Most CRM platforms charge you for everything, whether you use it or not. Modular pricing changes that: you choose the features your organisation actually needs, pay only for those, and add more as you grow. Combined with 0% platform fees, it means every pound raised goes where it should — to your community.
What you will learn
- Why traditional CRM pricing puts small and mid-sized charities at a disadvantage.
- How modular pricing works in practice, with real examples.
- What "0% platform fees" actually means — and why it matters more than most people realise.
- A step-by-step guide to choosing the right plan for your organisation.
- Common pricing pitfalls and how to avoid them.
The Problem with Flat-Rate CRM Pricing
A mosque with 800 contacts and three committee members does not need the same toolset as a national charity processing 50,000 donor records. And yet, most CRM vendors offer two or three rigid tiers: a stripped-down free plan that lacks essential features, a mid-tier that bundles things you will never touch, and an enterprise plan that costs more than your annual stationery budget.
The result is predictable. Smaller organisations either pay for capabilities gathering dust, or they squeeze themselves into the cheapest plan and improvise around its limitations with spreadsheets, WhatsApp groups, and handwritten rotas taped to the office wall.
Neither outcome serves the people who rely on you.
How Modular Pricing Works
Modular pricing flips the model. Instead of buying a fixed bundle, you assemble a plan from three building blocks:
Step 1 — Choose Your Base Plan
Each plan comes with a set of included contacts, team seats, and core modules:
| Plan | Contacts | Seats | Core modules included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | Up to 1,000 | 3 | Fundraising, Prayer Times |
| Pro | Up to 2,500 | 8 | Events, Prayer Times, Fundraising, Memberships |
| Premium | Up to 10,000 | 30 | All available modules |
Step 2 — Add Only What You Need
If you are on Basic or Pro, you can bolt on individual modules — Gift Aid Automation, Pledge Management, Zakat Management, Kiosk Suite, Advanced Reporting — at published per-month prices. No sales call required.
Step 3 — Scale When You Are Ready
Need more contacts or seats? Adjust the sliders. Your price updates transparently. No surprise invoices, no renegotiation.
Example: A medium-sized mosque runs Friday prayers, weekly youth classes, and a Ramadan fundraiser. They choose the Pro plan for event management and fundraising, then add the Gift Aid module. Total cost: predictable, monthly, and directly tied to what they use.
Why 0% Platform Fees Change Everything
Here is a number that deserves a closer look: many charity platforms charge between 1.5% and 5% on every donation processed through their system. On a £50,000 annual fundraising total, a 3% fee is £1,500 — quietly extracted from money your community entrusted to you.
That is not a processing fee. Payment processors like Stripe charge their own transparent rate regardless. This is a platform fee: the CRM vendor's cut, layered on top.
Safain charges 0% platform fees. Your subscription is your subscription. When a donor gives £100 through your kiosk, your mosque receives £100 minus the payment processor's standard rate — and not a penny more is taken by us.
The maths is simple, but this principle is not trivial to us. Charitable donations are an act of trust. The giver expects their money to reach the cause. Every intermediary fee that shaves a percentage off that intention — however small — erodes something that numbers alone cannot measure. We believe a CRM vendor should earn its revenue from the service it provides, not from the generosity of the people it serves.
Common Pricing Pitfalls
1. Ignoring total cost of ownership. A cheap headline price means nothing if you pay per-transaction fees, overage charges, or premium support add-ons. Ask what the all-in cost looks like at your expected volume.
2. Locking into annual contracts too early. Some vendors offer steep annual discounts, then make it painful to downgrade. Start monthly if you are uncertain; switch to annual once you have confirmed the fit.
3. Paying for "enterprise" features prematurely. Multi-site management and custom integrations are powerful — when you need them. If you are a single-site mosque with 1,200 contacts, start with a plan that fits today. You can always move up.
4. Overlooking included seats. A plan with five included seats sounds generous until you realise your committee has twelve members. Check the per-seat cost for additional users before committing.
5. Confusing "free" with "no cost." Free tiers often cap you at a contact limit, strip out reporting, or watermark donor-facing emails. The true cost is the workaround time your volunteers spend compensating.
Implementation Checklist
- Audit your current costs: subscription, platform fees, payment processing, support add-ons.
- Count your active contacts, team members, and the features you use weekly.
- Map those needs to a modular plan — start with the base that covers your contact volume and seats.
- Identify which add-on modules you need now versus which can wait.
- Calculate the annual difference between your current provider and a 0%-fee modular plan.
- Trial the new plan (Safain offers a 14-day money-back guarantee on all plans).
- Review after 30 days: are you using what you are paying for?
A Friday Afternoon at the Treasurer's Desk
It is a quarter past two on a Friday, and the treasurer of a small mosque in south London is staring at a renewal invoice. The CRM they adopted last year — chosen hastily after a committee vote — costs £180 a month. Of that, roughly £40 covers modules nobody has logged into since onboarding: grant management, advanced analytics, a volunteer portal the imam politely described as "confusing." Another £900 has quietly disappeared over the year in platform fees on kiosk donations.
She opens a spreadsheet, the same spreadsheet the CRM was supposed to replace, and begins tallying up what the mosque actually uses: donation tracking, Gift Aid claims, and a shared contact list. Three things. She wonders, not for the first time, whether there is a way to pay for exactly those three things and nothing else — and to stop handing a percentage of every Friday collection to a software company that has never set foot inside a masjid.
There is. That is what modular pricing was built for.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I change my plan after signing up? Yes. You can add or remove modules, adjust your contact volume, and change team seats at any time. Changes take effect on your next billing cycle.
What payment processors does Safain work with? Safain integrates with Stripe for card payments. Stripe charges its own standard processing fees, which are separate from your Safain subscription.
Is the 0% platform fee really zero? Yes. Safain does not take any percentage of donations processed through the platform. Your subscription price is the only cost from Safain.
Do I need to commit to an annual plan? No. All plans are available on a monthly basis. Annual billing is offered at a 10% discount, but there is no lock-in requirement.
What happens if I outgrow my plan? You can upgrade your contact band or move to a higher-tier plan at any time. If your needs exceed self-serve limits, our team will help you configure a custom setup.
Safain's modular pricing is designed so your CRM costs reflect your actual needs — not a vendor's idea of what a charity might use. Every plan includes 0% platform fees, UK-hosted data, and onboarding support to get you started. See the plans and build yours →