Freedom251 › Nonprofit CRM Software
Beacon
What Beacon is
Beacon is a CRM designed for charities, bringing fundraising, memberships, events, and case management together. Its fundraising tools cover branded donation forms, grants, major gifts, legacies, recurring payments, and Gift Aid. Teams can create branded membership forms and event ticketing forms, then track attendance. For service delivery, Beacon records enquiries, ongoing use, and activities over time. Workflow automation and AI tools help filter data, draft emails, and build database logic. The product is available on web, iOS, and Android, with a RESTful API for custom integrations and Beacon-powered features. Listed integrations include Mailchimp, Dotdigital, Sendgrid, Xero, JustGiving, Stripe, GoCardless, PayPal, and Zapier. Plans start at £37/mo, with a free trial and no free plan. All plans include in-app chat and email support; the customer success team targets responses within five minutes. Beacon says its infrastructure and customer data are hosted in the UK and that it holds ISO 27001:2022 and Cyber Essentials Plus certifications. It charges no platform fee for payments through Beacon forms, though payment providers may charge processing fees. Implementation is separate from plan pricing and is handled by certified Implementation Partners.
Who it suits
Beacon suits charities that need fundraising, donor management, memberships, events, or service case tracking in one CRM. It may also suit teams that need integrations or custom connections through an API.
What it does well
- Branded donation forms support recurring payments and Gift Aid.
- Membership forms and event ticketing include attendance tracking.
- Case management follows enquiries and activities over time.
- All plans include in-app chat and email support.
- Beacon forms have no platform fee for collected payments.
What to know first
- There is no free plan; plans start at £37/mo.
- Implementation is not included in plan pricing.
- Payment providers may charge processing fees.
Limits
Starter costs £37/mo monthly or £33.50/mo annually and covers 500–2,000 contacts, 3 users, and 10 read-only users. Standard and Premium have higher contact and user allowances; Ultimate is for 100,000+ contacts and 100+ users. Implementation is separate from plan pricing.
Plans
| Plan | Billed and limits | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | £127/mo monthly; £114/mo annual · 2,500–50,000 contacts · 10 users · unlimited read-only users · 0% platform fees | £127 a month |
| Premium | £325/mo monthly; £292/mo annual · 10,000–100,000 contacts · 100 users · unlimited read-only users · unlimited custom fields · enhanced onboarding | £325 a month |
| Starter | £37/mo monthly; £33.50/mo annual · 500–2,000 contacts · 3 users · 10 read-only users · 0% platform fees | £37 a month |
| Ultimate | Custom quote · 100,000+ contacts · 100+ users · unlimited read-only users · sandbox accounts · BI and data warehousing · dedicated success manager | On request |
As beaconcrm.org lists them, read 15 Oct 2026. The maker's own page has the final word.
Getting started
- Visit https://www.beaconcrm.org/.
- Start with the free trial.
- Choose a plan: Starter, Standard, Premium, or Ultimate.
- Arrange implementation through a certified Implementation Partner.
Verdict
Charities seeking a broad CRM for fundraising, memberships, events, and case management should consider Beacon. The free trial offers a way to evaluate it, but there is no free plan, and implementation is an additional consideration.
Questions
Is Beacon free?
No. Beacon has no free plan, but it offers a free trial.
How much does Beacon cost?
Starter is £37/mo monthly or £33.50/mo annually. Standard is £127/mo monthly or £114/mo annually, and Premium is £325/mo monthly or £292/mo annually. Ultimate is custom-priced.
Which platforms does Beacon support?
Beacon is available on web, iOS, and Android, and provides an API.
What integrations are listed?
Beacon lists Mailchimp, Dotdigital, Sendgrid, Xero, JustGiving, Stripe, GoCardless, PayPal, and Zapier.
Are implementation and payment processing included?
Implementation is handled by certified Implementation Partners and is not included in plan pricing. Beacon charges no platform fee for payments through its forms, but payment providers may charge processing fees.
Where is Beacon's data hosted?
Beacon says its infrastructure and customer data are hosted in the UK.
Facts from Beacon's own pages
- API
- Beacon provides an open REST API for reading, adding and deleting account data; API access is included on Standard, Premium and Ultimate plans. · guide.beaconcrm.org, 15 Oct 2026
- 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. · guide.beaconcrm.org, 15 Oct 2026
- API limitation
- The relationships feature is not currently available through the API, although point-to-another-record fields are supported. · guide.beaconcrm.org, 15 Oct 2026
- API limits
- The API allows up to 300 requests per minute, or 60 per minute for bulk requests. · guide.beaconcrm.org, 15 Oct 2026
- Automation and AI
- Beacon offers workflow automation and AI tools for filtering data, drafting emails, and creating database logic. · beaconcrm.org, 9 Oct 2026
- Backups
- The service performs daily CRM backups and retains records for 30 days. · beaconcrm.org, 15 Oct 2026
- Case management
- Case management stores enquiries, ongoing service use and activities in one place. · beaconcrm.org, 15 Oct 2026
- Company facts
- LinkedIn lists Beacon CRM as privately held, founded in 2017, headquartered in London, with 51–200 employees. · linkedin.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Company identity
- The pricing page identifies the legal entity as Beacon Apps Ltd. · beaconcrm.org, 15 Oct 2026
- Customisation
- Users can create custom fields, record types, views and dashboards, with dashboards updated in real time. · beaconcrm.org, 15 Oct 2026
- Data import
- CSV import supports up to one million records in a single import. · beaconcrm.org, 15 Oct 2026
- Data residency
- Beacon says its infrastructure and customer data are hosted in the UK. · beaconcrm.org, 9 Oct 2026
- Documentation
- The help centre contains articles covering data management, forms, reporting, payments, Gift Aid, integrations, security, automation, account administration and developers. · guide.beaconcrm.org, 15 Oct 2026
- Beacon lists Mailchimp, dotdigital and Sendgrid integrations for bulk communications. · beaconcrm.org, 15 Oct 2026
- Events
- Event tools track attendance and sell tickets through branded forms with availability limits, time slots and group tickets. · beaconcrm.org, 15 Oct 2026
- Exports
- Beacon says its export system can retrieve 10 million records in 20 seconds. · beaconcrm.org, 15 Oct 2026
- Finance
- Finance features include Xero integration, reporting, income allocation, batch entry and payment-provider payout tracking. · beaconcrm.org, 15 Oct 2026
- Founded
- 2017 · beaconcrm.org, 28 Sept 2026
- Founders
- Beacon says Chris and David founded the company in 2017 after working in technology startups. · beaconcrm.org, 15 Oct 2026
- Fundraising
- Fundraising tools include branded donation forms, grants, major gifts, legacies, funds, recurring payments, Gift Aid and JustGiving integration. · beaconcrm.org, 15 Oct 2026
- Grantmaking
- Grantmaking tools manage grants and bursaries from enquiry through evaluation. · beaconcrm.org, 15 Oct 2026
- Headquarters
- Shoreditch, London, United Kingdom · beaconcrm.org, 28 Sept 2026
- Hosting
- Beacon says its infrastructure and customer data are hosted in the UK on AWS and Google infrastructure, with private-cloud servers. · beaconcrm.org, 15 Oct 2026
- 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. · beaconcrm.org, 15 Oct 2026
Where Beacon stands on Freedom251
- Nonprofit CRM Software#7 of 35
- Donor Management Software#10 of 34