Look for four things when choosing an IT support provider for a charity with 20 to 150 users: proven experience with charities specifically rather than small businesses in general, a local presence so someone can be on site when something physically breaks, demonstrable data security and compliance expertise, and evidence they’ve actually supported organisations like yours before rather than claiming to. General business IT experience is not the same thing as understanding how a charity runs, and the gap tends to show up fastest when it matters most.
Why does charity sector experience matter more than general IT experience?
A charity carries the same legal duties as a commercial organisation, often on a fraction of the budget, and frequently with a workforce that includes volunteers using their own devices. IT spend usually has to be justified against a specific grant rather than a general budget line, and that changes how a provider needs to scope and price work. A provider who has only worked with commercial SMEs won’t have met these constraints before, and it shows in how they quote and how clearly they can explain restricted funding to a finance director or trustee.
How do I know a provider actually understands data security for a charity?
Donor records are personal data under UK GDPR, and fundraising activity is separately regulated. Trustees are accountable for the controls around that data whether or not anyone has explained it to them, so the provider you choose needs to be able to set out what’s in place in terms a trustee can defend to a funder or regulator, not just technical terms. A useful test is to ask a prospective provider how they’d explain your current security position to a board member with no IT background.
Why does local presence matter, and who covers our area?
For a charity of this size, on-site visits aren’t rare: new starters need laptops set up, volunteers need devices configured, and printers or networks sometimes need a hand on the hardware rather than a remote fix. We work across Aylesbury, Beaconsfield, Henley-on-Thames, High Wycombe, Marlow, Oxford and Reading, so an engineer can reach your office rather than you waiting days for someone to travel in.
What happens in the first few months if we switch providers?
Onboarding runs in four stages. First, a discovery audit documents every device, user, licence and supplier, including anything already broken, so nothing is quietly inherited. Second, monitoring, patching, backup and security tooling is put in place. Third, a handover period runs with the outgoing provider still active while both teams answer tickets, before service begins properly with a review at 30 days measured against what the audit found. The first three months are usually the noisiest, because that’s when the audit’s findings get fixed.
What does this typically cost?
Approved pricing guidance covers organisations with between 50 and 200 employees, which takes in much of this band: managed IT support typically runs from £65 to £175 per user per month, depending on whether backup, security tooling and licensing are included, how much on-site time is expected, and the age of the estate being supported. As a monthly budget guide, a 50-person organisation usually sits between £4,000 and £8,000, and a 100-person organisation between £8,000 and £16,000. Where a charity this size lands within that range depends on the mix of services included, not on headcount alone.
