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DONATE Corporate fundraising

Sign up as a company and fundraise for charities

Open a DONATE account for your company, add the charities you raise for, and publish your first campaign. Everything raised is paid straight to the charities.

  • Your company never holds the money raised
  • DONATE pays each charity directly
  • Find charities on DONATE and the Charity Commission register
  • Split what is raised across several charities
  • Charity agreements and bank checks handled for you
  • Every DONATE fundraising solution available
Updated About this solution

How it works

A corporate account is for a company that raises money for charities rather than for itself. Your company runs the fundraising. DONATE takes the payments and pays what is raised straight to the charities you choose. Your company never receives the money raised online and never gives us bank details.

Why DONATE for corporate fundraising

  • Your company never holds the money raised on DONATE. Every payment made on DONATE goes through us, we pay each charity directly, and your portal shows each payment to each charity.
  • We handle the charities' side. A new charity signs its agreement online and gives its bank account, and we check both before anything is paid to it. A charity already on DONATE just confirms it agrees, and we pay it to the account it already uses with us.
  • Finding a charity is quick. Search charities already on DONATE and the Charity Commission register by name or number, and we invite the charity for you.
  • Raise for several charities at once. Set what percentage each one receives, and give any campaign, raffle or auction lot its own split.
  • Gift Aid where it applies. Donors who are UK taxpayers can add it to gifts of their own money, and it is paid to your charities with their payments, less our Gift Aid fee. Your company's own donations, including matched funds, never carry Gift Aid.
  • The same fundraising tools as a charity. Campaigns, team challenges, auctions and voting all work for your company, at charity rates. Raffles need a lottery licence unless they are run alongside an event.

The four things that happen

  • You sign up and finish a short registration. Your account opens as soon as you finish.
  • You add each charity you raise for. We email the charity a link to sign a short agreement and give the bank account its funds are paid to.
  • We check each charity's agreement and bank account. This is the only check, because the charity is where the money goes.
  • Once one charity is confirmed you can publish. You can build campaigns before that, but not publish them.

What to have to hand

  • Your company name and Companies House number.
  • Your company address, phone number and website.
  • A logo, and a short description of your company for its DONATE page.
  • For each charity, its name, its charity number and the email address of someone who can sign for it.

Signing up

Signing up takes a minute. Choose Corporate, then give your company's details and your own.

Choose Corporate to start

On the sign-up page, choose Corporate, a company fundraising for the charities it supports.

Enter company and personal details

Type your company name and Companies House number, then your own name, email, phone and role. Click Create account.

Your account is created

The page confirms your company's account is created. Log in to finish your registration.

Finishing your registration

The first time you log in, the portal asks you to finish registering. There are four parts: Details, Web page, Charities and Agreement.

Your company details

Fill in where you operate, your income band, your address and region, and a phone number and general email.

Your logo and description

Upload your logo, write a short description and give your website. These appear on your company's DONATE page, and your brand colours are taken from the logo.

What a company is not asked for

  • No bank details. Your company is never paid, so there is nowhere to pay.
  • No verification documents, such as bank statements or accounts.

Adding the charities you raise for

Add every charity your fundraising pays to. You need at least one before you can finish registering. You can add more at any time from Beneficiary Charities in the menu.

The Beneficiary charities page

Beneficiary charities lists who your fundraising pays out to. Click Add charity to add the first one.

Give a contact at the charity

Check the charity's name and number and give the name and email of someone who can sign for it. Click Save & send link.

The charity shows Awaiting charity

The charity shows as Awaiting charity until it signs. Resend link and Copy link stay available until then.

Charities that are already on DONATE

  • If the charity already has its own DONATE account, it appears under Already on DONATE when you search. Click Connect.
  • It has no contract to sign and gives no bank details. We already have its account. We email it a link to approve or decline your request.
  • When it approves, it shows as Approved on your list straight away.

While you wait for a charity

  • The signing link lasts 30 days.
  • Resend link emails it again. Copy link lets you send it from your own address, in case our email was filtered.
  • You can change the contact name and email with the pencil button, then send the link again.

Opening your account

The last part of registration is agreeing to the DONATE Terms and Conditions. Your account opens the moment you do. You do not have to wait for your charity to sign first.

