WordPress alternatives – should you use Access Raise instead of an agency?

Access Raise is designed specifically for charities and not-for-profits. It’s more than just a website builder - it’s a digital awareness and fundraising platform that helps you grow support and drive donations online.

You can choose from beautifully designed templates or go fully bespoke, with built-in tools and resources tailored to the unique needs of the sector, including:

• Donation and Gift Aid processing
• Fundraising tools
• Event registration and online shop functionality
• Simple, seamless journeys for donors, supporters, and service users

In contrast, a website agency typically builds websites for a wide range of industries, not just charities. While they often provide custom web design and development, along with digital marketing services like SEO, social media, and email marketing, they may not have the same deep understanding of charity-specific goals or compliance needs.

Both an agency and Access Raise can deliver a professional website, but the key differences lie in the level of sector expertise, speed of delivery, and built-in functionality.

Agency-built WordPress sites can take anywhere from two to five months to design and develop, depending on complexity². Access Raise, on the other hand, is a subscription-based, ready-to-go platform that’s built for charities from day one - meaning your site can go live much faster, without the hassle of starting from scratch.

Read our definitive guide to developing a successful charity website

While many organisations use WordPress, it’s not always the best fit for charities. Every charity has unique needs - from managing donations and safeguarding supporter data to stretching limited budgets and staff resources. These factors often make it worth exploring WordPress alternatives that are designed specifically for the not-for-profit sector.

Here are some of the main reasons why a charity might benefit from choosing an alternative to WordPress:

The true cost of running a WordPress site

Although WordPress itself is free, creating and maintaining a charity website on the platform can quickly become expensive. Design and development work can be time-consuming and costly, especially if you want to add the plugins needed for donations, Gift Aid, or event management. Then there are ongoing costs for hosting, updates, and technical support to consider.

For many charities, where every pound matters, choosing a more affordable, purpose-built alternative means more of your budget can go towards your mission rather than maintenance.

Limited technical expertise

Many charities don’t have in-house developers or digital specialists - and that’s okay. But managing a WordPress site, especially one with custom features, can require significant technical know-how.

That’s why many charities opt for out-of-the-box WordPress alternatives like Access Raise, which come with ready-made templates and built-in functionality that work straight away. They’re easy to use, require little training, and allow your team to focus on impact instead of IT.

Security & data protection

Security is another key reason charities look for WordPress alternatives. WordPress can be secure if maintained properly, but it relies heavily on regular updates to its core system, themes, and plugins - and missing these can expose your site to risks.

Charities often handle sensitive supporter and service-user data, so it’s crucial that your digital platform is secure by design. A specialist charity CMS like Access Raise offers a safer, more controlled environment that meets the data protection standards your organisation needs.

Charity-specific functionality

Charities have distinct needs that go beyond what standard WordPress sites offer, things like processing donations and Gift Aid, managing events, promoting volunteering, and creating supporter journeys that inspire action.

While WordPress can achieve this with custom plugins, it’s not purpose-built for the charity and not-for-profit sector. A solution like Access Raise, however, includes all this functionality from day one - built around how charities actually operate.

Dedicated, charity-focused support

If your team lacks technical expertise, you’ll want hands-on support you can rely on. WordPress’ community forums can be useful, but they don’t always provide the personalised help charities need.

Agencies may also have competing priorities across many clients. In contrast, a charity-focused platform provider like Access Raise understands your sector and offers tailored support to help your website run smoothly and achieve your goals.

At Access, we understand the unique challenges and goals of the charity sector - because we work with not-for-profits every day.

Access Raise was created specifically for charities and built around your real-world needs. It’s a digital awareness and fundraising platform that makes it easier to manage your online presence, engage supporters, and raise more funds, all without needing specialist technical skills.

Unlike generic website builders or agency-built sites, Access Raise combines charity-focused design, functionality, and support in one simple, subscription-based platform.

When you choose to work with a provider that truly understands your world, you’ll benefit from:

Built specifically for charities

We’ve designed Access Raise to help charities enhance their digital fundraising and awareness - without the complexity or cost of custom web builds. As one of the leading WordPress alternatives for charities, Access Raise automates the essential parts of online fundraising, including:

• Donations – Built-in, secure payment forms designed specifically for charities. Support one-off or regular giving and Gift Aid, and easily assign donations to specific campaigns for better tracking. Forms can be embedded anywhere on your site as clear calls to action, making it easy for supporters to give safely and confidently. GDPR compliance is built in.

