Categories   >   Fundraising Platforms
Last Reviewed: November 14th, 2024

Best Fundraising Platforms Of 2024

What are Fundraising Platforms?

Fundraising platforms, also known as online giving platforms, create a digital nexus for philanthropic activities, expertly eliminating the gaps between donors, organizations, and beneficiaries. These software solutions subtly revolutionize the giving landscape and solve the age-old challenge of reaching wider audiences in cost-effective ways. Their advantages extend beyond mere convenience to mobile giving, recurring donation setup, in-depth analytics, and donor engagement strategies. Direct beneficiaries range from non-profit organizations to political campaigns, and church groups. However, these platforms face criticism for payment processing fees which could eat into received donations. Despite this, unprecedented ease in managing donations, the ability to refine fundraising strategies, and the fostering of a community of givers make fundraising platforms a must-have in today's digitized age. Each platform offers unique capabilities - finding the one that meets your needs requires a thoughtful audit of functionalities and pricing structures. In sum, fundraising platforms stand as powerful tools, combining cutting-edge technology with the nobility of giving.

What Are The Key Benefits of Fundraising Platforms?

  • Expands donor reach
  • Increases donation frequency
  • Streamlines donation collection
  • Enables mobile giving
  • Automates recurring donations
  • Secures donor data storage
  • Enhances donor engagement
  • Offers insightful analytics
  • Facilitates event management
  • Simplifies financial reporting
Read more

Overall

Based on the latest available data collected by SelectHub for 34 solutions, we determined the following solutions are the best Fundraising Platforms overall:

Givelify
Givelify
Start Price
$0.30
Per Donation, 2.9% Flat Rate
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
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Why We Picked Givelify

Is Givelify the "gift" that keeps on giving for your organization, or will it leave you feeling shortchanged? Givelify is a mobile and web-based donation platform that caters to churches and nonprofits.

Users praise Givelify for its user-friendly interface that simplifies online giving, making it easy even for tech-averse individuals to donate. The platform's robust reporting and analytics features provide valuable insights into donor behavior, empowering organizations to fine-tune their fundraising strategies. However, some users have pointed out limitations in customization options, particularly regarding branding and donation forms, which could hinder organizations from creating a truly personalized giving experience. Others have mentioned occasional technical glitches and slow customer support response times as areas for improvement. Despite these drawbacks, Givelify's strengths lie in its simplicity, comprehensive reporting, and focus on mobile giving, making it a suitable choice for smaller organizations or those new to online fundraising who prioritize ease of use and data-driven insights over extensive customization.

Pros & Cons

  • Easy to Use: Users consistently praise Givelify's intuitive interface, making it simple to set up recurring donations, manage giving, and track contributions.
  • Mobile-Friendly: The app's mobile-first design allows users to donate quickly and easily from their smartphones, making it convenient for on-the-go giving.
  • Secure Transactions: Givelify prioritizes security, offering users peace of mind with its robust encryption and secure payment processing.
  • Transparency and Reporting: Users appreciate the detailed donation history and reporting features, providing clear insights into their giving.
  • Limited Customization: Some users have found Givelify's customization options to be limited, making it difficult to tailor the platform to their specific fundraising needs. For example, they may want to create unique donation pages with specific branding elements or integrate with other fundraising tools, but Givelify may not offer these features.
  • Transaction Fees: Givelify charges transaction fees on donations, which can be a significant expense for organizations, especially those with a high volume of small donations. This can eat into the funds raised, making it less appealing for some organizations.
  • Limited Reporting: Some users have reported that Givelify's reporting features are limited, making it difficult to track fundraising progress and analyze donor data. This can be a challenge for organizations that need detailed insights to optimize their fundraising efforts.
  • Customer Support: Some users have expressed frustration with Givelify's customer support, citing long wait times and difficulty getting their issues resolved. This can be a major concern for organizations that rely on timely and efficient support to manage their fundraising activities.

Key Features

  • Mobile, Online and Social Donations: Streamline donations and eliminate obstacles by leveraging broad compatibility with digital channels. Donors can give through the app, campaign websites, social media or emails. 
  • Campaign Management: Customized campaigns enable churches and nonprofits to create elaborate fundraisers for specific missions and drives, granting givers visibility into their investment. Personalize the app by uploading a logo and cover photo. 
  • Donor Management: Centralized donor details, including preferences, donation history and engagement, ensuring impactful outreach and personalized relationships. Identify recurring trends and optimize workflows through built-in donation management modules. 
  • Seamless Integrations: Securely import donations and data to financial, accounting and church management software. 
  • Donation Tracking: Donors can easily track their gifts through real-time confirmation, receipts and yearly reports, making it easier for filing taxes. 
  • Mobile App: Available on iOS and Android; donors can enter a pre-configured amount, select a fundraising campaign and donate in three clicks. Also offers mobile-optimized payment processing. 
  • Analytics and Dashboard: Track and measure a fundraiser’s progress with elaborate color-coded graphs, a campaign thermometer and live donation displays that show photos of donors when they donate. 
Classy
Classy
Start Price
$299
Monthly
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked Classy

Let's get classy with fundraising: Classy has been making waves in the nonprofit sector, garnering positive reviews for its user-friendly platform and comprehensive features. Users have found it to be a breath of fresh air compared to other platforms, praising its intuitive interface and ease of setup. It's like having a personal fundraising assistant, guiding you through the process and ensuring you have all the tools you need to succeed.

One of Classy's standout features is its versatility. From managing online donations and events to handling donor relationships, it covers all the bases. Users appreciate the ability to create customized campaigns, track progress, and generate reports, all within a single platform. The seamless integration with other software, such as Salesforce and Virtuous, is another major plus, allowing for streamlined operations and data management.

While Classy shines in many areas, some users have noted that its pricing can be a bit steep for smaller organizations. However, they also acknowledge that the value it provides often outweighs the cost. In a nutshell, Classy is best suited for nonprofits of all sizes that are looking for a robust and user-friendly fundraising platform. Its comprehensive features, ease of use, and excellent customer support make it a top choice for organizations that want to take their fundraising efforts to the next level.

Pros & Cons

  • Recurring Giving: Classy simplifies the process of setting up and managing recurring donations, making it easier for nonprofits to secure ongoing support and cultivate long-term donor relationships.
  • Peer-to-Peer Fundraising: Classy's platform facilitates peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns, empowering supporters to create personal fundraising pages and leverage their networks to raise money on behalf of the organization.
  • Event Management: Classy streamlines event management by providing tools for online registration, ticketing, and attendee management, simplifying the process of organizing and hosting fundraising events.
  • Donor Management: Classy offers robust donor management features, enabling nonprofits to track donor information, giving history, and engagement levels, providing valuable insights for personalized outreach and cultivation strategies.
  • Integrations: Classy integrates with various third-party applications, such as CRM systems and email marketing platforms, allowing nonprofits to streamline their workflows and enhance their fundraising efforts.
  • Limited Customization: The platform's customization options may not be sufficient for organizations with unique branding or complex campaign requirements, potentially leading to a generic look and feel that doesn't align with their identity.
  • Learning Curve: Classy's interface can be challenging for new users due to its extensive features and functionalities, requiring an investment of time and effort to master the platform effectively.
  • Pricing Structure: The platform's pricing structure, which often involves transaction fees, can impact the overall fundraising revenue, especially for organizations with high donation volumes or smaller average gift sizes.

Key Features

  • Donation Pages and Forms: Collect one-time and recurring donations via mobile-optimized web pages and forms. Engage donors using tools like campaign progress bars, live leaderboards, impact blocks and an interactive wall. Add custom questions and control donation frequency and donation amount suggestions. 
  • Ticket Management: Create tickets and schedule them with promotions. Drive outreach with promotional strategies like discount codes, special ticket types and unique attendee segments. Categorize, sort and export event data. 
  • Peer-to-Peer Fundraising: Promote DIY fundraising by allowing supporters to raise funds and host events. Volunteers can create individual or team fundraising pages and post images, videos and updates. Increase awareness by leveraging built-in social media sharing options. Thank fundraisers during awareness months via automated emails. 
  • Recurring Giving: Stabilize donation flow by setting up monthly donation plans. Use the manager module to update and edit recurring programs. Supporters can manage their donation frequency, duration and payment options. Send automated thank you emails and annual tax receipts to donors. 
  • Virtual Events: Deliver immersive experiences to a global audience through virtual and hybrid events. Organize and promote fundraising campaigns at scale through event pages. Engage with supporters via chat, polls and breakout rooms. Livestream events, embed live videos on event pages, add virtual auctions and share fundraising details in real time. 
  • Campaign Creation: Build elaborate, unique and personalized campaigns without code. Use custom HTML and CSS to enhance campaigns. 
  • Payment Processing: Secure payments with Level 1 PCI compliance. Accept payments via credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Microsoft Pay. Manage all transaction data through the account. Get access to funds with daily cash-outs. Stripe Radar ensures secure transactions and reduced chargebacks. 
  • Donor Management: Gain donor insights by accessing their past interactions. Search, filter and categorize contributors based on donation amount, type and frequency. 
  • Integrations: Streamline fundraising efforts by leveraging integrations with CRMs, marketing tools, analytical modules and other donation-based solutions. Access connections with HubSpot, Google Analytics, Salesforce, Kindful, MailChimp and more. 
  • Security: Secure data with AWS virtual private cloud storage and AES 256-bit encryption. Provides role-based access, 24/7 security scanning and threat monitoring, WAF and DDoS protection, and annual penetration testing. 
  • Reporting: Assess total donations, gift volume and more via campaign health metrics. Create, sort, customize and filter reports, and share them with team members. 
Little Green Light
Little Green Light
Start Price
$45
Monthly
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
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Why We Picked Little Green Light

Little Green Light is most suitable for small to medium-sized nonprofit organizations seeking a comprehensive and user-friendly fundraising and donor management solution. The software's affordability, coupled with its robust features, makes it an attractive option for organizations with limited budgets and resources. Additionally, Little Green Light's emphasis on customer support and its active user community provide valuable assistance and guidance to users, ensuring a smooth and successful experience. The software's scalability allows it to grow alongside an organization, making it a long-term investment that can adapt to evolving needs.

