# Beacon Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra

> Is Beacon the right Nonprofit CRM solution for you? Explore 32 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice.

Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/190441/Beacon/reviews

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Beacon

4.9 (32)

[View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/190441/Beacon/alternatives/)

Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/)

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Last updated March 13th, 2026

# Reviews of Beacon

Ease of use

4.8

Customer Service

5.0

## Pros and Cons in Reviews

HR

Hannah R

Community Fundraiser Non-Profit Organization Management, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years.

“It has saved staff time, has boosted our campaigns resulting in increased donations, and has continued to deliver excellent customer service since the day we switched.“

April 13, 2022

MK

Mark K

ConsultantInformation Technology and Services, Self-employedUsed the software for: 6-12 months.

“We were looking for a simple to use, inexpensive package that would manage all our contacts, donations, grant applications, event ticketing, and campaigns.“

February 18, 2022

André P

Marketing & Fundraising ManagerNon-Profit Organization Management, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: 6-12 months.

“Super easy to use, brilliant features, easy reporting, great pricing structure, incredible support team.“

April 8, 2022

JE

Jane E

Fundraising ManagerFund-Raising, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: 6-12 months.

“The Beacon support is so good, they are always on hand to answer queries and help with any problems.“

July 12, 2021

## Showing most helpful reviews

Showing 1-25 of 32 Reviews

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Most Helpful

Rating

Company Size

Reviewer's Role

Length of Use

Frequency of Use

Adam D.  
Head of Operations  
Non-Profit Organization Management  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "Beacon takes the Bacon for a nonprofit needs"

August 27, 2019

4.0

With Beacon we’ve simplified our entire process for handling donations. Beacon automates everything - from taking donations via an easy to build & integrate 'drag and drop' donation form builder (that's easily associated with the leading payment portals - Stripe, PayPal etc) to acknowledging donors / staff immediately via custom notification templates. The admin heavy task of a Gift Aid submission has been cut dramatically with a built-in Gift Aid tracker. Reports are submitted directly to HMRC from with the Beacon portal without any spreadsheet in sight.

Pros

Chapel & York has been advising and assisting charities for over 20 years. We've had experience using multiple Donation Processing CRMs, and Beacon is by far the easiest CRM to use for any type of staff skill level. The navigation is simple and straight forward and the flexibility of the system can suit as bespoke need.

Cons

The excellent customer support team means that any small con is quickly dealt with. Beacon developers are constantly approving the system and actively set out to listen to users recommendations when rolling out updates and improvements.

Alternatives considered

[DonorPerfect](https://www.capterra.com/p/2698/DonorPerfect-Fundraising-Software/)

Reason for choosing Beacon

The pricing structure was more suitable.

Switched from

[Little Green Light](https://www.capterra.com/p/123954/Little-Green-Light/)

Little Green Light could not guarantee that their system would meet GDPR regulations.

Review Source

Response from Beacon Apps

September 4, 2019

Many thanks Adam! Really glad to hear Beacon is working for you and the team.

JE

Jane E.  
Fundraising Manager  
Fund-Raising  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### "Beacon CRM"

July 12, 2021

5.0

We have the ability now to record a lot more donor information. We can now tag our donors to learn more about their journey and what interests they have. We could not manage without it now, I really don't know how we coped before Beacon it has just made life much easier and accessible.

Pros

We started using Beacon nearly 12 months ago and it has been a complete game changer for our medium sized charity. It can do so much that our previous CRM could never have done. It is very intuative and easy to navigate which is a real positive, it is like one of the team! It works out much cheaper than other CRMs we looked at because we have a small team of users. We can take payments through an embedded form on our website which is then recorded directly into Beacon, something we had to do manually previously saving so much time and resource. Event ticketing is a new feature which is also really useful. The Beacon support is so good, they are always on hand to answer queries and help with any problems.

Cons

Beacon does not have an auto address fill function so our analytics for demographic are not very precise. However if you need something that Beacon does not currently provide then just ask their support team. This particular problem will be short lived as Beacon are now working on an automated system for inputting addresses so this should be up and running very soon. We have also had some teething problems with duplicate records but I believe this would be a problem for every CRM and after a bit of training and input from the support team this is much improved over time.

Reason for choosing Beacon

We looked at 3 CRMS and Donorfy and Beacon were our favourites for similar reasons. We chose Beacon because of cost and projections over the next 5 years with donorfy would be a lot more expensive. Also heard a lot of good things about Beacon from users in our field of work.

