Today’s third sector is facing growing difficulties in navigating the ever-evolving tech landscape and rising donor expectations, all against the backdrop of a turbulent economic climate.
CharityExtra, a dynamic crowdfunding platform for charities, has been established to overcome these challenges while redefining conventional approaches to fundraising for modern non-profits.
In this interview, we sit down with Founder and CEO, Yitzi Bude, to explore the inspiration behind the company, how it helps charities achieve their fundraising objectives, and the philosophy guiding its next phase of growth.
1. You launched Charity Extra in October 2019. What inspired you to move from your previous business venture into building a bespoke crowdfunding platform?
I’d spent years working with charities and community organisations and saw the same pattern repeatedly: incredible causes working with outdated fundraising tools, paying unnecessary fees, and relying on systems that didn’t reflect how modern donors want to give.
I realised there was a huge gap for a platform built specifically around the needs of charities — not just a generic crowdfunding site. I wanted to create something that was smarter, more transparent, and ultimately allowed organisations to raise more with less effort. That spark became Charity Extra.
2. How have you found traction in what could be considered a ‘crowded space’?
The space is crowded, but very few platforms are actually built around service, strategy, and hands-on campaign management. We didn’t just provide software — we partnered with charities to run full campaigns, coach them, and give them the tools to engage donors effectively.
That level of involvement meant our early partners saw immediate, often record-breaking results, and word-of-mouth spread quickly. When one charity doubles or triples its fundraising target, others tend to notice.
As well, we are just data processors, the charities keep and own all data, which almost no other platform offers
3. As the business is headquartered in the Capital, has the London market been fundamental to growth, or have you scaled nationally and internationally?
London has definitely been an advantage — it’s a global hub for non-profits, philanthropy, and innovation. But Charity Extra’s growth has always been broader.
We quickly expanded across the UK, and today many of our biggest campaigns operate nationally and internationally. The technology works anywhere, and charitable networks are global, so scaling beyond London happened organically.
4. Crowdfunding platforms are increasingly common. What makes Charity Extra different?
There are four key things which make CharityExtra different:
- Bespoke campaign strategy: We don’t just give you a page; we structure, guide, and optimise the campaign end to end.
- Hands-on support: Our team works directly with each charity to maximise momentum, engagement, and donor reach.
- Technology built exclusively for charities: Matching funds, team fundraising, gamification, donor management tools — everything is tailored for the non-profit world. It’s not a marketplace, it’s a fundraising engine:
- Data ownership: Charities get to choose what data they want to collect, and own all data.
5. You’ve spoken about the cost of fundraising being too high for many charities. How does Charity Extra reduce costs and increase income for non-profits?
Fundraising teams are often stretched thin, and traditional methods — events, print campaigns, face-to-face fundraising — are expensive.
We help charities raise significantly more in a shorter time by streamlining the process, which means:
- No need to hire additional fundraisers
- Campaigns run faster with clearer structures
- Technology handles donor engagement automatically
- Higher conversion rates from digital fundraising
- Transparent, predictable pricing with no hidden costs
The result: more money raised with fewer resources.
6. How do you balance being a platform for charities while also running a sustainable, profitable business?
The key is alignment. Our model only works when charities succeed.
We invest heavily in service, technology and innovation, and we focus on building long-term partnerships rather than one-off campaigns. By helping charities grow their fundraising capacity, we also grow with them. It’s a mutually beneficial model: the more value we create, the stronger the business becomes.
7. How do you plan to evolve the business in the next 2–3 years?
We’re focused on three core areas:
- Technology innovation – more automation, better donor analytics, and smarter fundraising tools.
- Global expansion – offering the platform to charities outside the UK at scale
- Deepening support services — giving charities even more strategic and operational guidance to deliver high-impact campaigns.
Our goal is to become the most effective fundraising partner a charity can have, wherever they are in the world.
8. What do you consider the greatest challenge in running a business in the current economic climate?
Uncertainty. Charities are under pressure as costs rise and donor behaviour shifts, so we need to adapt quickly and continuously.
The challenge and opportunity is to stay flexible, innovate faster than the market, and provide solutions that genuinely make fundraising more resilient. In tough climates, efficiency matters more than ever, and that’s exactly where our focus is.
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