate. More than 8,000 UK charities use it.
Pros:
Cons:
Pricing:
No monthly subscription; staggered transaction fees by donation type. Generally cheaper than most commercial platforms. See Zeffy vs CAF Donate for a full comparison.
What CAF Donate users are saying:
"CAF Donate is exactly what we needed for a simple embedded donate button. Our trustees recognised the CAF name immediately, which helped when we were asking for sign-off on a new platform."
Wonderful.org uses Open Banking (account-to-account transfers) to deliver genuinely 0% donations, no platform fee, no Gift Aid processing fee, and no card fee on Pay by Bank transactions. It has received positive coverage from Money Saving Expert as a transparent alternative to platforms with tip prompts.
Pros:
Cons:
Pricing:
What Wonderful.org users are saying:
"Wonderful is exactly what it says, genuinely free for charities with no tip prompt. The Open Banking journey took some getting used to for older donors, but for our younger supporter base it works brilliantly."
Ticket Tailor is a UK-founded, B Corp certified ticketing platform and the most-cited Eventbrite alternative among independent UK event organisers. It charges a flat fee per ticket rather than a percentage, a significant saving on higher-priced tickets.
Pros:
Cons:
Pricing:
Pay-as-you-go: £0.60 per ticket. Pre-purchased credits: from £0.22 per ticket. Charity discount: 50% off. Tickets under £5 also receive a 50% discount. Free events under 2,000 tickets/year: free. Add Stripe processing (1.5% + 20p for UK cards). See Zeffy vs Ticket Tailor for a full comparison.
What Ticket Tailor users are saying:
"On a £20 fete ticket, Ticket Tailor costs us about 22p plus Stripe processing. Eventbrite was costing us nearly £2 per ticket. For a community event where margins are already tight, that difference is enormous."
TicketSource is a Wales-based ticketing platform that charges no fee to the organiser. It has won the STAR Outstanding Customer Service Award twice and is particularly strong for community theatre, schools, churches, and occasional-event charities that need a dependable, low-friction ticketing tool.
Pros:
Cons:
Pricing:
0% organiser fee. Buyers pay a booking fee at checkout (approximately 10% on lower-priced tickets, less on higher). Charity discount available. (Verify current rates on TicketSource's UK pricing page before publishing.)
What TicketSource users are saying:
"Zero cost to us as the organiser. Our audience is used to booking fees from other platforms, so it hasn't affected sales. The support team is responsive and genuinely helpful."
Eventbrite is the globally dominant event platform and still the default choice when you need your event to be discovered by people who do not already know your charity. Its marketplace genuinely drives traffic to public-facing fundraisers.
The honest caveat: for small-charity events with lower ticket prices (a £10 fete ticket, a £15 community gala entry), Eventbrite's per-ticket fee of roughly £1.29 or more quickly erodes your fundraising margin. Many small UK charities running fetes, Eid festivals, awards nights, or church concerts find Ticket Tailor or TicketSource more cost-effective.
Pros:
Cons:
Pricing:
Paid events: approximately 6.95% + £0.59 per ticket plus payment processing. Free events under 25 attendees: free; over 25 attendees requires a paid plan (Flex from £7.99/event or Pro from £19/month). See Zeffy vs Eventbrite for a full comparison.
What Eventbrite users are saying:
"The discovery is the reason we use Eventbrite for our public-facing fundraisers. But for our smaller internal events, the fees are too high, we've switched those to Ticket Tailor."

Crowdfunder UK is the UK's largest crowdfunding platform, and its defining feature for charities is access to match funding from the National Lottery, local authorities, and other public funders. That match funding is effectively free grant money, and it is the main reason small UK charities choose Crowdfunder over a standard donation page.
Pros:
Cons:
Pricing:
What Crowdfunder UK users are saying:
"We raised £18,000 for our community garden, £9,000 from our supporters and £9,000 matched by the National Lottery. Without the match funding on Crowdfunder, we would never have reached our target that quickly."
GivenGain is an international not-for-profit fundraising platform that launched in the UK in 2022. It is subscription-free, includes automatic Gift Aid processing, and operates a champion-page model that encourages longer-lasting community fundraising relationships.
Pros:
Cons:
Pricing:
What GivenGain users are saying:
"GivenGain is our go-to for sponsored challenges that are not the London Marathon. The automatic Gift Aid saves us hours of admin and the champion pages keep fundraisers engaged long after the event."
Beacon is a UK-built fundraising CRM rated number one in Fundraising Magazine's annual UK CRM survey for six consecutive years. It combines a modern interface with native Gift Aid claim submission, which sets it apart from US-built CRMs that require a workaround for HMRC claims.
Pros:
Cons:
Pricing:
Starter from £33.50/month; scales by active supporter count. (Verify current rates on Beacon's UK pricing page before publishing.)
What Beacon users are saying:
"We moved from a spreadsheet to Beacon and the Gift Aid submission alone saved us two days of admin per quarter. The interface is genuinely intuitive, our volunteer team picked it up within a week."
Donorfy is a UK-built fundraising CRM, now owned by The Access Group, with a free tier for up to 500 constituents. It integrates with a broad range of platforms including JustGiving, Enthuse, Mailchimp, GoCardless, and Stripe, making it easy to plug into the tools your charity already uses.
Pros:
Cons:
Pricing:
Free up to 500 constituents; from approximately £50/month above that threshold (tiered by constituent count). (Verify current rates on Donorfy's UK pricing page before publishing.)
What Donorfy users are saying:
"Donorfy let us start for free while we were figuring out our CRM needs. The JustGiving and GoCardless integrations mean all our donations flow in automatically, no manual entry."
Givergy is a London-based mobile bidding platform for charity galas, gala dinners, and golf days, with a 'Keep it FREE' initiative that makes the platform completely free for UK charities. The platform is award-winning and has a strong UK reference base including schools, sports clubs, and hospitals.
UK charity raffles run as small society lotteries under the Gambling Act 2005. Most charity prize draws are registered with the local licensing authority (£40 initial, £20 annual renewal), subject to a £20,000 single-draw cap, a £250,000 annual aggregate cap, a maximum single prize of £25,000, and a requirement that at least 20% of proceeds go to the charitable cause. Gift Aid does not apply to raffle ticket purchases. (Gambling Commission, small society lotteries guidance) Zeffy's raffle tool is designed for this UK legal flow.
Pros:
Cons:
Pricing:
Free for UK charities; donors voluntarily cover fees. (Verify current rates on Givergy's UK pricing page before publishing.)
What Givergy users are saying:
"Our gala raised significantly more than the previous year, and the fact it cost us nothing as a charity made it even better. The mobile bidding kept guests engaged all evening."
GoodBox makes dedicated contactless donation hardware (GBx devices) for in-person giving at churches, museums, visitor attractions, fetes, and street fundraising. It directly addresses one of the most consistent themes from UK charity VoC research: cash is declining and small charities often have no card payment option at the door.
Pros:
Cons:
Pricing:
What GoodBox users are saying:
"We placed a GoodBox device at the back of church and donations from visitors doubled in a year. People genuinely do not carry cash any more, and this solved that problem for us."
If none of the 14 platforms above is quite the right fit, these UK-relevant tools are worth exploring:

While every other platform takes a portion of donations in fees, Zeffy gives 100% of fundraising revenue directly to your charity. Donors can be confident that every pound they give goes straight to your cause.
The UK charity sector has good reason to scrutinise platform fees. JustGiving's default optional tip prompt of around 17% is the most widely discussed example, and UK donor research consistently shows transparency anxiety about these prompts. As one UK charity supporter put it: 'people seem to think it had been added without their knowledge.' That erosion of trust reflects on the charity, not just the platform.
At Zeffy, there is no tip prompt on behalf of the platform. When donors give, they can choose to leave a voluntary contribution to Zeffy, but they are never nudged towards it, and your charity keeps 100% regardless.
Zeffy is free for everything: donation forms, event ticketing, memberships, raffles, peer-to-peer campaigns, and supporter management.


When choosing fundraising software, weigh the cost, the feature set, the customer support, and, critically for UK charities, the Gift Aid handling and regulatory fit.
Consider the tool stack many small UK charities are currently running: a £15 fete ticket requires Ticket Tailor; an autumn appeal donate page sits on JustGiving; a Christmas raffle needs a separate tool; and a sponsored 5K goes through Crowdfunder or GivenGain. Then add a CRM. That is four or five separate platforms, multiple logins, and fees on every transaction.
Zeffy consolidates that entire stack, fundraising, ticketing, raffles, memberships, auctions, and supporter management, in one free platform, with Gift Aid handling and UK regulatory fit. Unlike other platforms, Zeffy is the only solution that is genuinely 100% free for UK charities, with no platform fee and no transaction fee, ever.
Zeffy is the only 100% free fundraising platform for UK charities. There is no platform fee and no transaction fee. Zeffy covers donation forms, event ticketing, peer-to-peer campaigns, raffles, memberships, and supporter management in one free platform.
Not all platforms handle Gift Aid automatically. Look for software that captures Gift Aid declarations from donors, stores them for the required six years, and supports claim submission through HMRC's Charities Online service. Zeffy, Beacon, Donorfy, GivenGain, and CAF Donate all offer Gift Aid handling.
UK charities that spend £100,000 or more per year on fundraising are subject to a voluntary levy that funds the Fundraising Regulator. All charities fundraising in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland are expected to follow the Code of Fundraising Practice, regardless of size. The current Code came into effect on 1 November 2025. (Fundraising Regulator)
Yes, but UK charity raffles where tickets are sold in advance to the public are 'small society lotteries' under the Gambling Act 2005. They must be registered with your local licensing authority (£40 initial, £20 annual renewal), subject to a £20,000 single-draw cap and a maximum single prize of £25,000. Gift Aid does not apply to raffle ticket purchases. Zeffy's raffle tool is designed for this UK legal flow. (Gambling Commission guidance)
Zeffy is the strongest choice for small UK charities because it is completely free and covers the full fundraising stack. For specialist needs: Ticket Tailor for ticketing, Beacon or Donorfy for CRM, Crowdfunder UK for match-funded campaigns, and Givergy for silent auctions.
Most platforms are open to registered charities, CICs, unincorporated associations, and community groups, though some features (such as Gift Aid reclaim) are only available to organisations that are HMRC-recognised. In England and Wales, charities with income above £5,000 must register with the Charity Commission. In Scotland, all charities must register with OSCR regardless of size.


Charity fundraising does not have to mean juggling four platforms and four invoices. This guide covers 12 proven strategies for UK charities, from corporate sponsorships and peer-to-peer campaigns to Gift Aid, regular giving, and the UK grants landscape, with guidance on legal compliance under UK charity law, the Fundraising Regulator's Code, and the Gambling Act 2005. Whether you are a registered charity or a community group just getting started, these approaches help you raise more while keeping every pound for your cause.
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