CharityIQ

Overview

CharityIQ brings grant discovery, application drafting, compliance support and impact reporting into a single web service. It is a sensible fit for small and mid-sized UK charities that lack dedicated fundraising or finance staff. Its broad remit is useful, but automatic profile lookup does not yet cover charities registered outside England and Wales.

Key features

The free Grant Finder ranks live UK grants against cause, beneficiaries, geography, income band, deadlines and exclusions. Its data combines 360Giving, GrantNav and direct funder feeds, refreshed daily. That gives smaller charities a practical starting point for finding relevant opportunities without a subscription, although a match should not replace checking a funder’s criteria.

Paid plans add an AI grant writer that uses charity data and funder criteria to draft applications, links claims to sources, and supports inline editing and regeneration. Trustee sign-off and an audit trail provide a review checkpoint before submission, making the workflow more suitable for organisations that need human oversight than for anyone expecting unattended application writing. CharityIQ says customer data is stored on AWS London servers, protected with TLS 1.3 in transit and AES-256 at rest, and not used to train AI models. It also says it does not hold formal SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certifications.

Compliance support includes an annual-return co-pilot, trustee-duty checks, deadline reminders and Trustees’ Annual Report drafting described as SORP 2026-ready. The impact dashboard supports NPC, IRIS+, Outcomes Star and theory of change frameworks, and can produce funder reports as PDF, Word or web links. Survey-based data collection supports gathering outcome evidence, while the range of connected tasks makes the service more compelling for charities that need both administration and reporting than for those seeking only a specialist impact tool.

Pricing

The free Grant Finder is billed Free forever and includes live UK grant matches ranked by eligibility, with deadlines and award sizes. It is the lowest-risk choice for charities that need grant discovery but not application drafting or the paid administrative tools.

Starter costs £49 /mo billed monthly or £39/mo billed annually. It allows 5 AI grant applications / mo and includes the Free Grant Finder, compliance assistant and email support. It suits charities beginning to use AI for applications, but the monthly application allowance may be restrictive for frequent fundraisers.

Growth costs £149 /mo billed monthly or £119/mo billed annually. It raises the allowance to 25 AI applications / mo and adds the impact dashboard, annual return co-pilot and priority support, alongside everything in Starter. This is the more complete fit for charities that need reporting and annual-return help as well as grant writing.

Pro costs £349 /mo billed monthly or £279/mo billed annually. It includes unlimited AI applications, everything in Growth, multi-user accounts, custom impact frameworks and a dedicated success manager. The extra capacity and collaboration features are aimed at charities with heavier application workloads or multiple users; smaller organisations may not need them. CharityIQ also offers a 14-day trial.

Platforms

CharityIQ runs on the web. Grant coverage is UK-wide, but automatic profile lookup currently uses the Charity Commission register for England and Wales; OSCR and CCNI lookups are roadmap items. That distinction matters to Scottish and Northern Irish charities: they can use UK-wide grant matching, but should expect less automated profile support.

Who it's for

CharityIQ is strongest for small charities without fundraising staff and small or mid-sized organisations without a dedicated finance team. It brings grant matching, application preparation and compliance tasks into one workflow, with impact reporting available on Growth and Pro. It is a weaker fit for a charity that needs automated profile lookup across all UK jurisdictions today, or only wants a standalone impact-measurement product.

Pros and cons

Pro: Daily refreshed, eligibility-ranked UK grant matches are included in a free-forever plan, so charities can use the core discovery feature without a subscription.

Pro: Source-linked application drafts, trustee sign-off and an audit trail combine writing assistance with a human approval step.

Pro: Compliance and impact reporting sit alongside grant work, reducing the need to handle those tasks in separate products.

Con: Automatic profile lookup is limited to England and Wales, despite UK-wide grant coverage.

Con: Starter caps AI applications at 5 / mo, and the dashboard and annual-return co-pilot require Growth or Pro.

Con: CharityIQ says it has no formal SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certification, which may matter to organisations with certification requirements.

Alternatives

For a dedicated impact-measurement shortlist, browse Nonprofit Impact Measurement Software. Choose UpMetrics instead if a free impact-framework builder and public profile page are the priority; its Starter Plan includes unlimited access. Clear Impact is another option for teams that want a free scorecard with up to 10 measures, up to 10 participant records and up to 3 user accounts.

Choose CommCare if open-source software and Android support matter more than CharityIQ’s combined grant and compliance workflow. SIA MIS is an alternative with Android, iOS and web platforms. ActivityInfo may suit teams that need a wider range of deployment options, including self-hosting; it has no free plan. Outcome Tracker is a paid alternative for organisations considering outcome tracking, while Relific offers Android and web access with a free trial. FRUIT Impact has a free plan and a paid Grow plan priced at $39 per month.

Verdict

CharityIQ is a strong choice for small and mid-sized UK charities that want grant discovery, AI-assisted applications and compliance support in one web product, with impact reporting available as they move up the plans. The free Grant Finder makes it easy to start, and the review workflow gives generated applications a useful human checkpoint. Look elsewhere if automatic profile lookup across Scotland or Northern Ireland is essential, or if your organisation needs formal SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certification.