Users frequently highlight Little Green Light's exceptional customer support as a key differentiator. The company's responsive and knowledgeable support team is readily available to assist users with any questions or issues they may encounter. This level of support is particularly beneficial for organizations with limited technical expertise or those transitioning from other donor management systems. Users also appreciate Little Green Light's active user community, which provides a platform for sharing best practices, troubleshooting problems, and connecting with other nonprofit professionals.

While Little Green Light offers a wide range of features, some users note that the software's reporting capabilities could be more extensive. Users desire more advanced reporting options and customization features to gain deeper insights into their data. Additionally, some users mention that the software's interface, while generally user-friendly, could benefit from a more modern and intuitive design. Despite these minor drawbacks, Little Green Light remains a popular choice among nonprofits due to its affordability, comprehensive features, and exceptional customer support.

Little Green Light stands out from its competitors by offering a unique combination of affordability, comprehensive features, and exceptional customer support. Compared to other donor management systems, Little Green Light provides a more cost-effective solution without compromising on essential features. The software includes tools for managing donations, tracking donors, creating reports, and automating tasks, all within an intuitive and user-friendly interface. This balance of affordability and functionality makes Little Green Light an attractive option for organizations seeking a comprehensive yet budget-friendly solution.

Pros & Cons

  • Customizable Interface: Users appreciate the ability to tailor the Little Green Light interface to their specific needs, including custom fields, filters, and reports. This flexibility allows organizations to track the data most relevant to their mission and workflows.
  • Comprehensive Donor Management: Little Green Light offers robust tools for managing donor information, including contact details, donation history, and communication preferences. The software facilitates segmentation and targeting, enabling personalized outreach and engagement strategies.
  • Grant Tracking and Management: Little Green Light simplifies the grant management process by providing tools for tracking deadlines, reporting requirements, and awarded funds. This feature streamlines grantseeking and stewardship activities for nonprofits.
  • Streamlined Donation Processing: The platform integrates with various payment processors, enabling secure and efficient online donation processing. Little Green Light also supports recurring donations, tribute gifts, and other giving options, enhancing fundraising efforts.
  • Limited Reporting Functionality: Users frequently express frustration with the reporting capabilities, finding them to lack the depth and flexibility needed for comprehensive data analysis. For instance, generating custom reports or performing complex data manipulation can be cumbersome.
  • Steep Learning Curve: The software's interface and workflows can be challenging for new users to grasp, leading to a prolonged onboarding process and potential inefficiencies. Mastering the intricacies of Little Green Light often requires significant time investment and training.
  • Integrations and Add-Ons: While Little Green Light offers some integrations, users often find the selection to be limited, especially compared to other fundraising platforms. This can hinder connectivity with essential tools and services, creating data silos and manual workarounds.

Key Features

  • Data Import and Export: Exhibits complete export capabilities and helps migrate data using a powerful import tool. Data can be grouped to send personalized messages and emails. 
  • Customizable Dashboard: Provides quick access to information such as fundraising tools, alerts and more. Allows creation of new fields, hiding system fields and enables custom settings. 
  • Constituent Management: Manages organizational supporters such as donors, volunteers and members. Track invites, attendees, donations and more, all from one place. 
  • List Creation and Management: Allows saving information into lists for mailing, reports and more. Alumni Management offers class lists, search and reporting. 
  • Built-in Custom Reporting: Extends report building functionalities with prebuilt or custom templates as needed. Offers data analytics with insight into opportunities, new donor prospects and more. 
  • Fundraising and Volunteer Management: Tracks all fundraising activities, such as donations and gifts. Also handles volunteer interests and hours served. 
  • Acknowledgment and Receipts: Produces thank you acknowledgments and receipts and track who receives them. 
Bloomerang
Bloomerang
Start Price
$125
Monthly
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked Bloomerang

Bloomerang is a cloud-based solution for small and growing nonprofits that helps organizations view donor records, track the best time to contact each donor and measure donor engagement levels to improve outreach. Strengths include reporting, seamless integration, ease of use and automation. Users also praised the customer support. Some reviewers noted that extracting data isn’t very easy and that survey questions need more customization. However, the system allows unlimited users and is a good product to consider.

Pros & Cons

  • Reporting: 66% of the users who mentioned reporting said it was very robust and saved a lot of time.
  • Automation: The platform’s automation eliminates manual tasks, making functionality easier according to 60% of reviews about automation.
  • Ease of Use: 75% of users who refer to this feature mentioned the software is easy to use and adapt to, even without strong technical know-how.
  • Integration: 60% of reviews referencing this feature suggested that the platform is easy to operate due to integration with commonly used applications.
  • Customer Service: 100% of users mentioning this aspect said that they loved the chat support and that the support team helped them understand the product.
  • Task Management: The platform restricts exporting, generation of data and other functional tasks, with 60% of users who mention this feature observing that data extraction could be simpler.
  • Customization: 70% of the users who reviewed customization noted that the platform restricts customization of questions for donors, making it difficult to build strategies.

Key Features

  • Online Giving: Maximizes giving, provides strong security and keeps processing fees low. Integrates customizable with any website, supports multiple campaigns, automatically pulls in data captured in donor forms and is customizable. 
  • Email Marketing: Reach the right constituents with the right content from within the platform — no need to integrate with a third-party application like Constant Contact. Features include a user-friendly editor, mobile-responsive format, scheduling, templates, segmenting filters, analytics, receipts and delivery validation. 
  • Integrations: Connect Bloomerang to best-of-breed solutions that provide wealth screening, data stewardship, fund accounting, social fundraising, donation processing, IT assistance and website packages. However, the integrations aren’t as extensive as competitors such as Donor Perfect and Kindful. 
  • Engagement Meter: Shows how engaged contacts are to facilitate pursuing the best opportunities. Compiles information by measuring things like donation frequency, email opens and clicks, website visits, event attendance, donation amounts and social media interactions. 
  • Social Listening: Assists with effective Twitter engagement by providing a hub for monitoring interactions with an account, choosing hashtags and finding new connections. 
  • Reports: Understand organizational health and donor base with built-in reports that can be used as-is or customized for greater precision. Drag-and-drop tools and filters make reports easy to manage. 
  • Surveys: Encourages long-term relationships with constituents and identifies areas of improvement. The surveys, which focus on existing, lapsed and new donors, are science-based, drawing on the research of Dr. Sargeant. 
  • Grant Tracking: Custom fields, reports, relationship tracking and task management make it easier to secure funding. 
  • Volunteer Management: Simplifies the process of managing volunteers with the ability to record any necessary information as well as keep track of which donors have volunteered and which volunteers have donated. 
  • Data Import: Simplifies uploading of data from a spreadsheet and can retain information like notes and interactions. 
Donorbox
Donorbox
Start Price
$139
Monthly, Freemium
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked Donorbox

Ready to "box up" your fundraising woes? Donorbox might just be the answer you've been searching for. Reviews from the past year paint a picture of a platform that's a hit with nonprofits of all sizes, lauded for its user-friendly interface, affordability, and robust features. Users rave about the ease of setting up donation forms, managing donor information, and tracking campaign progress, all within a single, centralized platform. The ability to accept recurring donations and integrate with other popular apps is also a major plus. Donorbox seems to outshine competitors with its emphasis on donor engagement. Features like donor filters and milestone alerts help nonprofits build stronger relationships with their supporters, ultimately leading to increased donations and long-term sustainability.

However, no platform is perfect. Some users have noted that Donorbox's reporting capabilities could be more comprehensive, and that certain advanced features may require a bit of a learning curve. Yet, these minor drawbacks seem to be overshadowed by the platform's overall value and ease of use. Donorbox appears to be the ideal choice for nonprofits seeking a straightforward, cost-effective, and efficient way to manage their fundraising efforts. Its intuitive design, coupled with excellent customer support, makes it a winner for both tech-savvy and less tech-inclined users. Whether you're a small grassroots organization or a large charity, Donorbox provides the tools you need to streamline your fundraising and focus on what truly matters – making a difference in the world.

Pros & Cons

  • Simple Setup: Donorbox is known for its user-friendly interface and straightforward setup process, making it accessible even for those with limited technical expertise. The platform guides users through each step, from creating donation forms to embedding them on websites or social media.
  • Recurring Donations: The platform simplifies the management of recurring donations, allowing donors to set up automated contributions on a regular basis (weekly, monthly, or annually). This feature helps organizations secure predictable revenue streams and cultivate long-term donor relationships.
  • Multiple Payment Options: Donorbox supports various payment methods, including major credit cards, debit cards, ACH transfers, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal. This flexibility caters to a wider range of donor preferences and increases the likelihood of successful donations.
  • Data Security: Donorbox prioritizes data security and compliance with industry standards, such as PCI DSS. The platform employs encryption and other security measures to protect sensitive donor information, ensuring a safe and trustworthy donation experience.
  • Limited Functionality: Donorbox may not be suitable for organizations with complex fundraising needs, as it lacks advanced features such as peer-to-peer fundraising and event management.
  • Customer Support: Some users have reported challenges in receiving timely and effective support from Donorbox, particularly for technical issues or account inquiries.
  • Pricing Structure: The platform's pricing model, which includes a percentage-based fee on donations, may be less cost-effective for organizations with high donation volumes.

