Zeffy Reviews: What UK Charities Are Saying in 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 real users about what works, what does not, and what results you can expect.

Below is a full breakdown of Zeffy reviews from charities of all sizes and cause categories, along with an honest look at pricing, Gift Aid handling, and what to expect from the Zeffy support team.

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In this article:

• Zeffy reviews from the most trusted sources

• What is Zeffy?

• Is Zeffy legitimate?

• Pricing and transaction fees

• How is Zeffy free for charities?

• Who is Zeffy right for?

• Zeffy pros and cons

• The limitations of Zeffy

• Zeffy reviews from real charities

• Where UK charities are using Zeffy

• Should you use Zeffy?

• Frequently asked questions

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Zeffy reviews from the most trusted sources

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What is Zeffy?

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 supporter management, fundraising, marketing communications, and more.

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

Every donation form across the platform is built with charities in mind, focusing on ease of use and a donation experience that makes giving straightforward. Your charity can build its community through every donation, ticket, auction bid, and item sold through Zeffy, tracking everything in one place.

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Is Zeffy legitimate?

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

Zeffy was founded when François, one of the co-founders, wanted to make it easier to volunteer and support good causes. He and his co-founder Thibaut built a platform to make giving accessible and transparent. From those early beginnings, Zeffy has grown into a full suite of fundraising tools that make it simple for charities to connect with donors. The team now supports charities across the UK, US, Canada, and beyond.

For UK charities, Zeffy offers:

• UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 compliance for all donor data, addressing the question UK charities ask before adopting any new tool: "Are you GDPR compliant?"

• Support for Gift Aid declarations at the point of donation, in line with HMRC Gift Aid requirements, so your charity can reclaim 25p for every £1 a UK taxpayer donates.

• Operations aligned with the Fundraising Regulator's Code of Fundraising Practice (current version effective 1 November 2025, with Section 9 covering online platforms).

The best part: Zeffy has completely transparent pricing. It has never charged a single penny to charities. Its mission is to help charities focus on what matters: changing the world.

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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 every £1 raised to your charity. Zeffy holds a 4.9/5 'value for money' rating on Capterra, reflecting how much more of every donation reaches the cause.

How Zeffy compares to other UK fundraising platforms

Every other UK fundraising platform charges something. JustGiving applies a 5% fee on Gift Aid value and surfaces a default donor tip prompt. Enthuse charges 3.5% + 75p per ticket for events. Eventbrite charges roughly £0.59 + 6.95% per paid ticket on its Flex plan. Ticket Tailor charges a flat per-ticket fee. CAF Donate takes a per-transaction slice.

Zeffy charges nothing. 100% of every £1 raised, plus the 25p HMRC pays the charity on Gift Aid declarations, reaches your cause.

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How is Zeffy free for charities?

The only way Zeffy sustains itself is through optional voluntary contributions from donors.

Here is how it works: when someone donates to your charity's fundraising form, they have the option to add a small contribution to Zeffy on top of their gift. This is never taken from their donation. A donor giving £50 sees the question: 'Would you like to add £5 on top of your £50?' There is always a clear 'no, thanks' option, and the total is visible before checkout.

Unlike platforms that suggest a 17% tip taken from your donor's total, Zeffy keeps the donation and the voluntary contribution entirely separate. Enough donors choose to contribute to keep the platform free for every charity using it. UK charities collectively pay millions in platform and processing fees every year. Zeffy's model exists to end that.

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Who is Zeffy right for?

Zeffy is right for charities of every size, from small grassroots community groups to large established registered charities. It is an excellent choice for organisations that want a comprehensive toolset to handle every fundraising need without hidden fees or added costs.

The UK stacked-tool problem Zeffy solves

A typical small UK charity currently pays for multiple tools: a £15 fete ticket on Ticket Tailor, an autumn appeal on JustGiving, a Christmas raffle through a separate platform, and a sponsored 5K run managed via another service. Add a CRM on top, and you are paying four sets of fees and logging into four different dashboards.

Zeffy replaces that entire stack for £0. Fundraising, ticketing, raffles and small society lotteries, memberships, auctions, and supporter management all sit in one place, with Gift Aid handling included.

Zeffy is particularly well suited to:

• PTAs and parent-friends associations running school fetes, quiz nights, and term-time fundraisers

• Village halls and community groups processing ticket sales for events and concerts

• Community Interest Companies (CICs) and unincorporated associations that cannot always access charity-rate tools

• Churches and excepted charities managing donor relationships and fundraising appeals

• Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs) selling memberships and running sponsored events

• Small-to-mid registered charities (£10k to £500k income) wanting to consolidate their tool stack

With Zeffy, charities can track contributions, build relationships, and streamline communications across all campaign types. Its reporting and engagement features help you reach a broader audience and foster deeper connections with your community.

