Free and discounted tools for UK charities (2026)

Running a charity demands careful resource allocation. The right tools make an enormous difference, yet software and online subscriptions can strain even well-managed budgets. Fortunately, many companies recognise the unique challenges charities face and offer generous discounts, or free access altogether.

This guide covers 51 tools offering free or discounted access to UK registered charities, covering fundraising, CRM, web design, email marketing, and more. It also explains the two main UK routes for unlocking those savings.

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In this article:

• How UK charities access these discounts

• Fundraising platform discounts

• CRM software discounts

• Payment processing discounts

• Email marketing discounts

• Tech solutions discounts

• Software development discounts

• Web design discounts for charities

• Social media marketing discounts

• Digital marketing discounts

• Web hosting discounts

• Accounting software discounts

• Productivity software discounts

• Collaboration software discounts

• Utility, survey, and forms discounts

• Data storage and management software discounts

• Gift Aid: the discount HMRC gives you

• Final thoughts

• Frequently asked questions

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How UK charities access these discounts

Before diving into the tools, it helps to know the two primary routes UK charities use to unlock them.

Charity Digital Exchange (charitydigitalexchange.org) is the UK arm of TechSoup. It provides Microsoft, Adobe, Zoom, Bitdefender, and more than 100 other tools to registered UK charities for small admin fees. Eligibility requires registration with the Charity Commission for England and Wales (CCEW), the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR), or the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland (CCNI), or HMRC recognition as a charity.

Percent (poweredbypercent.com) is the validation layer behind Google for Nonprofits UK, Canva for Nonprofits, LinkedIn Nonprofit Solutions, and many other SaaS platforms. Again, eligibility is tied to registered-charity status or HMRC recognition.

For tools not covered by either route, most vendors accept a UK charity registration number as proof of eligibility and allow direct application.

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Fundraising platform discounts

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1. Zeffy

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• Event ticketing

• Peer-to-peer fundraising

• Online donations

• Donor management

• Raffles and lotteries

• Auctions

Zeffy offers all these features with no platform fee and no processing fee. When a donor gives £100, your charity receives £100.

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2. GoFundMe

GoFundMe is a widely used personal crowdfunding site. In the UK, registered charities can run fundraising pages on GoFundMe, with Gift Aid pass-through supported. It is, however, predominantly used by individuals rather than charities; cold donors may expect a charity-branded page rather than a GoFundMe URL, which can reduce trust. For current UK charity fees, see the Zeffy vs GoFundMe comparison page.

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3. Bonfire

Bonfire is a fundraising platform where charities can collect donations by selling customised apparel and merchandise. You can start selling on Bonfire for free, though a transaction fee applies. Bonfire operates internationally, but shipping terms and charity verification differ in the UK. Verify current UK charity eligibility and rates at bonfire.com/fundraising before signing up.

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CRM software discounts

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4. Salesforce

Salesforce for charities offers a customised CRM solution. Its Nonprofit Cloud Enterprise Edition is available at £60 per user per month, and its Nonprofit Cloud Unlimited Edition at £100 per user per month (both billed annually). Eligible charities can register for the Power of Us programme to receive the first 10 users free.

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5. ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign provides user-friendly CRM software for charities, with advanced donor segmentation and email automation. The platform offers a 20% charity discount on its CRM solution. Plans range from approximately £29 to £249 per month for marketing packages. ActiveCampaign also offers bundle packages for different tools.

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6. Bloomerang

Bloomerang offers a straightforward CRM solution suited to small and medium-sized charities. For 1,000 records, Bloomerang offers a Standard Plan at approximately £125 per month. The platform also provides a £250 gift card when you refer another organisation.

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7. Microsoft Dynamics

Microsoft offers CRM tools specifically designed for charities through its Dynamics 365 Nonprofit Accelerator application. In the UK, access is routed through Charity Digital Exchange (the UK arm of TechSoup). Eligibility requires registration with CCEW, OSCR, or CCNI, or HMRC recognition. Subscription options for Dynamics 365 with charity pricing start from a small admin fee; general commercial pricing ranges from around £20 to £100 per month.

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8. Zoho

Zoho CRM is a sales CRM that offers integration with 40+ apps and 300+ third-party extensions. Zoho CRM pricing starts at around £14 per month and goes up to around £52 per month, with a free trial on all plans. Contact the Zoho sales team directly for charity pricing benefits.

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Payment processing discounts

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9. PayPal

PayPal processes payments through its own merchant account. UK registered charities can accept donations via PayPal through the PayPal Giving Fund UK (registered charity 1110538), which supports Gift Aid pass-through. PayPal offers reduced UK charity transaction rates to qualifying organisations. For current UK charity fees, see the Zeffy vs PayPal comparison page. PayPal is a trusted checkout, but it is a payment button rather than a full fundraising platform: it does not include Gift Aid automation, event ticketing, memberships, or donor management.

