TotalGiving for charities: the fee-free donation platform, and giving at events

I built a fundraising platform myself, so I read other people’s fee pages more closely than is probably healthy. I am not here to trash anyone. I just want to turn the lights on: what TotalGiving’s own pages said in October 2026, what charities report, and where a donation page stops and a fundraising night starts.

What is TotalGiving?

TotalGiving is an online donation and fundraising page platform for UK charities. Its FAQs say it is open to registered charities, exempt charities and CASCs, and that an account is usually live within 24 hours, or up to three working days if extra checks are needed.

Its home page says it is used by over 19,000 UK charities. It is part of a wider free suite from Raise Your Profile Ltd, alongside a donor management tool, Donation Manager, which the company says is free and always will be.

The feature list is long: one-off and regular donations in 140 currencies, fundraising and appeal pages, card, PayPal and Direct Debit payments, Gift Aid claims, small cash donations under the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme, and pledge recording.

How is TotalGiving fee-free?

TotalGiving is fee-free in a narrow, honest sense: it charges the charity and the donor nothing itself. It never holds the money either. Its FAQs say donations go “instantly and directly” to the charity.

What it does not say, anywhere I could find, is how its own costs are met. The pages I read describe it as “100% not for profit” and “100% No Commission”. Companies House lists the operator, Raise Your Profile Ltd, as an active private limited company, incorporated in June 2009, with IT consultancy as its business.

That is a gap in what it publishes, not a charge against the company. The Fundraising Regulator’s platform guidance, updated in November 2025, asks platforms to state their status, such as whether they are a private company or a charity, and to explain every charge.

What does a donation cost a charity on TotalGiving?

TotalGiving fees are 0% on donations, with no annual or setup fee, according to its comparison page in October 2026. The cost to the charity is the payment provider’s fee, paid directly to that provider.

The page’s own worked example is a £1,000 card donation with £250 of Gift Aid. It shows a payment fee of £13.20, which is 1.3% plus 20p, and £1,236.80 reaching the charity.

Credit where it is due: the pages mention no donor tip, no share of Gift Aid, and no delay while a platform holds the money.

One note on that page. Its competitor table still includes Virgin Money Giving, which closed for donations on 30 November 2021. So treat the other platforms’ figures as a snapshot, and check each one on the provider’s own page. I did that for JustGiving fees.

What do TotalGiving reviews say?

TotalGiving reviews are thin and mostly negative. In October 2026 its Trustpilot page showed 2.0 out of 5 from 17 reviews, 82% of them one-star. Trustpilot notes the profile is unclaimed and the company does not invite reviews, so this is a small sample.

The few positive reviews are fair ones: a free, no-frills platform that suits a small charity watching every pound. The complaints are mostly about support: messages that went unanswered, registrations that stalled, and payment problems people could not get resolved.

A trustee on Charity Connect described a Gift Aid claim that returned an error, and emails to support with no reply. Neither Charity Connect thread had a single reply when I read them in October 2026. Read the recent reviews yourself, with your own charity in mind.

Where a fee-free model needs a second look

I built mine, so I know a platform costs money to run: servers, payment integrations, security, and people to answer the phone. When none of that is charged for, somebody else is paying. And if that arrangement is not published, a charity has no way to judge how long it will last.

Platforms do close. When Virgin Money Giving shut in 2021, after helping 20,000 charities, it cited the “significant investment” needed to stay competitive. Its charities had three months to move.

None of this makes TotalGiving the wrong choice. For a small charity that wants a donate button and Gift Aid with nothing taken off, it is a reasonable one. My advice is simple: keep a second route for donations, and test the support before you rely on it.

Is a charity donation platform the right tool for a gala night?

A charity donation platform is the right tool for year-round giving and the wrong one for the room. An online page waits for supporters to arrive. A gala has all of them in one room for one evening, and the money walks in through the door with them.

On the night, the pledge has to be asked for and taken, Gift Aid declared as it is made, and the auction kept out of the claim. HMRC is clear that payments for goods, services and event admission are not gifts.

At the Jigsaw Trust, the live pledge raised £30,600, more than the auction before it, and every pound of it was a gift made in the room. No donation page would have caught that. Whoever holds the room holds the total. That is why the live pledge comes first in my plan, and the auction second.

Giving at your event with the Generosity Works platform

The Generosity Works platform is built for that evening. The guest pledges from their seat and makes the Gift Aid declaration in the same moment, and the charity files its own Gift Aid claim. My guide to running a pledge covers the tiers and timing.

Lots are donated, never sold to you or pushed on you, so the charity keeps 100% of what it raises. Payments run through the charity’s own Stripe account at Stripe’s standard rate, with no percentage and no added payment charges.

It is free when a charity books me as auctioneer and host, and my fee is the only money Generosity Works takes. The platform is not sold on its own; our pricing page explains why. You can book me through thecharityauctioneer.uk, for one fee agreed up front.

Many charities will want both: a fee-free donation platform for the year, and a designed night for the gala. If Gift Aid is new to you, start with my Gift Aid basics.

The generosity is already in the room. If you have a number to hit this year, book a discovery call. Let’s talk about your number.