Read the Terms and Conditions

In Agreement, click Read the DONATE Terms and Conditions. You must open them before you can agree.

Agree and open your account

Tick I agree to the DONATE Terms and Conditions, then click Agree and open account.

Your account is open

A message confirms your account is open. You can set up campaigns now, and publish once a charity has confirmed.

The email we send you

We email you to confirm the account is open and to remind you that a charity has to confirm before you can publish.

Who should agree

  • The person responsible for the company's fundraising agrees, or someone agreeing on their behalf, who gives that person's name, email and job role.
  • We record who agreed, when, and which version of the terms.

What the charity does

This is what the person at the charity sees. They do not need a DONATE account or a password. It takes a couple of minutes.

The charity receives an email

The email names your company and asks the charity to read the contract, confirm its bank account and sign. The link is unique to the charity and lasts 30 days.

The charity reads the contract

The page shows your company, the charity and the full contract. Open the contract document opens it as a PDF.

Bank account and signature

The charity enters the bank account its funds are paid to, then the signer's name, email and role. It ticks the box to say it is authorised, and clicks Sign the contract.

The contract is signed

The charity sees a thank you. There is nothing else for it to do.

What the agreement covers

  • The charity confirms it knows your company is raising money for it, and agrees to receive the funds.
  • The bank account must be the charity's own.
  • Signing records the signer's name and email, and the time and IP address.

When a charity is confirmed

Once a charity has signed, we check its agreement and its bank account. We email you when it is confirmed. Then you decide how what you raise is shared.

The charity is Awaiting review

After the charity signs, it shows as Awaiting review while we check the agreement and the bank account.

The charity is Approved

When we have confirmed the charity, it shows as Approved and a Split box appears beside it.

Set your default split

Type each charity's share so they total 100, then click Save split.

The split is saved

The default split now applies to everything you raise, unless a campaign has its own.

How the split works

  • The default split says what share of the money each confirmed charity receives. It must total 100.
  • With one charity, give it 100.
  • Only confirmed charities can be given a share.
  • A campaign uses the default split unless you give that campaign its own split.

Your first campaign

You can build a campaign as soon as your account is open. Publishing it needs one confirmed charity. For everything else a campaign can do, see the Campaigns guide.

Start a campaign

Click Campaigns, then New campaign. Type a name and click Create campaign.

Publishing waits for a charity

If you switch a campaign to live before a charity is confirmed, the portal tells you a charity has to confirm first. Nothing is published.

Choose where this campaign's money goes

Charity split on the campaign uses your default split. Add a charity there to give this campaign its own split.

Publish your campaign

Switch the campaign to live. Tick each of the three boxes to confirm the text codes, the legal statement and the logos, then confirm.

Your campaign is live

The switch reads Live, and the campaign's address and QR code are ready to share.

Before you publish

  • One of your charities must be confirmed. Until then the campaign stays not live, in Preview, and you can still try its page.
  • Anything promoting the campaign must carry a DONATE logo and the legal statement. Both are under Promotion requirements on the campaign.
  • If you show text codes, use the format given when you publish.

Where the money goes

DONATE takes every payment made on DONATE and pays what is raised to your charities. Your company is never paid. You see every donation, and each payment to a charity, in your portal.

Payments to your charities

  • Donations are paid out in periods, each due about three months after it ends, once the period's total reaches £100.
  • Each campaign's money is shared by that campaign's split, or by your default split if it has none. Each charity then receives one payment for its share.
  • A charity that already has a DONATE account is paid into the account we already hold for it.
  • You receive a statement each month showing what was paid to your charities. Each charity receives its own statement once its payment has been sent.

Gift Aid

  • Donors who are UK taxpayers can add Gift Aid to gifts of their own money. It needs their house name or number and postcode.
  • DONATE claims it and pays it to your charities with their payments. Your company and your charities should not claim Gift Aid on these donations as well.
  • Gift Aid only applies to a donor's own money. Donors must not add it to a payment from a company card or company account.

Fees

There is no set-up fee. Companies raising for charities pay the charity rates. DONATE takes a fee from each donation, and shows the fee and the net amount on every donation in your portal.

