The National Funding Scheme

What The National Funding Scheme does

The National Funding Scheme is a UK-registered charity (also operating as a company limited by guarantee) that builds and operates DONATE™, a unified digital fundraising platform for UK charitable organisations, schools, PTAs, sports clubs, community groups, and visitor attractions. Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Richmond, Surrey, with a secondary London office, the organization maintains a lean team of 1-10 employees and serves what it describes as "thousands of charitable organisations" across the United Kingdom. The platform consolidates five core fundraising modalities into a single product: text/SMS giving via the UK 70970 shortcode with custom keywords, online raffles compliant with UK Gambling Commission rules, online charity auctions (live and silent bidding), branded campaign pages with recurring donation options, and tap+DONATE™ contactless donation terminals (Static units for permanent installation and Rent units for events) accepting cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. All products share a unified backend that includes fully managed Gift Aid processing (boosting eligible donations by 25%), real-time reporting dashboards with scheduled reconciled payouts, and multi-channel payment support.

The business model is a self-serve, product-led growth approach with no monthly subscription fees; revenue is generated through transaction fees on donations processed and through sale or rental of tap+DONATE™ contactless hardware. Distribution is exclusively UK-domestic via the nationalfundingscheme.org website, with charities able to launch campaigns without technical setup. The organization is licensed and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission for raffle and lottery operations and adheres to Fundraising Regulator codes — regulatory infrastructure that constitutes a meaningful barrier to entry in the UK regulated-fundraising market. Marketing is content-driven, centered on an extensive inspiration library of case studies demonstrating outcomes ranging from ~£870 (a PTA raffle) to ~£161,904 (Intensive Care Society COVID-19 appeal), with no disclosed venture funding, acquisitions, or leadership changes over its 15-year operating history.

Name

The National Funding Scheme

Legal name

The National Funding Scheme

Website

https://nationalfundingscheme.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The National Funding Scheme is a UK-registered charity operating DONATE™, a unified digital fundraising platform providing text/SMS giving, contactless terminals, online raffles and auctions, and campaign pages to thousands of UK charities, schools, and community groups on a transaction-fee basis.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Fundraising Technology

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Grantmaking and Giving Services (8132)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Charities & Grantmaking Intermediaries (BPAGAKAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Grantmaking & Philanthropic Funds (Institutional Donors) (BPADAOAB), Volunteer Program Funding, Scholarships & Fundraising Support (EDAIAGAO)

Keywords

• Digital fundraising platform
• Charity donation processing
• Contactless giving terminals
• Online charity auctions
• Text giving services

Headquarters

HQ city

Richmond

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Transaction Processing: Platform charges transaction fees on donations processed. No monthly subscription fees required. Free to join with revenue generated per transaction.
2. Contactless Hardware: Sale and rental of tap+DONATE contactless donation terminals to charities for permanent or event-based use

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The National Funding Scheme operates the DONATE™ platform, providing UK charities, schools, and community groups with an integrated suite of digital fundraising tools: SMS/text giving, online raffles, online auctions, campaign pages, and tap+DONATE contactless POS terminals for in-person donations. The platform handles payment processing, automated Gift Aid claim collection, real-time reporting, and scheduled payouts.

Product overview

The National Funding Scheme operates DONATE™, a fully unified digital fundraising platform designed for UK charities, schools, and community groups. The platform provides an integrated suite of five core products: Text/SMS Giving (for instant mobile donations), Online Raffles (fully compliant UK lotteries), Online Auctions (live and silent bidding), Campaign Pages (with recurring donations and Gift Aid), and tap+DONATE™ Contactless Terminals (for in-person venue giving). All products share a unified backend with real-time reporting, automated Gift Aid management, multi-channel payment support (Apple Pay, Google Pay, cards, PayPal), and scheduled reconciled payouts. The platform is known for its simplicity with no technical setup required and no monthly charges.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• DONATE: Digital fundraising platform providing text giving, contactless donations, raffles, auctions, and campaign management tools for UK charities.

Quantifiable outcome

• Charities raise millions through the platform with demonstrated case studies ranging from £1,100 to £289,523 per campaign
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Gambling CommissioncoreOthersRegulatory compliance partner. DONATE platform is licensed and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission for raffle and lottery operations.
• Fundraising RegulatorcoreOthersAdherence to Fundraising Regulator codes and standards ensures platform maintains credibility and trust within UK charity sector.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Donorbox: Online donation platform offering recurring giving, donation forms, and event ticketing to nonprofits globally. Comparable to NFS on donation processing, recurring giving, and event fundraising, though operating at broader international scale.
• Enthuse: UK-based online fundraising platform serving charities and community groups with event registration, donation processing, and peer-to-peer fundraising. Closely comparable to NFS across event-driven and campaign-driven fundraising use cases.
• Wonderful.org: UK-registered charity operating a donation platform that facilitates giving to other charities, with employer-matched giving functionality. Operates on a not-for-profit model similar to NFS and competes in the same UK charity donation intermediation space.
• JustGiving: UK-based online fundraising platform enabling charities and individuals to raise money via branded campaign pages. Directly comparable to NFS's campaign/text-giving functionality, though JustGiving operates at significantly greater scale and breadth (international reach, larger engineering team).
• Rapidata: UK provider of contactless donation terminals and digital giving solutions for charities, including contactless POS hardware and online donation tools. Directly comparable to NFS's tap+DONATE terminal offering and UK charity focus.

Broad incumbents

• GoFundMe: Global crowdfunding and online fundraising platform with massive scale, including charity giving functionality. Competes with NFS for digital donor attention in the UK, though GoFundMe's personal-crowdfunding focus differs from NFS's charity-centric model.
• Charities Aid Foundation (CAF): Major UK charity providing donor-advised funds, payroll giving, and donation processing services to individuals and charities. Overlaps with NFS on intermediating UK charitable giving, but with a much broader service portfolio and 100+ year institutional history.
• Blackbaud: Large enterprise software provider serving nonprofits with CRM, fundraising, donor management, and payment tools (owner of JustGiving). Overlaps with NFS on online giving and payment processing, but operates at vastly broader portfolio scale across the nonprofit technology stack.

Others

• Stewardship: UK Christian charity providing giving accounts, Gift Aid processing, and donation administration services to individuals and charities. Adjacent to NFS in the UK charitable giving ecosystem (especially on Gift Aid) but does not directly compete on fundraising technology.

Emerging players

• GoodSAM: UK-registered charity operating donation and community response platforms, including emergency and contact-based giving flows. Comparable to NFS's emergency-appeal use case (e.g., ICU COVID-19 appeal) but with narrower focus on emergency response.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/NFSUK

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 The National Funding Scheme