Beacon review
A capable UK charity CRM with Gift Aid, advanced reporting and broad integrations.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Beacon is a cloud-based CRM for charities and other nonprofit organisations that need one place for people, organisations, payments, subscriptions, campaigns, fundraising pages, Gift Aid data and communications. Its core workflow covers branded online donation forms, one-off and recurring donations, campaign tracking, automated acknowledgement emails, donor segmentation and reporting. It is particularly suited to UK charities that need Gift Aid management alongside fundraising and supporter records.
Pricing is structured around contact volume, users and tier-specific capabilities. Starter costs £37 per month with monthly billing for 500–2,000 contacts, 3 users, 10 read-only users and 0% platform fees on payments. Its annual equivalent is £33.50 per month with annual billing and a 10% discount. Standard costs £127 per month for 2,500–50,000 contacts, 10 users and unlimited read-only users; the annual equivalent is £114 per month. Premium costs £325 per month for 10,000–100,000 contacts, 100 users, unlimited read-only users, unlimited custom fields and enhanced onboarding; its annual equivalent is £292 per month. Ultimate is designed for 100,000+ contacts and 100+ users, with sandbox accounts, BI and data warehousing, and a dedicated Success Manager. A 14-day trial is available.
Beacon’s ecosystem is a major part of its fit. Payment connections include Stripe, GoCardless and PayPal; fundraising integrations include JustGiving, Enthuse and Fundraise Up; and finance, marketing and website connections include Xero, Mailchimp, dotdigital, SendGrid, Zapier, WordPress, Wix, Drupal and Joomla. The REST API supports custom integrations, while custom fields, record types and dashboards allow organisations to shape the CRM around their processes. Choose Beacon when Gift Aid, integrations and detailed fundraising data matter. Organisations seeking a simpler, lower-cost tool may prefer a narrower platform.
Beacon pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Gift Aid data and claim management supports UK charity workflows
- Advanced dashboards, metrics, charts and filters support reporting
- REST API plus payment, fundraising, finance and marketing integrations
- Where it doesn't
- There is no permanent free plan
- Monthly pricing rises with contact volume and enabled features
- The broad feature set may exceed the needs of smaller organisations
Beacon fact sheet, pricing and score →
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