Comparison of charity online donation services

Below is a comparison of five major online donation services. The costs quoted are for a donation of £10 with a Gift Aid of £2.82 (the maximum net donation is therefore £12.82). All information was obtained from the organisations' websites in September 2010.

BMyCharity PAYG1 CAF Charity Choice Virgin Money Giving Justgiving
Set-up fee £150 £100 + VAT Free £100 + VAT Free
Monthly charges Free £10 + VAT Free Free £15 + VAT
Transaction fee Free 45p Free 20p 64p
Visa credit card fee2 16p Included in transaction fee Free 16p 13p
VAT 3p Unknown 0 0 Included in transaction fee
Net donation £12.63 Less than £12.37 4 £12.82 £12.46 £12.05
Allows individual fundraising pages?3 Yes No No Yes Yes
Example charity profile page BMyCharity - Oxfam CAF - Breadline Africa Charity Choice - Islington Mind Virgin Money Giving - Oxfam Justgiving - Oxfam
Info on costs BMyCharity costs CAF costs (PDF) Charity Choice costs Virgin Money Giving costs Justgiving costs
1. BMYCharity also has a contract saver scheme where lower fees are charged, but the charity must pay a one-off set-up fee of £250
2. Mastercard credit card and debit card charges are similar (follow cost link for exact charges).
3. This is a web page about an individual's fundraising event, which can be personalised and shared. Justgiving sample fundraising page.
4. It is unclear from the CAF website how much VAT is charged on their fees.
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