Increasing your nonprofit’s fundraising capacity is essential to compete in today’s fundraising environment.
According to the 2024 Digital Fundraising Benchmark Report, new donors acquired online gave 19.4% more in their first year and were 48% more valuable than offline donors. This shows the value of dedicating more resources to growing your online fundraising efforts.
In this guide, we’ve rounded up top online fundraising platforms to help you make the most of digital fundraising. We’ll explore:
- Essential features to look for in online fundraising software
- Top online fundraising platforms to consider
- Questions to ask before investing in online fundraising software
Essential features to look for in online fundraising software
Depending on your organization’s needs, you should determine what kind of fundraising platform works best for your overall strategy. Search for a platform that offers essential fundraising features such as:
- Branded donation pages. These donation pages allow your organization to solicit gifts on online channels. Though gifts may be specified for specific campaigns, an online donation page usually collects donations for the annual fund.
- Donor CRM integration. Your online fundraising tool should integrate with your nonprofit’s donor database or CRM functionality. This enables you to seamlessly share data across platforms to better track your fundraising efforts and donor base.
- Recurring giving. Your online donation page should facilitate recurring giving on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis. Donors should be able to easily opt in to recurring gifts.
- Peer-to-peer fundraising. Peer-to-peer fundraising platforms allow individual supporters to create donation pages on behalf of your nonprofit. Though each page can be branded to your organization, the supporter has the opportunity to customize the page to reflect their personal connection to your cause. When supporters solicit donations through their pages, the funds are transferred directly to your nonprofit.
- Event fundraising. If your organization hosts multiple yearly events, such as seminars, galas, or 5Ks, leveraging an online fundraising platform with built-in event management tools can make your life easier.
- Auction management. Auction events require unique functionality, such as mobile bidding and guest management features. Ensure these tools integrate seamlessly with your online giving platform to provide a consistent donor experience.
- Crowdfunding. A crowdfunding campaign is timed, and progress toward the goal is usually tracked through a fundraising thermometer. An online fundraising platform with crowdfunding capabilities can help nonprofits create campaigns and collect small or mid-sized donations from many individual donors.
- Text-to-give functionality. Text-to-give or text-to-donate functionality empowers your nonprofit to launch mobile fundraising campaigns and gather text donations from supporters.
- Data management and reporting. You’ll need access to robust data management and reporting tools to track your fundraising progress and determine the success of your campaigns.
- Integrations. Your fundraising platform should integrate with your nonprofit’s software solutions, including your CRM, marketing tools, accounting software, and analytics platform.
- Payment processing. Leveraging a secure, PCI-compliant payment processing platform will help you manage online transactions easily and safely, maintaining donors’ trust.
Top online fundraising platforms to consider
Fundraising platform | Favorite feature | Price |
Qgiv by Bloomerang | Award-winning donation pages | Starts at $25 per month |
DonorPerfect | Nonprofit CRM | Multiple packages available |
Classy | Multi-currency fundraising | Three plans based on your nonprofit’s needs |
FundraiseUp | Conversion-optimized checkout process | Two plans to choose from |
PayPal | Invoices | Charity rate for nonprofits |
GoFundMe | Crowdfunding | 2.2% + $0.30 transaction fee |
Bonfire | Peer-to-peer merchandise fundraising | 3.5% processing fees for verified nonprofits |
360MatchPro | Matching gift database | Standard and Enterprise plans available |
DonationMatch | In-kind donation matching | Free |
OneCause | Ability to manage multiple event types | Three plans to choose from based on fundraising needs |
Handbid | Gamification features | Packages start at $1,396 |
MightyCause | Customizable fundraising dashboard | Starts at $79 per month |
DonorSearch | Donor prospecting | Request pricing on the DonorSearch website |
Givebutter | Fundraising widgets | There is no fee to get started but a 2.9% + $0.30 processing fee unless you enable optional donor tips |
Snowball Fundraising | Mobile-optimized campaign pages | A free plan is available, and paid options start at $549 per year |
Donately | Drag-and-drop form builder | Licensing or monthly/annual billing options available |
1. Qgiv by Bloomerang
Overview:
Qgiv by Bloomerang provides nonprofit organizations with simple, powerful, award-winning donation pages. In fact, we won a 2021 BIG Innovation Award for upgrades to our donation forms, which include customizable recurring upgrade prompts, a multistep layout that increases conversions, and a mobile-first design. The updated forms also include the option to add impact images for individual donation amounts.
