DONATE vs JustGiving
JustGiving is the UK's best-known fundraising site, and its name helps when supporters ask friends and family to sponsor them. DONATE is a multi-channel giving platform run by the National Funding Scheme, a registered charity, covering donations, text giving, raffles, auctions, team challenges, voting and contactless. Both handle online donations, Gift Aid and sponsorship. The differences are in who sets up the fundraising pages, what a donor's tip pays for, and which channels you can take money through.
Pricing, side by side
| DONATE | JustGiving | |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction fee (charity) | 4.5% + 22p without Gift Aid; with Gift Aid, no percentage fee (22p only) | 1.9% + 30p |
| Monthly plan | None (£3 usage fee per week, only in weeks donations reach £10, capped at £12 a month) | Start: free for charities new to JustGiving. Grow: £15 + VAT a month up to £15,000 a year raised, £39 + VAT above that |
| Gift Aid | Claimed for you by DONATE, with no HMRC Gift Aid registration needed. You keep 60% of the Gift Aid; our 40% replaces the 4.5% fee | 5% of the Gift Aid when JustGiving claims it (optional: you can claim it yourself) |
| Donor tips | Optional, and sized to our fee. A tip pays the fee on that gift, so the charity keeps the whole donation and all its Gift Aid | A voluntary contribution to JustGiving, reported at 17% by default in 2025; the charity still pays the 1.9% + 30p |
On an online donation that no one tips on, JustGiving's processing fee is lower than ours. The comparison changes when supporters tip, because on DONATE the tip pays our fee and your charity keeps the whole gift, and when you count the Grow subscription and the channels JustGiving does not offer. Run your own numbers before deciding.
Tips your donors can say no to
Tips have been JustGiving's most criticised feature. In October 2025 Civil Society reported that JustGiving added a 17% tip to every donation by default, and a donor who wanted to give nothing extra had to choose a custom amount and type in £0. The Fundraising Regulator's Code, in force from 1 November 2025, requires platforms to give a zero tip equal prominence and make choosing it straightforward.
On DONATE, the tip we suggest is our fee on that gift, with No thanks right beside it. And a tip does a job for your charity: it pays our fee, so the charity keeps the whole donation and all its Gift Aid.
Peer-to-peer, without asking supporters to build a page
On JustGiving, a sponsored fundraiser usually has to sign up, create their own page and link it to your charity or event before they can ask anyone for money. Every step is a point where a willing supporter drops out.
Team challenges on DONATE work the other way round. You add your fundraisers or send them an invite, and each one's page, short link and QR code are already set up, linked to your campaign and ready to share. Every donation is credited to the person who raised it and counts towards your total.
Feature coverage
Choose JustGiving if your supporters already know it, most of your income is online sponsorship and donations, and you want the widest recognition for individual fundraisers.
Choose DONATE if you need any of these:
- Tips that work for your charity: a donor's tip pays our fee on their gift, so the charity keeps the whole donation and its Gift Aid
- Pages ready for your fundraisers: you set up every team member's page, code and QR code for them
- Online raffles with ticket sales, the draw and winner notification handled for you, under your own lottery licence. JustGiving allows raffles on charity pages, but you run them yourself
- Charity auctions: silent, live and online, with Gift Aid on the part paid above a lot's value. JustGiving has no auction tool
- Text giving: keyword donations from £1 to £40 and monthly giving by text. JustGiving closed its JustTextGiving service in 2019
- Voting events, contactless terminals and tap plaques, all in the same account and reports
Both platforms take one-off and monthly donations online and handle Gift Aid for you.
DONATE vs JustGiving FAQs
How much does JustGiving charge a UK charity? ＋
JustGiving charges 1.9% + 30p per donation and 5% of the Gift Aid when it claims the Gift Aid for you, which is optional. Its Start plan is free for charities new to JustGiving; its Grow plan is £15 + VAT a month for charities raising up to £15,000 a year and £39 + VAT above that. Donors are offered a voluntary contribution to JustGiving. DONATE has no monthly plan and charges 4.5% + 22p on a donation without Gift Aid, or no percentage fee on one with Gift Aid; a donor's tip pays that fee.
Can a charity set up fundraising pages for its supporters? ＋
On DONATE, yes. In a team challenge you add your fundraisers or invite them, and each one's page, short link and QR code are ready to share, linked to your campaign. On JustGiving, sponsored fundraisers usually create their own pages.
Can I run a raffle or auction on JustGiving? ＋
JustGiving allows raffles on charity pages, with the charity holding the lottery licence, but it does not sell tickets or run the draw for you, and its crowdfunding terms ban raffles and auctions. DONATE runs online raffles from ticket sales to the draw and winner notification, and full charity auctions, alongside your donation pages.
See the full picture
JustGiving facts on this page were checked on JustGiving's own website and help centre in October 2026. See also our guide to JustGiving alternatives, or use the interactive comparison tool to model your own donation mix. Or start fundraising with DONATE: no setup fees, cancel any time.