Key Features

  • Recurring Donations: Stabilize revenue flow through one-time or weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly donations with a single click. Allow donors to cover the processing fees through flexible donation modules. 
  • Company Donations: Maximize campaign donations through company contributions and gift matching. Integration with Double the Donation simplifies donation matching, motivating employers to match their gifts. 
  • Donor Management: Optimize outreach, eliminate duplicate entries, record communications and build consolidated databases. Campaigners can create segmented donor lists using advanced filters and get notified of crucial moments like anniversaries or plan upgrades. Recurring donors can create profiles to set up and regulate donation plans. 
  • Mobile Giving: Text-to-give simplifies the donation process for mobile donors. Fundraisers can include campaign details by checking the option to receive donations instantly. 
  • Payment Processing: Ensure a fast and secure payment process, complying with authentication regulations and depositing donations directly into campaign funds. Accept one-time and recurring donations through Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, electronic bank transfers and credit and debit cards, without storing any card details. 
  • Integrations: Streamline workflows and build consistent donor relationships by connecting with a host of solutions, including Salesforce, Mailchimp, Slack, QuickBooks, Airtable and more. 
  • Donation Forms: Create a personalized donation page free of cost or choose a pre-existing layout. Customize forms by adding colors, logo, images, hyperlinks, backgrounds and more. Donors can easily fill out the pop-up form by clicking the donate button. Nonprofits can access Custom CSS to add code segments. 
  • Analytics: Evaluate a campaign’s progress and glean valuable insights through Google Analytics. Facebook Pixel tracking code lets nonprofits monitor visitors’ interactions with the campaign website after watching advertisements. 
  • Campaign Management: Organize, implement and monitor initiatives through email marketing and other digital tools. 
    • Crowdfunding Management: Create engaging campaigns in minutes, with customizations to include campaign-centric branding. Nonprofits can discuss campaign details, share goals and track progress by posting text, images and videos on the crowdfunding page. 
    • Social Media: Increase outreach and generate online donations by sharing fundraisers on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. 
    • Donor Engagement: Increase involvement by allowing donors to subscribe, sending personalized emails and creating elaborate campaigns with stories, images, and videos. Tap into the donor wall option and embed it onto a website to share messages from donors. 
  • Global Support: Accepts donations in more than 20 currencies and offers localized forms in 11 languages. 
  • Goal Meter: Visualize a fundraiser’s progress towards its fundraising goal and track incoming donations through a campaign thermometer which can be included in donation forms, embedded separately or added to live events. 
  • Tax Receipt: Offers automated one-time and year-end tax receipts with customizable templates to fill in required details. Nonprofits based in the U.K. can reclaim tax by allowing U.K. donors to mark their donations as Gift Aid. 
DonorPerfect
DonorPerfect
Start Price
$99
Monthly
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked DonorPerfect

DonorPerfect is a comprehensive fundraising solution, helping nonprofits nurture donor relationships and manage common tasks like donations and emails. The system is pretty easy to use and learn, and has a helpful support team. Users also note its robust reporting and customization features as central benefits. However, it suffers from certain technical glitches, and the email and duplicate management functionalities need improvement. Overall, it’s a good fit for nonprofits who’re in search of a robust donor management platform.

Pros & Cons

  • Customer Support: According to 96% of reviewers who talk about this aspect, the support team is interactive, helpful, always available to respond and open to implementing user suggestions.
  • Ease of Use: The system is quite easy to navigate as observed by 98% of reviewers referencing this aspect.
  • Donor Management: Every user talking about this feature mentions it maintains complete donor profiles and tracks interactions.
  • Reporting: According to 61% of reviewers referencing this feature, it’s easy, versatile, helps make predictions and produces any dataset imaginable.
  • Easy to Learn: Knowledge base videos and webinars help in learning the platform, as observed by 81% of reviewers.
  • Customization: It’s easy to customize how and what to see in donor records, according to 85% of reviewers who mention this feature.
  • Email: More than 62% of reviewers referencing this feature observed it’s a bit outdated, customizing templates is difficult and setting up email reminders is tricky.
  • Technical Glitches: All users referencing this aspect noted certain issues — closing too soon during inactivity, inability to go directly to the contact screen from the search results and more.
  • Duplicate Management: Finding duplicate accounts requires regular maintenance and it needs a better duplicate removal tool, as noted by every user talking about this element.
  • Price: Although many reviewers find it affordable, according to 55% of users the pricing for add-ons could be more public and less expensive.

Key Features

  • Mobility: Process one-time and recurring gifts, accept payments quickly, analyze fundraising data using configurable reports, create and update records, and more while on the go. Connect with donors easily by accessing contact information, spotting them in nearby locations and viewing upcoming appointments. 
  • Email Marketing: Integration with Constant Contact ensures seamless communication and email marketing. Design, personalize and optimize emails using easy templates, update the system with automatic sync, report on campaigns and store unlimited history metrics. Phone, email and chat support is available from Constant Contact. 
  • Auction Management: Boost revenue via auctions, with tools for setting the bidding method and timeline, printing a catalog, and sending outbid text alerts. Track and combine donations, gather data from bid sheets, and manage guests and donations efficiently. Leaderboards help showcase sponsors and items and sell tickets. 
  • Automated Workflows: Save time on communications by automating task assignment, data updates, emails and staff alerts. Automation rules prompt different actions such as email notifications, field updates and pop-up messages. Also, create as many SmartActions and specific triggers as needed using custom filters. 
  • Account Integration: Manage financial statements, expenses and non-donor revenue using the installed or cloud-based features of QuickBooks. Capabilities include multiple account transactions, gift mapping to income and bank accounts, permission control, data file import, data customization and journal entries. 
  • Dynamic Screen:  Reduce data clutter by organizing donor records with SmartScreens. Automated actions include renaming field prompts, setting custom tab orders, marking required fields, hiding sections and fields, and more. It’s also possible to configure triggers based on preferences. 
  • Crowdfunding: Run effective fundraising campaigns using templates, customizable key fields and progress measures. Quick setup, customizability, integration options and organization style controls help manage the entire process efficiently. 
  • Batch Entry 2.0: Optimize data entry and minimize mistakes by confirming batch validity before posting. Prebuilt templates, editing for codes and unlimited batches are supported. 
  • Screen Designer: Configure screens by creating required fields, and customizing and simplifying workflows. Capabilities include editing field names and positions, hiding fields from donor records, modifying the tab order of screens, and more. 
  • Constituent Tracking: Nurture relationships with donors via phone calls, reminders and events, and target them with specific messages. Gather contact details, primary and secondary addresses, photo, pledge detail and history. Check status as a major donor, monthly donor, and volunteer. 
  • Email and Letter Personalization Send branded gift receipts that are populated with selected donor and gift data. Syncing data with emails and letters ensures every communication is personalized. 
  • Donor Targeting and Filtering: Analyze campaign success rates and segment donor groups using filters. It’s possible to control user access, make mass updates to specific records, fine-tune search results, set alerts, display desired calculations in records and more.  
  • Integrations: Support growth goals via integrations and partnerships across industries such as finance, accounting, auctions, online fundraising, advocacy, volunteer management, e-commerce and more. 
Wild Apricot
Wild Apricot
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request Pricing Request Demo

Key Features

  • Membership Management: Cloud-based secure databases allow administrators to search, update or share membership data with teammates. 
    • Membership Applications: Eliminate paperwork through an automated application process and online payments. Customize forms to include multiple levels, discount codes and membership approvals. 
    • Membership Renewals: Sends automated renewal notifications and invoices, reducing administrative workloads. 
    • Online Member Database: Update membership details in real time, making them accessible for supporters and executives. Import member details from a spreadsheet and customize them accordingly. 
    • Members-Only Pages: Drive engagement by providing member-exclusive content through web pages, blogs and forums, with customizations for specific levels or groups; accessible through a WordPress website as well. 
    • Membership Directory: Create online directories to reach out to customers and help members connect. Set up a searchable public or members-only directory. 
    • Membership Widgets: Embed application forms, directories and event listings directly onto the website. 
  • Website Management: Engage better with customers through professional and mobile-friendly website themes, including layouts for blogs and articles. Build a website from scratch or opt from pre-existing templates and customize with brand logos, colors, texts and images. Integrate widgets and embed calendars, donation forms and membership applications with a code. Update websites leveraging an easy-to-use interface and a drag-and-drop website builder. 
  • Payments: Facilitates quick and secure payments with Level 1 PCI DSS compliance. Offers flexible recurring payment options for donations, membership and registration fees through any device. Streamlines the process through automated database storing and invoice generation, and offers a 360-degree view through centralized and exportable reports. 
  • Event Management: Create comprehensive events coupled with specifications, images and online registration forms, synced to the website calendar. Incorporate coupon codes, additional costs, member-based pricing, first arrival discounts and other organization-specific add-ons to forms. Streamline events by scheduling email send-offs and embedding listings onto the website. 
  • Database Management: Gain greater, instant visibility through automatically updated records that include membership tenure, donations, event check-ins and more. Members can search and edit, look up or add contacts to the database. 
  • Online Store: List products, services and other digital and physical resources through the built-in online store while keeping track of stocks, payments and taxes. Facilitate easy browsing by modifying products, offering exclusive member prices and adding images and descriptions. Cut down manual labor by setting stock limits and automatically marking sold-out products. 
  • Mobile: Manage invoices, record payments, add events, verify registrations and scan QR codes for check-ins using Android and iOS apps. Administrators can manage members and events, approve or reject pending applications, and track unpaid invoices through an admin-specific mobile app. Supporters can interact with the organization, register for events, view event calendars, edit personal information and more using a member-centric app. 
Tessitura
Tessitura
Start Price
$8,000
Monthly, Quote-based
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked Tessitura

Is Tessitura really the "suture" for arts and cultural organizations seeking a comprehensive CRM solution?