Review Source

SH

Sarina H.  
Team Coordintor  
Non-Profit Organization Management  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### "Big Change - Beacon Review"

August 21, 2019

4.0

Pros

\- We like that the platform was built specifically for non-profits and with smaller teams in mind - Beacon is customisable and is super easy to build and great for a team with limited resources - With Beacon being an innovative and agile product we've been able to build the product around what we need so it's fit for purpose, rather than trying to make something that already exists fit to our needs.

Cons

\- With the product being so new there have been some teething problems and barriers where critical functionalities are not yet built, such as integration to gmail and calendar.

Review Source

Response from Beacon Apps

August 22, 2019

Thanks Sarina! I'm glad that Beacon is working for you. Appreciate the feedback on email/calendar integration - these are certainly coming.

RK

Ruth K.  
Project Development Manager  
Philanthropy  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### "Highly recommended, personal service"

August 27, 2019

4.0

This is an excellent product from a fantastic company with unparalleled user experience.

Pros

The software is extremely user-friendly; my colleagues found it very easy to take over and populate. It's very easy to edit, giving a fantastic degree of flexibility (something we need due to the nature of our beneficiaries). However, the absolute best thing so far has been the fantastic and personal customer service.

Cons

It would be great if it had a ticketing function.

Alternatives considered

[CiviCRM](https://www.capterra.com/p/79192/CiviCRM/)

Reason for choosing Beacon

CRM is easy to download and you can do almost anything with it, but it's very hard to use - this means you rely on a lot of support. I've found that companies like Civi have a lot of costumers and therefore can't prioritise you unless you're paying them a lot of money via a user service agreement. We are a small charity with no IT team and therefore need support for less money.

Review Source

Response from Beacon Apps

September 4, 2019

Thanks Ruth - really glad to hear Beacon is flexible enough for your organisation :)

DW

Dianne W.  
Volunteer Operations Manager  
Philanthropy  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "I am totally in love with Beacon "

November 3, 2022

5.0

Excellent experience. Greatly adding to our efficiency as we automate more processes.

Pros

Easy to use once basics are grasped and is backed up by brilliant customer service. So many features, so versatile, so easy to customise. The more I find out about it, the more efficient we are able to make our business processes

Cons

It would just be lovely to have forms that allowed donations to be made to different fundraisers for the same event. Then we could do away with third party giving platforms and their fees, the need for double checking etc and just deal with Beacon

Review Source

HR

Hannah R.  
Community Fundraiser  
Non-Profit Organization Management  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "Easy, yet effective interface and 5 star customer service!"

April 13, 2022

5.0

Beacon has been revolutionary for our small charity. It has helped us reach more people easily and more effectively. It has also been a solid platform to track and trace our performance all in the same place rather than switching between programmes like we were doing before. It has saved staff time, has boosted our campaigns resulting in increased donations, and has continued to deliver excellent customer service since the day we switched. I'm so grateful I am able to use this product and I will continue to recommend this to others asking for high-quality CRM platforms.

Pros

The most impactful feature has been the extremely high quality of customer service within the entire Beacon team! Unlike other CRM's, this software is very easy to learn so when I had a problem it was always a very specific issue and, due to my background not being IT, sometimes I didn't know how to even ask what I was looking for. Each and every time I was supported by the Beacon team and found a solution to the problem.

Cons

I genuinely have no cons about Beacon. When I had a problem, there was always a solution and when I made suggestions to the team they listened and improved the product to suit our charity's needs.

Review Source

TB

Tom B.  
Chief Officer  
Non-Profit Organization Management  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "Driving our charity forwrad"

October 20, 2021

5.0

It's truly helping us drive our membership growth, improve our volunteer management and fundraising activities. The free read only licences are also improving transparency and reporting whilst reducing the time we spend writing and analysing reports

Pros

It's helping us drive our charity forward at pace, by being simple to use with great back up we spending our time managing things that matter not our software. Also the team at Beacon have a great understanding of our sector, and continually look to add value. Genuinely a business that sees opportunities not problems.

Cons

None - The few we highlight get solved quickly

Reason for choosing Beacon

Beacon was one of the few packages/companies that truly understood and catered for the needs of small-medium sized charities. And they where one of the few presenting who seemed to really enjoy what they did .

Review Source

RD

Ruth D.  
Finance Officer  
Civic & Social Organization  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### "Thanks Beacon!"

October 19, 2021

5.0

One of the best things is that you are always talking with people who really understand the system and seem to genuinely love their product! Beacon are a pleasure to work with and we would definitely recommend them.

