The verdict in three sentences
When 90 local branches each run their members and their 12,000 volunteers in their own spreadsheet, head office no longer knows who has paid, who has a valid Gift Aid declaration or which records must be deleted. An off-the-shelf charity CRM at 400 to 1,500 EUR a month is enough if your processes are standard; a custom tool at 50,000 to 100,000 EUR (about 43,000 to 86,000 GBP) makes sense once the head office and branch logic, volunteer scheduling and donor receipts fall outside the box. Either way, plan 5 to 7 months to migrate the data properly.
What head office needs to centralise
A registered charity combines three jobs: membership (subscriptions, renewals, AGMs), fundraising (one-off and regular gifts, Gift Aid adding 25% to eligible donations) and volunteering (roles, shifts, skills, training). UK GDPR adds strict constraints: defined retention periods, branch-level access rights, a consent log.
| Function | Requirement for 90 branches | Indicative custom cost 2026 (EUR) |
|---|---|---|
| Single member and volunteer database | Branch permissions, de-duplication | 8,000 to 15,000 |
| Online subscriptions and donations (card, Direct Debit) | Payment, reminders, reconciliation | 7,000 to 14,000 |
| Automatic donor receipts and Gift Aid declarations | Numbering, annual send, claim file | 5,000 to 10,000 |
| Volunteer shift scheduling | Online sign-up, SMS reminders, attendance | 9,000 to 18,000 |
| Branch portal and dashboards | Local and national steering | 7,000 to 14,000 |
| GDPR: consents, purge, access log | Retention 3 years after last contact | 5,000 to 11,000 |
| Migration of 90 spreadsheets, training, UK/EU hosting | Go-live | 9,000 to 18,000 |
Total: 50,000 to 100,000 EUR, compared with 5,000 to 18,000 EUR a year in subscriptions for an off-the-shelf product.
Off-the-shelf charity CRM or custom tool
| Criterion | Off-the-shelf charity CRM | Custom Kolonell tool | Current spreadsheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upfront cost | 3,000 to 12,000 EUR configuration | 50,000 to 100,000 EUR | 0 EUR |
| Recurring cost | 400 to 1,500 EUR a month | 6,000 to 12,000 EUR a year (maintenance, hosting) | 1 to 2 FTE consolidating at head office |
| Head office and branch logic | Often limited to a few levels | Modelled exactly | None |
| Volunteer scheduling | Separate module or missing | Built in | Doodle and email |
| Donor receipts | Yes, standard format | Yes, matched to your campaigns | Manual |
| Data ownership and exit | Export sometimes limited | Full | Full but scattered |
| Rollout time | 2 to 4 months | 5 to 7 months | Not applicable |
Rule of thumb: if more than 20% of your needs require workarounds in vendor demos, custom is cheaper over five years.
Rollout pitfalls
- De-duplication: across 90 files, expect 8 to 15% duplicates between branches.
- Branch buy-in: one trained champion per branch and half a day of remote training.
- Phased switch-over: 10 pilot branches for 6 weeks, then the rest in waves of 20.
- Hosting: UK or EU, with daily backups.
Mini case study
Mrs Lefèvre, chief executive of a national charity, today spends 1.5 FTE at head office consolidating spreadsheets, about 75,000 EUR a year fully loaded. She also estimates losing 6% of regular gifts for lack of reminders, on 1.2 million EUR raised: 72,000 EUR. A custom tool at 85,000 EUR plus 10,000 EUR a year cuts consolidation to 0.3 FTE (60,000 EUR saved) and recovers half of the lost gifts (36,000 EUR). Annual gain: about 86,000 EUR, payback in just over a year.
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FAQ
Can we keep our current online giving platform?
Yes. We connect by API to the main donation platforms and pull transactions every night. The connector adds 3,000 to 6,000 EUR to the budget.
How long should we keep volunteer data?
A common practice in line with ICO guidance is 3 years after last contact for supporters. The tool purges or anonymises records beyond that automatically, with an auditable log.
Can branches see other branches' data?
No, each branch sees only its own members and shifts. Head office has a consolidated view, and sensitive profiles (donations, any health data) are limited to 2 or 3 authorised staff.
Can donor receipts go out in one batch?
Yes, a bulk email run generates several thousand receipts in under an hour, with numbered and archived PDFs. Donors without email get a mail-merge-ready file.
Is there funding for this kind of project?
Some corporate foundations and pro bono programmes fund charity digital transformation, often 20 to 50% of the cost. We provide a detailed per-module budget for your applications.
Let's scope your project. Tell us your number of branches, members and donation volumes and we will price a tool between 50,000 and 100,000 EUR, or point you to an off-the-shelf CRM if that is enough. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
