Big Give’s operating model
As a registered charity ourselves (Charity Number: 1136547), we know how important donations are, and we work hard to keep the cost of donation processing low for our charity partners. Some online fundraising sites charge monthly or annual fees to charities for using their platform. We don’t charge charities for joining our platform; we rely on the generosity of people who donate to leave a voluntary tip, as well as a small processing fee, which helps us cover the costs of running and improving Big Give. Without these generous tips, we would not be able to offer this service.
All donations on our platform are processed safely and securely by our Payment Processor, Stripe. Learn more about Stripe.
Processing fees
Each donation made on our platform is subject to a small processing fee. The processing fee is deducted from the donation at the point it is transferred to the charity. The amount charged depends on the payment method used.
| Payment method | Payment method country | Fee (exclusive of VAT) |
| Visa, Mastercard, or any credit or debit card except American Express | UK | 1.5% of donation + 20p |
| EU | ||
| Rest of world | 3.2% of donation + 20p | |
| Donation Funds (BACS bank tranfer) | UK only | 1.5% of donation + 20p |
| American Express debit or credit card | Any country | 3.2% of donation + 20p |
All amounts are rounded up or down to the nearest penny.
Gift Aid fees
Charities have two options for Gift Aid claims on donations made through Big Give:
- Claim Gift Aid from HMRC directly themselves.
- Nominate Big Give to claim Gift Aid on their behalf.
We charge a fee of 3%+VAT on the amount of claimable Gift Aid to cover our costs.
The Gift Aid fee is deducted from the donation at the point it is transferred to the charity.
Worked examples
Donation made with UK Visa Card, without gift aid
If a donor makes a £10 donation without a Gift Aid declaration, then the fees are calculated in the following way:
| Description | Amount |
| Processing fee of 1.5% + 20p | £0.35 |
| VAT (20%) | £0.07 |
| Total fee | £0.42 |
| Total transferred to the charity | £9.58 |
Donation made with UK credit card with gift aid
If a donor makes a £10 donation with a Gift Aid declaration, using a credit card, and Big Give is nominated to claim Gift Aid on behalf of the charity, then the fees are calculated in the following way:
| Description | Amount |
| Processing fee of 1.5% + 20p | £0.35 |
| Gift Aid fee (3% of £2.50) | £0.08 |
| VAT (20%) | £0.09 |
| Total fee | £0.52 |
| Total transferred to the charity | £11.98 |
Donation made with American Express Card from any country, without Gift Aid
If a donor makes a £10 donation using an American Express Card, and does not make a gift aid declaration, then the fees are calculated in the following way, even if they are UK or EU-based:
| Description | Amount |
| Processing fee of 3.2% + 20p | £0.52 |
| VAT (20%) | £0.10 |
| Total fee | £0.62 |
| Total transferred to the charity | £9.38 |
Where do the voluntary tips go?
We rely on donations via voluntary tips to cover running costs and managing match funding campaigns. We ask each person donating on our platform whether they would like to add a tip to their donation to support us.
As a charity ourselves, we don’t charge our charity partners for using our platform, so we’re incredibly grateful to people who choose to leave a voluntary tip. Those tips are what make us able to keep doing what we’re doing, run our match funding campaigns, and help make an impact on the world’s biggest problems — together.
We deploy any revenue we generate, beyond what we need to run the organisation, in our Anchor Match Fund. That means we keep paying it forward and multiply even more generosity by supporting charities by providing match funding to their campaigns.