Charity Excellence - a FREE one-stop-shop for everything a non-profit needs.

What Charity Excellence - a FREE one-stop-shop for everything a non-profit needs. does

Charity Excellence is a UK-registered non-profit operating a free, comprehensive one-stop-shop SaaS platform for the country's charity sector. Founded in 2016 by Ian McLintock and structured through a dual-entity arrangement — Charity Excellence Framework CIO (registered charity #1195568) owning the platform, and Alumna Ltd maintaining the database under a Service Level Agreement — the organisation claims to be the largest UK charity community with 50,000 registered members. It serves primarily small registered charities, unregistered community groups, marginalised organisations (disability, BAME, LGBTQI+, food banks, homelessness, women's groups), and charity infrastructure bodies, providing tools across funding discovery, governance health checks, policy compliance, and AI readiness.

Name

Charity Excellence - a FREE one-stop-shop for everything a non-profit needs.

Legal name

Alumna Ltd (trading as Charity Excellence)

Website

https://charityexcellence.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Charity Excellence is a UK-registered non-profit running a free, AI-powered SaaS platform for 50,000 charity members, delivering funding discovery, governance health checks, policy templates, and AI-assisted bid writing for small UK charities and community groups.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Management Software

NAICS

Individual and Family Services (6241), Web Search Portals and All Other Information Services (51929)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Test Item Banks, Question Authoring & Assessment Design Tools (EDAFADAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Financial Assistance & Benefits Navigation Services (BPAGAEAK), Assessment & Quiz Item Authoring Tools (within course builders) (EDAFAHAG)

Keywords

• Nonprofit management software
• Grant funding directory
• Charity governance tools
• AI bid writing
• Policy templates nonprofit

Headquarters

HQ city

Buckland, Buckinghamshire

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Free Services (Core Model): All services are completely free to nonprofits. The organisation does not charge for any aspect of its platform including Funding Finder, Help Finder, Data Finder, AI Bunny, Bid Writer, policies, health checks, or training. Revenue is generated entirely through external grant funding and pro bono support from technology partners.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Charity Excellence operates a free web-based one-stop-shop platform for UK charities and non-profits, providing three finder directories (Funding Finder for grants, Help Finder for donations and pro bono support, Data Finder for research), 65+ downloadable policy templates, eight personalized health check questionnaires with an interactive dashboard, and a self-assessed Quality Mark. It supplements these with AI-powered services — the AI Bunny virtual assistant (website and in-system) and a Grant Application Bid Writer — hosted on Microsoft Azure and powered by Biomni's Tenjin AI platform and OpenAI's GPT, along with free certificated online training via Charity Excellence Learning.

Product overview

Charity Excellence is a single unified free platform providing everything a UK charity or non-profit needs. The core system combines three Finder directories (Funding Finder for grants, Help Finder for free resources and donations, Data Finder for research), eight health check questionnaires with an interactive dashboard and Quality Mark certification, and 65+ downloadable policy templates. AI-powered services include the AI Bunny (natural language assistant for navigating the system and finding resources) and the Grant Application Bid Writer. Supporting offerings include Charity Excellence Learning (online courses), a ChatGPT Prompts Library, and an AI Governance & Ethics Framework. All core services are free, with AI features powered by Biomni's Tenjin platform and OpenAI's GPT provided pro bono.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Funding Finder A free grants directory connecting charities to hundreds of grant-making organisations and online funding lists, searchable by categories including Core Funding, Small Charities & Community Groups, and Start-ups. Designed for UK-registered charities and non-profits seeking grant funding.
• Help Finder A free directory for finding anything a charity needs at no cost, including companies that make financial donations, raffle prizes, and pro bono support services. Targeted at UK charities seeking donated or free resources.
• Company Donations Finder A free directory of companies that donate to charity, including those with corporate foundations, matching donations, and product donations. For UK charities seeking corporate giving partnerships.
• Data Finder A free data and research tool for fundraising bids, research, impact reporting, planning and campaigning by charities and non-profits.
• AI Ready Programme A free programme enabling any charity to assess its AI readiness, with automated connection to necessary resources and guidance. Integrates AI readiness scoring within the health check questionnaires. Designed for UK charities of any size evaluating AI preparedness.
• AI Bunny Two AI bunny avatar assistants (one on the public website, one within the registered platform) that answer questions, navigate the system, write funding bids, download policies, and connect users to grant funding and welfare support. Built using Biomni's Tenjin AI platform with GPT access. Handles approximately 4,500 users per month with a 90% success rate across roughly 20,000 nonprofit questions. For UK charities and non-profits.
• Grant Application Bid Writer A free AI-powered tool that writes funding bids and cases for support for grant-making charitable trusts and foundations. Designed for users with no prior fundraising experience or strong written English. For UK charities applying for grants.
• Policy Templates 65+ downloadable policy templates covering safeguarding, GDPR, health and safety, internal financial controls, anti-money laundering, and AI-ready policies. Comparable policies from other providers cost in excess of £100. For UK charities needing compliant policy documentation.
• Health Check Questionnaires Eight personalised online health check questionnaires covering every area of charity management, with results aggregating into an interactive dashboard with traffic-light summaries and exportable action plans. Includes scoring quality assessment to detect and prevent gaming. For UK charity trustees, staff and volunteers.
• Resource Hub A free, large database of downloadable resources, tools, templates, policies and guides from thousands of organisations that provide grant funding, pro bono help and free goods and services to charities. For UK charities and non-profits seeking sector resources.
• Charity Excellence Learning Free certificated online courses covering AI adoption, with bite-size lessons, demo videos, practical tasks and quizzes. Includes training videos such as 'An Introduction to AI', 'How Anyone Can Use ChatGPT', and 'AI and the Future of the Charity Sector'. For UK charity staff, trustees and volunteers seeking AI skills.