Pros

We are a small charity (ten part time staff) and started using Beacon 6 months ago. It's been a really good experience! We don't have a lot of inhouse IT support and were a bit nervous about moving to a new system. The staff at Beacon were really helpful. They took the time to understand what we needed and helped us to make decisions about what would work best for us. The set up process took a few weeks and went really smoothly. The database is easy to use and the webchat support responds in a couple of minutes if you need help. It does everything we need it to do and has saved us a lot of data entry time by integrating with JustGiving and our website. They are also frequently adding new functions, so even if it doesn't do quite what you want now it may do soon.

Cons

No major cons for us so far. It is easy for users to batch update and change large amounts of data so it's important that users are careful with these features!

Review Source

PB

Paula B.  
Operations Manager  
Non-Profit Organization Management  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "Excellent Service"

July 28, 2020

5.0

First rate - a really collaborative approach that has allowed us the functionality we need and the time saving value that we required. From start to finish the team have been on hand to advice about the obvious and problem solve the more unusual problems. Brilliant Customer Experience.

Pros

The software is intuitive and easy to demonstrate for others and use. We use the system in a slightly different way to other Charities - the Beacon Team has always been on hand to help us with the slightly more modified system that we have developed.

Cons

We use the system in a slightly different way to other Charities - for example we collect members as "organisations" that has at times meant the system has been a little trickier to apply to what we need. But, help has always been on hand.

Reason for choosing Beacon

The collaborative approach and the interest the team had in developing a system to meet our needs, even though they were different to those of a standard charity.

Review Source

André P.  
Marketing & Fundraising Manager  
Non-Profit Organization Management  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### "The best non-profit CRM, period."

April 8, 2022

5.0

Pros

Super easy to use, brilliant features, easy reporting, great pricing structure, incredible support team.

Cons

There are only a few integrations and no open API, although I know this will change in the future.

Reason for choosing Beacon

Much nicer interface and easier to use

Review Source

WA

Wendy A.  
UK Operations Director  
Non-Profit Organization Management  
Used the software for: Less than 6 months

### "Easy to set up and use"

May 17, 2021

5.0

Time saving in entering and processing donations.

Pros

It is easy to set up, to integrate with our website and to us.

Cons

Intregration with Woo Commerce could be good but I understand Beacon are working on this whereas the other CRM we looked at were not.

Reason for choosing Beacon

More user-friendly and has Paypal integration which the other CRM did not. Plus consistently scores highest in every category of Fundraising Magazine's annual CRM survey.

Review Source

AS

Andrew S.  
Director  
Hospital & Health Care  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### "Refreshing new approach to charity crm / donation software"

September 4, 2019

5.0

From the first call Beacon are different. No pressure sales people, not complex requirements interviews, just good software with human support by people who know the product and understand the sector. Having used the market leading platforms in the past, this is a fraction of the cost and a far better product,

Pros

This is a ground up re think of software for the third sector. Gone are the laborious and expensive setups, gone are the complex endless menus and table of data and settings. Beacon provides clean, simple and highly customisable functionality across a range of functions from CRM to donation management all seamlessly integrated. Brilliantly simple. Certainly the stand out platform in the third sector.

Cons

For us this platform is more geared towards online donations, donor management and reporting rather than a CRM as such, it has the functionality integrated in, but there are better pure CRMs out there if you just need that function, which if you are in the third sector, it’s unlikely you just need that.

Alternatives considered

[Blackbaud CRM](https://www.capterra.com/p/178085/Blackbaud-CRM/)

Review Source

Response from Beacon Apps

September 6, 2019

Thanks so much Andrew! Really glad that Beacon is working for you.

MK

Mark K.  
Consultant  
Information Technology and Services  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### "Very flexible , easy to use and with very good support"

February 18, 2022

5.0

We were looking for a simple to use, inexpensive package that would manage all our contacts, donations, grant applications, event ticketing, and campaigns. Beacon has almost everything we want 'out of the box' with the advantage of being so easy to add fields or modify existing ones. The support is also very good - extremely responsive. We have uploaded our core contacts data, integrated with Mailchimp and added grant application management with no need for any paid support from Beacon. We have yet to tackle integration with donations (including GiftAid and payment processing) which is the next major phase.

Pros

Very easy to add your own objects and fields or customise existing objects and fields. Intuitive user interface and great support when needed. Out of the box it comes with all the features you need for a small charity. Built in integrations to Mailchimp and Xero and others

Cons

No 'undo' facility. Especially a problem when doing a build data upload when you can fairly easily make an error in the dedup settings (say) and create/overwrite existing data. I'd like to be able to test the upload before committing it. When updating a record, sometimes it happens immediately on entering a new field value, sometimes you have a confirm / save button. More consistency in this area would be good. The charts are fairly basic, perhaps an interface to a external charting package would be good.

