Best Beacon CRM Alternatives for UK Charities in 2026

Beacon CRM is one of the most popular charity CRMs in the UK, rated number one in Fundraising Magazine's CRM survey for the sixth consecutive year. It is purpose-built for fundraising and donor management, and for charities whose primary need is processing donations, managing Gift Aid, and running supporter campaigns, it remains a strong choice. But not every charity is a fundraising charity — and even those that are may need capabilities that sit outside Beacon's core strengths. This guide provides an honest, practical comparison of the best Beacon CRM alternatives for UK charities, covering what each platform does well, where it falls short, and which type of organisation it suits.

TL;DR: Beacon is excellent at fundraising and donor management, but charities that need case management, grant management, partner referral networks, or AI-powered tools will likely need a different platform. Plinth is the strongest option for operational charities that deliver services (rather than primarily raising funds), while Donorfy offers a more affordable fundraising-focused alternative. Salesforce Nonprofit suits large enterprises with technical capacity, CiviCRM is a powerful free option for teams with developer access, and Access Charity CRM (formerly ThankQ) serves mid-to-large fundraising organisations. The right choice depends on whether your charity's core work is raising money or delivering services.

What you'll learn: How Beacon CRM compares with five alternatives on features, pricing, ideal use cases, and limitations — plus a decision framework for choosing the right platform.

Who this is for: UK charity leaders, operations managers, and digital leads evaluating CRM options or considering a switch from Beacon.

Why Do Charities Look for Beacon Alternatives?

Charities most commonly look for Beacon alternatives when their core needs extend beyond fundraising and donor management. Beacon is a specialist fundraising CRM, and that focus is both its greatest strength and its primary limitation.

Definition: Fundraising CRM vs Operational CRM A fundraising CRM (like Beacon or Donorfy) is designed around managing donors, processing gifts, tracking campaigns, and handling Gift Aid. An operational CRM (like Plinth) is designed around delivering services — case management, referrals, grant management, impact reporting, and partner coordination. Most charities need elements of both, but the balance varies significantly.

The most common reasons charities explore alternatives include:

• Case management needs. Beacon offers basic case tracking, but charities running advice services, housing support, or multi-agency referrals typically need dedicated case management tools. According to the 2025 Charity Digital Skills Report, 68% of small charities are still in early stages of digital adoption — and many are looking for their first proper case management system rather than adapting a fundraising CRM.
• Grant management. Charities that receive grants need to track funding, manage reporting obligations, and demonstrate impact. Beacon does not include grant management features.
• Partner and referral networks. Charities working as part of local networks — making and receiving referrals from other organisations — need partner CRM functionality that Beacon does not provide.
• AI capabilities. 76% of UK charities reported using AI tools in 2025, up from 61% in 2024, according to the Charity Digital Skills Report. Charities increasingly expect their CRM to include AI-powered features such as automated case notes, risk scoring, or application assessment. Beacon has introduced some AI features, but they remain limited compared to purpose-built AI platforms.
• Impact measurement and reporting. Funders increasingly require detailed outcome data. Two-thirds of charities say improved data management would bring the most value to their fundraising strategies and operations, according to Blackbaud's Status of UK Fundraising report (2025). Charities that need to produce impact reports, track outcomes against frameworks, or run beneficiary surveys may find Beacon's reporting insufficient.
• Complexity for small teams. While Beacon's pricing starts from around £30 per month, the platform can feel complex for very small teams that need a simpler, more focused tool.

It is worth noting that Beacon remains a strong choice for charities whose primary function is raising money from individual donors. The alternatives below are most relevant when your needs extend beyond that core use case.

The Best Beacon CRM Alternatives at a Glance

The following table summarises how each alternative compares across key capability areas. No single platform does everything — the right choice depends on what your charity actually does.

Plinth — Best for Service-Delivery Charities

Plinth is the strongest alternative for charities whose core work involves delivering services rather than raising money from individual donors. It is not a fundraising CRM and should not be treated as a direct replacement for Beacon's donor management features. Instead, Plinth excels in the areas where Beacon is weakest: AI-powered case management, grant management, partner coordination, and impact reporting.

