Overview

Charities can run appeals, in-memory campaigns, and individual or team fundraising pages under their own brand, with real-time campaign data. Donations support one-off and recurring giving, major payment methods, marketing opt-ins, and automatic Gift Aid capture and processing. That combination suits organisations managing more than a standalone donation form; smaller teams focused only on basic online giving may find the wider package unnecessary.

The company traces its roots to CharityCheckout, a donation tool for small charities that began in 2012. Enthuse offers dedicated support from specialists it identifies as fundraising experts.

Key features

Fundraising and events

Fundraising & Events links registration and ticketing with automatic fundraising-page creation, individual and team leaderboards, and customised emails. This is a practical fit for events where participants raise money as part of taking part. Strava connections let participants share training updates with supporters, adding a fitness-specific angle to campaigns.

Integrations, security and reliability

CRM integrations include Access CRM, Beacon, ChampCloud, Donorfy, MS Dynamics 365, Raiser’s Edge, and Salesforce. Larger charities can use the API to pull donation, fundraising, and event-payment data into a CRM or other data-management system, making Enthuse more suitable for an established stack than a closed, standalone service.

Enthuse says its security measures include continuous threat monitoring, annual penetration testing, DDoS and WAF protection, and vulnerability scanning. It is UK hosted and GDPR compliant, with data validation, anonymous giving, role-based access, and a secure donor account area. It also says it follows PCI standards for cardholder data and hosts products on Microsoft Azure and AWS with 99.9% uptime.

Pricing

All plans have 0% platform fees. Prices are exclusive of VAT where applicable, and successful transactions made with cards issued outside the UK incur an additional 1% foreign card fee.

Plan	Price	Included fees and features
Mass Participation	£0.00/month	Payment provider fee 1.9% + 30p; Gift Aid fee 5%
Fundraising	£24.99/month	Payment provider fee 1.9% + 30p; Gift Aid fee 5%; includes In-Memory
Fundraising & Events	£39.99/month	Ticketing fee 3.5% + 75p; payment provider fee 1.9% + 30p; includes Fundraising, In-Memory, Virtual Journeys, and Virtual Events
Donations	£39.99/month	No payment provider fee; Gift Aid fee 5%
Event Registration	£39.99/month	Ticketing fee 3.5% + 75p; payment provider fee 1.9% + 30p

Mass Participation avoids a subscription, but its per-payment and Gift Aid fees remain relevant for charities processing donations. Fundraising adds In-Memory for £24.99/month, while the £39.99/month Fundraising & Events plan bundles ticketing with fundraising and virtual-event features; its ticketing and payment fees can make transaction volume material to the total cost. Donations also costs £39.99/month but has no payment-provider fee, which may appeal to donation-led organisations, though Gift Aid still carries a 5% fee. Event Registration has the same monthly price and the stated ticketing and payment fees without the additional features named for Fundraising & Events.

Platforms

Enthuse is available on the web and through an API. The API is specifically aimed at larger charities integrating payment and fundraising data with their systems.

Who it's for

Enthuse is a strong fit for charities that want branded donation and fundraising journeys, team campaigns, and event registration in one product, especially those with a CRM to connect. Organisations that only need a simple donation channel should compare the value of its broader feature set against the monthly plans and transaction charges.

Pros and cons

Pros: Branded donation, fundraising, and event tools cover several campaign types in one service.
Pros: CRM integrations and an API support data flows into established charity systems.
Pros: Automatic Gift Aid handling, team fundraising, and event-linked page creation address specific UK charity and participation workflows.
Cons: Paid plans still carry transaction charges, including ticketing fees on event plans, so subscription price alone does not show the full cost.
Cons: The free Mass Participation plan also charges payment-provider and Gift Aid fees, limiting its appeal to organisations expecting cost-free processing.

Alternatives

Consider FundRazr if a free plan with no platform fee and a model where 95% of donors cover processing fees better matches your fundraising economics. Funraise is another freemium option, with a free plan for organisations raising under $1 million annually and paid premium plans available through sales.

GoFundMe Pro may suit nonprofits with annual revenue under $1 million seeking zero subscription and setup costs with access to a core product suite. Choose GiveSignup if a transaction-based model with no monthly fee fits better; its stated processing rates vary by transaction amount.

Bonfire is an alternative for organisations that want a branded online store and control over catalog and decoration. GivenGain offers charities, events, and corporate partners a fundraising platform with no subscription or setup fees.

KindLink may be worth considering for its free-forever plan with unlimited supporter and donor records and no platform fee. 99Pledges is an option for U.S. organisations seeking fundraising without contracts or subscriptions, with per-transaction charges.

For category comparisons, browse Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Software, Nonprofit Event Management Software, Fundraising Event Software, Nonprofit Payment Processing Software, and Nonprofit Online Donation Software.

Verdict

Choose Enthuse if your charity wants a branded fundraising and donation platform that can also handle participant events and connect to a CRM. Its breadth and integration options are the core reasons to shortlist it; look elsewhere if a simple donation workflow or lower transaction costs matter more than an integrated fundraising suite.

	Bid Beacon	Enthuse
Free plan	No	Yes
Free trial	No	No
Paid from	—	£24.99/mo
Open source	No	No
Platforms	Android, iOS, Web	api, Web
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Event registration	Yes	Yes
Online donations	Yes	—
Auction tools	Yes	—
Raffle tools	Yes	—
Mobile bidding	Yes	—

Bid Beacon vs Enthuse

Bid Beacon

Enthuse