About us
We’re here to help every child and young person thrive
We know companies want to make a meaningful difference to children and young people — and that the small charities doing the most powerful work need support more than ever.
Raise Your Hands exists to bridge this gap.
We connect purpose-driven companies and individuals with exceptional small charities across the UK, helping every child get the chance to thrive.
As a small charity ourselves, we’re not here to profit — we’re here to help small charities succeed.
Addressing a Critical Gap
In the UK, the largest 5% of charities receive 88% of all income.
That means thousands of brilliant small charities are being left behind — even though they’re often the ones creating the deepest, most lasting impact.
Raise Your Hands gives donors the chance to take action and rebalance this flow of funds — connecting resources where they’re needed most.
Today the gap between the charitable haves and have-nots is in danger of widening, as income for the small charity sector has declined by £4.6 billion, compared with an overall increase in funding of £4.5 billion for larger charities.
Civil Society
“Charity sector income shrinks”, 2024
Our mission and vision
We believe every child and young person deserves the chance to build a happy, fulfilling life.
Our mission is to amplify the impact of small, high-performing charities that make this possible. We do this by giving people and companies innovative ways to support them.
By curating a portfolio of exceptional small charities working with children and young people, we make giving simple, confident, and meaningful — for companies and individuals alike.
Our model in numbers
16
Charities currently in our portfolio
£35,000
unrestricted* grant annually to each charity as minimum
5
Number of Raise Your Hands employees
£4M
directed to the Raise Your Hands platform over the past 10 years
20+
Corporate volunteering opportunities in 2026
£480,000
held in reserves to guarantee continuity of support
Why unrestricted funding matters
We provide our charities with unrestricted funding so they can build capacity and focus on what they do best instead of managing demands of donors.
We offer unrestricted funding because we believe the charities are best placed to know what their funding needs are and we trust them to use our grants in a way that enables them to make the greatest impact on young lives.
The charities we support
The impact
£3.3M
granted directly to our charities as unrestricted funding
£230,000
additional value generated (brokered donations, gifted equipment, etc.)
76,839
children and young people supported by our charities in 2025
Our commitment to rigorous due diligence
Our five-stage due diligence process ensures every charity on our platform meets the highest standards of effectiveness, governance, and integrity — so donors can give with confidence.
What our charities think
Raise Your Hands are a champion. Their reliable, unrestricted funding has been massive for us. They’ve enabled us to invest in the future and helped us successfully grow from a small to a medium sized charity.
Become
Working with Raise Your Hands has been more than just funding; it’s felt like a genuine partnership. They take the time to understand what we do, amplify our voice, and check in like we’re people, not just projects. That kind of support matters more than most people realise. It’s helped us feel seen and valued, which makes a real difference when you’re doing this work day in, day out.
BelEve
We’ve developed a truly meaningful relationship with Raise Your Hands, they are so much more than just a funder. They feel like a trusted partner who genuinely cares about our cause and our beneficiaries. Their commitment to Jessie May is unwavering, and their generosity and genuine support are evidenced in everything they do, and every interaction we have with the team. We’re incredibly grateful for their ongoing support.
Jessie May
Raise Your Hands has been more than a funder – they’ve been a sounding board, an advocate, and a real force for connection. Their belief in our work has helped us reach new audiences and feel part of a wider movement of change. It’s rare to find a partner who is this committed to championing small, specialist charities – thank you.
Our Time
Since the beginning of our partnership, Raise Your Hands has provided us with consistent and invaluable support, totalling over £200,000. Without support like this we would not have been able to sustain as many projects and help over 18,500 children over the past ten years.
The Wave Project