What Plinth does well:

• AI case management. Plinth offers a case management system with AI-generated case notes, risk scoring, and automated workflows. A free tier is available, making it accessible to charities of any size.
• Partner CRM and referral networks. The Partner CRM allows charities to manage relationships with partner organisations, track referrals, and coordinate across local networks — a capability that no other platform on this list offers natively.
• AI grant management. Plinth's grant management module helps charities find, apply for, and manage grants. Over 60 UK funders use the platform, with more than £200 million in grants managed. Pricing starts from £2,500 per year.
• Impact reporting. The impact reporting tools include Agent Pippin, an AI agent that helps generate impact reports from programme data. Charities can also run surveys directly within the platform.
• Additional features. Plinth includes volunteering management, room bookings, and payment processing — functions that would typically require separate tools alongside Beacon.

Pricing: Case management starts from £0 (free tier). Grant management starts from £2,500 per year. According to the 2025 Charity Digital Skills Report, 69% of charities cite organisational finances as a primary barrier to digital progress — Plinth's free tier directly addresses this.

Limitations: Plinth does not offer donor management, Gift Aid processing, or fundraising campaign tools. If your charity's primary need is managing individual donors and processing donations, Plinth is not the right fit. Charities that need both service delivery and fundraising capabilities may need to run Plinth alongside a fundraising-focused tool.

Best for: Charities delivering advice services, housing support, youth work, community programmes, or any organisation where case management, referrals, and impact reporting are more important than donor management.

Donorfy — Best Budget-Friendly Fundraising Alternative

Donorfy is the most natural like-for-like alternative to Beacon for charities that want to stay within the fundraising CRM category but are looking for a lower cost option or a different approach. Now part of the Access Group, Donorfy is designed for small and medium-sized fundraising charities.

What Donorfy does well:

• Affordable entry point. Donorfy offers a free plan for charities managing up to 500 constituents, with paid plans starting from £39 per month. This makes it one of the most accessible fundraising CRMs on the market.
• Core fundraising features. Donorfy covers donation management, Gift Aid, membership management, event ticketing, and campaign tracking — the same core territory as Beacon.
• GDPR compliance. Built-in GDPR-compliant data handling, which is increasingly important as 50% of charities report being poor at or not engaging with investing in digital effectively, according to the 2025 Charity Digital Skills Report.
• Integration with HMRC. Direct HMRC integration for Gift Aid claims, reducing manual administration.

Pricing: Free for up to 500 constituents. Starter Plan at £39 per month. Pricing increases with constituent numbers — the next tier rises to approximately £92 per month. Annual billing offers a 2% discount, and multi-year pre-paid subscriptions provide up to 5% off.

Limitations: Donorfy does not offer case management, grant management, partner CRM, or AI features. Its reporting capabilities are basic compared to platforms like Plinth or Salesforce. As part of the Access Group acquisition, the product roadmap may shift — worth monitoring.

Best for: Small fundraising charities with limited budgets that need a straightforward donor management and Gift Aid tool without the complexity of Beacon.

Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud — Best for Large Enterprises

Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud (recently rebranded as Agentforce Nonprofit) is the enterprise option for charities that need maximum flexibility and have the budget and technical capacity to support a complex platform. It is powerful but carries significant costs and implementation complexity.

What Salesforce does well:

• Highly customisable. Salesforce can be configured to handle virtually any workflow — fundraising, case management, grant tracking, volunteer management, and more. With over 3,000 apps on the AppExchange, there are add-ons for almost every need.
• Free licences for eligible nonprofits. Through the Power of Us programme, eligible nonprofits receive 10 free Salesforce licences. This makes the base platform accessible, though additional licences and customisation carry significant costs.
• Enterprise-grade reporting. Salesforce's reporting and analytics capabilities are among the most powerful available, with dashboards, custom reports, and recently introduced AI features through Agentforce.
• Ecosystem. A large community of consultants, developers, and implementation partners specialising in the nonprofit sector.