Tessitura CRM garners a mixed bag of user reviews, reflecting a powerful yet somewhat antiquated platform. Users consistently highlight its robust functionality and customization options as major strengths. For instance, one user praised the software's ability to generate custom visualizations and reports without requiring extensive SQL knowledge. This granular control over data allows organizations to tailor Tessitura to their specific needs, a crucial aspect for managing complex ticketing, fundraising, and marketing operations. However, the software's outdated interface and steep learning curve are recurring criticisms. Users often find themselves needing to defend the software to less tech-savvy colleagues, highlighting a potential barrier to adoption and widespread use within organizations. This dichotomy in user experience suggests that while Tessitura excels in its comprehensive feature set, it might require a significant investment in training and user acclimation.

Overall, Tessitura proves most suitable for larger arts and cultural organizations with the resources to navigate its complexities. Its ability to handle intricate workflows, generate in-depth reports, and provide a centralized platform for constituent data management makes it a valuable tool for streamlining operations and enhancing customer relationships. However, smaller organizations with limited technical expertise might find its learning curve and outdated interface daunting. For these users, exploring alternative CRM solutions with a greater emphasis on user-friendliness might be a more suitable path.

Pros & Cons

  • Centralized Operations: Tessitura excels at consolidating various functions like ticketing, fundraising, and customer data management into a single platform, leading to streamlined operations and a unified view of patron interactions.
  • Data-Driven Insights: The software's robust reporting and analytics capabilities empower users to gain a deeper understanding of their audience, track key performance indicators, and make informed decisions based on comprehensive data analysis.
  • Personalized Engagement: Tessitura enables personalized marketing campaigns and communication strategies by leveraging detailed patron profiles and interaction history, fostering stronger relationships and targeted outreach.
  • Subscription Management: The platform excels in managing subscriptions, offering user-friendly tools for creating, selling, and renewing subscription packages, simplifying a complex process for both staff and patrons.
  • Steep Learning Curve: Tessitura's extensive functionality can be overwhelming for new users, demanding significant time investment for training and onboarding.
  • Outdated User Interface: Some users find the interface outdated and less intuitive compared to modern CRM platforms, potentially impacting user experience and efficiency.
  • Cumbersome Data Management: Tasks like pulling specific data sets or generating custom reports can be complex and time-consuming, requiring advanced knowledge of the system.

Key Features

  • Capacity Controlled Ticketing: Control venue and seat map setup, set exclusive inventory for customers and create an unlimited number of hold codes for internal inventory control, based on users’ security rights. 
  • Information Requests: Log and track customers’ requests for informational materials and fulfill outstanding requests automatically. Use these for targeted marketing efforts and other communications. 
  • Packages and Bundles: Create, manage, renew and upgrade different types of packages and bundles for lectures, special events, daily planning and concerts. Includes combo ticket deals, composite tickets with a single barcode, parking, dining and audio guides in packages, and automatic discounts based on products-in-cart. 
  • Interactive Dashboards: Make strategic business decisions by fetching data from flexible, advanced dashboards, accessible in any web browser. Offers visual analysis using sorting, filtering and drill-down capabilities, along with notifications of milestones and key moments. 
  • Reports: Create customized reports and build personalized dashboards to track KPIs. Integrate relevant third-party data and configure additional data elements for queries and outputs. 
  • Kiosks: Kiosk integration: 
    •  Streamlines visitor arrivals with automated ticket pickup and customer information capture. 
    •  Provides instant access to membership information and benefits through card scan or membership number. 
    •  Allows personalizing EMV-ready and PCI-compliant kiosks with graphics and desired features. 
  • On-Site Customer Service: Enable ticket validation for location-based services and notifications, as well as printed and digital tickets. Alerts for VIP entrance deliver personalized messages on time. 
  • Data Purge: Delete personally identifiable data from the system and review scheduled purges to see warnings for issues such as outstanding payments or upcoming activities. Control permissions for purging, notify third parties of data that’s being purged and review scheduled purges. 
  • Ticket Scanning: Scan traditional, print-at-home and mobile tickets as well as student tags using N-Scan, and manage timed entries. Validates membership, tracks member attendance, shows trends in attendance and benefits usage, and more. 
  • Check-in and Composite Tickets: Scan a single bar code to record attendance and scan group leader’s confirmation to load the order. A single bar code can represent multiple components including exhibits, performances, parking, classes, general admission and more. 
  • Virtual Experience: Expand reach to find prospects and strengthen relationships with local customers. Offer virtual tours and talks, videos or livestreams, and online camps and classes. Determine sales through configurable ticketing and ensure a seamless customer experience using digital content pages and online waiting rooms. 
  • Fundraising: Manage fundraisers, contributions and pledges, with essential tools available on mobile as well. Offers acknowledgment letters, invitation lists, guest tracking and attendance for special fundraising events. Configure payment schedules, funds, campaigns, appeals, donor levels and memberships according to specific needs. 
  • Targeted Marketing: Leverage social media marketing, connect with patrons on digital platforms and target the desired audience efficiently. Monitor efforts to figure out what’s working best, leverage budgets effectively and determine branding. 
  • TN Express Web: Leverage a secure and flexible web purchase path and maximize revenue with targeted upsell. Sell tickets, gift certificates, memberships, class registrations, donations and more. 
  • Retail: Sell products and merchandise directly through the system, using a flexible point-of-sale interface and an integrated shopping cart. Bundle products with tickets and admissions, offer discounts, create packages and configure upsell prompts for online and in-house sales. 
  • Resource Scheduling: Define and manage specific resources and bookings, view entries and assignments, and get an overview of bookings and assignments through comprehensive reports. 
Qgiv
Qgiv
Start Price
$25
Monthly
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
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Why We Picked Qgiv

Qgiv appears to be most suitable for small to medium-sized nonprofit organizations seeking an affordable and user-friendly fundraising solution. The platform's intuitive interface and comprehensive feature set make it easy for organizations with limited resources or technical expertise to manage their fundraising efforts effectively. Additionally, Qgiv's focus on customer support and its active user community provide valuable assistance and guidance to users, further enhancing its suitability for organizations that may require additional support.

One of the key strengths of Qgiv, as highlighted by users, is its exceptional customer support. Users consistently praise the responsiveness and helpfulness of the support team, noting that they receive prompt and effective assistance whenever needed. This level of support is particularly crucial for organizations that may not have dedicated IT staff or extensive technical knowledge. Furthermore, Qgiv distinguishes itself through its robust peer-to-peer fundraising capabilities. The platform provides tools and features that enable organizations to effectively engage supporters in fundraising efforts, fostering a sense of community and expanding their reach. This is particularly valuable for organizations that rely on grassroots fundraising and community involvement.

However, some users have mentioned that Qgiv's reporting features could be more comprehensive. While the platform offers basic reporting functionalities, users have expressed a desire for more advanced options and customization capabilities. This aspect is important for organizations that require in-depth data analysis and reporting to track their fundraising progress and make informed decisions. Additionally, while Qgiv offers a range of features, some users have noted that certain functionalities, such as event management, may not be as extensive or as robust as those offered by some competing platforms. This is a significant consideration for organizations that heavily rely on event-based fundraising and require advanced event management tools.

Pros & Cons

  • Simple Donation Forms: Qgiv's forms are praised for their ease of use, allowing donors to quickly complete their contributions without unnecessary complexity. This streamlined approach helps to minimize abandoned donations and improve the overall donor experience.
  • Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Tools: The platform's peer-to-peer fundraising features empower organizations to leverage the networks of their supporters. This functionality allows individuals to create personal fundraising pages and reach out to their contacts, expanding the organization's reach and fundraising potential.
  • Event Management Capabilities: Qgiv simplifies event planning and execution with tools for managing registrations, ticketing, and attendee information. This comprehensive functionality streamlines the event process, allowing organizations to focus on creating a successful and engaging experience for attendees.
  • Variety of Donation Options: Qgiv accommodates diverse donor preferences by offering various donation methods, including credit/debit cards, ACH transfers, and digital wallets. This flexibility ensures that donors can contribute using their preferred payment method, enhancing convenience and accessibility.
  • Limited Customization: Users frequently express frustration with the lack of flexibility in customizing donation forms, event pages, and email templates to align with specific branding or campaign requirements.
  • Reporting Challenges: Generating comprehensive and insightful reports can be cumbersome, often requiring manual data manipulation or exporting to external tools for further analysis.
  • Integrations: While Qgiv offers some integrations, users often find the selection limited, particularly for marketing automation and CRM systems, hindering streamlined workflows.
  • Customer Support: Response times and issue resolution can be inconsistent, leaving users feeling unsupported when encountering technical difficulties or seeking guidance.