Review Source

CD

Callum D.  
CEO  
Civic & Social Organization  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### " Beacon CRM Review"

August 20, 2019

5.0

Excellent - it helped us to create robust impact monitoring systems in a way that required very little input beyond initial set up and can be quickly adapted where required. It's also exceptionally straightforward to explain to staff and volunteers with limited training!

Pros

The software is very intuitive and malleable meaning you can make it fit the requirements you have and the team are there to facilitate that wherever possible - customer service is second to none.

Cons

We're a charity so my biggest disappointment is that we can't get the software free! But you get what you pay for!

Alternatives considered

[Dynamics 365](https://www.capterra.com/p/157279/Dynamics-365/)[Salesforce Sales Cloud](https://www.capterra.com/p/61368/Salesforce/)

Reason for choosing Beacon

Ease of use and set-up mostly.

Review Source

Response from Beacon Apps

August 21, 2019

Many thanks Callum! Really glad that Beacon is working for you.

GT

Graham T.  
IT Advisor  
Non-Profit Organization Management  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "A great product for Membership Organisations"

February 14, 2021

5.0

We have limited staff and Beacon helps us use them in the most productive manner.

Pros

The product is easy to use and is very powerful in analysing any aspect of your customers data. It has forms that you can integrate into your website so that new members can join and are set up as paying members with no staff involvement. The gift aid integration is seamless and saves hours every month. There are integrations with popular payments, mailing and accounting platforms. New fields can be created on the fly and integrated into screens very easily. The integration with Excel both for exports and imports is very good. Help always seems to be available, usually in less than 10 minutes. In summary a winner.

Cons

The integration with existing standing order payments is clunky but can be managed.

Review Source

JK

Joanna K.  
Project Officer  
Non-Profit Organization Management  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "An efficient CRM system which is easy to navigate."

January 14, 2022

5.0

This system is far more user friendly than our last system and saves a lot of time when entering data.

Pros

I like the ease in which the product can be navigated.

Cons

There are times when names are entered into the system with slightly different spellings and the system doesn't always pick up a common denominator to merge them

Review Source

SS

Sophie S.  
Relationship Fundraising Executive  
Philanthropy  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### "Great CRM!"

August 20, 2019

5.0

Enhanced ability to segment our data and create bespoke messaging and analytics. A MUCH greater understanding of our audience.

Pros

Customization Intuitive and easy to use Close relationship with founders Quick responses and help Clean layout

Cons

Genuinely can't think of anything that I dislike about the platform.

Reason for choosing Beacon

Best communication from founders, thorough in showing us the platform. Great at articulating what Beacon is like to help us understand how to use the platform. I could see my team finding it the most enjoyable and easiest to use. It will enable us to do greater fundraising when compared to others. It's customisation and intergration features are brill. Not to mention, it's great value for money.

Review Source

Response from Beacon Apps

August 22, 2019

Thanks Sophie - I'm glad we're helping on the simplicity & segmentation front!

SE

Sophie E.  
ICT Administrator  
Non-Profit Organization Management  
Used the software for: Less than 6 months

### "We thoroughly recommend Beacon CRM"

September 6, 2019

5.0

We found the Beacon team to be very approachable and knowledgeable. They really took the time to fully understand our requirements and delivered a really professional service throughout the development, migration and implementation process. The Beacon CRM allows us to automate so many of our system processes and save considerable staff time while still delivering our reporting requirements. We cannot recommend the Beacon CRM product & team highly enough!

Pros

It's flexibility, ease of customisation and ability to integrate with other products. As a charity but also an infrastructure organisation supporting other charities (as well as offering membership) we had quite complex requirements for a CRM. We'd found that many CRMs couldn't meet all our requirements and we needed to update and streamline our processes to become more efficient in staff time. Because Beacon is so customisable it could do everything that we needed it to do; manage membership; report on our work, outcomes and payments; as well as manage our marketing and communications. The interface is very pleasant to use and navigating the system is very intuitive - even for users not confident with IT.

Cons

We haven't found anything we don't like!

Review Source

RB

Rosalind B.  
Founder & CEO  
Non-Profit Organization Management  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "We love BEACON"

March 25, 2020

5.0

Beacon has transformed our productiveness as a small charity with a 2-person team. We love working with the BEACON Team.

Pros

Very easy to use. Also the support team helped to tailor it's functionality to encompass our specific needs for stock counts.

Cons

Waiting for functionality with Outlook for diary reminders.

Reason for choosing Beacon

It was recommended to us and we are pleased that we took that recommendation.

Review Source

LB

Lizzie B.  
Charity Administrator  
Non-Profit Organization Management  
Used the software for: Less than 6 months

### "Excellent CRM tool"

August 25, 2020

5.0

Excellent care and customer service, as well as a very good piece of software.