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10. Stripe

Stripe supports credit cards, debit cards, and bank transfers with fraud detection features. The standard UK Stripe rate is 1.5% + 20p for UK cards, 2.5% + 20p for EEA cards, and 3.25% + 20p for international cards. Stripe UK offers charity-discount programmes on a case-by-case basis; verify current eligibility at stripe.com/en-gb. Zeffy users access Stripe at no cost, as Zeffy covers 100% of the transaction fee.

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11. GoCardless (UK Direct Debit)

GoCardless is the UK leader in Direct Debit for charities. Direct Debit accounts for around 31% of all UK charity donations, making it the gold standard for regular giving. GoCardless charges 1% + 20p per Direct Debit transaction, capped at £2 per payment. A 25% charity discount is available to registered UK charities, bringing the effective rate down significantly. GoCardless is the simplest route to Direct Debit without going through a full Bacs bureau, and it integrates with most major UK fundraising and CRM platforms.

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Email marketing discounts

12. AWeber

AWeber provides a full range of email marketing tools, including autoresponders and email templates. AWeber's pricing starts at around £12.50 per month for standard plans. AWeber offers a 25% discount to registered charities, and the first three months are complimentary when starting.

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13. Campaign Monitor

Campaign Monitor offers a drag-and-drop email builder, 100+ email templates, and multiple features to power your email campaigns. UK registered charities can access all these features at a charity discount of up to 15%.

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14. Mailchimp

Mailchimp offers robust marketing automation and features such as email delivery by time zone. Mailchimp's free plan provides limited automation with 1,000 emails per month to up to 500 contacts. Verified charity users and non-governmental organisations receive a 15% discount on paid plans.

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15. Constant Contact

Constant Contact offers SMS and social media marketing features alongside email automation, a drag-and-drop builder, and campaign tracking. Qualifying organisations can access these features at up to a 30% charity discount, though pricing may still be higher than some comparable alternatives.

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Tech solutions discounts

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16. Bitly

Bitly provides URL shortening and tailored QR code tools. UK charities can apply directly to Bitly for charity pricing, or explore access via Charity Digital Exchange. Verify the current UK eligibility route at support.bitly.com before applying.

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17. Zapier

Zapier is not a standalone solution but it enables seamless automation and integration between tools such as Salesforce CRM, Microsoft Teams, and Zendesk. You can integrate Zeffy with 1,000 other tools using Zapier, including:

• QuickBooks

• Salesforce

• Google Sheets

• Donor Perfect

• Access

• SQL

• Airtable

Registered charities with proof of charitable status can access a 15% discount on Zapier's paid plans starting at around £19.99 per month.

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Software development discounts

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18. Atlassian

Atlassian creates productivity and collaboration tools for software development, including Jira for project management and Confluence for collaboration. Charities can access Atlassian's discounted community licences, offering cloud subscriptions with a 75% charity discount on the list price.

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19. GitHub

GitHub is a well-known open-source software development platform. Qualifying organisations can create a free charity account on GitHub with unlimited user access. The GitHub Team plan is free for charities. If you have an existing account, your last transaction will be refunded once you apply for the charity offer.

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20. New Relic

New Relic offers observability software for engineers and software developers. Through its Observability for Good programme, eligible charities worldwide can apply for free access to the New Relic One plan. Verify current UK eligibility and application details at newrelic.com.

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Web design discounts for charities

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21. Canva

Canva offers easy-to-use graphic design tools and resources, including a vast library of templates, images, graphs, and stock illustrations. Eligibility for Canva for Nonprofits in the UK is validated via Percent (poweredbypercent.com). Eligible charities can access the full Canva Pro plan for free, including access for up to 10 members.

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22. Wix

Wix provides an easy drag-and-drop feature for designing and managing your website without coding knowledge. UK charities can access a charity discount on a premium Wix subscription through Charity Digital Exchange. The historic offer included up to 70% off for two years plus a free one-year domain registration voucher; verify the current UK rate before applying.

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23. Piktochart

Create visually appealing materials for your mission with Piktochart. The platform offers user-friendly tools to create infographics, presentations, and social media posts. Piktochart has a free version available to all users. Eligible charities can access its Pro Plan and premium resources at a discounted rate; verify current UK pricing at piktochart.com.

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Social media marketing discounts

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24. Buffer

Buffer is a social media management tool offering a single dashboard for content planning and scheduling across multiple accounts. Eligible organisations receive a 50% charity discount on all paid plans, starting from around £5 per month.