With the Qgiv platform, you can customize your pages to match your website. When you have a professional, branded donation page, donors are more likely to trust that their payments are secure and are more likely to complete their gift.
In addition to donation pages, Qgiv offers a full suite of fundraising tools to expand your efforts and take your fundraising to the next level. From peer-to-peer to mobile giving and auction software, Qgiv supplies your organization with all the tools needed to raise more money and engage donors in convenient yet exciting ways.
Top features:
Because we specifically designed Qgiv for nonprofits, our products are tailored to meet your organization’s needs and assist you in all fundraising aspects.
Our online donation tools are comprehensive and forward-thinking, with features including:
- Online event registration.
- Mobile-optimized donation pages.
- Peer-to-peer pages and gamification tools.
- Recurring giving options.
- Mobile giving app for on-site giving.
- Integrated merchandise sales.
- Text fundraising.
- Auction software and a mobile bidding app.
- Custom report building.
- Integration with CRMs, email marketing tools, etc.
In short, Qgiv has thought of almost everything to ensure that your fundraising is simple, streamlined, and successful from start to finish.
Price:
Qgiv’s price model is straightforward. Because we offer so many different capabilities to fit various needs, you can choose from several different pricing plans.
Additional products or features, such as auction management or peer-to-peer software, can easily be added to the baseline software for an additional fee.
2. DonorPerfect
Overview:
For a top fundraising growth platform, DonorPerfect can engage your donors, power your campaigns, and grow your relationships. Equip your fundraising team with DonorPerfect’s online fundraising tools, like their customizable online forms, integrated payment service, and reporting & data analytics.
Aside from raising funds for your cause, DonorPerfect also has engagement capabilities to keep donors supporting your cause. Segment your donors into groups for more targeted marketing and configure your email tool to keep in constant contact.
From there, you can create fundraising events to engage your donors in person! Effectively process event tickets and increase fundraising overall.
Top features:
- Online donation forms
- Integrated payment processing
- Email marketing tool
- Mobile app
- Event registration
- Report builder and resource of standard reports
Price:
DonorPerfect provides multiple packages to meet any nonprofit’s unique mission, budget, and size. Their pricing guide provides more information.
3. Classy
Overview:
Classy is an online fundraising platform designed to help nonprofits, churches, schools, and other organizations engage their communities and scale up their fundraising.
Classy facilitates various fundraising activities, including recurring giving, crowdfunding, and events. You can even take your fundraising efforts worldwide with Classy’s international fundraising and multi-currency support.
Top features:
- Customizable donation forms and websites
- Event ticketing and registration
- Auctions and mobile bidding
- Donor dashboard
- Fundraising artificial intelligence (AI) solutions to predict donor behavior
Price:
Classy offers three plans based on your nonprofit’s needs. Learn more about them on the Classy website.
4. FundraiseUp
Overview:
Fundraise Up’s digital fundraising solution is optimized to increase donation revenue through improved conversion rates. To increase conversions, the platform offers Checkout, a streamlined donation form that includes opportunities to become a recurring supporter and contribute using multiple payment methods.
Fundraise Up also offers convenient migration services to make transferring recurring donations from another platform easier.
Top features:
- Donation pages that you can launch in minutes
- Data insights dashboard
- Donor portal
- AI to personalize the donor experience
- Global fundraising capabilities
Price:
Choose from two plans outlined on the Fundraise Up website.
5. PayPal
Overview:
PayPal is an online payment processing platform that offers a fundraising solution for nonprofits. Using this tool, you can add an online donation button to your website’s homepage, offer multiple payment methods, access invoicing tools, and more.
Top features:
- Scheduled and recurring invoices
- Recurring donations
- Accept major credit and debit cards, PayPal, and Venmo
Price:
PayPal offers a charity rate for nonprofits. Find out more information on their website.
6. GoFundMe
Overview:
GoFundMe is the world’s largest crowdfunding platform. Using GoFundMe, individuals can set up crowdfunding campaigns on your nonprofit’s behalf, or a staff member can establish a page for your organization.
You can set up a campaign page in minutes and then share the link via email or social media. The platform securely transfers funds directly to your organization.
