Zeffy Reviews: What UK Charities Say About the Free Fundraising Platform (2026)

Zeffy is the only completely free fundraising platform for charities and not-for-profits. When you are exploring fundraising software, it helps to hear from actual users about what works, what does not, and the results you can draw inspiration from.

Below is a full breakdown of Zeffy reviews from charitable organisations of all sizes and cause areas. Learn about pricing, top features, Gift Aid handling, and what to expect from the Zeffy support team as you get started.

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Zeffy reviews from the most trusted sources

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What is Zeffy?

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Zeffy is the only zero-fee fundraising platform for charities and not-for-profits. Designed to help organisations do more for less, it offers an all-in-one solution for donor and supporter management, fundraising, marketing communications, and more.

While every other platform takes a cut, Zeffy's online donation platform for UK charities gives 100% of all donations directly to your cause. Donors know every £1 reaches your charity.

Every donation form is built with charities in mind, focusing on ease of use and an excellent donor experience that makes giving straightforward. Charities can build their community through every donation, ticket, auction bid, and item they sell through Zeffy, tracking it all in one place.

Zeffy's story started when François, one of the co-founders, moved to Québec and wanted to give back. He found it surprisingly hard to find volunteer opportunities, so he teamed up with his friend Thibaut to build a platform that made it easy and accessible to volunteer. That was the beginning of Zeffy's mission to support charities for free. Since then, Zeffy has grown into an all-in-one fundraising solution, now supporting more than 100,000 charities and not-for-profits globally, with UK charities joining as the platform expands internationally.

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Is Zeffy legitimate?

Yes, Zeffy is a legitimate fundraising platform. More than 100,000 charities and not-for-profits use Zeffy globally, raising over $2bn collectively. It is the only 100% free fundraising and supporter management platform available.

For UK charities, Zeffy is built to fit your regulatory environment. Zeffy processes UK donor data under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. It is designed to align with the Fundraising Regulator's Code of Fundraising Practice (the current version, including Section 9 covering online platforms, came into force on 1 November 2025). Zeffy also supports the Gift Aid declaration workflow so your charity can reclaim 25p for every £1 from HMRC via Charities Online.

UK charities can register with the Charity Commission for England and Wales, OSCR in Scotland, or CCNI in Northern Ireland. Zeffy supports organisations across all three jurisdictions.

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Pricing and transaction fees

Zeffy is 100% free. While every other platform takes fees away from your mission, Zeffy delivers 100% of it to your charity. Zeffy has a 4.9/5 "value for money" rating on Capterra, reflecting the satisfaction of organisations that keep every penny they raise.

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How Zeffy compares to other UK platforms on fees

Every other UK fundraising platform charges something. JustGiving processes Gift Aid at a 5% fee on the Gift Aid value and applies a suggested donor tip of around 17% (the most-criticised feature in UK fundraising circles, as covered extensively by Money Saving Expert and charity forums). CAF Donate, Enthuse, and Crowdfunder all take a per-transaction slice. Eventbrite charges roughly £0.59 plus 6.95% per paid ticket on its Flex plan.

Zeffy charges nothing. 100% of every £1 a donor gives reaches your charity, plus the 25p HMRC pays back through Gift Aid. For a fee-by-fee comparison, see our UK compare pages: Zeffy vs JustGiving, Zeffy vs Enthuse, Zeffy vs Crowdfunder, Zeffy vs Ticket Tailor, Zeffy vs Eventbrite, and Zeffy vs CAF Donate.

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How is Zeffy free for charities?

The only way Zeffy makes money is from optional voluntary contributions from donors.

Here is how it works: when someone donates to your fundraising form, they have the option (but are never obliged) to add a voluntary contribution to Zeffy. The prompt is shown clearly on top of the donor's gift, with a real "no, thanks" option and a fully visible total before checkout. This is designed with the transparency UK donors expect, in direct contrast to the default-tip models that have drawn criticism from donors and sector commentators alike.

UK charities collectively pay millions in platform and processing fees every year. Zeffy's voluntary-contribution model exists to end that. Enough donors choose to contribute to keep the platform free for every charity on Zeffy.

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Who is Zeffy best for?

Zeffy works for UK charities and not-for-profits of every size, from small grassroots community groups to established regional charities looking to consolidate their fundraising in one place.

It is particularly well suited to the real UK charity picture: small-to-mid charities (roughly £10,000 to £500,000 income), PTAs, village halls, CICs, churches (excepted-charity status), sports clubs registered as Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs), foodbank collections, and unincorporated community groups.

Many smaller UK charities currently stitch together three to five separate tools: a £15 fete ticket sold on Ticket Tailor, an autumn appeal running on JustGiving, a Christmas raffle on a separate platform, and a sponsored 5K tracked in a spreadsheet or separate CRM. That is four platforms, four sets of fees, and four logins. Zeffy replaces the whole stack for free.

With Zeffy, you can track contributions, build supporter relationships, and streamline communications across every campaign type. Its marketing and engagement features help you reach a broader audience and build deeper connections with your community.

Zeffy is ideal for organisations that value efficiency, transparency, and an easy-to-use experience, so you can focus on your mission rather than your fundraising admin.

Whether you are planning a gala, running an appeal, organising a raffle, or managing a recurring donor base, Zeffy's all-in-one platform gives you everything you need.

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Zeffy fundraising features for UK charities

• Fee-free fundraising: No transaction fees, with donors optionally covering platform costs via a transparent voluntary contribution.

• Customisable donation pages: Create pages that reflect your charity's branding and cause.