Pricing: 10 free licences for eligible nonprofits through Power of Us. Additional licences and add-ons vary significantly — total cost of ownership for a mid-sized charity typically runs into thousands per year once implementation, customisation, and ongoing support are factored in. Only 44% of charities have a digital strategy in place, according to the 2025 Charity Digital Skills Report — and without one, Salesforce implementations frequently underdeliver.

Limitations: Salesforce is notoriously complex to set up and maintain. Most charities need a dedicated administrator or external consultant, which adds ongoing cost. The platform was not designed specifically for charities — it is adapted from a commercial CRM — and this shows in the user experience. Implementation timelines are typically measured in months rather than weeks.

Best for: Large charities with dedicated digital teams, significant budgets, and complex multi-departmental requirements that justify the investment in customisation and administration.

CiviCRM — Best Free and Open-Source Option

CiviCRM is the leading open-source CRM for nonprofits, and it remains a genuinely viable option for charities with access to technical expertise. It ranked number one for cost-effectiveness in the 2025 Charity CRM Survey, with 88% of users saying they would recommend it.

What CiviCRM does well:

• Completely free. The core software costs nothing. For charities operating under tight budget constraints, this is significant — particularly given that 69% of charities cite finances as their primary barrier to digital progress.
• Highly customisable. As open-source software, CiviCRM can be adapted to almost any requirement. A large library of extensions covers fundraising, membership, events, mailings, case management, and more.
• Active community. A global community of developers and nonprofit users drives ongoing development and provides peer support. The UK has a particularly active CiviCRM community.
• Gift Aid support. A UK-specific Gift Aid extension is available, providing HMRC-compliant Gift Aid processing.
• Data ownership. Because CiviCRM runs on your own hosting, you retain full control of your data — an important consideration for charities handling sensitive information.

Pricing: The software itself is free. Hosting typically costs £10–£50 per month depending on the provider. The primary cost is implementation and ongoing technical support — most charities budget between £2,000 and £10,000 for initial setup with a CiviCRM consultant, plus ongoing maintenance costs.

Limitations: CiviCRM requires technical expertise to set up, customise, and maintain. The user interface is functional rather than modern, and the learning curve is steeper than commercial alternatives. There is no AI functionality, no native partner CRM, and no built-in impact reporting beyond basic reports. Charities without access to a developer or CiviCRM consultant will find it difficult to get full value from the platform.

Best for: Charities with technical capacity (in-house developer or a relationship with a CiviCRM consultant) that want full control over their data and zero licensing costs. Particularly popular with membership organisations, campaigning charities, and politically aligned organisations that value open-source principles.

Access Charity CRM (Formerly ThankQ) — Best for Mid-to-Large Fundraisers

Access Charity CRM, which evolved from the ThankQ platform founded in 1992, is an established option for mid-to-large fundraising charities. Now part of the Access Group (which also acquired Donorfy), it serves over 10,000 fundraising professionals across the UK.

What Access Charity CRM does well:

• Comprehensive fundraising suite. The platform covers donor management, income processing, Gift Aid, event management, volunteer management, membership management, and marketing automation — a broader feature set than Beacon in some areas.
• Scale. Designed for growing charities, Access Charity CRM handles large supporter databases and complex fundraising operations effectively.
• Marketing automation. Built-in tools for segmentation, targeting, and automated donor communications — capabilities that Beacon provides primarily through third-party integrations with Mailchimp or dotdigital.
• Part of a wider ecosystem. The Access Group offers finance, HR, and other operational software that can integrate with the CRM, providing a single-vendor approach for charities that want to consolidate their technology stack.

Pricing: Custom quotes based on organisational size and requirements. Generally positioned for mid-to-large charities — expect pricing above both Beacon and Donorfy. Contact Access directly for current pricing.

Limitations: No case management, no grant management, no AI features, and no partner CRM. The transition from ThankQ to Access Charity CRM has introduced some disruption for existing users. The platform can feel enterprise-heavy for smaller teams. Being part of the same group as Donorfy raises questions about long-term product strategy and potential overlap.

Best for: Mid-to-large fundraising charities that need a comprehensive supporter management platform with marketing automation and volunteer management, and that prefer working with an established enterprise vendor.