Key Features

  • Donation Forms: Invite new supporters and engage existing ones with mobile-friendly forms. Infuse distinct brand details, display images and donation amounts, and edit text through design modules. Customize documents, confirmations, receipts, summaries and more. Offers embedding and multistep or single-step form layouts. 
  • Event Management: Streamline the fundraising process through flexible and easy-to-implement tools. 
    • Registration: Drive outreach by providing multiple registration options, including packages for individuals, families and VIPs. Offer discounts and promo codes. Facilitate online and offline sign-ups through a virtual terminal. 
    • Data Transfer: Run coordinated events through automated data export to donor management tools, emails and CRMs. Remove redundancy by copying annual events and processing registration details and reports in real time. 
    • Donor Engagement: Boost support through personalized communications, virtual invitations, social sharing and simplified donation options. 
  • Reporting: Monitor income generation, compare campaigns, observe donor activities, access valuable insights and more through extensive reports. 
    • Custom Reports: Quickly pull specific reports through saved filters, with options to add, remove and reposition fields. 
    • Intelligent Data Analysis: Measure campaign efficacy by leveraging advanced statistics to track new, existing or lapsed donors, retention rate, lifetime value and one-off and recurring donors. 
    • Donor Summaries: Provide donors with comprehensive summaries of their donations and registrations via email. 
    • Dashboard: Gain valuable, real-time insights on campaigns’ effectiveness and donation modes, total contributions and activities. 
  • Campaign Thermometer: Visualize a campaign’s progress via a live thermometer, embeddable on web pages. 
  • GiftAssist: Allows donors to skip processing fees, ensuring more of the gift amount goes directly to the organization. 
  • Recurring Giving: Guarantee stable revenue streams by asking one-off donors to convert into recurring ones and offering installment plans. 
  • Fundraising Hub: Simplify fundraising by linking donations and registration forms to one page, displaying event progress. 
  • Mobile-Optimized Bidding: Donors can create a list of preferred auction items, set bid limits, bid with a swipe or QR code, receive notifications and view purchased products through the mobile app. Offers app check-ins and saved payment methods for faster processing. 
  • Kiosk: Collect donations at events, meetings, spirit nights and more via handheld kiosks that accept credit and debit card payments. 
easyTithe
easyTithe
Start Price
$0
Company Size
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Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
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Key Features

  • Reporting: Generate and customize standard reports, including donation statements, transaction summaries, donor contribution statements and deposit reports with the amount, status and invoice date. Admins can extract reports based on dates, donors and transactions. Send automated reports of daily, weekly or monthly donation activities to a preferred email. 
  • Forms: Collect information, receive donations, organize and track events, facilitate sign-ups, sell products and more by accessing unlimited online forms purpose-built for churches. Opt for a pre-existing template or create and customize one with images, text and colors. Enable giving or event registration by embedding a generated code into any website. Leverage email notifications to send receipts, thank you messages, alerts upon form submission and more. 
  • Donation Management: Increase donations through multiple options for recurring giving. Accept gifts via debit card, credit card or ACH bank drafts. Donors can choose the amount, frequency and payment method of their gift, schedule via text, app or website, and manage or edit their donations. Send donation reports, make changes to campaigns and edit payment profiles through the dashboard. Churches can enroll in scholarship programs to aid ministry needs. 
  • Integrations: Optimize workflows and manage donations by leveraging integrations with different church management software, including SimpleChurch CRM, FellowShipOne, Shelby, ACS Technologies, PowerChurch, Church Office Online and more. 
  • Mobile App: Supports iOS and Android natively; donors can set up and manage their one-time or recurring donations, and the app will save their information for faster giving. 
  • Funds Management: Create or revise unlimited funds in a consolidated place, select keywords, edit display orders and add sub-funds. Admins can leverage the intuitive interface by editing funds in real time and controlling the listed orders. Create secondary funds for maintenance, seasonal campaigns, summer camps and other needs. 
  • Centralized Admin System: Access crucial data and admin management tools, including invoices, funds, donor information, transaction history and data exports from a unified dashboard. Gain actionable insights through graphs charting monthly trends, recurring contributions and forecasting. 
  • Security: Gain complete data protection and secure financial transactions through Level 1 PCI DSS compliance and 256-bit SSL encryption. Protect data center facilities with card control access systems, camera surveillance and perimeter security, allowing access only to certified employees. 

COMPARE THE BEST Fundraising Platforms

Select up to 2 Products from the list below to compare

 
Product
Score
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SelectHub’s Analyst Rating is based on data from our 400+ point analysis of Fundraising Platforms, user reviews, and our own crowd-sourced data from our free software selection platform. Scores are periodically updated via ongoing selection projects and user activity within our platform.
Start Price
Free Trial
Company Size
Deployment
Platform
Logo
Givelify
$0.30
Per Donation, 2.9% Flat Rate
Yes
Small Medium Large
Cloud On-Premise
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Givelify
Classy
$299
Monthly
No
Small Medium Large
Cloud On-Premise
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Classy
Little Green Light
$45
Monthly
Yes
Small Medium Large
Cloud On-Premise
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Little Green Light
Bloomerang
$125
Monthly
No
Small Medium Large
Cloud On-Premise
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Bloomerang
Donorbox
$139
Monthly, Freemium
No
Small Medium Large
Cloud On-Premise
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Donorbox
DonorPerfect
$99
Monthly
Yes
Small Medium Large
Cloud On-Premise
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
DonorPerfect
Wild Apricot
Still gathering data
No
Small Medium Large
Cloud On-Premise
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Wild Apricot
Tessitura
$8,000
Monthly, Quote-based
No
Small Medium Large
Cloud On-Premise
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Tessitura
Qgiv
$25
Monthly
No
Small Medium Large
Cloud On-Premise
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Qgiv
easyTithe
$0
Yes
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Cloud On-Premise
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easyTithe

All Fundraising Platforms (34 found)

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Givelify

by Givelify
Givelify
Givelify, an online donation platform, simplifies raising funds through a dedicated mobile app that holds over 45,000 verified reviews and nearly one million downloads. Users can access donor databases, track text-to-give donations, reach out to bilingual audiences and build custom campaigns, without any contracts or hidden charges. It ensures ease of donation by integrating with existing as well as new church management technologies. It allows donors to give anytime, anywhere. Additionally, it connects fast-growing communities of active donors, provides customization and personal branding options, and helps set donation goals.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: excellent
Cost Breakdown
$10 or less
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
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Classy

by Classy
Classy
Classy is an online solution that helps nonprofit organizations connect with supporters worldwide. It optimizes donor experiences by providing a holistic view of contributor history. Its advanced security modules ensure data protection and block false donations.Users can create customizable, brand-centric campaigns for wider outreach. Other capabilities include virtual event management, recurring donation plans, CRM integrations, reporting and more.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: great
Cost Breakdown
$100 - $500
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
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Little Green Light

by Little Green Light
Little Green Light
Little Green Light is a cloud-based all-in-one system that offers simplified data management, integrations and donor management that make it easy to process online donations. It provides monthly and annual subscriptions without hidden costs or restrictions on the number of users.It simplifies nonprofit operations with basic and advanced features based on company requirements. It can be utilized by individuals or a team, with a user-friendly design that’s good for users without technical knowledge. The intuitive UI consolidates spreadsheets and allows data analysis.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: excellent
Cost Breakdown
$10 - $100
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
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Bloomerang

by Bloomerang
Bloomerang
Bloomerang is a complete system allowing nonprofit organizations to manage donor relationships, events and fundraising. Its emphasis on donor engagement and retention supports company growth.Capabilities include email marketing, online giving, grant tracking, donor surveys, data segmentation, dashboards, reporting and prospect research. Deployment via Amazon Cloud Services provides security and scalability. It’s available to both U.S. and Canadian organizations.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: excellent
Cost Breakdown
$100 - $500
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
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Donorbox

by Rebel Idealist
Donorbox
DonorBox is a digital system that helps receive online donations and payments, ensures easy campaign management through seamless website integrations and allows users to manage recurring donation plans. The dashboard helps build and distribute donation forms, offers text-to-give messages for free, and manages crowdfunding pages. It encourages donations by letting users embed donation forms or create custom pop-ups. Its anti-fraud wizardry, SSL/TLS encryption, strong customer authentication and secure payment gateway help organizations circumvent any false or fraudulent donations.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: excellent
Cost Breakdown
$100 - $500
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
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DonorPerfect

by SofterWare, Inc.
DonorPerfect
DonorPerfect is a comprehensive fundraising solution that helps non-profits nurture donor relationships. It helps manage donations, receipts, contacts, emails and fundraising initiatives from a single system. Capabilities include integrated online donation forms, automatic monthly giving, standard and custom reports, auction management, Constant Contact email and a network of integrated partner products. It helps save time and offers pricing packages to meet any budget.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: great
Cost Breakdown
$10 - $100
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
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Wild Apricot

by Wild Apricot Inc.
Wild Apricot
Wild Apricot takes care of membership management for nonprofit organizations. It assists in building, growing and managing both potential and active donors. The unified dashboard helps simplify online joining, registration and payments. It automates 75% of admin tasks such as collecting membership dues and processing event registrations. It helps build websites, offers cloud storage, sends automated receipts, integrates with commonly used apps and updates the database with new entries. Users can generate extra revenue by selling merchandise through custom online stores.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: great
Cost Breakdown
$100 - $500
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
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Tessitura

by Tessitura Network
Tessitura
Tessitura is a sophisticated software solution designed to streamline customer relationship management (CRM) and ticketing operations, primarily for arts and cultural organizations. It excels in integrating ticketing, fundraising, marketing, and customer service into a single platform, making it ideal for theaters, museums, and performing arts centers. Users appreciate its robust features, such as comprehensive patron management, seamless ticketing processes, and detailed reporting capabilities. Tessitura stands out for its ability to handle complex membership and subscription models, which is a significant advantage for organizations with diverse audience engagement strategies. While pricing details are not publicly disclosed, potential users are encouraged to contact SelectHub for a tailored quote. Tessitura's unique blend of CRM and ticketing functionalities, combined with its focus on the arts sector, distinguishes it from other products, offering a tailored solution that enhances operational efficiency and audience engagement.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: great
Cost Breakdown
$1,000 or more
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
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Qgiv

by Qgiv
Qgiv
Qgiv assists in digitally raising funds and managing donations. It offers peer-to-peer fund gathering, app-based auctions, event management, online handheld kiosks and more. It integrates with email marketing software and CRMs to analyze data, create donor segmentation and ensure tailored communication. Unlimited forms, event management, training and support help raise recurring donations. Users can create and improve data-driven engagement based on reports and statistics. The text-to-donate function helps raise funds through mobile devices, while a mobile tool kit encourages active donations.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: excellent
Cost Breakdown
$10 - $100
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
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easyTithe