Whether you are planning a gala, running a campaign, or managing a recurring donor base, Zeffy's all-in-one platform gives your charity everything it needs.

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Zeffy fundraising software features

• Fee-free fundraising: No transaction fees. No platform fees. No card fees. Ever. 100% of every £1 reaches your cause.

• Gift Aid declarations and HMRC-ready records: Capture each donor's Gift Aid declaration at the point of donation and keep the records HMRC requires for your Charities Online claim (4-year claim window, 6-year record retention). Every £1 given by a UK taxpayer becomes £1.25 to your charity, at no extra cost to the donor. (HMRC Gift Aid guidance)

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

• 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, including sponsored runs, walks, and challenges.

• Ticketing and event management: Sell tickets and manage events for fetes, quiz nights, awards evenings, and community festivals without extra fees.

• Raffles and small society lotteries: Run a charity raffle within the Gambling Act 2005 framework. Most charity raffles register as small society lotteries with the local licensing authority (£40 initial / £20 renewal); incidental 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.

• Supporter management tools: Track donor and supporter 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 workflows.

• Online shop: Sell merchandise or products to support your cause.

• Memberships: Manage members and membership renewals in one place.

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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 charities. With it, charities can manage donor relationships, track donations, and analyse fundraising efforts effectively. They can host raffles and small society lotteries, create an online shop, or manage memberships.

Zeffy also offers robust reporting and analytics tools, allowing charities to gain insights into donor behaviour, campaign performance, and fundraising trends.

From customisable donation forms to automated email campaigns, Zeffy enables charities to engage donors and fundraise more effectively than ever.

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The limitations of Zeffy

Zeffy has very few drawbacks. The one worth knowing about for UK charities is the voluntary-contribution prompt. When donors complete a gift, Zeffy asks if they would like to add a small optional contribution on top. This is entirely separate from the donation itself and donors can always choose £0. If you brief your supporters in advance, it rarely causes confusion. Zeffy's interface is designed to make the 'no, thanks' option clearly visible before checkout.

For UK charities, brand recognition with cold donors is lower than established platforms such as JustGiving. Zeffy works best when channelling warm supporters who already know your organisation, rather than relying on serendipitous cold-search donor discovery.

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Zeffy reviews from real charities

Price you can't beat

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ "Zeffy provides an ideal platform for event registrations for my non-profit organisations. 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 proven helpful. The fee structure which ensures our non-profit receives 100% of the proceeds from registrations and donations is terrific.", Cynthia L.

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Features

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ "I was shocked. For the features that you get, yeah I was shocked. Compared to other forms I've used, Zeffy is just amazing.", Bryan Cowden, Run Convenor (Community)

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ "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.", Louise S. (Environment)

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Ease of use

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ "We love it! No complaints whatsoever. Zeffy is about as simple to use as one could ask, yet provides the detailed reports we need.", John L. (Religious)

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ "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 credit card companies. It saves TIME and is so elegant and easy to use.", Nicolas D. (Small charity)

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ "Setting up and implementing new forms is done in minutes. Finding Zeffy is the best thing that happened to our nonprofit.", Amy W. (Small charity)

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ "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. The receipts are very clean and professional.", Kathryn P.

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Customer support

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ "The customer service has been exceptional. It's clear that the staff cares and wants to help.", Rebecca R. (Arts and heritage)

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ "Overall, we are thrilled with Zeffy and hope to use it for future events. The site is extremely user-friendly, and the support staff has been phenomenal.", Doreen H. (Education)

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Where UK charities are using Zeffy

Hundreds of UK charities and community groups use Zeffy for ticketing, fundraising, and supporter management. From PTAs organising school fetes to community groups selling tickets for Eid festivals, Songkran celebrations, and NODA awards evenings, Zeffy handles the full event and fundraising workflow without charging a penny.

UK charities and community organisations are using Zeffy for:

• Charity fete and community event ticket sales (village halls, church fairs, school fundraisers)

• Christmas and seasonal appeals with donation forms

• Sponsored runs, walks, and challenges with peer-to-peer fundraising pages

• NODA theatre awards evenings and community festival ticketing

• Membership management for sports clubs and community associations

• Charity raffles and small society lotteries (registered with the local council)

Because Zeffy is free, every £1 raised stays with the cause. There are no platform fees to swallow when a charity sells 100 fete tickets at £5 each, and no cuts taken from a successful winter appeal.

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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 is worth a serious look.

Zeffy offers free support whenever you need it, is rated as one of the best platforms for ease of use, and replaces the patchwork of tools most small UK charities currently pay for. It is simple yet powerful, and always available to answer your questions.

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Frequently asked questions

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