Best Software for Multi-Site Charities and Organisations in the UK (2026)
A practical guide to choosing the right software for multi-site charities operating across several locations in the UK. Compares Plinth, Charitylog, Lamplight, and Salesforce for centralised reporting, cross-site tracking, and consistent data collection.
Multi-site charities — organisations delivering services from community centres, advice offices, hubs, or outreach locations across different areas — face a distinct operational challenge. They need consistent data collection at every site, centralised reporting for trustees and funders, and the ability to track participants who move between locations. Choosing the right software to support this is one of the most consequential decisions a multi-site charity can make.
TL;DR: Multi-site charities need a single platform that combines centralised reporting with site-level access controls and shared participant records. Purpose-built charity platforms such as Plinth, Charitylog, and Lamplight offer these capabilities without the implementation complexity and cost of enterprise tools like Salesforce. Plinth stands out for organisations that also need case management, room bookings, and impact reporting across multiple locations.
Who this is for: Operations managers, CEOs, and trustees of UK charities and community organisations operating from two or more locations who want to consolidate data and reporting into a single system.
Why Multi-Site Operations Create Unique Software Needs
Running services from several locations introduces problems that single-site organisations rarely encounter. Data gets siloed in site-specific spreadsheets. Staff at one location cannot see what support a participant has received elsewhere. Reporting to funders requires someone to manually aggregate figures from each site.
These are not theoretical risks. According to the Charity Digital Skills Report 2025, 31% of charities said they are poor at or not engaging with collecting, managing, and using data, while 34% said they are poor at or not using data to inform decision-making (Charity Digital Skills Report 2025). For multi-site organisations, these challenges are amplified because data is spread across locations rather than concentrated in one team.
The core requirements for multi-site charity software are:
- Centralised reporting — aggregate outcomes, attendance, and activity data across all locations into a single view for trustees, funders, and senior management.
- Site-level permissions — allow local staff to manage their own data without seeing (or accidentally editing) records from other sites.
- Cross-site participant tracking — maintain a single record for each participant even when they access services at multiple locations.
- Consistent data collection — ensure every site collects the same fields, uses the same categories, and follows the same processes.
- Local and central admin views — give site managers operational control while providing head office with oversight.
The Cost of Getting It Wrong
When multi-site charities cobble together site-level tools — a spreadsheet here, a standalone database there — the consequences compound over time. The NCVO UK Civil Society Almanac 2024 found that larger voluntary organisations dominate the sector in terms of income and spending, yet micro and small organisations account for 80% of the sector (NCVO UK Civil Society Almanac 2024). Many of these smaller organisations grow into multi-site operations without upgrading their data infrastructure to match.
Data fragmentation carries real costs. Without a centralised system, multi-site charities commonly experience:
- Duplicate records — the same participant is entered separately at each site, inflating numbers or losing the thread of their support journey.
- Inconsistent outcome tracking — one site records outputs differently from another, making aggregated funder reports unreliable.
- Safeguarding gaps — concerns raised at one site are not visible to staff at another, increasing risk.
- Wasted admin time — staff spend hours reconciling data from different sources instead of delivering services.
The 2025 Charity Digital Skills Report also found that 50% of charities say they are either poor at, or not engaging at all with, investing in digital effectively, with 69% citing organisational finances as the primary barrier (Charity Digital Skills Report 2025). This means many multi-site charities are acutely aware of the problem but struggle to justify the investment — making it essential to choose a platform that delivers value without excessive cost.
One Platform vs Site-Level Tools: Making the Case
The strongest argument for a single platform is consistency. When every site uses the same system, data collection is standardised by design. Participant records are shared, reporting is automatic, and there is one source of truth for the whole organisation.
The argument against is disruption. Migrating multiple sites to a new system simultaneously is harder than migrating one. Staff at different locations may have different levels of digital confidence — the Charity Digital Skills Report 2025 found that only 44% of charities have a digital strategy in place, a decline from 50% the previous year (Charity Digital Skills Report 2025).
In practice, the single-platform approach wins for most multi-site organisations once they grow beyond two or three locations. The administrative overhead of maintaining data consistency across separate tools becomes unsustainable. A phased rollout — starting with one site and expanding — mitigates the disruption risk while still moving towards a unified system.
Platform Comparison: Plinth, Charitylog, Lamplight, and Salesforce
The UK charity sector has several credible options for multi-site software. Each has different strengths depending on the size and complexity of your organisation.
| Feature | Plinth | Charitylog | Lamplight | Salesforce Nonprofit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Built for UK charities | Yes | Yes | Yes | No (US-origin, UK partners available) |
| Multi-site access controls | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (requires configuration) |
| Centralised reporting | Yes — Impact Reporting | Yes | Yes | Yes (requires setup) |
| Case management | Yes — Case Management | Yes | Yes | Yes (add-on) |
| Room/space bookings | Yes — Room Bookings | No | No | No (third-party integration) |
| Event/session bookings | Yes — Bookings | Yes | Yes | Yes (requires customisation) |
| Volunteer management | Yes — Volunteering | Yes | Yes | Yes (add-on) |
| Partner/referral tracking | Yes — Partner CRM | Yes | Limited | Yes (requires customisation) |
| Pricing model | Per-organisation | Based on charity turnover | Per-user modules | Free (10 licences), then per-user |
| Implementation complexity | Low | Low-medium | Low-medium | High |
| User base | Growing | ~1,000 UK charities | ~700 UK charities | Global |
Sources: Charitylog, Lamplight, Salesforce Power of Us
Plinth
Plinth is designed for charities and community organisations that need more than just a CRM. Its Impact Reporting feature provides centralised outcome data across all sites, while Case Management supports shared participant records with site-level visibility. For organisations that also run physical spaces, Room Bookings and Bookings handle scheduling across multiple locations from a single dashboard. The Partner CRM helps multi-site charities manage referral relationships with local agencies, and Volunteering supports coordinating volunteers across sites.