by easyTithe
easyTithe
easyTithe is an online system that helps raise and manage donations through websites, a mobile app, text messaging and even on-site kiosks. It sends active notifications, provides custom reports and automates emails to track and manage donations and transactions conveniently. Forecasts about upcoming trends help plan campaigns. It empowers users with custom donation forms, the MinistryOne church app, an intuitive control panel and dashboard, automated and simplified reporting and up-to-date resources that help collect funds. It also ensures secure payment gateways and follows certified PCI, DSS and SSL security for safe transactions.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: great
Cost Breakdown
$10 or less
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
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Anedot

by Anedot
Anedot
Anedot is a tool that receives online donations, covers processing fees, helps maintain secure and committed donor relations, and provides data for informed decision-making. It ensures easy transactions by connecting multiple bank accounts and organizations on a unified dashboard. It is contract-free, available with zero monthly charges, and accepts direct payment through any device. It empowers campaigns for various causes, such as political, religious, education and more. It also lets users run customized campaigns using drag-and-drop lead pages.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: excellent
Cost Breakdown
$10 - $100
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
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GiveSmart

by Community Brands HoldCo.
GiveSmart
GiveSmart is an event fund gathering technology that offers customizable event size, mobile bidding, text-to-donate, enhanced dashboard and reporting, seating arrangement, and more. It provides silent item management for live auctions and intuitive designs for product descriptions and designs. Campaign creation and management, ticketing, mobile responsive sites, secure payment processing, and automated tax receipts and thank you notes are some of its inclusions. Users can set up dedicated pages for special days like Giving Tuesdays, events, auctions, fundraising games and more. Some of its additional attributes are self-checkout, pledge collection, event registration, sponsorship recognition and live donation displays.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: great
Cost Breakdown
$1,000 or more
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
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OneCause

by OneCause
OneCause
OneCause is an easy-to-use platform for nonprofits of all sizes that provides features to manage multiple fundraisers all through the year. It supports virtual fundraising, offers best practices and insights from different nonprofit organizations, and helps companies engage, learn and share to amplify fundraising success. For greater flexibility, users can opt for support with specific causes using customized branding, registration and launch options.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: excellent
Cost Breakdown
$100 - $500
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
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Givebutter

by Givebutter
Givebutter
Givebutter is a software platform designed to help organizations, particularly nonprofits, raise money online. It offers a suite of tools for creating and managing fundraising campaigns, including website building, payment processing, and email marketing. Givebutter's user-friendly interface and comprehensive features make it a suitable choice for organizations of all sizes, from small community groups to large enterprises. Key benefits of using Givebutter include its ease of use, affordability, and the wide range of features it offers. Users appreciate the platform's modern functionalities, such as accepting Venmo donations and creating interactive fundraising pages. Givebutter's pricing structure is based on a "tip-or-fee" model, where organizations can use the platform for free with the option for donors to leave a tip, or they can choose to pay a platform fee ranging from 1% to 5%. This flexible pricing model makes Givebutter an attractive option compared to other fundraising platforms that often charge subscription fees.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: excellent
Cost Breakdown
$10 or less
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request with no obligation:
Demo Pricing

Auctria

by Auctria
Auctria
Auctria is an online platform to organize and manage auctions and fundraising campaigns. Users can host campaigns, raise donations, generate donor receipts, and track bidders, donors and ticket bookings. It keeps the entire team updated about campaign progress as well as allows them to sell tickets, acknowledge donors or sponsors, run online bidding and promote organizational causes. The dashboard simplifies and streamlines processes, manages auctions and offers text-to-give functionality.It assists in cross-country or cross-platform events and campaigns for independent users and team members. Additionally, it supports mobile bidding and donations.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: excellent
Cost Breakdown
$500 - $1,000
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
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NationBuilder

by NationBuilder
NationBuilder
NationBuilder is a digital solution that helps build advocacy programs, manage nonprofit campaigns and run election campaigns. It helps develop and grow a community using integrations, real-time data, customized site building, advanced communications and payment processing. Users can manage and control data, generate leads, capture local votes, gather history and demographics, and do more using a dashboard. It helps run successful campaigns based on prospect interests using an activity stream and issue-based tagging.It offers targeted communications with smart fields, segmentation and automated email actions. Ready-to-use templates make volunteering and donating easy. It also enables leadership through peer-to-peer outreach, permission control, recruiter tracking and customizable volunteer management.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: good
Cost Breakdown
$10 - $100
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
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Kindful

by Kindful
Kindful
Kindful is a fundraising software designed to assist nonprofit organizations of varying sizes in managing their donor data, online fundraising efforts, and donor engagement activities. Its comprehensive features cater to the needs of growing nonprofits seeking to streamline their fundraising operations and cultivate stronger relationships with their supporters. Among its notable benefits are its user-friendly interface, robust reporting capabilities, and seamless integrations with popular communication and payment processing tools. Kindful's pricing structure is typically based on the number of contacts managed within the system, offering flexibility to accommodate organizations with different budget considerations. Compared to similar fundraising software options, Kindful often receives praise for its intuitive design, comprehensive feature set, and responsive customer support. However, some users may find that its advanced features and customization options require a learning curve to fully utilize.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: great
Cost Breakdown
$100 - $500
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
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EveryAction

by EveryAction
EveryAction
EveryAction is a digital unified solution that assists in raising funds, handling internal operations and donor management. Users can build a highly engaged supporter base, gather and manage online donations, and send and respond to targeted emails and advocacy efforts. The built-in CRM includes segmentation, data management and reporting for easy administration. Other attributes include event management, direct messaging, social network integration, volunteer management, member activation, mobile contributions and more. Additionally, it supports state and federal PAC compliance.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: excellent
Cost Breakdown
$100 - $500
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request with no obligation:
Demo Pricing

MobileCause

by MobileCause
MobileCause
MobileCause (acquired by Community Brands as part of the GiveSmart platform) is an online software purpose-built for nonprofit organizations to accelerate raising funds both in-person and virtually. Users can leverage text-to-donate, scannable ticketing, live event thermometer, peer-to-peer pages, volunteer signups and more. A dedicated in-person strategist provides them with one-on-one custom fundraising plans, storytelling best practices, interactive calls-to-action and donor engagement strategies. Other offerings include a unified dashboard, fundraising without transaction fees, 24x7 customer support, donor reporting and analytics and end-to-end security.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: excellent
Cost Breakdown
$10 - $100
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
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Demo Pricing

GiveGab

by GiveGab
GiveGab
GiveGab is an online platform for raising funds and managing donations. Its Giving Day challenges create urgency, supporting peer-to-peer influencing and fund gathering strategies. Community giving ensures flexibility, timeliness of campaigns, events and new initiatives. The philanthropy hub empowers users with a customizable directory of contacts. It also provides crowdfunding, white-label donation forms and commonly used integrations.Users can create branded campaigns for nonprofits using design principles, custom colors and fonts, logos, images and icons.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: excellent
Cost Breakdown
$10 or less
Company Size
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Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
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Buyer's Guide

Fundraising Platforms Are All About Connecting Donors With Nonprofits

By Manogna Chandrika Matta, Technical Writer and Market Analyst at SelectHub

Fundraising Platforms BG Intro

For nonprofits and non-government organizations (NGOs), funds collected via donations are the cog that keeps the wheels turning. Traditionally, fundraising efforts entailed phone calls from volunteers, direct mail to prospective donors and throwing elaborate galas to raise money for a particular cause. Now, more and more charities are shifting to digital platforms and opting for online fundraising to raise money. Fundraising platforms assist nonprofits with this digital shift by streamlining the online donation process.

This guide to fundraising platforms serves as a crash course in selecting the best possible system for nonprofit organizations (NPOs). We’ll cover what fundraising platforms are, features, benefits, deployment methods and what questions to ask to find the ideal solution. Let’s get started.

Executive Summary

  • Fundraising platforms help connect with donors and raise more funds.
  • A robust fundraising platform offers automation capabilities, text-to-give, a centralized donor base and social media sharing options.
  • Online fundraising platforms help nonprofits minimize operational costs, build transparency with donors, track donor information and encourage recurring donations.
  • Advanced tools like email marketing, analytics and reporting help engage donors and measure the pulse of nonprofits.
  • Creating a requirements checklist can help you narrow down your options to the most appropriate solution.
What This Guide Covers:

What Are Fundraising Platforms?

Fundraising platforms are systems that help ease the fundraising process for NPOs and donors. The software’s primary goal is to promote your organization’s philanthropic cause and strengthen donor relationships to receive optimal donations throughout the year. You can use the system to raise money via the internet and meet donors right where they are.

As of 2023, nearly 92% of U.S. individuals accessed the internet, compared to 75% in 2012. The pandemic especially led to several business operations like fundraising to strengthen their online presence. Fundraising platforms can help execute online as well as traditional campaigns and measure project success.

You can gather donor information, track payments, streamline operational tasks and much more. The solutions let you collect funds through different methods, including peer-to-peer fundraising, campaign pages, donation widgets, text-to-donate and Google ad grants.

Fundraising Platforms Categories

Crowdfunding helps collect small amounts of capital from a large number of people to fund a new business venture. It uses online fundraising platforms and social media to increase your pool of investors.

With hints of CRM functionalities, fundraising platforms also serve as a donor management portal that collects, tracks and organizes data, enabling organizations to create segmented donor profiles for targeted campaigning. Customizable communication and automation capabilities are other tools that can drastically transform your donor interactions for the better.

Deployment Methods

Vendors offer several on-premise and cloud-based deployment models or a hybrid of both. Charities can opt for any of these methods based on their requirements and sizes.

