Registering and fees
- How do we compare to other online giving platforms?
- How do I register my charity to receive donations?
- How quickly can I start receiving online donations?
- What are the benefits of joining Charity Choice?
- How much will it cost to list my charity on Charity Choice?
- What are your donation processing fees?
- Further questions?
How do we compare to other online giving platforms?
The Charity Choice website is unique in that it offers all aspects of giving in one place. We think that we measure up very well against other charity donation sites.
| Can I … | Charity Choice | Virgin money giving | Just giving | In Kind Direct | Time bank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Collect donations online for free | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Add my charity contact details | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Display my Charity Financial Information | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Put my charity into a particular charity category | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Create charity friends | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Add my charities logo and customise my page | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| List my fundraising events | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Collect donations online | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Communicate with fundraisers | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Collect Gift Aid | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Link to social media | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Receive/ request legacies | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Add profile photos | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Add my charity news | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Add my charity appeals with targets | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Receive/Request goods | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
| Receive/ Request volunteers | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
| Monitor my donations | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Access financial reports | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
How do I register my charity to receive donations?
Step 1
Register online to activate your microsite. It's free and easy to do.
Step 2
Once your microsite is activated, you'll receive an email with everything you need to get started.
Step 3
The email will guide you through the next steps, which are:
- Post us ONE bank statement. This statement must be the original and dated within the last 3 months.You can have more than one bank account but the above applies to each one.
- Post us your HMRC exemption certificate if you are not registered by the Charity Commission, OSCR or the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland
- Fill in and post back the CHV1 form if you’d like to benefit from our free Gift Aid collection service
Step 4
We will check your documents
Step 5
We'll send you an email confirming that your donations facility is live - and you’ll be ready to go!
How quickly can I start receiving online donations?
Once we receive your bank statement and registration information it should take approximately two working days before you are ready to start receiving donations.
Setting up Gift Aid takes a little longer because your completed CHV1 form needs to be sent to HMRC. This normally takes between 2-4 weeks, so the sooner that you are able to get this form to us the quicker we can get you set up to receive Gift Aid.
How much will it cost to list my charity on Charity Choice?
FREE registration
Free registration gives you a basic package, which includes your own microsite; an online space to share news and photos, publicise appeals, receive legacy pledges, advertise for goods, and even find volunteers. You can also activate a donate facilityso supporters can donate money directly to your bank account.
Premium subscription
A premium package costs £89 + VAT per year, and it offers you some additional benefits. Charities with the premium subscription can also include their own logo and brand colour on their microsite, they appear higher up the listings, and there's no competitor advertising on their microsite.
What are your donation processing fees?
At Charity Choice we're transparent about our fees and charges. We have worked hard to get the lowest possible card rates for our charities and strive to help charities receive the maximum from each donation.
| Charity Choice | Just Giving* | Virgin Money Giving* | BT MyDonate* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your donation of | £100 | £100 | £100 | £100 |
| Gift Aid | £25 | £25 | £25 | £25 |
| Do we take a percentage of your Gift Aid? | No | Yes | No | No |
| % Admin fee | No fee | £6.25 (5% of donation + Gift Aid) | £2.00 (2% of donation) | No fee |
| Card transaction fees (based on using a Debit card) | 25p | £1.30 | £1.45 | 15p |
| Does the donor have the choice of paying the card fee for their charity? | Yes | No | No | No |
| Total cost to Charity | Nothing (if donor pays card fee) 25p (if donor doesn't pay card fee) |
£7.55 | £3.45 | £0.15 |
| Total Donation (if donor pays card fees) | £125 | £117.45 | £121.55 | £124.85 |
*Fees taken from JustGiving, Virgin Money Giving and BT myDonate websites on 18/12/12
Charity Choice do not benefit in any way from the fees taken from donations. The charges applied are to cover the credit/debit card fess and bank charges. Card fees are 15p for Debit Cards, 1.45% for Personal Credit Card and 1.9% for Commercial Credit Cards. The banking charge made by WorldPay is 10p per transaction.
We will continue to work hard to reduce these fees further for our charities. We’ve also come up with a solution that could help your charity benefit even more for every donation. At Charity Choice we give our donors the choice of paying for this charge themselves. This means that your charity will save money on every one of these transactions making the donation worth even more.
To see how this compares to other sites with an online donation facility see the question above called “How do we compare to other charity donation websites”
Further questions?
If you have any further questions about our registration and fees please do not hesitate to contact a member of our customer help team.
