Question 1

What's the difference between a payment processor and a giving platform?

Accepted Answer

A payment processor moves the money. A giving platform wraps the donation page, Gift Aid claim, recurring giving, thank-you flow, and reporting around it. Most small charities need the second, not just the first.

Question 2

Should we use a hosted donation page or build our own?

Accepted Answer

For v1, use a hosted page from a reputable giving platform. Building your own adds PCI scope, accessibility work, and ongoing maintenance that almost never pays back at small scale.

Question 3

How do platform fees actually compare?

Accepted Answer

Look at the all-in cost per £100 raised, including card fees, platform fees, and any monthly subscription, on your real expected mix of one-off and regular gifts. Headline percentages hide a lot.

Question 4

Can we claim Gift Aid through our giving platform automatically?

Accepted Answer

Most reputable UK platforms collect the declaration, store it correctly, and either submit claims to HMRC for you or export a file you can submit. Confirm which before signing up.

Question 5

What records do we need to keep for HMRC?

Accepted Answer

The declaration, the donor's name and address at the time of the gift, the amount, and the date. Your CRM or giving platform should retain these for at least six years after the last donation.

Question 6

What numbers should we be able to pull on demand?

Accepted Answer

Total income by source, regular giving retention, average gift size, and the lifetime value of donors acquired through each channel. If your tools can't answer these, you're flying blind on fundraising strategy.

Question 7

Do we need a dashboard, or are exports enough?

Accepted Answer

Exports plus a simple monthly board view are usually enough at small scale. Invest in dashboards once more than two people regularly act on the numbers and weekly exports are slowing you down.

Question 8

Do we actually need a fundraising CRM, or will a spreadsheet do for now?

Accepted Answer

If you have under a few hundred supporters and one person managing them, a well-structured spreadsheet is fine. Move to a CRM once duplicate records, lost history, or compliance worries start costing you time each week.

Question 9

What should a CRM do for a small charity before we look at features?

Accepted Answer

Hold every supporter's contact details, consent, giving history, and the conversations you've had with them, in one place that more than one person can access safely. Everything else is a bonus.

Question 10

How do we avoid being sold the same product as a national charity?

Accepted Answer

Ask vendors which of their existing customers raise under £1m a year and have fewer than ten staff. If they can't name several, the product is probably aimed at larger organisations.

Question 11

Which email tool is right for a small charity?

Accepted Answer

Pick one that handles consent and unsubscribes cleanly, integrates with your CRM or giving platform, and has clear pricing as your list grows. Fancy automation features matter much less than reliable deliverability.

Question 12

How often should we email supporters?

Accepted Answer

Often enough that they remember who you are, rarely enough that they don't dread you. For most small UK charities that means one substantive update a month plus a small number of appeals a year.

Question 13

Should we segment our list from day one?

Accepted Answer

Yes, but keep it simple. Donors, event attendees, and general newsletter is usually enough to start. Add segments only when you have a specific message that genuinely differs by group.

Question 14

Do we need a custom website or will a template do?

Accepted Answer

A well-chosen template on a maintained platform is the right answer for almost every charity under £2m income. Custom builds make sense only when the site is the service, not the shopfront.

Question 15

What pages does our website actually need?

Accepted Answer

Home, what we do, who we help, how you can help (donate, volunteer, fundraise), about and team, contact, and a simple news or impact section. Everything else is optional and adds maintenance.

Question 16

How do we make sure the donate button does its job?

Accepted Answer

Keep it visible on every page, use the same wording everywhere, and send people to a donation page that loads fast on a phone, asks for as little as possible, and confirms the gift clearly.

Question 17

Which social platforms are worth our time?

Accepted Answer

The one or two where your supporters and beneficiaries actually spend time, posted to consistently. Two posts a week on one platform beats a scattered presence across five.

Question 18

Should we pay for social or search advertising?

Accepted Answer

Only once you can reliably track what a new supporter is worth to you over a year. Until then, paid acquisition usually loses money for small charities that haven't tuned their donation journey.

Question 19

What's the minimum analytics setup we need?

Accepted Answer

A privacy-friendly analytics tool on the website, conversion tracking on the donate flow, and a monthly habit of writing down what changed. Without the third part the first two are wasted.

Question 20

How do we measure marketing success without a big data team?

Accepted Answer

Pick three numbers, review them every month, and change one thing at a time. Email open and click rate, donate-page conversion rate, and new regular givers per month is a good starting set.

Question 21

Who is nfp.org.uk for?

Accepted Answer

Small and medium UK not-for-profits (typically under £5m income) who are choosing or replacing fundraising and marketing technology and want straight answers without a sales pitch.

Question 22

Why don't you name specific products?

Accepted Answer

Because the right product depends on your size, activities, and team. Naming favourites would turn this into a directory. We focus on the questions to ask so you can judge any vendor on your own terms.

Question 23

Who is behind nfp.org.uk?

Accepted Answer

It is produced by Bertie Bosrédon (bertie.fr) a digital consultant who has helped charities and non-profits choose and implement supporter-facing technology for over two decades.

Helping you select the right technology.

The short version

Ten questions on fundraising technology.

Online giving and payments

Gift Aid and compliance

Reporting and insight

CRM and supporter records

Ten questions on marketing technology.

Email and supporter communications

Website and content

Social and acquisition

Analytics and measurement

Every question, gathered together.

Frequently asked

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