Welcome to Zeffy’s blog

A fit-first guide to marketing grants and communications funding for UK charities in 2026. Covers Google Ad Grants UK, the National Lottery Community Fund Awards for All, Arts Council England, local community foundations, Charity Digital Exchange, and more. Includes a step-by-step framework for finding and securing grants, a Gift Aid callout, devolved-nation funding notes, and a closing reminder that free fundraising on Zeffy can build your own marketing budget while you wait.

Read more

Most 'international grants for charities' lists point small UK fundraising teams straight at Gates, Ford, and the big multilaterals. Those are invitation-only and built for large institutions. This guide cuts through to the funders a small or mid-size UK charity can realistically win, organised by cause, with a clear fit verdict for each. It also covers the UK compliance frame for cross-border grantmaking, the FCDO funding landscape, a GBP grant-size table, and six best practices for securing international funding.

Read more

Fundraising targets give your charity a clear path to follow. This guide covers how to set SMART goals, factor in Gift Aid, track progress with the right KPIs, and run campaigns that keep donors engaged and coming back.

Read more

A practical guide for UK charities on running a calendar fundraiser: free downloadable templates, pick-a-date maths in £, Gift Aid eligibility, Gambling Act rules for calendar raffles, design tips, and a worked example showing how a 31-day pick-a-date campaign can raise £496 (or up to £620 with Gift Aid). Includes a step-by-step setup process and a year-long fundraising calendar planner.

Read more

Foundation grants are a real funding lane for small UK charities, but only if you qualify funders before you apply. This guide covers the three filters that disqualify most foundations, a curated directory of UK trusts and foundations open to small charities, a step-by-step application process, a proposal template, and the common mistakes that cause rejections.

Read more

Government grants and statutory funding give UK charities a credible, debt-free income stream alongside their own fundraising. This guide covers the top UK funding programmes, where to find them, and how to apply, including routes open to community groups and CICs that are not yet registered charities.

Read more

A practical guide to using Google Analytics 4 for UK charities: from compliant setup under UK GDPR and PECR to tracking Gift Aid declarations, Direct Debit sign-ups, and small society lottery ticket sales. Covers setup in five steps and six strategies to make the most of GA4 data for your organisation's fundraising.

Read more

An honest review of Donorbox for UK charities: what it costs in pounds, how it handles Gift Aid, whether it covers small society lotteries, and which free alternative keeps 100% of every donation for your mission.

Read more

Choosing a supporter database is one of the higher-stakes software decisions a small UK charity makes. This guide compares 8 tools on the criteria that matter most to a 1 to 3 person team: real £ cost, Gift Aid claim handling, UK GDPR posture, setup without IT support, and whether donation forms auto-write to the supporter record.

Read more

A step-by-step guide for small UK charities and community groups: write a compelling 4 to 8 page impact report this quarter with a free template, UK-specific metrics (including Gift Aid), five UK charity exemplars to study, and a clear process for turning the report into a donor-retention asset.

Read more

Practical guidance for UK charities running humanitarian aid appeals. Covers a six-step fundraising framework, UK regulatory compliance (CCEW, OSCR, CCNI, Gift Aid, OFSI), crisis vs preparedness fundraising modes, and five fundraising ideas including raffles under the Gambling Act 2005.

Read more

Every UK charity needs a treasurer. This guide gives you a free, customisable job description template for both volunteer trustee treasurers and paid finance staff, explains the key responsibilities under UK charity law, and shows how auditing your toolchain before you hire can make the role genuinely sustainable.

Read more

A practical step-by-step guide for UK community organisers, trustees, and volunteers setting up a foodbank or community food pantry. Covers charity registration with the Charity Commission, HMRC Gift Aid, UK food-safety law, the Trussell and FareShare networks, and how to secure funding without paying platform fees.

Read more

A practical guide for UK charities on using Instagram to build awareness, engage supporters, and drive donations in 2026, covering account setup, Gift Aid, native fundraising tools, hashtag strategy, algorithm tips, content ideas, and the best UK charity accounts to follow.

Read more

Cultivating major donors can transform a UK charity's ability to fund large-scale projects and plan for the long term. This guide covers who major donors are, how Gift Aid changes the financial case for giving, and a practical step-by-step process for identifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding major donors. It also sets out how to build a major gifts programme from scratch and nine proven strategies to strengthen your approach.

Read more

Everything a UK charity needs to hire a volunteer manager: a copy-paste job description template (registered charity and CIC versions), 2026 UK salary bands from CharityJob and TPP, a DBS and safeguarding checklist, the UK job boards and credentials that matter, and 10 interview questions that separate good candidates from great ones. Includes an honest section for smaller organisations on who should own volunteers when a full-time hire is not yet on the table.

Read more

Membership dues keep small UK charities, PTAs, sports clubs, and membership associations running, but the tracking is often scattered across a Google Form, a spreadsheet, and a payment processor that quietly takes a cut. This guide covers the consolidation-first playbook: name the patchwork, pick a tracking method suited to a small UK organisation, set the system up in an afternoon, understand how Gift Aid applies to membership subscriptions, and handle the members who miss a payment. UK-specific guidance covers Gift Aid benefit limits, CASC and PTA context, UK-native membership software (Beacon, Donorfy, Membermojo, ChurchSuite), Direct Debit as the dominant recurring payment rail, and UK GDPR obligations for member records.

Read more

Learn how to promote a fundraiser with 15 proven strategies built for UK charities. Covers building a marketing plan, crafting a compelling story, layering in Gift Aid, choosing the right UK platforms, staying GDPR-compliant, and managing raffles under UK gambling law.

Read more

An honest guide for small UK charities considering HubSpot: real UK list prices, the Gift Aid gap HubSpot cannot fill, Fundraising Regulator expectations, a shortlist of UK CRM alternatives (Beacon, Donorfy, CAF Donate), and how to connect Zeffy and HubSpot via Zapier if you already use both.

Read more

A practical comparison of the best fundraising apps for UK charities in 2026, ranked by fees on £10,000 raised, Gift Aid handling, and whether they consolidate the tools a small charity actually needs into one free login.

Read more

UK YMCA branches rely on voluntary income alongside membership fees and grants to fund youth programmes, swim lessons, and community activities. This guide gives Fundraising Managers and trustees 50+ proven ideas organised by category, a step-by-step planning framework, Gift Aid guidance, email templates you can copy right now, and North American case studies showing what peer-to-peer fundraising can achieve. Run it all on Zeffy and keep every pound raised with no platform or transaction fees.

Read more

A practical, no-jargon guide to donor management for small UK charities. Learn the three-stage process, five best practices, key metrics including Gift Aid claim rate, and what to look for in free donor management software, so every donor record, every donation, and every Gift Aid declaration lives in one place you'll actually open on a Tuesday.

Read more