CROWDFUNDER LTD

Crowdfunder Connect

Crowdfunder Connect is the platform that connects you with the organisations who are passionate about making a difference locally and nationally. It offers a range of solutions including grants and awards management, fund distribution, volunteering, crowdfunding and fundraising. Facilitating more effective engagement and generating widespread social impact.

Features

• Match Funding Distribution
• Employee & Customer Giving
• Employee & Customer Fundraising
• Employee & Customer Volunteering
• Hosted or Branded Micro sites
• Project Management and Helpdesk Support
• Applicant support, access to helpdesk and online self service portal
• Crowdfunding Education: Webinars, online learning, expert advice
• Real Time Data & Reporting

Benefits

• Tackles society's challenges by making ideas happen
• Fund amplification; stretches funds further
• Increased connectivity; reaching the right organisations, engaging wider audiences
• Improved efficiency; lower cost to identify and securely fund organisations
• Measurable impact; increasing skills, creating volunteering opportunities
• Community engagement with measurable social impact
• Inward investment - leveraging in additional funding for community benefit
• Helps build capacity and skills
• Distribution of funding to good ideas at scale
• Catalyst for ideas aligned with strategies for areas and people

£2,000 to £26,650 a licence a month

• Free trial available

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at jason@crowdfunder.co.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 14

Service ID

148910802580360

Contact

Jason Nuttall
0141 673 1253
jason@crowdfunder.co.uk

Service scope

• Software add-on or extension: No
• Cloud deployment model: Private cloud
• Service constraints: Response times for technical and helpdesk support are as follows: Telephone support: 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. Monday – Friday (excluding bank holidays). ; ; Calls received out of office hours will be forwarded to a backup answer phone service. ; ; Email support: 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. Monday – Friday (excluding bank holidays).
• System requirements: No system requirements

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Email or online ticketing
• Support response times: Technical Support for partners: Telephone support: 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. Monday – Friday (excluding bank holidays). Calls received out of office hours will be forwarded to a backup answer phone service.; Email support: Monitored 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. Monday – Friday (excluding bank holidays).
• User can manage status and priority of support tickets: No
• Phone support: Yes
• Phone support availability: 9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday
• Web chat support: Web chat
• Web chat support availability: 9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday
• Web chat support accessibility standard: WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
• Web chat accessibility testing: Testing falls into the main accessibility testing for the platform - users can send a query via the platform or online help centre and Crowdfunder feeds this into the ticketed support system.
• Onsite support: Yes, at extra cost
• Support levels: Technical support provided as standard to all partners. Telephone support: 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. Monday – Friday (excluding bank holidays) Calls received out of office hours will be forwarded to a backup answer phone service. Email support: Monitored 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. Monday – Friday (excluding bank holidays).
• Support available to third parties: Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: Crowdfunder has a defined welcome and onboarding process delivered by our Partner Delivery Team. We start the onboarding process after contracts have been finalised and signed. Delivered through one to one online sessions during which we agree the details of the campaign and prepare to launch. It's a collaborative process which includes advice, so that partners are clear on fund criteria, marketing, supporting projects, our platform and systems and have an opportunity to discuss the first phase of the campaign and subsequent management of the partnership. Access to the dashboards is granted through a username and password.
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats: PDF
• End-of-contract data extraction: Through csv download and via Crowdfunder reports.
• End-of-contract process: Crowdfunder operates an end of contract process which includes a review, an impact report and a step by step fund closure agreed in advance with the partner. The company operates a data retention, review and destruction process in line with GDPR requirements.

Using the service

• Web browser interface: Yes
• Supported browsers:
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Firefox
  • Chrome
  • Safari
  • Opera
• Application to install: No
• Designed for use on mobile devices: Yes
• Differences between the mobile and desktop service: Crowdfunder's service is accessible to mobile devices. No mobile app is required. The site is optimised for mobile use and a majority of current users access using such devices
• Service interface: Yes
• User support accessibility: WCAG 2.1 AAA
• Description of service interface: The Crowdfunder Connect dashboards enables users to manage programmes centrally - reviewing projects, viewing application form responses, making notes visible to authorised users, and approving or declining projects for funding.
• Accessibility standards: WCAG 2.1 AAA
• Accessibility testing: The website is tested each month using our monitoring system and the Web Development Team perform ad-hoc internal tests and act to resolve issues as feedback is received. We are continually working to make improvements to the website and plan to extend this work to include wider user testing in the future. We are aware that some of our third-party forms and applications may not meet WCAG2.1. We are working with our suppliers to bring these up to the standard we expect. We will also be making an assessment when each supplier contract is up for renewal and building in accessibility requirements as part of our procurement process.
• API: No
• Customisation available: Yes
• Description of customisation: Our Crowdfunder Connect product offers two levels of customisation: 1. Hosted: Based on the information provided, the templated pages, hosted in the Crowdfunder environment, can be branded with relevant imagery and content. Your dashboard is tailored to your campaign and projects filtered according to location so you can quickly see the projects you want to support. 2. Enterprise: Provides a fully branded microsite is available with full customisation of the full range of products including fund distribution, fundraising and volunteering functionality. Customisations are delivered by the Crowdfunder team.