Fees on each donation

  • Without Gift Aid: 4.5 per cent of the donation plus 22p.
  • With Gift Aid: 40 per cent of the Gift Aid plus 22p, and no percentage is taken from the donation itself.
  • A small VAT amount on the fee is also deducted. Every donation in your portal shows its effective fee and the net amount.

Charges on each payout

  • Charges on each payout: a usage fee of £3 for each week (Monday to Sunday) in which your organisation receives £10 or more, and a transfer charge of 0.5 per cent of the payout (at least £3) plus £7.50. Organisations without charity rates pay 1.5 per cent plus £7.50.
  • With more than one charity, each charity's payment carries its own transfer charge, and the usage fee is shared between them in proportion to what each receives.

Settings reference

What each charity status means

Every charity on Beneficiary charities carries one of these labels.

LabelWhat it meansWhat happens next
Awaiting charityWe have emailed the charity its link and it has not answered yet.The charity signs, or approves if it is already on DONATE. You can resend or copy the link.
Awaiting reviewThe charity has signed and given its bank account.We check the agreement and the account, then email you.
ApprovedThe charity is confirmed. Money can be paid to it.Give it a share of your split. You can publish.
RejectedThe charity declined, or we could not confirm it.We email you. Contact us if you think it is a mistake.

Questions

How is this different from giving to charity through a company account elsewhere?
On DONATE your company never handles the money raised online. We take every payment made on DONATE and pay each charity directly. We get each charity's agreement and bank account and check them, so you do not have to. You can raise for several charities with a split you set, donors can add Gift Aid where it applies, and you can use campaigns, team challenges, auctions and voting.
Does DONATE have to approve my company before I can start?
No. Your account opens as soon as you finish registering. What we check is each charity's agreement and bank account, because that is where the money goes. You can publish once one charity is confirmed.
Does my company need to give bank details?
No. Your company is never paid. Everything raised is paid straight to the charities you add.
Can a company raise money for more than one charity?
Yes. Add each charity under Beneficiary Charities and set what share each one receives. The shares must total 100. Each campaign can also have its own split.
What does the charity have to do?
Someone who can sign for the charity opens the link we email, reads a short contract, gives the bank account the funds are paid to, and signs online. It takes a couple of minutes and needs no DONATE account.
What if the charity is already on DONATE?
Search for it when you add a charity and click Connect. It has no contract to sign and gives no bank details. We email it a link to approve or decline your request, and it is paid into the account we already hold for it.
The charity did not receive its signing link. What can I do?
On Beneficiary Charities, click Resend link, or click Copy link and send it from your own address. The link lasts 30 days. Use the pencil button if the contact email needs changing.
Can I set up a campaign before my charity has signed?
Yes. You can build the campaign and try its preview page. You cannot publish it until one charity is confirmed.
How long does it take to confirm a charity?
It depends on how quickly the charity signs. Once it has, we check the agreement and the bank account and email you as soon as it is confirmed.
What does it cost?
There is no set-up fee. Companies raising for charities pay the charity rates: 4.5 per cent plus 22p on a donation without Gift Aid. With Gift Aid, it is 40 per cent of the Gift Aid plus 22p, with no percentage taken from the donation itself. A small VAT amount on the fee is also deducted. Charges on each payout: a usage fee of £3 for each week (Monday to Sunday) in which your organisation receives £10 or more, and a transfer charge of 0.5 per cent of the payout (at least £3) plus £7.50. Organisations without charity rates pay 1.5 per cent plus £7.50.
Who claims the Gift Aid?
DONATE claims it and pays it to your charities with their payments. Your company and your charities should not claim Gift Aid on these donations as well.
When do the charities receive the money?
Donations are paid out in periods, each due about three months after it ends, once the period's total reaches £100. A usage fee and a transfer charge come off each payout (see Fees).
A company has asked to raise money for us. What are we agreeing to?
That you know the company is raising money for your charity, and that you agree to receive the funds into the bank account you give. The full contract is on the signing page, and you can open it as a PDF before you sign.
Do we need a DONATE account to receive funds from a company?
No. You sign online from the link in our email and we pay the bank account you give. If you already have a DONATE account, we pay the account we already hold and you only approve the request.
Can we say no?
Yes. If your charity already has a DONATE account, click Decline on the page the link opens. Otherwise, do not sign and tell us at hello@nationalfundingscheme.org. The company is told, and nothing is paid to you.