• Direct debits – Allow supporters to set up regular donations, with payments transferred directly to your charity each month.
• Gift Aid – Live income dashboards show the real-time value of potential Gift Aid from online donations, making it easier to claim and manage.
• Cover of costs – Give supporters the option to contribute to your running costs, like energy bills, so more of your income can go directly to your cause.

By automating these key fundraising processes, Access Raise saves you valuable time and resources. That means your team can focus on what really matters - planning campaigns, running events, and engaging volunteers.

Find out how to make the most of your online fundraising

A self-service CMS that's simple to manage

A charity-focused platform should empower your team to take control. With Access Raise, you get a self-service content management system (CMS) that’s easy to use and requires minimal training.

Once your site is live, you’ll have everything you need to manage it confidently, without the ongoing costs of agency support. During onboarding, we provide hands-on training to help you:

• Create and edit webpages
• Use dashboards and analytics
• Embed images and videos
• Build links and forms

This practical approach means you can manage your website independently from day one, without agency fees or long development timelines.

A scalable platform built for growth

Your charity’s ambitions will evolve, and your website should grow with you. That’s why Access Raise is designed to scale. It can handle increased traffic, data, and transactions as your organisation expands, ensuring long-term reliability and flexibility.

Here’s what that means in practice:

• Reliability – Robust hosting that keeps your site stable and fast, even during peak traffic.
• Flexibility – As a Zapier partner, Access Raise integrates with over 500 popular apps like Microsoft Office, Mailchimp, SurveyMonkey, Gmail, and X (Twitter).
• Simplicity – A user-friendly interface that keeps navigation and management effortless.
• Security – Strong, built-in protection to safeguard sensitive supporter and donor data.
• Visibility – Real-time analytics that help you understand your audience and make data-driven decisions.

In short, Access Raise gives you a scalable, secure foundation for long-term success - keeping both your charity and your supporters happy!

Seamless integration with other charity solutions

Access Raise works seamlessly with other tools that power your charity’s day-to-day operations.

For example, you can integrate with Access Charity CRM to gain a complete view of every supporter journey - from first donation to long-term engagement. These insights make it easier to personalise communications and boost campaign results.

Depending on your plan, Access Raise can also connect to over 5,000 apps via Zapier, covering areas such as:

• Email marketing
• CRM systems
• Project management
• Social media platforms
• And much more

These integrations streamline your workflows, enhance supporter experience, and help your team work more efficiently across all key areas of your organisation.

Find out the benefits of charity website-CRM integration

Transparent pricing you can trust

Working with an external agency can be costly - and unpredictable. One report shows that outsourcing a web design project can range anywhere from £250 to over £10,000³, depending on complexity, experience and scope.

For example, an average small WordPress site might cost:

Up-front costs

Design and development - £800 to £1,500

Domain - £2.99 to £100/year

Total upfront cost - £802.99 to £1,600

Ongoing costs

Hosting - £3 to £45/month

Content updates - £0 to £250/month

Total ongoing costs - £3 to £295/month

These costs can add up quickly - and that’s before you consider plugin licences, maintenance and security on top.

With Access Raise, you’ll know exactly what to expect. The clear, subscription-based pricing model includes hosting, security, and support and no hidden extras. Plus, our intuitive editor lets you handle design and content updates yourself, removing the need for expensive developer time.

It’s a simple, transparent, and budget-friendly approach - so you can spend less time managing your website and more time making an impact.

Request pricing

While Access Raise is designed to meet the needs of most charities, it may not be perfect for every organisation. Below are a few things to consider before deciding if it’s the right solution for you.

Predominantly ‘out-the-box’ functionality

Access Raise is built to make life easier for charities - offering pre-designed, out-of-the-box functionality that meets common sector needs without requiring specialist technical knowledge.

For many, this simplicity is a huge advantage. But if your organisation prefers complete flexibility - for example, custom coding, bespoke plugins, or deep back-end access - an out-of-the-box solution like Access Raise may feel more limited.

Our platform focuses on giving charities the tools they need to grow and raise funds efficiently, rather than customisation beyond parameters. 

Can be costly if you wish to change platform

If you decide to move from Access Raise to another CMS in the future, there will naturally be some time and cost involved in that transition. This is true for any CMS platform - switching essentially means starting a new website project.

The good news is that you’ll always own your data and content. We make this process transparent from day one, which is one reason we can keep our platform fees and ongoing costs significantly lower than traditional web builds.