On-premise

On-premise fundraising platforms require installation on a dedicated server on-site. Local data storage restricts employee access to authorized desktops in the office. As it’s hosted in-house, you may need to hire an IT professional for maintenance and upgrades. You can purchase it as an annually renewable package or a lifetime single-user license.

Cloud-based

Vendors host cloud-based fundraising platforms on remote servers and databases, and they don’t require installation on your organization’s servers. Employees can access the systems anywhere, anytime via web browsers and mobile apps. It lets donors make contributions via their phones.

Since the onus of maintenance, upgrades and day-to-day operations falls on vendors, it proves to be a more economically viable solution. Typically, cloud-based fundraising platforms are subscription-based.

Like other industries, most fundraising platforms have shifted from on-premise deployments to more accessible cloud-based models. Cloud-based systems are cost-effective, flexible, and facilitate complete visibility and communication between team members, making it easy to hold charity events and live online auctions. You can provide your teams with immediate access to relevant donor data and fundraising events and work in tandem with remote volunteers.

However, if you’re looking for higher customizations, then an on-premise deployment is your best bet. Ultimately, the choice depends on your company’s specific needs.

Primary Benefits

Fidelity Charitable Giving Report states that as the value of cryptocurrency increased, the platform had donor contributions of digital assets soar nearly twelvefold in 2021 compared to 2020. Fundraising platforms help streamline and optimize the online donation process. Below, we delve into some of the unique benefits your organization and supporters can derive by implementing fundraising solutions:

Primary Benefits of Fundraising Platforms

For Nonprofits

Minimal Costs: Online fundraising has a wider reach than traditional fundraising methods like snail mail and in-person solicitation. It’s easy to set up, and administrative and maintenance costs are significantly lower. This ensures more funds in the long run.

Trust Building: You can itemize what each donation is used for on your website to build transparency with donors. It assures people that you’re using their money for its intended purpose. With increased trust, they are likely to donate money again.

Donor Engagement: You can gain a comprehensive view of donor data. Create donor and volunteer profiles by capturing their personal information. Knowing their philanthropic interests and preferred mode of communication will allow you to connect with them more effectively. Segment donors based on multiple criteria like age, profession, location and more.

For Donors

Ease of Access: Online donation is quicker, more reliable and more convenient than traditional fundraising. Donors can take a few seconds out of their busy routine to donate digitally and from the comfort of their homes.

Recurring Donations: With conventional fundraising methods, donors had to check their mail regularly to donate to nonprofits on a daily basis. Online fundraising platforms make this process easier by allowing donors to set up automatic recurring payments.

Social Sharing:Donors can easily share your organization’s information on social media to demonstrate support and encourage others to donate. It’s a cost-effective way to raise awareness about your nonprofit to people. The platforms also provide public acknowledgment to donors that they can share on their social media channels.

Implementation Goals

It’s essential to set some predetermined goals before zeroing in on a solution. Below, we list some implementation goals you can hope to achieve by incorporating the right platform.

Goal 1

Increase Donations

The crux of fundraising systems is to increase the number and amount of donations. Donor and campaign management, crowdfunding and live auction capabilities help you target donors to raise more money.

Goal 2

Save Time

Fundraising solutions provide automation capabilities that allow companies to reduce time on repetitive, time-consuming tasks. From automated thank-you notes and tax receipts to pledge management and gift handling, fundraising platforms free up time to spend on work that matters.

Goal 3

Improve Donor Retention

For small and medium NPOs, ensuring consistent donations plays a huge part in sustaining their cause. Fundraising solutions help you acquire more donors and retain existing ones for an extended period.

Tools like an engagement meter and donor management help segment contributors based on their interactions and history with your NPO. This helps curate personalized campaigns and messages for a long-standing relationship with your donors.

Goal 4

Optimize Engagement

One of the primary purposes of fundraising platforms is to attract prospective donors with engaging content. With a fundraising solution, you can execute highly engaging and moving campaigns to take your initiative forward.

Goal 5

Enhance Communication

Fundraising platforms enable you to deliver segmentation-based, personalized messages to donors.

Basic Features & Functionality

Donation Forms

This feature helps nonprofits invite and engage with donors. Create customizable, mobile-friendly donation forms and pages to collect donor information as well as donations. You can also incorporate brand-centric details like logo, text, background, hyperlinks and images.

Some fundraising platforms offer pre-existing templates for you to choose from. Add conditional form fields for volunteering, donations and sign-ups so you can kill two birds with one stone.
Fundraising Management

Fundraisers are the quickest way to connect with donors. Fundraising solutions allow NPOs to manage and create elaborate and flexible online fundraisers. You can develop multiple fundraisers for specific projects.

Ticketing and attendee management modules help streamline fundraising operations. You can also save campaigns for future use.
Online Donation Management

Donations are the lifeline of any nonprofit. With fundraising platforms, you can facilitate one-click donations and provide membership programs and premium giving options. It simplifies the donation process by allowing donors to contribute via any device.

Self-service capabilities let donors update contact and payment information by themselves. You can view and track donations in a centralized database.
Mobile App

Most fundraising platforms offer mobile app support, accessible via iOS and Android devices. Mobile apps provide payment processing, online bidding, invoice management and registration features.

Nonprofits can organize events, manage donations and donors, track invoices and even reject or approve pending membership applications. Some platforms also let you customize the app layout using a drag-and-drop builder.
Text-to-Give

Provide a 10-digit number to supporters to receive donations via texts. You can even send personalized messages and donation site links and ask for emergency relief funds.
Donor Management

Building a consistent relationship with your donors is the key to sustaining your initiative. Fundraising solutions help you optimize outreach through personalized communications.

Organize and manage donor data in a centralized repository. Save their preferences, donation history and prior interactions for impactful engagement. Advanced filters let you set up notifications of important donor moments like anniversaries.
Recurring Donations

A stable and continuous donation flow ensures the lights stay on. You can set up recurring weekly, monthly or yearly donations and create subscription programs to generate a constant revenue stream.
Campaign Thermometer

Visualize the progress of your fundraising events and campaigns. Embed campaigns into websites and include them in donation forms.
Crowdfunding

A robust fundraising platform can accommodate your crowdfunding needs with collaborative tools, support pages and role-specific customizations. You can share campaigns within your network and assign unique keywords to fundraisers.
Campaign Management

Organize and coordinate online and offline events and campaigns like giving days, peer-to-peer fundraisers, galas and marathons. It helps streamline operations through attendee management, registration and ticketing.

Create individual web pages for events and send virtual invitations. You can keep track of sign-ups, purchases, guest preferences and more.
Integrations

Integrating fundraising platforms with CRMs, payment and accounting systems, marketing tools, and analytical modules helps automate tasks, manage donations, optimize workflows and data exchange.

Most fundraising solutions offer native connections with Salesforce, Mailchimp, Slack, Zoho CRM, QuickBooks, PayPal and more. Some platforms also enable integrations with church management software like FellowshipOne, ACS Technologies, PowerChurch and more.

Advanced Features & Functionality

Automation

Through this advanced feature, you can automatically categorize crucial data and export it to your database. Run automated workflows and automatically send acknowledgments, donation reminders and thank you messages.
Email Marketing

Optimizing engagement with donors ensures a consistent flow of donations. Email tools let you send targeted, personalized and mobile-optimized messages. Email analytics assists in tracking campaign performance, click rates and unsubscribes. Schedule email delivery and test multiple variants through A/B testing.
Reporting

This feature helps monitor critical metrics like income generation and campaign progress and efficacy. Drill-down actions and custom reports provide valuable insights into the health of your NGO or church.

Track new, existing and lapsed donors and measure retention rate and lifetime value of one-time as well as recurring donors.
Dashboards and Analytics

Analyze data at several touchpoints in donor interactions. Monitor engagement in real time through collaborative dashboards. Some systems offer AI-based insights to analyze campaign effectiveness and donor trends.
Website Management

Develop interactive, brand-centric and mobile-friendly websites. You can design personalized web pages and customize them to add brand logos, texts, colors and images.

Incorporate widgets, donation forms, progress bars, petition pages, surveys, ticketing and registration, and social sharing options.

Current & Upcoming Trends

As technologies evolve, it becomes imperative to adapt to the changing environment. NPOs are no exception. Below, we list some industry trends shaping the fundraising arena so you can accommodate them in your selection journey.

Fundraising Platforms Trends

Flexible Payment Options

Many donors are moving towards digital donations. Therefore, it’s a nonprofit’s job to give donors options that work best for them and ensure flexible and secure payments compliant with authentication regulations.

Allow donors to opt for multiple payment processing options like credit and debit cards, Google Pay, Apple Pay, PayPal, ACH, Venmo, QR codes, text giving, and more. Some platforms also let you collect donations via eChecks and bitcoins.

Social Media

According to a HubSpot report, donors between the ages of 18 and 29 increased the amount they donated during the pandemic. Of these donors, every one in four wants social media communication from nonprofits.

People spend most of their time on social media channels like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok and others. So, it makes sense to strategically grab eyeballs on those platforms. It further helps you connect with potential donors worldwide, maximizing your outreach. Your NGO can share initiatives and portray real-life stories through a proactive social presence to bond with the community.

Hybrid Events

One of the ravaging effects of the COVID-19 pandemic was a significant shift to a virtual world. With social distancing and work-from-home being the new norm, NGOs could no longer hold in-person events, leading to the rise of mobile bidding events like online and live auctions.

Apart from having a wider reach, hybrid events are also more accessible with minimal operational costs when compared to traditional fundraising. Nonprofits need to take into account that, post-pandemic, people have varying comfort levels when it comes to large in-person events. By providing options and accommodating different comfort levels, you can build stronger donor relationships that are beneficial in the long run.

Live Streaming

Live streaming grew popular during the pandemic, and it goes hand in hand with hybrid events. It creates a real-time experience for donors and makes them feel like they are celebrating together, making it more enjoyable.