Pros

The flexibility / customisability. We were able to create records and fields entirely to meet our needs as an organisation, and were able to customise existing fields to reflect our language. The User Guide and Help Chat facilities, both of which were used extensively during testing phase, are both excellent.

Cons

Nothing really - it is a very good CRM tool. I was involved in the project during the purchase process and for much of the implementation, so did not get to use it day to day, but I know that the team who are now doing so are looking forward to using it.

Reason for choosing Beacon

Because of the customisability that made BeaconCRM exactly fit for purpose and the very easy to use User Guide. Also, it is very easy to use generally.

Review Source

EG

Emma G.  
UK Operations Manager  
Fund-Raising  
Used the software for: Less than 6 months

### "My life is so much easier!! "

December 16, 2020

5.0

As the only fullt time member of staff in the UK I have a lot to contend with and Beacon has made my life so much easier. Training was slotted in when suited me (even though poor \[SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN\] was in Australia so not always the best timing for him). Ongoing support has been brilliant - and very patient with me.

Pros

There is so much automation on here that is free my time up to concentrate on fundraising. Our CRM is updated in real time rather than wait for me to input manually.

Cons

There isn't anything at all that I can think of

Reason for choosing Beacon

Apart from being cheaper, what came in the box was just what was needed. Salesforce had too many expensive add ons, Donorfy was more pricey but also were not going to pro rata the charge for our two part time staff. Beacon offered that straight away.

Review Source

DT

Dan T.  
Trustee  
Environmental Services  
Used the software for: Less than 6 months

### "Feature-rich CRM with integrated gift aid and online form management"

November 26, 2020

5.0

Beacon has enabled us to upgrade our antiquated CRM with relative ease, changed over to new billing systems, switched to Beacon forms for checkout and signup process and integrated the whole lot with Xero accounting. Awesome.

Pros

Easy to use, fast, reliable and flexible. AMAZING customer support, not overly complicated to achieve what you want to achieve (I am sure this is hard to get right).

Cons

I would like automated data exports so I can pick them up in 3rd party reporting tools. It's not that the Beacon reports aren't good but we are already using other tools.

Reason for choosing Beacon

We wanted integrated gift-aid management (we're a charity) and a company that was developing interesting new ideas. Beacon provided the best combination in our view and their customer service has just been outstanding.

Review Source

TR

Tracey R.  
Visitor Giving & Marketing Co-ordinator  
Non-Profit Organization Management  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### "Highly responsive and customisable CRM with a very supportive customer service team"

August 20, 2019

5.0

Excellent - the support and response times have exceeded expectations

Pros

The almost infinite customisation possibilities it offers - most CRMs are fairly rigid and limiting in their functionality - we conducted in-depth research on several market-leading charity CRM's before deciding on Beacon and I'm happy with the choice we made

Cons

There's nothing to dislike - all depends on your data capabilities but the Beacon team have held our hands throughout the whole set-up and migration process. It took a little longer to fully transfer than anticipated, but I think that's par for the course with these things and is worth taking time over to get right

Reason for choosing Beacon

The ability to customise to suit our organisational needs and requirements

Review Source

Response from Beacon Apps

August 21, 2019

Thanks a lot Tracey! I'm really glad that you're taking full advantage of the customisation abilities.

JB

Jack B.  
CEO  
Non-Profit Organization Management  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### "Perfect solution to a small charities needs"

October 1, 2019

5.0

The hands-on support from CSRs is fantastic, I have full peace of mind that our data is secure and if I do have any issues I can contact Beacon very easily.

Pros

We really enjoy the ease of use approach, every task we carry out is done seamlessly and efficiently. We have a clear view of how many active fundraisers we have and keep track of all communication in one place automatically with the Gmail integration. This service has saved a lot of admin time and also helped us raise more funds through the donation form for our website which captures the information and thanks the donor instantly.

Cons

There isn't anything that we like least about this software.

Reason for choosing Beacon

They're always looking to improve the product/service for its users. They listen to our feedback and implement our ideas.

Review Source

MC

Megan C.  
Finance and Resources Manager  
Non-Profit Organization Management  
Used the software for: Less than 6 months

### "Beacon for a small charity"

June 17, 2021

5.0

Pros

Beacon was easy to implement and to bring in data from our legacy server based CRM. It has been an excellent cloud based alternative as a CRM database for our donor and supporter data, as well as allowing us to offer simpler online donation and purchase options, and simplifying Gift Aid. Helpful, and very quick to respond, customer service. Good pricing options for part time staff.

Cons

No downsides so far, software does all that is needed.

Review Source

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