Scaling

• Independence of resources: Crowdfunder guarantees that the platform and processing will be available for 99% of time. Our infrastructure is across multiple UK based AWS regions with autoscaling and point in time backups built in. We have a high level of caching on our WAF with the ability to enable a queueing system to control access for extraordinarily high volumes.

Analytics

• Service usage metrics: Yes
• Metrics types: Crowdfunder Connect dashboards provide metrics for visitors, project data, location mapping and pledging - giving a full view of the projects that you have or may want to support, as well as a tool for approving and feedback back on projects. ; ; User dashboards (for individuals or organisations running crowdfunding projects) provide all the information needed to manage the online campaign: funding data, visitor data as well as data required to manage gift aid on donations.
• Reporting types:
  • Real-time dashboards
  • Regular reports
  • Reports on request

Resellers

• Supplier type: Not a reseller

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Other security clearance
• Government security clearance: Up to Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS)

Asset protection

• Knowledge of data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Data storage and processing locations:
  • United Kingdom
  • European Economic Area (EEA)
  • Other locations
• User control over data storage and processing locations: No
• Datacentre security standards: Complies with a recognised standard (for example CSA CCM version 3.0)
• Penetration testing frequency: At least once a year
• Penetration testing approach: Another external penetration testing organisation
• Protecting data at rest:
  • Physical access control, complying with another standard
  • Scale, obfuscating techniques, or data storage sharding
• Data sanitisation process: Yes
• Data sanitisation type:
  • Explicit overwriting of storage before reallocation
  • Deleted data can’t be directly accessed
• Equipment disposal approach: In-house destruction process

Data importing and exporting

• Data export approach: Csv file
• Data export formats: CSV
• Data import formats: Other
• Other data import formats: Users can import images through a Wysiwyg editor

Data-in-transit protection

• Data protection between buyer and supplier networks: Other
• Other protection between networks: N/A - No data is transferred between networks.
• Data protection within supplier network:
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • IPsec or TLS VPN gateway

Availability and resilience

• Guaranteed availability: The availability of the services will be no less than 99%, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, such availability to be measured by using industry recognised methods and tools.; ; No refunds offered to users
• Approach to resilience: Our data security measures include: building security measures, cyber security measures, network access controls, encryption measures, system updates, data back ups, business continuity, rules about use of personal devices, etc. Regular penetration tests and vulnerability scans are undertaken on our platform and systems. We require our suppliers, specifically our data centre provider to have equivalent measures in place and to be ISO27001 compliant. All data is encrypted in transit and at rest. Admin access to our platform is restricted and all accounts enforce 2 factor authentication. We also have a complex password policy in place. Access to system resources and data is restricted, logged and only accessible via a VPN. We have automatic critical patching of our servers in place. Anti-virus software is installed on all our machines.
• Outage reporting: Email alerts

Identity and authentication

• User authentication needed: Yes
• User authentication: Username or password
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: Administrative access to our platform is via 2 factor authentication. We also have requirements for complex passwords. Access to the database and servers and end data is only by VPN. Within our administrative access and support channels we have different levels of access based on roles to ensure individuals only have the access required to perform their role.
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least once a year
• Management access authentication:
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Username or password

Audit information for users

• Access to user activity audit information: Users contact the support team to get audit information
• How long user audit data is stored for: At least 12 months
• Access to supplier activity audit information: Users contact the support team to get audit information
• How long supplier audit data is stored for: At least 12 months
• How long system logs are stored for: Between 6 months and 12 months

Standards and certifications

• ISO/IEC 27001 certification: No
• ISO 28000:2007 certification: No
• CSA STAR certification: No
• PCI certification: Yes
• Who accredited the PCI DSS certification: Self accreditation
• PCI DSS accreditation date: 09/11/2023
• What the PCI DSS doesn’t cover: None. The accreditation covers the payment services.
• Cyber essentials: Yes
• Cyber essentials plus: No
• Other security certifications: No