• Gift Aid declarations and HMRC-ready record-keeping: Capture each donor's Gift Aid declaration (name, home address, charity name, taxpayer confirmation) and keep the records HMRC requires for Gift Aid claims (4-year claim window, 6-year record retention). (HMRC Gift Aid guidance)

• Recurring donations: Offer monthly, quarterly, or annual giving to drive consistent support.

• Peer-to-peer fundraising: Enable supporters to create personalised campaigns for your cause.

• Ticketing and event management: Sell tickets and manage events without extra fees.

• Raffles and small society lotteries: Run a raffle or small society lottery within the Gambling Act 2005 framework. Most charity raffles register with the local licensing authority (£40 initial / £20 renewal); incidental non-commercial lotteries drawn entirely at an event need no registration. (Note: Gift Aid does not apply to raffle ticket purchases.)

• Embedded donation forms: Integrate donation forms directly into your website.

• Donor and supporter management tools: Track donor information and build stronger relationships.

• Reporting and analytics: Gain insights into campaign performance and donor behaviour.

• Integrations with CRMs and marketing tools: Connect with external platforms to simplify your workflows.

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Zeffy pros and cons

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Why use Zeffy for your charity's fundraising?

Zeffy is an intuitive platform designed to streamline supporter management and fundraising for UK charities. With it, you can manage donor relationships, track donations, and analyse fundraising efforts effectively. You can host raffles and small society lotteries, run an online shop, or manage memberships.

Zeffy also offers robust reporting and analytics tools, so you can understand donor behaviour, track campaign performance, and spot fundraising trends.

From customisable donation forms to automated email campaigns, Zeffy helps charities engage donors and raise more effectively.

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The limitations of Zeffy

Zeffy has very few drawbacks for UK charities. It is worth being transparent about the ones that exist.

The voluntary-contribution prompt means donors see a request to add an optional amount on top of their gift. If this is not explained in advance (for example, in your appeal email or on your event page), some donors may be surprised by it. Zeffy makes this as clear as possible with a visible total and a "no, thanks" option, but briefing your supporters in advance helps avoid any confusion.

Brand recognition with cold UK donors is currently lower than platforms like JustGiving. Zeffy works best when you are directing warm supporters to your page. For serendipitous cold-discovery donations, a household-name platform may still have an edge. That said, every £1 those cold donors give on Zeffy reaches your cause in full.

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Zeffy reviews from real charities

Unbeatable value

The reviews below come from verified users on third-party platforms. While the organisations quoted are from North America (Zeffy's most established market), the experiences they describe reflect the same platform UK charities use today.

"The biggest selling feature of Zeffy for nonprofits is that they cover the costs of all credit card transaction fees, which saves us a lot of money. On the user end, it's a very clean-looking website, and fairly simple to use. On the back end, setting up ticket pages and campaigns is straightforward and pulling reports is not very complicated."

"Zeffy has allowed our nonprofit to professionally launch several fundraising campaigns, while best stewarding the money our donors have given to us, allowing more dollars to go toward our mission."

"By eliminating fees, Zeffy has allowed us to maximise every donation and focus on expanding our programmes. It's opened new revenue streams and empowered us to make an even bigger impact for the children and families we serve."

"Thank you Zeffy for providing us with a platform that is free and helps small nonprofits like us where every penny counts!"

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Features

"Zeffy was exactly what we needed to register and collect fees for our events. We needed a way to build forms with custom fields, as well as receive payments at the same time, and Zeffy does just that."

"I was shocked. For the features that you get, yeah I was shocked. Compared to other forms I've used, Zeffy is just amazing."

"The platform is easy to use and understand. All of the features are helpful to our organisation. It is so versatile, from ticketing, to donations, to registrations - we use it all. Not only is it free, it is functional and genuinely useful."

"Zeffy provides an ideal platform for event registrations. Setting up events and managing registrations is quick and easy. Registration forms can include custom questions which is essential for our events. The ability to accept optional donations has proved helpful. The fee structure which ensures our organisation receives 100% of the proceeds from registrations and donations is terrific."

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Ease of use

"No complaints whatsoever. Zeffy is about as simple to use as one could ask, yet provides the detailed reports we need."

"The Zeffy platform is so simple that when there are changes to be made, I ask a colleague and she can do them in five minutes, even if she has never touched the tool before."

"Everything is fantastic from the immediate setup time to the ease of use to their phenomenal customer service. The savings are way more than just not losing money to processing fees. It saves time and is so elegant and easy to use."

"Setting up and implementing new forms is done in minutes. Finding Zeffy is the best thing that happened to our organisation."

"This is the easiest donor management software I have ever seen. I am older and often confused by software but this was intuitive and lovely to use."

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Customer service

"I couldn't ask for better customer service. My questions are always responded to promptly, and the team always seems to welcome suggestions for future improvements."

"The site is extremely user-friendly, and the support staff has been phenomenal."

"The customer service has been exceptional. It is clear that the staff cares and wants to help."

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What charities have achieved with Zeffy

UK case studies are coming soon as more UK charities share their results. In the meantime, the examples below illustrate what is possible on the platform. All figures are from verified case studies in Zeffy's case study library.

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Should you use Zeffy?

While every other platform takes fees away from your mission, Zeffy delivers 100% of it to your charity. If you are an organisation looking to make more impact for less, Zeffy may be exactly what you need.

Zeffy offers free support whenever you need it and is rated highly for ease of use. It is simple yet powerful, and the team is always available to answer your questions.

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Frequently asked questions

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