JustGiving alternatives for UK charities: what to compare before you move
Most alternatives fall into three kinds. The right one depends less on the headline fee than on where the gift finishes and who keeps the donor.
JustGiving is the name most UK donors know, and for some things it is still the right tool. Charities start looking for an alternative for a handful of reasons: the 5% fee on the Gift Aid it processes, the tip donors are asked for at checkout, the gift finishing on someone else's website, or wanting the donor's details in their own records rather than an export. The fee figures below come from each platform's own pages; our fees comparison has the detail and the sources.
Three kinds of alternative
1. Another hosted giving platform
Enthuse, Raisely and LaunchGood work much like JustGiving: the donation page lives on their site and they take the payment. The differences are in where each one charges. Enthuse takes 5% of Gift Aid on fundraising pages and events but 0% through donation checkouts on its 0% fees package (Enthuse). Raisely asks donors for a tip by default, charges 4% if you switch the tip off, and 2% on regular gifts it collects from donors moved across from another platform (Raisely). LaunchGood charges no platform fee and relies on tips, which it says over 70% of supporters leave (LaunchGood).
Moving between these swaps one set of percentages for another. It is worth doing if the new set is cheaper for your mix of one-off gifts, regular gifts and Gift Aid.
2. A donation form on your own website
A form that takes card payments on your own domain, usually through Stripe. The gift finishes on your site, which matters if you run Google Ad Grants: the grant needs a tracked conversion every month, and you usually can't put your own tag on another platform's thank-you page (more on that here). The catch is everything around the form: Gift Aid declarations, receipts, regular giving that donors can change themselves, and a record of each donor all have to come from somewhere else.
3. A platform built around your own website and donor records
The donation page, the donor database, Gift Aid claims and your website in one system, on your domain. This is what we build. It costs more than a free form, and it replaces several things you would otherwise pay for or do by hand.
What to compare
- The total, not the headline. Add card processing, any percentage of Gift Aid, any percentage of regular gifts, and any monthly plan. On £75,000 of Gift Aid a year, 5% is £3,750.
- Where the gift finishes. Your domain or theirs. It decides whether your Ad Grant and your own analytics can see it.
- Who holds the donor. Whether you get the donor's details and consent with every gift, or an export you have to ask for.
- What happens to Gift Aid declarations and regular gifts if you move. Both have to come across, or you lose claims and monthly income. Our guide to switching platform without losing donors covers how.
- Supporter fundraising. If your income depends on people running marathons for you, check the alternative has fundraising pages your supporters can set up themselves.
When to stay on JustGiving
If most of your online income comes from supporters' sponsorship pages for events, and donors find you through JustGiving itself, its reach is worth something that a cheaper form can't replace. Plenty of charities keep JustGiving for event pages and move their own appeals and regular giving onto their own site. You don't have to choose one for everything.
Where we fit
We take no percentage of anything: one flat monthly fee covers the donation pages, donor records, Gift Aid claims and your website, all on your own domain, and from the Growth plan, supporter fundraising pages and teams as well. Moving your donor records across is part of setting up. The pricing page has a calculator to compare it with what you pay now.