To avoid any surprises, we recommend booking a demo first, so you can test the CMS, explore its functionality, and ensure it’s the right fit before you commit.

Book your demo

The buck stops with you!

One of the biggest benefits of Access Raise is the independence it gives you - but that also means the responsibility rests with you. Once your training is complete, your team will have full control over managing and updating your site.

For some charities, that’s empowering. For others, it may feel like a challenge, especially if you’d rather outsource day-to-day website management.

That said, we offer flexible support - including additional design work, strategy sessions, and extra training. This gives you the best of both worlds: the freedom to run your site independently, with expert help whenever you need it.

Explore specialist digital services

Website agencies often bring broad digital marketing expertise, allowing them to work with organisations across many different sectors. Agencies that build sites using third-party CMS platforms such as WordPress or Drupal can offer a high level of flexibility and customisation - ideal if your charity needs advanced, bespoke functionality.

Partnering with an experienced web agency that specialises in these platforms can offer several potential benefits, including the ones outlined below.

A popular CMS option

There’s no denying that WordPress is one of the most widely used CMS platforms across many sectors. Its popularity is supported by a large, active community of developers and users who share themes, plugins, and tutorials - making it easy for organisations to learn, experiment, and build. This widespread adoption naturally builds trust and credibility.

In fact, research suggests that over 59% of charities use WordPress as their CMS⁴. That’s not entirely surprising when you consider that around 78% of charities registered with the Charity Commission in England and Wales are micro to small organisations (with income under £100,000). For many of these, a basic content website may feel like all that’s needed.

Still, while WordPress is popular, there are WordPress alternatives that offer a simpler, more focused experience, particularly for charities that don’t have in-house developers or large budgets.

A highly customisable CMS

WordPress is known for its flexibility. With the right technical skills - often through an agency - you can adapt the platform to reflect your charity’s brand and specific needs. Its open structure allows for extensive customisation through themes, plugins, and bespoke development.

Some common examples include:

• Custom themes – change the overall look and feel of your website.

• Custom plugins – add new functionality.

• Custom content types – better organise and display your data.

• Custom workflows – streamline content creation and approvals.

• User roles and permissions – manage access levels across your team.

This flexibility is appealing - but it often requires developer input, technical management, and regular maintenance. That’s where purpose-built WordPress alternatives like Access Raise offer a simpler, more guided approach, without the ongoing complexity.

Access to advanced features

Because of its open-source nature, WordPress can be extended in almost endless ways through plugins. Agencies often use these to add features for content management, e-commerce, SEO, security, or social media integration.

For example:

• E-commerce: sell merchandise through a simple online shop.

• SEO: improve visibility with optimisation tools and meta tags.

• Security: add extra protection against malware or login threats.

• Social media: embed feeds, sharing buttons, and logins.

• Performance: use caching and optimisation to boost site speed.

However, each plugin adds another layer of setup and maintenance - and compatibility issues can arise if updates aren’t managed carefully. For many charities, this ongoing management is time-consuming, which is why a ready-made platform like Access Raise can feel like a breath of fresh air.

A fit for larger charities

Larger charities with complex needs and bigger budgets may find that WordPress’ flexibility works to their advantage. Agencies have the resources and expertise to create advanced functionality or bespoke user experiences tailored to large-scale campaigns.

That said, this approach often comes with higher costs and longer timelines. For smaller or mid-sized organisations looking for a quicker route to launch - with the core tools already in place - an out-of-the-box WordPress alternative like Access Raise is usually a better fit.

Expertise across digital marketing

Website agencies typically bring a wealth of digital marketing experience to the table. Alongside web design and development, they can advise on:

• SEO – improving your rankings in search results.

• PPC – creating paid ads across search and social.

• Social media marketing – managing content and engagement.

• Email marketing – building and sending supporter campaigns.

• Content marketing – attracting donors through valuable storytelling.

• Analytics – tracking and reporting on campaign performance.

These skills can be useful if you’re investing heavily in a full digital strategy. But for many charities, those services add cost and complexity that aren’t essential to achieving fundraising goals.

Access Raise focuses purely on what charities need most a secure, simple, all-in-one digital platform that helps you raise more and reach more people, without needing a marketing team or technical background.

While the idea of working with a website agency - with all its digital marketing expertise and custom functionality -Website pricing can sound appealing, it’s important to be aware of the potential downsides.

Customisation can be powerful, but it often comes with added complexity, higher costs, and longer timelines. Before committing to an agency-built site, it’s worth considering the challenges that can arise with this approach.

