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Beacon

beaconcrm.org

From £37/mo Free trial WebiOSAndroidAPI
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Spec score 9.2 #1 of 35 in Nonprofit CRM Software

What it is

Beacon is a CRM built especially for charities, combining fundraising, memberships, events, and case management. Fundraising tools include branded donation forms, grants, major gifts, legacies, recurring payments, and Gift Aid. Organizations can create branded membership and event ticketing forms and track attendance. For service work, Beacon tracks enquiries, ongoing use, and activities over time. Workflow automation and AI tools support data filtering, email drafting, and database logic.

Listed integrations include Mailchimp, Dotdigital, Sendgrid, Xero, JustGiving, Stripe, GoCardless, PayPal, and Zapier. Beacon also provides a documented RESTful API for custom integrations and Beacon-powered features. The service has web, iOS, Android, and API platform listings. Plans start at £37/mo, with annual billing also listed for Starter, Standard, and Premium; Ultimate pricing is custom. Beacon says its infrastructure and customer data are hosted in the UK and that it holds ISO 27001:2022 and Cyber Essentials Plus certifications. All plans include in-app chat and email support. Implementation is not included in plan pricing and is handled by certified Implementation Partners. Beacon was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Shoreditch, London.

Spec sheet

Product
Beacon is a cloud CRM designed specifically for charities and nonprofit organisations.Read 15 Oct 2026 · beaconcrm.org
API
Beacon provides an open REST API for reading, adding and deleting account data; API access is included on Standard, Premium and Ultimate plans.Read 15 Oct 2026 · guide.beaconcrm.org
Integrations
The integration directory lists Stripe, GoCardless, PayPal, Mailchimp, Gmail, Outlook, Gift Aid, JustGiving, Enthuse, Xero, QuickBooks, WordPress, Wix, Drupal, Joomla and Zapier among others.Read 15 Oct 2026 · beaconcrm.org
Security
Beacon states that it holds ISO 27001:2022 and Cyber Essentials Plus certifications.Read 9 Oct 2026 · beaconcrm.org
Support
All plans include live chat and email support, free Lighthouse training and webinars; Beacon targets a five-minute response time.Read 15 Oct 2026 · beaconcrm.org
Headquarters
Shoreditch, London, United KingdomRead 28 Sep 2026 · beaconcrm.org
Founded
2017Read 28 Sep 2026 · beaconcrm.org
API documentation
Developer documentation is automatically generated from each customer database configuration and requires login; supplementary guides cover validation, filters, file uploads and CSV exports.Read 15 Oct 2026 · guide.beaconcrm.org
API limitation
The relationships feature is not currently available through the API, although point-to-another-record fields are supported.Read 15 Oct 2026 · guide.beaconcrm.org
API limits
The API allows up to 300 requests per minute, or 60 per minute for bulk requests.Read 15 Oct 2026 · guide.beaconcrm.org
Automation and AI
Beacon offers workflow automation and AI tools for filtering data, drafting emails, and creating database logic.Read 9 Oct 2026 · beaconcrm.org
Backups
The service performs daily CRM backups and retains records for 30 days.Read 15 Oct 2026 · beaconcrm.org
Case management
Case management stores enquiries, ongoing service use and activities in one place.Read 15 Oct 2026 · beaconcrm.org
Company facts
LinkedIn lists Beacon CRM as privately held, founded in 2017, headquartered in London, with 51–200 employees.Read 15 Oct 2026 · linkedin.com
Company identity
The pricing page identifies the legal entity as Beacon Apps Ltd.Read 15 Oct 2026 · beaconcrm.org
Customisation
Users can create custom fields, record types, views and dashboards, with dashboards updated in real time.Read 15 Oct 2026 · beaconcrm.org
Data import
CSV import supports up to one million records in a single import.Read 15 Oct 2026 · beaconcrm.org
Data residency
Beacon says its infrastructure and customer data are hosted in the UK.Read 9 Oct 2026 · beaconcrm.org
Documentation
The help centre contains articles covering data management, forms, reporting, payments, Gift Aid, integrations, security, automation, account administration and developers.Read 15 Oct 2026 · guide.beaconcrm.org
Email
Beacon lists Mailchimp, dotdigital and Sendgrid integrations for bulk communications.Read 15 Oct 2026 · beaconcrm.org
Events
Event tools track attendance and sell tickets through branded forms with availability limits, time slots and group tickets.Read 15 Oct 2026 · beaconcrm.org
Exports
Beacon says its export system can retrieve 10 million records in 20 seconds.Read 15 Oct 2026 · beaconcrm.org
Finance
Finance features include Xero integration, reporting, income allocation, batch entry and payment-provider payout tracking.Read 15 Oct 2026 · beaconcrm.org
Founders
Beacon says Chris and David founded the company in 2017 after working in technology startups.Read 15 Oct 2026 · beaconcrm.org
Fundraising
Fundraising tools include branded donation forms, grants, major gifts, legacies, funds, recurring payments, Gift Aid and JustGiving integration.Read 15 Oct 2026 · beaconcrm.org
Grantmaking
Grantmaking tools manage grants and bursaries from enquiry through evaluation.Read 15 Oct 2026 · beaconcrm.org
Hosting
Beacon says its infrastructure and customer data are hosted in the UK on AWS and Google infrastructure, with private-cloud servers.Read 15 Oct 2026 · beaconcrm.org
Limit: cost and connectivity
G2 reviewers mention that subscription pricing can be expensive versus competitors and that the cloud product does not work without internet access.Read 15 Oct 2026 · g2.com
Limit: form branding
A Trustpilot reviewer complained that Beacon donation forms display Beacon branding and lack a white-label option.Read 15 Oct 2026 · trustpilot.com
Limit: onboarding and documentation
A Trustpilot reviewer reported that database relationships were not mapped in one manual, requiring navigation across separate guides and waiting for support staff.Read 15 Oct 2026 · trustpilot.com
Memberships
Membership functionality supports branded forms, renewals, one-off or recurring payments, additional donations and member numbers.Read 15 Oct 2026 · beaconcrm.org
Memberships and events
Beacon supports branded membership forms and event ticketing forms with attendance tracking.Read 9 Oct 2026 · beaconcrm.org
Notable news
An October 2026 product update announced migration work involving Google Spanner, speed improvements and a new Trust Centre.Read 15 Oct 2026 · beaconcrm.org
Payment fees
Beacon says it charges no platform fee to collect payments through Beacon forms, while payment providers may charge processing fees.Read 9 Oct 2026 · beaconcrm.org
Praise: charity fit
Trustpilot reviewers praise Beacon’s charity-focused design, flexibility, ease of use, Gift Aid handling and integration with tools such as JustGiving.Read 15 Oct 2026 · trustpilot.com
Praise: usability and support
G2 reviewers repeatedly describe the interface as simple or easy to use and praise responsive customer support.Read 15 Oct 2026 · g2.com
Pricing limit
Beacon says implementation is not included in plan pricing and is handled by certified Implementation Partners.Read 9 Oct 2026 · beaconcrm.org
Rating on G2
4.7 out of 5 from 10 reviewsRead 15 Oct 2026 · g2.com
Rating on Trustpilot
2.5 out of 5 from 13 reviewsRead 15 Oct 2026 · trustpilot.com
Security certifications
Beacon states that it holds ISO 27001:2022 and Cyber Essentials Plus certifications.Read 15 Oct 2026 · beaconcrm.org
Security controls
The company states that data is encrypted at rest, traffic uses HTTPS, two-factor authentication is available, and permissions can be controlled at feature, record and field level.Read 15 Oct 2026 · beaconcrm.org
Volunteering
Volunteer features track availability, skills, interests, applications, references and emergency contacts.Read 15 Oct 2026 · beaconcrm.org