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25. BuzzSumo

BuzzSumo helps you monitor popular keywords and hashtags to improve your website and social media content through search engine optimisation (SEO). Engaging on social media is a key strategy for charities. Paid plans start at around £199 per month, with eligible charities enjoying a 50% discount.

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26. LinkedIn

LinkedIn offers resources tailored to charities through its Sales Navigator Core feature, which helps identify and nurture potential donors. It also has a Recruiter Lite plan to help you build a team. Eligibility in the UK is validated via Percent (poweredbypercent.com). Eligible organisations can receive a 75% charity discount on these plans.

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27. Sprout Social

Sprout Social is a social monitoring tool that lets you track all your social media messages and posts in one place. The platform offers a free one-month trial before you choose a paid plan starting at around £199 per month. Charitable organisations can contact the Sprout Social team directly for an additional charity discount.

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Digital marketing discounts

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28. VistaPrint

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VistaPrint helps charities spread awareness through branded products and apparel. VistaPrint operates in the UK (vistaprint.co.uk); the UK charity routing and any sponsored subscription offer differ from the US programme. Verify current UK eligibility and pricing at vistaprint.co.uk before applying.

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29. Google Ad Grants

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Google Ads can help drive more traffic to your charity's website and target people searching for topics related to your mission. In the UK, charities apply for Google for Nonprofits via Percent (poweredbypercent.com) with proof of registered-charity status (CCEW, OSCR, or CCNI) or HMRC recognition. Once validated, Google Ad Grants provides up to USD £10,000 per month in Google Ads credit (this benefit is denominated in USD globally).

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30. YouTube

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YouTube, the world's leading video platform, helps charities share their stories and reach a wider audience through the YouTube Nonprofit Programme. Access is unlocked via your Google for Nonprofits account, which UK charities obtain through Percent (poweredbypercent.com). Once enrolled, you can unlock YouTube's special features at no cost.

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31. Moz

Moz provides digital marketing and SEO tools including keyword research, to help organisations improve their online presence. UK registered charities can apply for a 75% discount on Moz Pro subscriptions starting at around £99 per month. Verify current UK eligibility requirements at moz.com/help before applying.

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Web hosting discounts

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32. Krystal Hosting

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Krystal Hosting is a UK-based B Corp web host that offers charity and community-group pricing. It is a strong alternative for UK charities seeking discounted hosting, particularly those using WordPress. UK charities can also explore hosting credits via Charity Digital Exchange. Verify current charity rates at krystal.uk before signing up.

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33. GoDaddy

GoDaddy offers user-friendly web hosting solutions. With basic shared hosting plans, you can access SSD storage at a discounted rate and a free domain name for the first year. WordPress hosting plans include a corporate email package for the first year. Verify current UK charity pricing at godaddy.com/en-uk.

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Accounting software discounts

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34. Xero

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Xero is UK-founded with strong UK charity support. Its drag-and-drop reporting and multi-user access make it well suited to managing multiple projects. UK charities receive a 25% instant discount when subscribing to Xero. The platform also offers a 30-day free trial, with an ongoing offer of 50% off on any six-month plan. Xero integrates with Gift Aid add-ons, making it a practical choice for UK charity accounting.

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35. QuickBooks

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QuickBooks Online UK offers online and desktop versions to suit various charity needs. In the UK, the charity routing goes through Charity Digital Exchange. Plans start at around £9 per month with ongoing offers; charities can typically access a 50% discount for the first three months. Verify current UK charity pricing before subscribing.

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36. FreeAgent

FreeAgent is a UK-founded cloud accounting platform popular with small charities and community groups. It offers straightforward bookkeeping, invoicing, and VAT returns. FreeAgent is free to eligible NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, and Ulster Bank business-account holders. For other charities, verify current pricing and any available charity rates at freeagent.com.

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Productivity software discounts

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37. Monday.com

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Monday.com addresses key charity needs, from fundraising campaigns to end-to-end project management. It automates routine tasks and centralises all communication to boost your team's productivity. Monday.com is free for small teams, offering 10 free seats and a 70% discount for every additional seat.

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38. Todoist

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Todoist is a leading task-management tool that makes adding, organising, and managing tasks straightforward. The platform offers a 50% discount on business plans for eligible charities.

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39. Evernote

Evernote helps charities manage lists, notes, ideas, and reminders on a single platform. Charity pricing is available for qualifying organisations; discounts apply to team accounts with at least five members. Contact the Evernote team or check via Charity Digital Exchange for current UK rates.