Top features:
- Customizable fundraising pages to share your “why”
- Ability to tie your cause to meaningful moments or events
- Ability to keep donors updated about the campaign’s progress and thank them for their support
Price:
It’s free to start a charity fundraiser on GoFundMe. However, a 2.2% + $0.30 transaction fee is automatically deducted from each donation. Visit the GoFundMe pricing page for more details.
7. Bonfire
Overview:
Bonfire is a t-shirt fundraising platform nonprofits can use to launch digital peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns. It’s easy to get started with this platform—you’ll simply create a t-shirt design, upload it to a customized campaign page, and spread the word among your supporters.
Top features:
- Customizable organization profile page
- Verified nonprofit badge
- Peer-to-peer event fundraisers
- Personalized thank-you notes
- Direct payouts
Price:
Verified nonprofits enjoy reduced processing fees from 8% to 3.5%.
8. 360MatchPro
Overview:
360MatchPro is a comprehensive matching gift solution that allows nonprofits to harness the power of online giving and maximize donations.
360MatchPro helps nonprofits make the most of corporate matching gift programs to help raise more for their causes. Matching gift programs are corporate giving initiatives where employers match their employees’ gifts to charitable organizations. Depending on the match level and various guidelines, your nonprofit can double or even triple its funds!
Top features:
- Leverage the largest database of companies with matching gift programs so your team can pinpoint every match-eligible donor.
- Donors can easily search for their employers, determine their eligibility, and instantly access the matching gift forms and next steps needed to submit their matches and grow their impact.
- Embed a matching gift tool directly into your Qgiv online donation form to streamline the research process.
Price:
360MatchPro offers Standard and Enterprise plans, as well as a plan for small nonprofits starting at $999 per year.
9. DonationMatch
Overview:
DonationMatch is an in-kind donation platform that matches companies that wish to contribute in-kind gifts with nonprofits looking for these donations. Specifically, nonprofits gain access to various donated items to support their fundraising events, such as auction items and experiences.
The platform vets all contributing companies, helping nonprofits find reliable, credible partners to engage in mutually beneficial relationships.
Top features:
- Turnkey reporting
- Robust donor network of verified companies
- One-stop-shop for product donations
Price:
Nonprofits can apply online and create a free account to get started.
10. OneCause
Overview:
OneCause prioritizes auction, event, mobile, and peer-to-peer fundraising functionality in its online giving platform. With OneCause, nonprofits can streamline the guest and donor experience to promote recurring giving.
Leveraging an easy setup and customization process, your organization can start fundraising with OneCause quickly and easily.
Top features:
- Option for donors to cover processing fees
- Real-time giving thermometers
- Customized donation forms
- Text-to-give functionality
- Ability to manage multiple types of events, from runs and walks to auctions
Price:
OneCause offers three different plans based on the extent of your fundraising needs.
11. Handbid
Overview:
Handbid is primarily a mobile bidding and auction platform for nonprofits, although it also offers peer-to-peer fundraising and text-to-give tools. Handbid’s auction platform is designed to mitigate common roadblocks associated with auction events, including long wait times and low engagement.
In addition to nonprofits, schools, sports teams, professional organizations, and health and research organizations can use this platform to support fundraising.
Top features:
- Push notifications to auction guests when they’ve been outbid
- Livestreams, a leaderboard, and a fundraising thermometer to help gamify your auction events
- Streamlined mobile checkout for auction winners
Price:
Handbid’s packages start at $1,396, with single and multi-event packages available.
12. Mightycause
Overview:
Mightycause is an all-in-one fundraising suite for nonprofits. The platform’s tools include CRM software, peer-to-peer fundraising tools, matching grants creation and management, reporting features, and more.
Using Mightycause, your organization can customize its fundraising dashboard to display its most important data front and center. You can also leverage supporter data to provide a more personalized supporter experience and promote recurring donations.
Top features:
- Unlimited peer-to-peer, team, and event fundraising
- Real-time donation reports
- Text-to-give
- Embeddable donation form and widget for your website
- User-friendly, customizable administrative settings
Price:
The small nonprofit plan is $79 per month. Get the details on the Mightycause website.