Plans and prices

Starter £37 a month £37/mo monthly; £33.50/mo annual 500–2,000 contacts · 3 users · 10 read-only users · 0% platform fees Read 15 Oct 2026 · beaconcrm.org
Standard £127 a month £127/mo monthly; £114/mo annual 2,500–50,000 contacts · 10 users · unlimited read-only users · 0% platform fees Read 15 Oct 2026 · beaconcrm.org
Premium £325 a month £325/mo monthly; £292/mo annual 10,000–100,000 contacts · 100 users · unlimited read-only users · unlimited custom fields · enhanced onboarding Read 15 Oct 2026 · beaconcrm.org
Ultimate Priced on request Custom quote 100,000+ contacts · 100+ users · unlimited read-only users · sandbox accounts · BI and data warehousing · dedicated success manager Read 15 Oct 2026 · beaconcrm.org

Every Beacon plan and price →

Strong points and limits

Strong points

  • Fundraising includes Gift Aid and recurring payments.
  • Tracks attendance for events and memberships.
  • Workflow automation and AI tools are available.
  • Lists integrations including Xero, Stripe, and Mailchimp.
  • UK-hosted infrastructure and customer data.

Limits

  • No free plan; pricing starts at £37/mo.
  • Implementation is not included in plan pricing.
  • Ultimate pricing is custom.

Who it suits

Beacon suits charities managing fundraising alongside memberships, events, or service enquiries. Teams needing custom integrations can use its RESTful API, while organizations should plan separately for implementation.

Verdict

Beacon brings several charity-focused CRM functions together, with integrations, a documented API, and UK-hosted data. Its starting price is listed, but implementation is separately handled by certified partners.

Where Specifiction places it

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