What Charities Trust does

Charities Trust is a Liverpool-based not-for-profit donations management organisation founded in 1987, operating as a company limited by guarantee and registered charity (No. 327489). It serves as an HMRC approved Payroll Giving Agency licensed by the Gambling Commission (No. 6068) and registered with the ICO as a data controller. The company provides UK employers with a suite of corporate giving services including Payroll Giving administration, Corporate Giving, Match Giving, Corporate Foundations (Donor Advised Fund administration), Appeals, Local Fundraising, and Due Diligence & Verification, connecting them to a network of 23,000+ continuously vetted UK charities.

The underlying technology comprises a digital donation processing platform with proprietary products including the My Giving Account (employee self-service portal), the Sponsor Me fundraising platform (allowing pages for up to six charities per event), and a screening engine for sanctions, PEPs, and adverse media checks. The company offers both direct-to-consumer self-serve access and white-label infrastructure to third-party giving platforms such as GiveWheel and SuperKind, with ISO 27001-compliant data processing partners.

Revenue is generated through three primary streams: a 25p per-donor-per-month admin fee on Payroll Giving, a 4% processing fee on donations and Gift Aid via Sponsor Me, and tiered annual subscription fees for the Charity Statement Service (ranging from £18 to £300+ per year). The customer base spans 1,500+ clients and partners across financial services, insurance, media, utilities, retail, and technology, with marquee relationships including NatWest, Nationwide, Aviva, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, The Guardian and Observer, and The Benefact Group.

Name

Charities Trust

Legal name

Charities Trust

Website

https://charitiestrust.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1987

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Payroll Giving and Corporate Donations Management

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Other Grantmaking and Giving Services (813219), Grantmaking and Giving Services (8132)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Charities & Grantmaking Intermediaries (BPAGAKAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA), Charitable Giving & Philanthropic Trust Advisory (FSAEAKAH), Capacity Building & Nonprofit Infrastructure Funders (BPAGAKAO)

Keywords

• Payroll Giving administration
• Corporate Giving services
• Donor Advised Fund management
• Charity due diligence
• Fundraising platform services

Headquarters

HQ city

Liverpool

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Payroll Giving Admin Fees: 25p per donor per month admin fee deducted in advance for Payroll Giving processing services. No charge to charities for receiving money.
2. Sponsor Me Processing Fees: 4% processing fee on donations and Gift Aid to cover administrative costs for the fundraising platform
3. Charity Statement Service: Annual fees for charities receiving statement services - £18 for <100 donors/month, scaling up to £300 for >2500 donors/month

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Charities Trust is a not-for-profit donations management organisation that administers Payroll Giving and corporate charitable giving programmes for UK employers. It processes employee donations, manages Match Giving and Corporate Foundations (Donor Advised Funds), runs the Sponsor Me fundraising platform, and performs due diligence and verification on UK charities before disbursing funds.

Product overview

Charities Trust is a not-for-profit donations management platform offering a comprehensive suite of charitable giving services. The core product portfolio includes Payroll Giving (allowing employees to donate directly from gross pay before tax), Corporate Giving, Match Giving (employer matching programs), and Sponsor Me (online fundraising platform). Additional services include Corporate Foundations administration as a Donor Advised Fund (DAF), Due Diligence & Verification for charity vetting, My Giving Account for employee self-service donation management, and Statement Service for charities to track donations. The platform connects employers and employees with over 23,000 vetted UK charities, processing donations efficiently with not-for-profit fees. Admin fee is 25p per donor per month.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Sponsor Me: Online fundraising service designed for companies and employees to raise money for charity, allowing users to create individual, team, or company fundraising pages.