Security governance

• Named board-level person responsible for service security: Yes
• Security governance certified: No
• Security governance approach: Crowdfunder takes information security seriously. We have in place an effective information security management system. This document provides high level information as to how we manage and protect information. We ensure the confidentiality, integrity and appropriate availability of information we hold.
• Information security policies and processes: Information Security Policies: We have a set of detailed policies and procedures for information security which provide the necessary support and management for information security. This set of documents is available to all staff and is communicated to relevant third parties.; ; Organisation of Information Security: We have implemented suitable governance arrangements for the management of information security including roles and responsibilities to initiate and control the implementation and operation of information security at Crowdfunder.; ; Human Resources Security: We undertake appropriate screening and background checks on staff. We also have offboarding processes in place to ensure information security. We ensure Crowdfunder’s information security policies and procedures as well as our expectations relating to acceptable use (devices and information) and confidentiality are communicated to all staff and form part of employment contracts. All staff are required to undertake information security training on a continual basis, including contractors and temporary staff.; ; Asset Management: We ensure Crowdfunder’s assets are adequately protected according to their sensitivity. All assets are documented and accounted for. All assets no longer required are disposed of securely.

Operational security

• Configuration and change management standard: Supplier-defined controls
• Configuration and change management approach: Crowdfunder has a change management policy. We also have Installation and configuration procedures we follow. Under the policy and process, all change requests are submitted to a central point and are assessed, categorised and prioritised. All changes are implemented in line with our Information security systems development process which involves thorough planning and sequencing of the change(s), pre-live testing and a roll back./mitigation plan in case of failure or issues. Specific penetration testing is carried out on major changes. We have separation between development, testing and production environments.
• Vulnerability management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Vulnerability management approach: We have network, threat and vulnerability management control and intrusion detection procedures which we follow to reduce the risk and impact of network and targeted cyber attacks ,as well as to detect, prevent and deter intrusions. These include but are not limited to:; Perimeter security ; Firewalls ; Distributed denial of service (DDoS) protection. ; Monitoring and management of all servers; Rules to block IP addresses, users or transactions where suspicious activity is identified.; Anti-malware measures; Regular software updates; Regular penetration and vulnerability tests ; Patches are applied appropriately and promptly ; Event logs recording network and systems activity, exceptions, faults and information security events
• Protective monitoring type: Supplier-defined controls
• Protective monitoring approach: We follow processes in our Network, Threat and vulnerability management control and intrusion detection procedures. This includes logging and monitoring. We ensure adequate event logs recording network and systems activity, exceptions, faults and information security events are produced, kept and regularly reviewed. Logging facilities and log information shall be protected against tampering and; unauthorised access. ; ; We follow our incident management process in the event of any incident (see next question).
• Incident management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Incident management approach: Crowdfunder has an Information Security Incident Management Policy and Procedure. There is a staged approach. Incidents are reported centrally to our IT team which escalates actual or potential security incidents to the Head of Engineering who is then responsible for classification and determining the most appropriate response to include: Identifying the incident, analysis to ascertain cause and vulnerabilities exploited. Limiting/restricting further impact of the incident. Tactics for containment. Corrective action to repair and prevent reoccurrence. Communication across the company to those affected. External communications if external users impacted. All stages should be recorded and a post incident review conducted.

Secure development

• Approach to secure software development best practice: Supplier-defined process

Public sector networks

• Connection to public sector networks: No

Social Value

• Social Value:

  Social Value

  • Fighting climate change
  • Covid-19 recovery
  • Tackling economic inequality
  • Equal opportunity

  Fighting climate change

  Crowdfunder recognises that it has a responsibility to the environment beyond legal and regulatory requirements. We are committed to reducing our environmental impact and continually improving our environmental performance as an integral part of our business strategy and operating methods with regular review points. We encourage customers, suppliers and other stakeholders to do the same.As a crowdfunding platform, we also recognise that perhaps the biggest positive impact we can have on the environment is via the projects which fund on our platform. We endeavour to seek improvements in our performance in these key areas:; Supporting environmental projects on our platform. Paper use reduction and use of recycled products. Energy and water use reduction. Consideration of the necessity and impact of office supplies, favouring more environmentally friendly and efficient products wherever possible. Reuse and recycling of everything we are able to. Reuse of IT equipment rather than direct disposal or recycling. Reducing the need to travel through promoting the use of alternatives and restricting to necessity trips only. Accommodating the needs of those walking, using public transport or bicycles. ; Using licensed and appropriate organisations to dispose of waste. Complying with and seeking to exceed all relevant regulatory requirements. Continually improving and monitoring environmental performance. Incorporating environmental factors into business decisions. Reviewing and updating our environmental policy at least once annually.

