Scout groups raise money in all sorts of ways — new tents, hall renovations, camp bursaries. Fundraising campaigns in Scoutworks give you a shareable donation page that anyone can give through. Donors pay by bank transfer — it's fast, secure, and their bank walks them through it, with no card details or Direct Debit setup required. Money lands in your group's account quickly, and every donation is recorded in your accounts automatically. You set up the campaign in a few minutes, share a link or QR code, and Scoutworks tracks everything.
Before you start
Fundraising uses GoCardless to collect donations, so your group needs a connected GoCardless account first. Go to Finance → Online Payments and connect GoCardless if you haven't already.
First-time setup
The first time you open Finance → Fundraising, you'll see a setup card. There are two things to do:
- Choose your group's URL slug — this is the short name that appears in every donation link (for example,
1st-bromley). It's shared across all your campaigns, so pick something that represents your group. You can change it later, but existing links stop working if you do. - Enable donations — confirm that you want fundraising switched on for your group.
Once setup is complete, the New campaign button appears and you can start creating campaigns straight away.
Creating a campaign
Click New campaign to open the three-step campaign wizard.
Step 1: Details
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Campaign title | Shown on the donation page and in your campaign list |
| URL | Auto-filled from the title — you can edit it. Lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens only |
| Description | Optional — a sentence or two about what you're raising for |
| Start date / End date | Optional — tells donors how long the campaign is running |
Step 2: Donations
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Suggested amounts | The preset donation buttons donors see (defaults: £5, £10, £20, £50) — add up to six, each with an optional description and one highlighted as Popular |
| Allow custom amount | Lets donors type in any amount they choose |
| Fundraising target | Optional — shows a progress bar on the donation page |
| Gift Aid | Turn on to include a Gift Aid declaration — UK taxpayers can boost their donation at no extra cost to them |
| Show donor names | Lets donors choose whether their name appears on the public donor wall |
| Show progress bar | Displays how close you are to your target on the donation page |
Setting up your donation amounts
Each suggested amount has three parts:
| Part | What it does |
|---|---|
| Amount | The figure on the button, in pounds |
| Description | Optional — a short line under the amount explaining what it pays for. Up to 100 characters |
| Popular star | Tap the star to highlight one amount. It gets a "Popular" badge and is pre-selected for donors |
Descriptions are the quickest way to make your amounts feel meaningful rather than arbitrary:
- £25 — Name on a seat plaque
- £50 — Family seat and certificate
- £250 — Business recognition
You can have up to six amounts, and at least one is required. Use Add amount to add another and the minus button to remove one.
By default the second amount starts out starred, which is why £10 is highlighted on a brand-new campaign. Campaigns you set up before descriptions existed keep highlighting their second amount too — open the Settings tab and move the star whenever you'd like a different one featured.
Step 3: Review
Check everything looks right, then choose to either Save as draft (you can activate it later) or Create and activate to make the campaign live straight away.
Managing your campaigns
All campaigns appear on the Finance → Fundraising page as cards. Each card shows the status, total raised, number of donations, and a quick share button.
Click a campaign card to open its detail panel. From here you can:
- Edit the campaign — see Editing a live campaign below
- Activate a draft campaign with Activate campaign
- End an active campaign with End campaign — new donations stop, but the page stays visible to donors who have the link
- Export all donations to CSV
- Share the campaign link or QR code
Editing a live campaign
Campaigns aren't fixed once they're live. Open the campaign and go to the Settings tab to change:
| What you can change | Notes |
|---|---|
| Title and description | Updates the donation page straight away |
| Start and end dates | Adjust how long the campaign runs |
| Donation amounts | Change the figures, edit or add descriptions, and move the Popular highlight |
| Fundraising target | Set, change, or clear it. Leave it blank to take donations without a goal |
| Gift Aid, donor names, progress bar | The same page toggles you set when creating the campaign |
Click Save changes and the donation page updates immediately — the link and QR code you've already shared keep working.
Campaign statuses
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Draft | The campaign exists but the donation page isn't visible to anyone yet |
| Active | The donation page is live and accepting donations |
| Ended | The campaign has finished — donors who open the page see that it has closed |
Sharing your campaign
From the campaign detail panel, click Share to open the share dialog.
| Option | When to use |
|---|---|
| Copy link | Paste into your group's WhatsApp chat, newsletter, or email |
| QR code | Display at meetings, events, or on your notice board — anyone can scan it with their phone camera |
| Opens WhatsApp with a pre-written message ready to send | |
| SMS | Drafts a text message with the link |
| Opens your email app with a ready-to-go message | |
| Print QR code | Downloads a printable version of the QR code |
What donors see
When a donor opens the link or scans the QR code, they land on a page showing the campaign name, description, progress towards the target (if you've set one), and the suggested donation amounts.
Each amount button shows its description underneath, and the amount you starred carries a Popular badge and is already selected when the page opens. Donors can still pick any other amount, or type their own if you've allowed custom amounts.
Donors choose an amount, optionally add their name to the donor wall, and tick the Gift Aid box if they're eligible. They then pay by bank transfer — their banking app or online banking walks them through it in a few taps. No card details or account setup required. The whole process takes under two minutes. After donating they see a thank-you page and receive a receipt by email.
Viewing donations
Open the campaign detail panel and scroll to the Donations table. Each row shows the donor's name (if they chose to share it), the amount, Gift Aid status, and when the donation was made.
Click Export CSV to download a spreadsheet of all donations — useful for Gift Aid reporting or your annual accounts.
What's next
- Setting Up Payments with GoCardless — connect GoCardless so you can collect donations.
- Gift Aid — collect Gift Aid declarations from donors and generate HMRC reports.
- Accounting and Bookkeeping — how donation income flows into your Ledger and financial reports.
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What's next?
Related guidesSetting Up Payments with GoCardless
How to connect GoCardless to your group and start collecting Direct Debit payments from parents.
Read articleGift Aid
How to track Gift Aid declarations across your group, request them from parents, link them to eligible payments, handle declarations held offline, and submit HMRC claims.
Read articleAccounting and Bookkeeping
The end-to-end finance workflow in Scoutworks: how money moves from your bank into the Ledger via the Bank Inbox, and what each step is for.
Read article