Quantifiable outcome

• 50,000 members — the largest UK charity community
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

AI capability7 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, significant, minor and supporting.

• Exquitech UKcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2023Exquitech UK provides the Help Finder AI service pro bono. This AI connects individuals and families to welfare and financial support, available through the website AI Bunny. Without Exquitech's contribution, this specific service capability would not be available.
• BiomnicoreTechnology or Integration · 1 December 2022Biomni provides their Tenjin AI machine learning software and GPT access at no cost (pro bono). This partnership is foundational to Charity Excellence's AI capability, enabling both the website AI Bunny and the in-system AI Bunny (including the bid writer, ChatGPT integration, and policy download services). Biomni also provides pro bono support from their AI developers. Biomni is described as essential to delivering Charity Excellence's growing suite of AI services.
• Lloyds Bank FoundationsignificantGTM or Marketing PartnerLloyds Bank Foundation publicly endorses and recommends Charity Excellence to small charities as a valuable resource. Quotes from the Foundation are featured on the Charity Excellence website and highlight the tool's ease of use, wide range of resources, relevant templates, and visual traffic-light summary. The endorsement provides significant social proof and credibility for the platform.
• Charity DigitalminorGTM or Marketing PartnerRegistered Charity Digital (Charity Registration Number 1133179) receives names, roles, organisations, and contact details of individuals who register with Charity Excellence, enabling them to make registered users aware of their charitable services. This data sharing is governed by a formal data sharing agreement limiting use to charitable purposes only.
• MicrosoftsupportingTechnology or IntegrationCharity Excellence's database and platform are hosted on Microsoft Azure in a UK data centre. Azure's security, backup, and reliability underpin the platform's availability. Additionally, Charity Excellence recommends that charities access Microsoft's nonprofit grant (US$2,000/year) for Copilot 365 and other Microsoft products.
• StripesupportingOthersStripe processes card payments on behalf of Charity Excellence. Payment data is transmitted securely via encrypted connections and tokenised. Full card numbers and security codes are not stored by Charity Excellence. Stripe is used for any donations and potential future paid services. Charity Excellence does not currently charge for its services but maintains Stripe integration for donations.
• Charity Excellence Framework CIOcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Charity Excellence Framework CIO (registered charity number 1195568) is the entity that owns and manages the CEF. Alumna Ltd operates under a Service Level Agreement as the licensed developer and maintainer of the system. The CIO-CEF relationship is central to the social franchising model designed to eventually transfer ownership and control of the platform to the broader charity sector.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Instrumentl: US SaaS platform for nonprofits that automates grant discovery, prospecting and application workflows — directly comparable to Charity Excellence's Funding Finder and AI Bid Writer, though serving a paid US market.
• NCVO (National Council for Voluntary Organisations): UK umbrella body for the voluntary sector providing advice, resources, policy templates and research tools to charities — directly comparable in mission and audience to Charity Excellence, though operating as a membership association rather than a free SaaS platform.
• TechSoup Global: Global nonprofit providing technology resources, software donations and digital tools to other charities — overlaps with Charity Excellence's resource hub and Help Finder for free technology and tools.
• CAF (Charities Aid Foundation): UK charity providing giving platforms, payroll giving, research and free advice/tools for charities and donors — overlaps heavily with Charity Excellence's Funding Finder, Help Finder and policy support functions.
• Foundant Technologies: SaaS provider of grant management and nonprofit software serving community foundations and charities — comparable in product category (grant lifecycle tools) though primarily a paid B2B platform serving grantmakers rather than applicants.
• Candid (formerly Foundation Center): US-based nonprofit information aggregator providing funding databases, research tools and nonprofit resources (e.g. Foundation Directory, GuideStar) — the closest international analogue to Charity Excellence's Funding Finder and Data Finder combined.
• GrantStation: Online database of grantmakers and funding opportunities for nonprofits worldwide — direct competitor to Charity Excellence's Funding Finder, though subscription-based and US-centric.
• Charity Digital: UK charity (1133179) providing digital tools, training and resources to other charities — a formal data-sharing partner of Charity Excellence and the closest direct comparator in the UK charity tech support space.

Broad incumbents

• Fluxx: Established SaaS provider of grantmaking and grant management software for foundations and nonprofits — adjacent commercial incumbent in the same grant lifecycle domain Charity Excellence addresses for free.

Regional players

• SCVO (Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations): Scotland's national umbrella body for the voluntary sector offering funding advice, policy templates and governance support — comparable mission to Charity Excellence but focused on Scottish charities rather than England & Wales.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat7 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ian_mcl
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@CharityExcellenceFramework/playlists
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/charity-excellence-framework

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Charity Excellence - a FREE one-stop-shop for everything a non-profit needs.