Products and services

• Payroll Giving HMRC-approved Payroll Giving service enabling UK employees to donate directly from their gross pay before tax is deducted, with donations routed to any of 23,000+ vetted UK charities. Administered as a Payroll Giving Agency for UK employers.
• Corporate Giving Comprehensive corporate social responsibility service for UK businesses to manage their charitable donations and giving programmes, including financial donations, grant giving, awards, and employee match programmes.
• Match Giving Employer matching programme where organisations match employee charitable donations up to a capped amount or for a set time period to amplify impact and drive employee participation.
• Sponsor Me Online fundraising platform enabling employees and individuals to create fundraising pages supporting up to six charities per event. Includes a Corporate Sponsor Me option for companies to manage workplace fundraising campaigns. Charges a 4% processing fee on donations and Gift Aid.
• Corporate Foundations Donor Advised Fund (DAF) administration service helping companies establish and manage corporate foundations, with Charities Trust handling governance, compliance, and administrative tasks.
• Due Diligence & Verification Comprehensive vetting and verification service ensuring charities meet compliance standards, with continuous screening against UK, UN, European and US sanctions lists, plus optional PEPs and adverse media screening.
• My Giving Account Employee self-service portal giving complete control over Payroll Giving donations, allowing users to manage giving amounts, select from 23,000+ vetted UK charities, split donations between causes, make one-off donations, and track charitable contributions.
• Statement Service Service for charities to track, manage and identify donations received through Payroll Giving and other sources, with secure online access to donation statements and twice-monthly or monthly payment distributions. Tiered annual subscription from £18 (<100 donors/month) to £300 (>2,500 donors/month), plus a 4% Gift Aid admin deduction.
• Appeals Management service for processing donations to charity appeals including Christmas appeals and disaster relief campaigns, handling online donation pages, telephone donations, Gift Aid, and payment processing.
• Local Fundraising Support service for organising and managing local workplace fundraising activities and community events on behalf of UK employers.

Quantifiable outcome

• £1bn+ donations processed in the last 10 years
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Charities Pensions ClubminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 27 January 2026First Actuarial and Charities Pensions Club (CPC) have renewed their partnership to improve pensions skills within the charity sector. The collaboration aims to provide practical guidance on regulatory compliance and pressing challenges faced by charity workers.
• SuperKindcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Charities Trust partnered with SuperKind since its early development in 2023, helping scale the youth fundraising platform. SuperKind gained instant access to over 40,000 charities through Charities Trust's network. The partnership enables under-18s to legally fundraise for charities through the platform.
• GiveWheelcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021GiveWheel, the UK's leading multi-charity fundraising platform founded in 2021, partnered with Charities Trust for payment processing and charity database access. The partnership enables quick and secure disbursement to Charities Trust's network of 23,000+ UK charities, facilitating millions of pounds to thousands of causes.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• JustGiving: JustGiving is one of the UK's largest online consumer fundraising platforms, processing donations to UK charities. It overlaps with Charities Trust's Sponsor Me fundraising product and charity-disbursement infrastructure, though it is consumer-led rather than employer-led.
• Benevity: Benevity is a leading North American employee giving and corporate CSR platform offering workplace giving, volunteering, match giving and grant management to large enterprises. It competes with Charities Trust for multinational employer contracts, though it is broader in scope and operates primarily outside the UK.
• Blackbaud: Blackbaud is a US-listed software provider serving nonprofits and corporations with fundraising, CRM, grantmaking and corporate-giving solutions. It competes with Charities Trust for enterprise CSR and grantmaking software contracts at large multinational employers and foundations.
• PayPal Giving Fund: PayPal Giving Fund is a large-scale digital giving vehicle that routes consumer donations from PayPal's payment ecosystem to vetted UK and US charities. It overlaps with Charities Trust on charity vetting and donation disbursement, but operates as part of PayPal's broader payments platform rather than as a dedicated workplace-giving intermediary.

Emerging players

• Localgiving: Localgiving is a UK-focused online giving platform supporting small charities and local community fundraising. It overlaps with Charities Trust's mission of routing donations to vetted UK charities but operates at a smaller scale and without the employer/Payroll Giving focus.
• SuperKind: SuperKind is an early-stage UK youth and schools fundraising platform launched in 2023 with strategic backing from Charities Trust, giving it access to 40,000+ vetted charities. It is an emerging adjacent platform with overlapping donor audiences but a narrower (under-18) focus.

Direct peers

• Charities Aid Foundation (CAF): CAF is the UK's other major donor-advised fund and workplace giving intermediary, offering Payroll Giving, Give As You Earn, and corporate charity accounts. It is the closest direct competitor to Charities Trust in UK-approved Payroll Giving Agency services and corporate giving administration.
• GiveWheel: GiveWheel is a UK multi-charity fundraising platform founded in 2021 that integrates Charities Trust's payment-processing and vetted-charity-network infrastructure. It is a partner-competitor that competes for individual and workplace fundraising volumes while also relying on Charities Trust as a back-end rail.

Market position

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/charities-trust
• Xx.com/charities_trust

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Charities Trust