Charity Excellence Framework - Community Review

The latest Charity Excellence Framework reviews and the feedback ratings on our services by our community.

Charity Excellence Framework - Community Reviews and Ratings

Charity Excellence development is led by our community, so collecting review feedback, is really valuable and something we do on an ongoing basis. The ratings you give us are monitored by our trustees and we also make these publicly available, as part of our commitment to transparency. As we do with all of our surveys, we include anonymous verbatim comments by respondents, so that they are heard and in their own words, not ours. If you would like to tell us about how you feel we're doing and how we might support you better, click here for our short survey. These were last updated on 21 April 2026.

Executive summary – the story in brief

CEF is the best-informed source of guidance for fundraising I have found. I appreciate the very human tone, and some of the anecdotes and informal opinions. It's enjoyable to engage with, and brings a welcome (and therapeutic) note of humour to a line of work that can sometimes get you down.

Charity Excellence is highly valued: almost 8 in 10 users rate it 8/10 or higher for usefulness.
Trust is exceptionally strong: 62% give a perfect 10/10 for trustworthiness.
The platform is serving small and mid‑sized charities particularly well.
Funding information and practical resources are the main reasons people return.
The biggest friction points are navigation, volume of information, and time to absorb content.
Users want simpler signposting, clearer “what to do next” guidance, and more bite‑sized summaries.

Findings by section

I rated them all 10 as I think the Charity Excellence Framework is brilliant and I am pretty sure we would not be a registered charity in our 3rd year of operation without the helpful tools, information and templates gained from you.

Overall usefulness of Charity Excellence

Difficult to know what to type. You are doing a great job. Thank you

Most users find Charity Excellence extremely useful and nearly a third (29%) rated us 10/10, with 78% rating us 8 - 10.

How People Feel About Us

The percentage who strongly agree with the sentiment.

Trustworthy — 82%.
Ethical — 81%.
Transparent — 82%.
Authentic — 82%.
Communication is clear and tone appropriate — 78%.

62% rated us 10/10 for trustworthiness. The lowest rated sentiment was 'meeting our needs' - only 38% rated us 10/10, but at least only 3% rated us 1/10. We are actively working to improve this.

How Often People Use Services

Ratings from 1 (never) to (10) every week. These were our most frequently used services. The percentages are how many rated us 8 to 10/10.

Weekly Newsletter — 65%.
Funding Finder Grants Directory — 50%.
Website Resources — 36%.
Weekly Free Webinars — 28%.
Help Finder Directory — 28%.

44% rated the newsletter 10/10. The least used were the various AI Bunny services, such as bid writing and supporting individuals.

How Highly People Rate Services

I think what you do is amazing and very much appreciated.

The services people rate most highly. The percentages are the numbers who rate a service highly (rating 8 to 10/10).

Weekly Newsletter — 70%.
Funding Finder Grants Directory — 69%.
Website Resources — 59%.
Weekly Free Webinars — 57%.
Help Finder Directory — 53%.

Nearly half rated the weekly newsletter 10/10. More than a third rated Funding Finder, Help Finder and our webinars 10/10. The least valued services were the AI Bunny bid writing, help in navigating the system and support for individuals. Just over 20% rated these services 1/10 but, interestingly, 22% rated them 10/10.

Who We Support

We support all non profits but our systems are optimised to support small charities and marginalised groups.

19% under £10k.
26% £10k–£100k.
31% £100k–£500k.
24% £500k+.

What People Tell Us They Value Most

Recurring themes (from comments):

Funding opportunities and funder insights.
Practical, experience‑based guidance.
Honest, no‑nonsense tone.
Independence from funders and institutions.

Opportunities to Do Better

I don't feel I have enough time to learn how to get the most from this website

For us, this is the most important section. The issues most commonly mentioned:

Too much information at once.
Hard to know where to start.
Time pressure to read and absorb content.

Some areas need to be clear when signing in, not very easy to navigate

We have what people need and they value the quality of our work but people want help finding the right thing faster. We have factored this in to or design work for upgrades we are working on.

I think the emails and social updates are WONDERFUL. I tried to use the portal about a year ago, probably longer and found it pretty difficult to navigate.

Find the Funding and Free Help Your Charity Needs

A registered charity ourselves, the CEF works for any non profit, not just charities.

Funding Finder – a grants directory, it also connects you to 100s of others and online funding lists.
Help Finder – find anything for free, including companies that make financial donations and raffle prizes.
Data Finder – for fundraising bids & research, impact reporting, planning and campaigning.

Plus, 60+ policies, 8 online health checks, the Quality Mark and the huge resource base. Our AI Ready programme and our 11 free online AI training courses.

Find Funding, Free Help & Resources - Everything Is Free.