You can also show behind-the-scenes content and take questions live. Collaborating with influencers is another popular way to tap into a new audience and amplify your nonprofit’s reach.

Video Content

Video content is bigger than ever, especially with the rise of Tiktok and Instagram reels. Videos, short-form or long-form, help build an emotional connection with donors and supporters. Harnessing viral trends can give your nonprofit traction and encourage people to donate.

Software Comparison Strategy

Every NPO has its unique needs, which can’t be fulfilled by simply choosing the best fundraising platforms in the industry. However, extensively researching the topic can cause an information overload, taking you further away from narrowing down on a viable solution.

Before you go down this rabbit hole, we suggest looking through platforms that specifically cater to your organization’s needs and size. You should consult friends and peers in the industry and make a note of platforms incorporated by NPOs similar to yours. Read through the reviews to weed out the solutions with critical issues.

Jumpstart your search by considering the following aspects before committing to a purchase:

Preferred Features: Look at your current system and analyze where it is lacking. What are the most common problems you face? Which features can help maximize productivity? Take some time to make a list of your requirements. Some features to consider are:

  • Peer-to-Peer Fundraising - Also known as social fundraising, this functionality allows supporters to create campaign pages and share them with friends through social media and email.
  • Constituent Relationship Management - Platforms that let you retain and export donor information, such as email addresses, are a plus. The system automatically emails payment receipts and lets you track all future donor interactions.
  • White Label Capabilities - Some fundraising websites redirect people to a donation form on a third-party URL that doesn’t match the layout or style of their core website. This decreases the nonprofit’s trustworthiness and makes donors skeptical of its legitimacy. To avoid losing donors’ trust, some products allow users to customize the donation form to match the core website, so they look similar.

Once you have a list of requirements ready, free trials and demos are great to help you understand the system and assess whether your employees can quickly adopt it.

Mobile Platform: Check your top software options for mobile compatibility. Solutions that you can access anywhere, on any device you want, are especially beneficial if you have remote or hybrid teams. It’s a bonus if you can use the platform offline, something helpful in cases of spotty service.

Cloud Technology: While cloud solutions are popular, don’t choose them for the sake of it. On-premise systems need a dedicated IT team, which is expensive to maintain. But most on-site vendors don’t charge according to the number of users, something profitable in the long run, especially for large businesses.

Budget: You need to be honest about your budget and how much you can afford to spend. Thoroughly consider all variables like the size of your organization, number of employees, hidden costs and maintenance fees before making a purchase.

Integrations: Take note of apps you use on a daily basis. Your ideal solutions should integrate with your preferred apps, especially popular social media platforms, helping you streamline communication.

Customizations: What customizable features does the software offer? What about scalability options? Does it come with any pre-built templates? Investing in a solution that can scale up is a good idea so your business doesn’t risk outgrowing its software capabilities.

Vendor Support: Does your vendor provide hands-on customer support? Do they have 24/7 live chat? What do their installation, onboarding and training processes look like? Fundraising deals with sensitive data like credit cards and personal addresses. It’s crucial to thoroughly check which data security measures your top vendors have in place. You also need to get a clear idea as to how they deal with data theft and who owns your donors’ data.

User Experience: CRMs that are intuitive and easy to use are always a plus. They can save valuable time and money that would otherwise go into costly and time-consuming software training.

Cost & Pricing Considerations

When it comes to pricing, you’ll need to pay on a monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or annual basis. Some solutions have a one-time subscription fee, while others charge according to the number of users. Many vendors offer free trials or free software versions with limited functionality.

A few vendors have a flat monthly fee regardless of the number of people using the software, but they are usually expensive. Large organizations that have many employees can benefit from this pricing model.

The average price of fundraising platforms starts from as low as $20 per user/month and goes up to hundreds of dollars per user/month for more advanced systems. Some online solutions charge transaction and processing fees for each donation. Few platforms charge a 30 cents flat fee per donation, while some take a percentage of the total donation (usually between 1.5 to 9 percent).

Factors like size, deployment and the number of admin roles play an integral role in pricing.

  • A customizable solution or specific feature request will hike the costs.
  • Ensure whether the vendor will cover implementation, installation and training costs with the purchase.
  • Check for overhead costs like staff training, service fees, add-ons, bug fixing and maintenance charges.
  • A budget for a dedicated IT support team is necessary if you opt for an on-premise solution.
  • Later on, system upgrades may also affect the pricing structure.

Most Popular Fundraising Platforms

The term “best fundraising platforms” is subjective — what works for one organization might not work for others. To make your selection process easier, we’ve curated a list of popular solutions in the market.

Givelify

Givelify is an online donation system that connects donors with causes they’re passionate about. It facilitates donations via a dedicated mobile app with more than 45,000 verified reviews and one million downloads. Its capabilities include a centralized donor database, customized campaigns, multilingual content and integrations with church management applications.

Givelify

Donation History on Givelify.

Donorbox

Used by charities, social-impact groups and faith-based communities of all shapes and sizes, Donorbox helps you receive online donations. Recurring giving plans allow donors to set up donations over time. Its dashboard lets admins create and dispense donation forms.

Other functionalities include text-to-give, crowdfunding, website management and custom pop-ups. You can protect your data and crucial donor information with SSL/TLS encryption.

Donorbox

Fundraising Campaign Tab on Donorbox. Source

Wild Apricot

Wild Apricot offers member management services to nonprofits with small to medium associations. Automation removes manual dependency and streamlines administrative tasks. Simplify initiation, registration and payment processing through a unified dashboard. You can set up custom online stores to sell products. It also provides website management, cloud storage and integrations.

Wild Apricot

Products Tab on Wild Apricot.

Tessitura

Tessitura is a unified enterprise solution that assists the global arts and culture community with managing fundraisers, ticketing, memberships and customer interactions. It provides a comprehensive view of donors, visitors, members and volunteers. Some other features include a virtual experience, target marketing and resource scheduling.

Tessitura

Donor’s Bank Tab on Tessitura.

Qgiv

Qgiv simplifies the process of raising funds and managing donations for nonprofits and faith-based and political organizations. It offers text-to-donate email marketing, peer-to-peer fundraising, event management, online kiosks and app-based auctions. It can segment donor data to deliver personalized communications.

Qgiv

Fundraising Dashboard on Qgiv. Source

 

 

Questions To Ask Yourself

To get a better understanding of your nonprofit’s requirements, ask yourself these guiding questions:

  • What are the features we need, and which ones can we skip?
  • Do we need a customizable solution?
  • What’s our budget?
  • Do we need automation capabilities for operational tasks?
  • What solutions are our competitors implementing?
  • How many existing systems do we need to integrate with the platform?
  • Do we require any add-ons?
  • How many users does the solution accommodate?
  • Do we need to integrate the platforms we currently use?

Fundraising Platform Key Questions To Ask

 

 

 

Questions To Ask Vendors

Here are a few questions to ask potential vendors to help you learn more about the software and vendor.

About the Software

  • Is it a mobile-optimized solution?
  • Does the system allow donor segmentation?
  • Is it PCI compliant?
  • Is the interface easy to follow?
  • Will the data be encrypted?
  • How many admins can use it simultaneously?
  • Can it transfer data easily?

About the Vendor

  • What kind of support do they offer?
  • Do they provide migration and implementation services?
  • Do they offer a scalable solution?
  • Do they levy any extra installation charges?
  • Are frequent updates and bug resolution services available?

Next Steps

Choosing the right fundraising platform for your organization needs a lot of thought and consideration. With the right system, you can streamline the donation process and optimize donor engagement to grow your initiative. Before implementing a solution, extensive research is the stepping stone to your platform selection journey.

Still feeling overwhelmed in your product search? Get started today with our comparison report to gain insight into top platform leaders.

Product Comparisons

Additional Resources

About The Contributors

The following expert team members are responsible for creating, reviewing, and fact checking the accuracy of this content.

Manogna Chandrika
By Manogna Chandrika Matta
Technical Content Writer
Manogna Matta was a Technical Content Writer at SelectHub who delivered content for CRM, mental health, marketing and fundraising. An alum of the University of Hyderabad, Manogna did Communication and Psychology courses in her B.A. and M.A. She's also an avid coin collector and a fashion enthusiast. When not typing away on the keyboard, Manogna plays mother hen to her tiny birds, watches sitcoms and makes bad-quality dad jokes.
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Joan
Technical Research By Joan Akash
Senior Analyst
Joan Akash, a Senior Research Analyst at SelectHub, holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Management with a specialization in Marketing. Her expertise as a researcher and reviewer spans diverse software categories, including Project Management, Customer Relationship Management, Live Chat, and Help Desk. Beyond her professional pursuits, Joan is spiritually driven, with a passion for teaching children and a penchant for reading biblical blogs and crafting poetry.
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Manan
Technical Review By Manan Roy
Principal Analyst
Manan is a native of Tezpur, Assam (India), who currently lives in Kolkata, West Bengal (India). At SelectHub, he works on categories like CRM, HR, PPM, BI, and EHR. He has a Bachelor of Technology in CSE from The Gandhi Institute of Engineering and Technology, a Master of Technology from The Institute of Engineering and Management IT, and an MBA in Finance from St. Xavier's College. He's published two research papers, one in a conference and the other in a journal, during his Master of Technology.
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Pooja
Edited By Pooja Verma
Content Editor
Pooja Verma is a Content Editor and Senior Market Analyst at SelectHub, who writes and edits content for endpoint security, legal, CRM, fundraising software, eCommerce, and mental health software. She earned a literature degree from Miranda House, DU and also holds Master’s in Journalism from Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication in India. In her free time, you can spot her reading a book or binge-watching the latest web series and movies.
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