# Tech fundraising tools for free

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2023/04/13/tech-fundraising-tools-for-free/
- Published: 2023-04-13T11:56:54+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**All fundraising requires tech skills and tools, even the simplest face to face
fundraising ask. Digital comms, a CRM, digital design, data analytics, giving platforms,
online learning platforms for fundraisers, and more. But is any of this available
for free? Here’s UK Fundraising’s list.**

 1.  **Benchmark Software Ltd** – the company’s [Free Software for Charities](https://www.benchmark-software.co.uk/free-software-for-charities/)
     approach provides its accounts, payroll, CRM and knowledge management packages“
     completely free to all registered charities, churches, clubs and non-profit organisations”.
     
     The company states “there are no catches – full versions of our software are free
     to charities and NPOs, with no limitations or reduced functionality.” Software
     support is available at just £10 a month.
 2.  [Charity Digital Exchange](https://www.charitydigitalexchange.org/), from **Charity
     Digital**, is part of the global **TechSoup** initiative. It offers donated and
     substantially discounted software from leading brands, including Adobe, Microsoft,
     Zoom, Autodesk, Amazon, Cisco and Avast.
 3.  **Canva** – the ever-expanding visual design tool, which already includes some
     of the latest generative AI functions like text-to-image, is available as the 
     full premium version to eligible charities. Many charities use it for all or most
     of their visual design activity. One [Canva for Nonprofit](https://www.canva.com/canva-for-nonprofits/)
     account gives access to up to 50 individual user accounts for your colleagues.
     There’s a whole set of [resources available to nonprofits](https://www.canva.com/canva-for-nonprofits/resources/)
     to make the most of the tool.
 4.  **Donorfy** – the CRM solution for charities offers a free version, [Donorfy Essentials](https://donorfy.com/essentials-get-started),
     for charities with fewer than 500 constituents (people, organisations). Users 
     can upgrade to Donorfy Professional whenever they wish.
 5.  **Editors for Impact CIC** – a social enterprise connecting small NGOs and charities
     with its “passionate, creative volunteers, relieving time spent on content creation
     to focus on impact”. [Editors for Impact](https://editorsforimpact.org/) produce
     videos, audio and graphics.
 6.  **Facebook** – Meta’s [Workplace for Good](https://en-gb.workplace.com/workplaceforgood)
     offers “Workplace Core for free to eligible non-profit charitable organisations,
     so they can keep their people and communities connected.”
 7.  With [Google for Nonprofits](https://www.google.com/nonprofits/) **Google** “offers
     eligible organisations access to Google products and discounts that can help solve
     the challenges nonprofits face: finding new donors and volunteers, working more
     efficiently, and getting supporters to take action.”
 8.  **JustGiving** – the fundraising platform’s [Giving Checkout](https://www.justgiving.com/for-charities/products/online-giving-checkout)
     is a fee-free direct donation link for charities that want to offer a donate link/
     button/cta on their platform.
 9.  **Mailchimp** – the email marketing platform offers a [free version](https://mailchimp.com/pricing/marketing/?currency=GBP),
     although not specifically for charities, offering 1,000 monthly sends, and only
     one audience or segments. Previously it had offered a specific free package for
     charities with fewer than 2,000 email subscribers and other limits, but it seems
     that that has now been replaced by a [15% discount](https://mailchimp.com/help/about-nonprofit-discount/)
     for verified and eligible nonprofits.
 10. **Microsoft 365** [grants and discounts](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/nonprofits/microsoft-365)
     for nonprofits can help charities simplify IT management and reduce costs while
     empowering staff and volunteers to collaborate securely from anywhere on any device.

## Advertisement

![Google for Nonprofits' services for charities](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.
cloud/2023/04/CleanShot-2023-04-12-at-16.06.52@2x.png)

Google for Nonprofits’ services for charities

## More free tech tools

There are of course many other tools that are useful to fundraisers and charities
that don’t charge anyone to use. To name a few:

[Pexels](http://www.pexels.com) and [Unsplash](http://unsplash.com) – two free stock
image tools. Always read the terms of any site that provides free content to make
sure you are using them correctly.

[Tableau Public](https://public.tableau.com/app/discover) is a powerful data visualisation
tool. If you use the free version you should know that what you create with it is
made public.

[Digital Candle](http://digitalcandle.org.uk.) offers a free one-hour advice session
from a skilled tech volunteer for a charity CEO or senior leader. This can be very
useful to help give them context for a new tool or opportunity.

## Even more free technology resources

For more expansive list of free technology resources for UK charities – from training,
funding, donated hardware, website hosting, and its own free AI-based tools, explore
[Charity Excellence](https://www.charityexcellence.co.uk/Home/BlogDetail?Link=Charity_Free_IT_Support_Grant_Funding_Computers_Laptops_Software).

**In Kind Direct** also provide a range of [work and office donated products](https://cat.inkinddirect.org/office-workplace.html)
for charities that join their scheme.

**TechSoup**‘s [training courses](https://www.charitydigitalexchange.org/techsoup-courses-uk)
cover email marketing, Google AdWords, Power BI, Outlook, fundraising and many other
topics and tools.

## More resources?

We are happy to add relevant resources to this list, but we don’t aim for it to 
be comprehensive, and we’ll focus on free tech tools and resources specifically 
for the UK and Ireland, not globally. We’re not listing products that offer a time-
limited free trial.

 * **[Monthly focus: fundraising for free](https://fundraising.co.uk/2023/04/11/monthly-focus-fundraising-for-free/)(
   10 April 2023)**