Below, we explore some of the most common issues charities encounter when taking the agency route.

High maintenance management

Working with a website agency that uses WordPress gives you plenty of flexibility to customise your charity website - but that flexibility comes at a cost. Custom builds typically require ongoing maintenance, updates, and troubleshooting, all of which can add time and complexity.

When a site relies on heavy customisation, such as code modifications or plugin configuration, it can create dependencies that need continuous attention. Common challenges include:

• Compatibility issues: Custom elements may not always play nicely with other software, leading to extra work to resolve conflicts.

• Upgrades and updates: These can be far more complex than with an out-of-the-box platform and may require re-testing or even re-implementation after each update.

• Training and onboarding: Bespoke features often mean more training time for your team.

• Security: Custom code and plugins can introduce vulnerabilities that demand additional effort to monitor and patch.

Before choosing an agency-led build, consider how much customisation you truly need. If an out-of-the-box solution like Access Raise meets your requirements, you could save considerable time, cost, and effort.

Increased security risks

Customisation can also raise security concerns. Many WordPress sites rely heavily on plugins, and while they add functionality, they’re also one of the biggest sources of website vulnerabilities. In fact, one study found that around 97% of website security issues were linked to plugins or themes⁵.

Plugins can introduce risks such as:

• Malicious or poorly written code

• Outdated or unsupported plugins
  
  
• Insecure configuration
  
  
• Plugin conflicts

For charities handling sensitive supporter data, even a minor breach can have serious consequences - damaging both trust and reputation. That’s why many organisations prefer WordPress alternatives like Access Raise, where data security and compliance are built in from the start.

Extra hosting and update costs

Agency-built websites often come with separate hosting and update fees. These costs can vary depending on your site’s size, traffic levels, and the hosting provider chosen.

Frequent updates, particularly for plugins, also add to the ongoing expense. The more custom functionality your site includes, the more often updates are required. Premium plugins can quickly add up, as many charge for each renewal or new release.

Before committing to an agency build, it’s worth mapping out these hidden costs to make sure they fit within your charity’s budget.

May not suit a charity’s budget

For larger charities with flexible budgets, working with a website agency can be a reasonable investment. But for smaller or medium-sized organisations, the cumulative costs of design, development, hosting, updates, and ongoing support can quickly stretch resources.

If your goal is to keep things simple, predictable, and affordable, a dedicated charity platform like Access Raise may be a better choice — offering transparent subscription pricing and far less upkeep.

Support on the agency’s schedule

Agencies often juggle multiple clients across various industries, meaning your charity may not always be at the top of the queue when an issue arises. If your website encounters a problem or needs an urgent fix, your response time might depend on your agency’s workload - not your priorities.

When weighing up your options, consider whether you want to rely on an external agency’s availability or prefer the independence of a platform you can manage in-house. With Access Raise, you maintain control while still having access to expert support when you need it.

Ultimately, whether you choose an agency-built WordPress site or a purpose-built platform like Access Raise depends on your resources, goals, and appetite for hands-on management.

When choosing how to build your charity’s website, it’s important to find the right balance between functionality, flexibility, and long-term sustainability. Your website should be affordable, easy to manage, and secure - without draining your time or resources.

Access Raise is built specifically for charities and not-for-profits by experts who understand the sector. It offers all the core features you need straight out of the box - from donation management to event registration - within a secure, user-friendly platform. With 24/7 security monitoring and proactive alerts, you can trust that your site and supporter data are always protected.

Because it’s so intuitive, Access Raise also requires minimal training, empowering your team to manage and update your website confidently without relying on third-party developers.

Alternatively, working with a website agency that builds on WordPress can give you more flexibility to create highly bespoke designs or complex integrations. Agencies can also provide broader digital marketing services and manage hosting or updates on your behalf. However, that level of customisation often comes with higher costs, longer timelines, and potential security risks - especially if your site relies on multiple plugins.

In the end, the best choice depends on your organisation’s size, budget and internal capacity. If you’re a charity looking for a straightforward, secure, and charity-focused WordPress alternative, Access Raise offers everything you need to build awareness, engage supporters, and raise more — all in one place.

Choosing the right website provider is key to ensuring your site reflects your charity’s mission and runs smoothly day to day.

At Access, we always recommend exploring your options - including WordPress alternatives - to find what fits best. But if you’d like some honest guidance, we’re here to help.

Our team of experts can answer your questions and help you decide whether Access Raise is the right digital fundraising platform for your charity.