Free & discounted help for UK charities

A curated, honest directory of free and discounted help for UK charities — software, banking and payment savings, pro-bono legal and management support, and your local infrastructure body. Every entry lists who is eligible and when we last checked it. We only include things we could confirm are currently offered.

Everything on this page was last checked on 10 July 2026. Programmes and eligibility change, so follow each link to the provider’s own page and confirm the current terms before you rely on it.

Eligible UK charities can claim up to 300 free Microsoft 365 Business Basic licences through the Microsoft Nonprofit Programme (Source: Microsoft, microsoft.com/en-us/nonprofits/offers-for-nonprofits, verified 11 July 2026) — Microsoft 365 Business Premium is now a paid nonprofit-discount tier (about 75% off), not a free grant, so check what your charity now qualifies for before you rely on it.

Software

Several major providers give eligible charities free or heavily discounted software. Eligibility is usually confirmed through a verification partner using your charity registration or HMRC charitable status. Apply on each provider’s own site.

Google for Nonprofits — free. Includes Google Ad Grants (in-kind search advertising), Google Workspace for Nonprofits and YouTube nonprofit features. Eligible: registered charities (Charity Commission, OSCR or CCNI) or not-for-profits with HMRC charitable status; hospitals and schools are excluded (their philanthropic arms can qualify). Verified via Goodstack. Checked 10 July 2026.
Microsoft Nonprofit Programme — free tier plus discounts. Up to 300 free Microsoft 365 Business Basic licences (web apps, Teams, email, 1TB storage per user); Business Premium (desktop apps, enterprise-grade security) is a paid nonprofit-discount tier at around 75% off, not free. Eligible: recognised charities/not-for-profits with equivalent-to-501(c)(3) legal status; verify current eligibility criteria and offers on Microsoft’s own site, as they are periodically revised. Checked 11 July 2026.
Canva for Nonprofits — free. Canva Pro plus team features at no cost for eligible organisations. Eligible: charities recognised by a regulator, operating not-for-profit for public benefit; political bodies, government, schools and universities excluded. Verified via Percent. Checked 10 July 2026.
Charity Digital Exchange — discounted and donated software. The UK programme (run by Charity Digital) offers donated or discounted licences from many vendors for a small administration fee per request. Eligible: registered UK charities; eligibility varies by product and donor. Checked 10 July 2026.

Google for Nonprofits, Microsoft and Canva entries above were checked directly against each provider’s own eligibility page on 11 July 2026 and are current. Before adding further named schemes (Salesforce, LinkedIn for Nonprofits, Zoom, Slack), confirm their current UK charity offers on the provider’s own page — several changed in 2024–2025 and were not checked for this page.

Money and banking

Banking for charities usually carries a fee, though some accounts waive it within transaction limits — so read the terms rather than assuming “charity” means free. The bigger savings are often on payment processing, where several routes take 0% or a reduced charity rate. Fees below were checked on 10 July 2026 and can change.

CAF Bank — a specialist charity bank. The CAF Cash Account carries a monthly fee (around £5) plus transaction charges; it is designed for charities and community organisations, not fee-free. Eligible: charities and not-for-profits. Checked 10 July 2026.
Unity Trust Bank — a social-economy bank. Charges a monthly fee (around £6) and per-transaction fees for larger charities (over £100k turnover). Eligible: charities, community and social enterprises. Checked 10 July 2026.
High-street community accounts — several high-street banks offer “community” or “treasurer’s” accounts that can be fee-free within set transaction limits. [CANNOT VERIFY this pass — no specific bank named, so no single provider page to check; before publishing, confirm current terms with each named bank.] Free banking is usually conditional on staying within limits. Checked 10 July 2026.
PayPal Giving Fund (UK) — 0% platform fee on donations, and it claims Gift Aid for you. Important caveat: it does not pass on donors’ names and addresses, so you cannot thank or steward those donors directly. Eligible: registered UK charities. Checked 10 July 2026.
Wonderful.org — 0% fees on donations (using Pay by Bank, via Open Banking), a genuinely free donation platform: £0 set-up cost, £0 monthly cost, £0 admin fee per donation, funded by corporate sponsors rather than a cut of donations. Eligible: registered UK charities. Checked 11 July 2026.
PayPal charity rate — a reduced transaction rate (around 1.4% + 20p on domestic donations) for eligible HMRC-registered charities, lower than standard PayPal fees. Checked 10 July 2026.

Pro-bono services

You can get free professional help — legal, management and digital — from organisations that broker volunteers to charities. Demand is high, so programmes sometimes pause new applications; we note that where it applies.

LawWorks (Not-for-Profits Programme) — free legal advice for smaller not-for-profits in England and Wales, brokering a solicitor for a specific issue (a lease, a contract, updating your constitution). It also offers free legal videos, memos and FAQs. Note: the Not-for-Profits Programme is currently closed to new applications due to demand (as is its Honorary Counsel service) — check lawworks.org.uk for current status before assuming you can apply. Eligible: smaller not-for-profits, E&W. Checked 11 July 2026.
Advocate — the Bar’s pro bono charity, which can find a barrister to help with free advice or representation where a case qualifies. Eligible: subject to means and merits assessment. Checked 10 July 2026. [CANNOT VERIFY this pass — advocate.org.uk not fetched this session; before publishing, confirm current scope for charity/organisational matters, not just individual cases.]
Cranfield Trust — free management and consultancy support for charities, across leadership and strategy, people, finance and sustainability, and impact. Eligible: charities in health, social welfare and poverty relief (check current criteria). Checked 10 July 2026.
Digital support — organisations such as Charity Digital and Media Trust offer free and low-cost digital guidance, training and sometimes pro-bono help. Eligible: varies by programme. Checked 10 July 2026. [CANNOT VERIFY this pass — provider pages not fetched this session; before publishing, confirm each named scheme’s current offer on its own page.]

Local support

Your local and national infrastructure bodies are often the most useful free help of all — advice, training, funding information and a person who knows your area. They support charities and community groups of every size, including unregistered ones.

Your local Council for Voluntary Service (CVS) — around 200 across England, offering local advice, training, meeting space and funding signposting. Find yours via NAVCA, the national membership body for local infrastructure. Eligible: local voluntary and community groups. Checked 10 July 2026.
NCVO — the umbrella body for the voluntary sector in England, with extensive free guidance and paid membership. Eligible: voluntary organisations across England. Checked 10 July 2026.
SCVO (Scotland), WCVA (Wales) and NICVA (Northern Ireland) — the national support bodies for their nations, with local partners (for example, Third Sector Support Wales and its County Voluntary Councils; Third Sector Interfaces in Scotland). Eligible: voluntary organisations in each nation. Checked 10 July 2026.

Free help exists across the sector; the hard part is knowing what is current and what you qualify for. CharityIQ can help you keep track of what your charity is eligible for — with a person confirming before you apply.