How to Choose the Right Beacon Alternative

Choosing the right CRM depends less on feature lists and more on understanding what your charity actually does day to day. The following questions will help narrow the field:

1. Is your charity primarily a fundraising organisation or a service-delivery organisation?

If your core activity is raising money from individual donors, managing Gift Aid, and running campaigns, you should stay within the fundraising CRM category — Donorfy, Access Charity CRM, or continuing with Beacon. If your core activity is delivering services (advice, support, referrals, community programmes), look at Plinth or Salesforce.

2. What is your budget?

With 69% of charities citing finances as their primary barrier to digital progress, budget is often the deciding factor. CiviCRM (free software, hosting from ~£10/month) and Plinth (free tier for case management) offer the lowest entry points. Donorfy's free plan suits small fundraising charities. Salesforce and Access Charity CRM carry the highest total costs.

3. Do you have technical capacity?

If you have a developer or are comfortable working with technical consultants, CiviCRM offers extraordinary value. If you need something that works immediately without technical setup, Plinth, Beacon, or Donorfy are better choices.

4. Do you need AI features?

If AI-powered case notes, grant management, risk scoring, or impact reporting are priorities, Plinth is currently the strongest option. Salesforce is investing heavily in AI through Agentforce but is still early in delivery. The other options have limited or no AI capabilities.

5. Do you work with partner organisations?

If your charity makes and receives referrals, coordinates with local partners, or manages a service directory, Plinth's Partner CRM is the only platform on this list that handles this natively.

FAQ

Can Plinth replace Beacon CRM entirely?

Not for fundraising charities. Plinth does not handle donor management, Gift Aid, or fundraising campaigns. It is designed for charities whose primary need is case management, grant management, partner coordination, and impact reporting. However, for charities that deliver services rather than raise funds from individual donors, Plinth covers operational needs that Beacon cannot. Some charities run Plinth for service delivery alongside a fundraising CRM for donor management.

Is Beacon CRM still a good choice in 2026?

Yes — for the right type of charity. Beacon was rated number one in Fundraising Magazine's 2025 CRM survey for the sixth consecutive year, and its customer support is consistently praised. If your charity's core need is managing donors, processing Gift Aid, and running fundraising campaigns, Beacon remains one of the best options available. The alternatives on this page are most relevant when your needs go beyond fundraising.

How much does it cost to switch from Beacon to another CRM?

Switching costs depend on the complexity of your data, the number of integrations, and the platform you are moving to. Budget for data migration (typically £500–£5,000 depending on data volume and complexity), staff training time (allow 2–4 weeks for the team to become comfortable), and any parallel running period where both systems operate simultaneously. CiviCRM and Salesforce typically have the highest migration costs due to setup complexity, while Donorfy and Plinth offer smoother transitions. It is worth noting that 50% of charities say they are poor at investing in digital effectively — planning the switch carefully and investing in training is critical to avoiding wasted expenditure.

What is the best free alternative to Beacon?

CiviCRM is the best fully free alternative if you have technical capacity — the software costs nothing, and the UK community is active and supportive. For charities that need case management specifically, Plinth offers a free tier for case management that requires no technical setup. Donorfy also offers a free plan for charities with up to 500 constituents.

Can I use Beacon alongside another CRM?

Yes. Many charities run a fundraising CRM (like Beacon) alongside an operational platform (like Plinth) to cover different needs. The key is ensuring data does not become siloed — look for platforms that offer integrations or API access to keep contact records synchronised. This approach is particularly common among charities that both raise funds and deliver services.

Recommended Next Pages

• Case Management Software for Charities — Detailed guide to choosing case management systems
• What is a Partner CRM? — How partner CRM differs from traditional donor CRM
• CRM for Charities — Broader overview of CRM options across the sector
• AI for Charities — How AI is being adopted across UK charities
• Case Management — Plinth's AI case management platform
• Partner CRM — Managing referral networks and partner relationships
• AI Grant Management — Finding and managing grants with AI
• Impact Reporting — Generating impact reports from programme data

Last updated: February 2026

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