How Oracle found £20,000 in unclaimed Gift Aid with Beacon

Oracle Head and Neck Cancer UK was founded around 20 years ago by a surgeon called Peter Reese Evans. It’s now an ambitious charity leading the way in their field. Through research, raising awareness, and collaborating with patients, they improve the outcomes and quality of life for people affected by head and neck cancers.

Their previous CRM was Donorfy but it hadn’t been used for some time. There was a need for change so they could better manage fundraising, events, donor journeys and the integrity of the data being held.  

Our previous CRM felt really clunky and the team just did not engage with it. I feel like it was partly our fault, but it just didn’t do what we needed it to do. It was massively difficult to kind of integrate with.

For those reasons and more, the training and maintenance the CRM didn’t get done. As staff changed and new people joined the team, the old system was largely abandoned. But, as Oracle continued to grow, they needed a CRM that could support their new goals.  

Being a small team, with a lot to do, they needed a system that was user friendly and allowed the whole team to move quickly. They also wanted a system that the team genuinely liked using. They needed something that brought the team together, cut the workload and was fun to use.

They chose Beacon and implemented in early 2025. When they came onboard, they were introduced to a Beacon Partner, Ember Impact Solutions, to get them set up for success. The migration wasn’t just about switching systems - it was about cleansing old records, rethinking data structures, and building a CRM that reflected how the charity actually worked, and Ember was there to support them throughout.

One of the quickest wins for Oracle was in Gift Aid. The tools Beacon provides for managing Gift Aid has given them renewed confidence. Oracle have gained clarity around eligibility and the integration with HMRC made claiming Gift Aid straightforward—no more combing through spreadsheets or ticking boxes.

There was a lack of understanding about Gift Aid. What could be claimed, what can be claimed. It’s not just about Gift Aid going forward though. We easily found about 20 grand in unclaimed Gift Aid thanks to Beacon. For a small team like ours, it’s made a massive difference.

Beacon has also transformed their reporting. The charities big fundraising picture used to be blurry at best. Oracle did the thinking and were able to create a robust framework for their data in Beacon. That made it easy to feel confident in the numbers because they could understand where they're coming from.  

Before, it was a nightmare to get pipeline figures. Now, I can just go into a meeting confident that everything’s there and understandable. Custom dashboards means we can see it all in real time, pledged and received by the event. We can see that return on investment and it helps us to make quicker decisions. It is motivating and the team can be more proactive.

Keeping track of communication is now a breeze. It was difficult to pull a relationship together before. Who had donated? Who had volunteered? Who had contacted who? It was all in different places. Now they can see, search, and filter by any one person’s history and have quick reference metrics. There are no more awkward conversations with people. As a result, they can build stronger relationships with donors and their approach to stewardship is much more robust.

Now that the team are confidently using their new system, they’ve created an internal Beacon Clinic. Staff are engaged and join a regular call as needed to ask questions and learn more about what Beacon can do to make their lives easier.

It’s well attended and people are interested. They want to know. It’s definitely changing the culture and helping us shape Beacon.

Oracle are now moving their events from Eventbrite to Beacon. As part of Head and Neck Cancer Day, they used Beacon and Mailchimp to dynamically and automatically thank donors based on their gift size, frequency, or type and will be soon using this format for community fundraisers. Running big campaigns with a small team can be a challenge with so many moving parts.  

It was quick and clean. We’re still mega-busy, but Beacon has helped cut down on duplication and confusion. It’s improved us from a wellbeing point of view. It’s hard to put a number on that—but it’s priceless. Beacon is intuitive, flexible, and built for charities like ours. And I love the confetti!

Don't we all Charlotte! 🎉

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