JustGiving under fire over ‘astonishing profit margin'

Fundraising platform JustGiving has come under fire over the level of profit it makes from donations.

- HOWARD MUSTOE

The company made more than £31m before tax on £59m of income from fees from donors and charities in the 2023 financial year.

Andrew Sanford, a partner at accountants Blick Rothenberg, said it was an “astonishing profit margin for the nature of that business. They have got a very repeatable piece of software, that is quite easy to use.”

He said he was aiming to set up a fundraiser for himself and his office colleagues for a charity walk to donate to causes including The Royal Marsden hospital and began investigating the best way to help people donate. He said that for charities missing out on money that goes to the company, “there must be a better way”.

JustGiving deducts 1.9 per cent from charitable donations plus 30 pence to process the payment. But it also asks for a tip, suggesting 17 per cent of the donation. And it charges charities subscription fees of up to £39 a month.

A spokesperson from JustGiving said that since the fundraising platform began 25 years ago “we’ve enabled millions of fundraisers to raise nearly £7bn for a huge number of charities and good causes”.

“In order for us to continue to support fundraisers, it is essential that we operate as a for-profit organisation. In recent years we have seen growth in the volume of donations, which in turn has naturally increased our profitability,” they added.

In 2019, it scrapped its previous model of a 5 per cent platform fee charged to charities and introduced the tip.