  Covid-19 recovery

  Crowdfunder exists to tackle society's challenges by making ideas happen. In Covid affected 2020 the most urgent of those ideas were those that helped people and organisations to survive, pivot and thrive. Specifically in 2020 alone: £68m was raised for the National Emergencies Trust through their DoWhatYouCan website, powered by Crowdfunder. This has been distributed by Crowdfunder and through the 40+ Community Foundations supporting those in need across the UK; £7m of direct fundraising through Crowdfunder for projects affected by COVID-19; £2.5m raised for PPE and a further £3.3m for other NHS support projects; £1m raised for food banks; ; £10m raised for businesses through Crowdfunder's #PayItForward campaign; £2.25m raised to support startup businesses; £500k raised to help the UKs festivals survive; £1.4m raised for theatres through the #SaveOurTheatres campaign; £3.4m for music venues across the UK through the #SaveOurVenues campaign; £500k raised to help live music crew through the #ILoveLive campaign; ; £750k raised for communities to buy local assets of value to them; ; £500k raised to support Black Lives Matter campaigns. ; These amounts raised were delivered through the combination of technology and human support that make up the Crowdfunder offer. A number of our funding partners including Sport England have continued to offer financial support through programmes such as Active Together until this was superseded by the Movement Fund in 2024.

  Tackling economic inequality

  The Crowdfunder platform is helping tackle economic inequality, by providing a high quality, robust system that allows individuals and organisations to secure the funding and support they need to make an impact locally and nationally. Some of the ways we do this include: Targeting Support - Crowdfunder Connect offers a range of match funding options which mean the amount, ratio of match to crowd raise, and timing of any funder’s support can be adjusted. This allows for support to be more targeted to areas and groups that need it most. The amount of match funding provided can be varied based on how closely aligned the application is in meeting funder priorities. Organisations in higher IMD areas may receive lower levels of match funding, whilst those in lower IMD areas can receive higher levels of match funding. Building Skills & Capacity - Project Owners are supported by Crowdfunder through their journey enabling them to not only be more successful during their fundraise, but also build skills and capacity. This increases their ability to be resilient and sustainable in the long run. Across funded projects we see Project Owners reporting they improved a range of skills including social media, content writing and fundraising. Bringing high quality jobs to disadvantaged areas - Crowdfunder staff are based mainly across the south west of the country, with almost half of the staff based in and around Newquay, which has some of the most deprived areas of the country.

  Equal opportunity

  The Crowdfunder platform is accessible to all and project owners need only prove their identity, comply with Crowdfunder’s terms of use and adhere to our guidelines in order to access our services and get started. As a result of this inclusive, easy to access approach the site is used widely - from small grassroots organisations needing a couple of hundred pounds to organise a litter pick or a coffee morning, to projects like the widely publicised Save Our Stables campaign which raised over £1m for an inner city stables serving disabled participants. Through partnerships such as Community Business Crowdmatch Crowdfunder has been supporting community owned trading enterprises to raise finance through crowdfunding with match funding from Power to Change. This programme delivered 77% of funding into areas of high deprivation (IMD 1-3), with 17% of the fund being allocated in IMD 1 areas and 20% of the recipient organisations being BAME led. Crowdfunder’s Active Together partnership with Sport England is proving effective in reaching groups from both diverse and deprived communities. Match funding at 50% is being prioritised for organisations based in IMD deciles 1-3 and/or those reaching the target groups including BAME, LoSEG and disabled communities. All projects receive the range of support available through our wide ranging expertise to get over any barriers, and build confidence through the approach. As a result, the average award value is higher in more deprived communities. Crowdfunder worked with Natwest on the Back Her Business programme from 2018-2020. This programme supported female entrepreneurs to use crowdfunding to help start a business. The programme did not have any specific ED&I targets however our analysis showed that 11% of participants reported having a disability and over 40% of participants were from ethnically diverse backgrounds.

Pricing

• Price: £2,000 to £26,650 a licence a month
• Discount for educational organisations: No
• Free trial available: Yes
• Description of free trial: A one month trial of Crowdfunder Connect, contact us to let us know what products are of interest, and we'll tailor a trial to your needs.

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at jason@crowdfunder.co.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.