Help centre / About CharityControl / What CharityControl is (and what it is not)
What CharityControl is (and what it is not)
CharityControl is governance software for UK charities. It keeps your trustees, meetings, minutes, risks, policies, money and impact in one place. It is not a donor CRM, but Gift Aid claims to HMRC are included on every plan, including the free one.
What does CharityControl do?
It's one place for the records a well-run charity keeps. Your meetings, minutes, decisions, risk register, policies, conflicts of interest and filing deadlines all live together, so you can see at a glance what needs attention.
Each part feeds the next. A decision made in a meeting lands in the decisions register. A policy that's due for review appears on your calendar. Nothing depends on one person's notebook or inbox.
You can't break anything by looking around. Reading a page never changes it, and formal steps like approving minutes or adopting a policy always ask you first.
What is it not?
It's not a donor CRM. If your charity runs large fundraising appeals with segmented mailing lists, a dedicated fundraising database may suit you better. CharityControl does include a supporters list, donation records and campaigns, which is enough for most small charities.
Gift Aid is included, and it's free. People sometimes assume that because we're not a fundraising CRM, Gift Aid must be extra. It isn't. Recording declarations and sending claims to HMRC online, including GASDS, is part of every plan, even the free one. See claim Gift Aid online.
It's not accounting software. Keep your bookkeeping in Xero or QuickBooks, or enter simple figures by hand. CharityControl shows the money the way a trustee needs to read it: reserves, restricted funds and cash at a glance.
Where does my charity's information come from?
CharityControl is built around the Charity Commission register. When you create a workspace, we look up your charity's public record and fill in your trustees, filing dates and income figure for you. Most of your workspace is ready before you type a thing.
You check and confirm everything before it's used. We read public data only, and we never send your private records to the Commission. CharityControl is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Charity Commission.
Whose data is it?
Your charity's. Each charity's records are kept in their own private store, never mixed with anyone else's. If you leave, we hand back everything as a single export and delete it in full on request. See how we keep your data safe.
Who built it?
CharityControl was built in the UK by a serving charity trustee, and working trustees help shape every feature.
The governance behind this: our free guide on charitycontrol.org explains the why in plain English.