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Collaboration software discounts

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40. Basecamp

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Basecamp is a cloud-based platform offering task scheduling, automated tracking, and project management features for individuals, marketing teams, and project managers. Charitable organisations can access these services at a 10% discount on Basecamp's plans, along with a 30-day free trial.

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41. ClickUp

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ClickUp is a collaboration tool for charities operating on a tight budget, offering email capabilities, goals tracking, and volunteer time management. ClickUp offers a free single-user plan. While it does not provide a straight charity discount, pricing is budget-friendly, with the Business plan available at around £12 per month.

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42. Slack

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Slack is a real-time messaging and collaboration tool. The platform supports charities through its Slack for Charities programme. Workspaces with 250 members receive a free upgrade to a Pro subscription; for larger workspaces, Slack offers an 85% discount. A Business+ subscription is available at an 85% discount regardless of workspace size.

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43. Zoom

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Zoom is a popular video conferencing platform with real-time audio and video communication, screen-sharing, and instant messaging features. UK charities can access Zoom at a 50% discount through Charity Digital Exchange (the UK arm of TechSoup).

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Utility, survey, and forms discounts

44. Apple

Tech giant Apple supports charities by offering refurbished, high-quality products through its education and charity pricing. Visit apple.com/uk/shop/refurbished to explore current UK offers and verify available charity routing. Apple also makes it straightforward to collect gifts through Apple Pay. Apple charges no additional fee for Apple Pay itself, though the underlying card processor (for example, Stripe UK at 1.5% + 20p) still applies unless your platform covers those fees. Zeffy covers all processing costs, so Apple Pay donations through Zeffy forms reach your charity in full.

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45. Adobe

Adobe provides discounted subscriptions to charities on several products. In the UK, access runs through Charity Digital Exchange, where Adobe Creative Cloud for Teams and Adobe Acrobat Pro DC are available at deep UK charity rates. Verify current UK pricing via Charity Digital Exchange before subscribing.

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46. Microsoft 365

Empower your team and volunteers to work from anywhere with Microsoft 365. UK charities access Microsoft 365 charity plans through Charity Digital Exchange or Microsoft's direct verification partner. Business Basic remains free for eligible UK registered charities. Business Standard and Premium plans are available at UK charity rates; verify current £ pricing before applying.

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47. Wufoo

Wufoo helps streamline charity operations with customised donation forms and workflow automation. Wufoo offers free basic form building and sharing with limited responses. For more advanced features, paid plans are available at a 50% charity discount.

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Data storage and management software discounts

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48. Amazon Web Services

Charities of all sizes can use Amazon Web Services cloud solutions to raise awareness and advance their mission. AWS also supports research through machine learning and artificial intelligence. UK charities can apply via AWS's global Imagine Grant Programme or the direct AWS Nonprofit Credit Programme to access up to USD £5,000 in AWS Promotional Credit (this benefit is denominated in USD globally).

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49. Dropbox

Dropbox provides online file-sharing services, enabling charities to collaborate on content with team members and volunteers. Dropbox Business plans for team accounts include a charity discount. Contact the Dropbox team directly for current UK charity pricing.

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50. 1Password

Safeguard your charity's critical data with 1Password at discounted rates. This password management and security system loads saved passwords quickly for faster and more secure logins. 1Password offers Team plans at a 50% discount for charities.

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51. Airtable

Airtable saves you from spending hours on spreadsheets and helps you effortlessly track project plans, campaigns, budgets, contacts, mailing lists, and more. Qualifying charities can access Airtable Team plans at 50% off the monthly cost per user.

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Gift Aid: the discount HMRC gives you

Before you spend on any tool, remember that HMRC already gives your charity a significant cost-saving mechanism. Gift Aid lets your charity reclaim 25p for every £1 donated by a UK taxpayer, at no extra cost to the donor. A £100 gift becomes £125 in your account automatically (see HMRC Gift Aid guidance).

The Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (GASDS) adds a further 25% top-up on small cash and contactless donations of £30 or less, capped at £8,000 per year. Together, these mechanisms compound the value of every pound your charity raises. Any accounting or fundraising tool you adopt needs to handle Gift Aid cleanly; it is worth making that a primary evaluation criterion, not an afterthought.

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Final thoughts

By using cost-saving opportunities across these essential tools, charities can streamline operations, strengthen fundraising, and maximise their impact. Ensure you have your charity registration number (CCEW, OSCR, or CCNI) or HMRC recognition documents ready to prove eligibility when applying.

Make the most of Charity Digital Exchange and Percent to unlock dozens of vendor discounts in one place. And start with Zeffy: it is the only fundraising platform that charges nothing at all. When a donor gives £100 through Zeffy, £100 reaches your charity's account, with no platform fee and no transaction fee.

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Frequently asked questions

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