Charitylog
Charitylog is one of the longest-established charity CRMs in the UK, used by around 1,000 organisations. It offers a fixed annual fee based on charity turnover with unlimited user licences, which can be cost-effective for larger multi-site teams. Its strengths are in case recording and outcome tracking, with solid reporting tools (Charitylog). However, it does not include room or space booking features, so organisations managing community centres may need a separate system.
Lamplight
Lamplight serves over 700 UK nonprofits and provides robust reporting with filters for ward, borough, service, and demographics (Lamplight). Its modular approach means organisations can add functionality as they grow. Like Charitylog, it focuses primarily on case management and outcomes rather than venue or booking management.
Salesforce Nonprofit
Salesforce offers up to 10 free licences for UK charities registered with the Charity Commission through the Power of Us programme. However, implementation complexity is significantly higher than purpose-built charity platforms. Customisation typically requires specialist consultants, and ongoing maintenance costs can escalate quickly (Wezana UK). Salesforce is best suited to large, well-resourced charities with dedicated IT capacity.
How to Maintain Data Consistency Across Sites
Choosing the right platform is only half the challenge. Multi-site charities also need operational practices that enforce consistency.
Standardise your data dictionary. Agree on the categories, fields, and terminology that every site will use. If one site records "housing advice" and another records "housing support", your aggregated reports will be inaccurate. A single platform helps enforce this, but it still requires upfront agreement.
Use mandatory fields wisely. Configure your system so that essential data — participant demographics, referral source, presenting needs — must be entered before a record can be saved. This prevents gaps that undermine reporting.
Assign data champions at each site. A staff member at each location who understands the system and can support colleagues reduces the support burden on central teams and improves data quality at the point of entry.
Run regular data audits. Review a sample of records from each site quarterly to check for consistency. Look for incomplete records, miscategorised entries, and duplicate participants.
Centralise your outcome frameworks. Use a tool like Impact Reporting to define outcomes centrally and let each site record against them, ensuring that aggregated reports are genuinely comparable.
The voluntary sector employed 978,000 people in 2024, approximately 3% of the UK workforce, with social work being the largest employing subsector at 39% (NCVO UK Civil Society Almanac 2024). Many of these workers are in multi-site organisations delivering frontline services — getting data consistency right directly affects the quality of support they can provide.
What to Look for When Evaluating Software
When shortlisting platforms, multi-site charities should prioritise:
- Permissions granularity — Can you restrict access by site, team, or role? Can a site manager see their own data and aggregate reports but not individual records from another location?
- Shared participant records — Does the system maintain a single record per person, even when they interact with multiple sites?
- Reporting flexibility — Can you generate reports at site level, regional level, and organisation-wide without exporting data to spreadsheets?
- Scalability — Will the platform accommodate new sites without a significant increase in cost or setup time?
- Training and onboarding — How easily can new staff at a new site get up to speed? Is the interface intuitive enough for staff with varying digital skills?
- UK data hosting and GDPR compliance — Is data stored in the UK? Does the platform support your data protection obligations?
Given that 76% of charities are now using AI tools according to the 2025 Charity Digital Skills Report (Charity Digital Skills Report 2025), it is also worth considering whether the platform offers AI-powered features such as automated report generation or case analysis that could save time across multiple sites.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a multi-site charity use a different system at each location?
Technically, yes — but it is strongly discouraged. Running different systems at each site creates data silos, makes cross-site reporting manual, and prevents you from tracking participants who use services at more than one location. A single platform with site-level permissions is almost always more effective.
How much does multi-site charity software cost?
Costs vary significantly. Charitylog charges based on charity turnover with unlimited users. Lamplight uses a per-user modular model. Salesforce offers 10 free licences but implementation and consulting costs can run into tens of thousands of pounds. Plinth offers per-organisation pricing that includes all features across all sites. For most mid-sized multi-site charities, expect to invest between £2,000 and £10,000 per year depending on the platform and number of users.
How long does it take to roll out software across multiple sites?
A phased rollout typically works best. Allow four to six weeks to set up and pilot at one site, then two to three weeks per additional site. The total timeline depends on the number of locations, the complexity of your data, and whether you are migrating from an existing system. Most multi-site charities complete a full rollout within three to six months.
What if our sites have different needs — can the software handle that?
Good multi-site software lets you configure workflows, forms, and services at the site level while maintaining centralised standards. For example, one site might run an advice service while another runs youth programmes. Platforms like Plinth support this through flexible case management pathways and bookings configurations that can differ by site while still feeding into a shared impact reporting framework.
Do we need to migrate all our historical data?
Not necessarily. Many organisations choose to start fresh on the new platform and keep historical records accessible in their previous system for reference. If historical data is essential for ongoing cases or funder reporting, most platforms support data imports from spreadsheets or other systems — but plan for data cleaning to be the most time-consuming part of the migration.
Recommended Next Pages
What is Impact Reporting? — How centralised outcome tracking works and why it matters for multi-site organisations.
What is Case Management? — The fundamentals of structured support delivery across locations.
Case Workflows and Pathways — How to design service pathways that work consistently across multiple sites.
Glossary of Case Management Terms — Key definitions for teams adopting a new system.
Last updated: February 2026
For more information about using Plinth across multiple sites, contact our team or schedule a demo.