13. DonorSearch
Overview:
DonorSearch is a top prospect research and wealth screening tool that can help your nonprofit identify high-impact donors. By screening your entire donor database and comparing it against the nation’s number one philanthropic database, DonorSearch provides insight into your most important supporters.
When your nonprofit uses DonorSearch, it can develop relationships with its major donors and improve fundraising in other ways. DonorSearch can help identify potential donors for your annual giving campaign, legacy giving program, and other high-value fundraising initiatives.
Top features:
- Philanthropic and wealth screening
- Donor prospecting
- Valuable data insights
Price:
Get a demo and request pricing on the DonorSearch website.
14. Givebutter
Overview:
Givebutter’s online fundraising platform includes many tools nonprofits can use to boost their fundraising successfully, including a donor CRM, fundraising and donation pages, event management, and auction solutions.
Nonprofits can create fundraisers using Givebutter for free. To cover costs, you can ask donors for optional tips to cover processing fees. If you’d like to turn off tips, a 3% platform fee will be applied to all transactions.
Top features:
- Community-focused fundraising pages
- Easy-to-embed fundraising widgets
- A mobile app for accepting donations, checking in event attendees, and receiving live campaign updates
Price:
There is no fee to get started but a 2.9% + $0.30 processing fee unless you enable optional donor tips.
15. Snowball Fundraising
Overview:
Snowball Fundraising is another all-in-one giving platform with tools to help facilitate auction fundraising, text-to-give, supporter management, and other nonprofit needs.
Nonprofits can use this solution to keep their efforts to raise funds, grow their supporter bases, and report on their successes organized in one place.
Top features:
- Unlimited auctions and bidders
- Mobile-optimized campaign pages
- Text-to-give and text-to-bid
- Outbound text messaging, marketing emails, and interactive QR codes
Price:
Snowball offers a free plan; paid options start at $549 per year.
16. Donately
Overview:
Donately’s online giving tool offers online donation forms optimized to drive conversions. Nonprofits can access online forms, fundraising pages, and integrations to boost revenue and engage more donors.
The donation form builder is flexible and user-friendly, making it easy for nonprofits to start fundraising quickly.
Top features:
- Drag and drop form builder (no coding needed)
- Custom thank-you page and donor acknowledgment
- Multiple payment and currency options
- Multiple recurring donation options
- Simple social sharing capabilities
Price:
Donately offers options to license its software or engage in monthly or annual billing.
Questions to ask before investing in online fundraising software
Whether your nonprofit is small and just starting out, large and established, or somewhere in between, researching and choosing an online fundraising platform requires considerable thought.
What if you pick a platform and your donors don’t respond to it? What if it breaks and you have no live support? What happens when the price of the tool suddenly skyrockets?
All of these questions are entirely understandable and worth considering when a nonprofit of any size wants to expand its fundraising efforts with an online fundraising platform.
With this in mind, we’ve compiled a list of important questions to ask yourself before selecting a platform for your fundraising needs.
What is the purpose of your online fundraising platform?
Determine your organization’s specific needs and goals so that you can select the most appropriate fundraising platform.
For example, are you primarily hoping to attract new donors or shift your current donor base to an online channel? Each of these goals may require different features. To reach new donors, an organization may prioritize a platform with robust marketing and communications features, while an organization seeking to engage current donors may want a platform with an in-depth stewardship calendar feature.
What features do you need from your online fundraising tool?
Create a list of your must-have and nice-to-have features. For example, perhaps auction functionality is necessary to ensure your organization can smoothly host its annual gala and auction event. On the other hand, you may not need crowdfunding functionality if your nonprofit doesn’t prioritize this type of fundraising.
What is your nonprofit’s budget?
When you purchase a fundraising platform, you’ll need to consider the following costs:
- The base price of the online fundraising software
- Additional features
- Training and IT support
- The platform’s size (i.e., some prices may depend on the amount of users the platform can support)
- Payment processing fees
Because online platforms can vary in cost even when they’re from the same provider, it’s essential to get a quote from the provider and talk through any additional costs that may crop up.
The better your nonprofit can anticipate these expenses, the less likely you’ll be to accumulate additional, unanticipated costs you can’t afford.
What is the onboarding process like for the platform?
Getting started with your fundraising tool should be easy and seamless. The best thing you can do is contact the provider to determine how involved the setup process will be. Ask them questions about how training works, consultation services, and whether your team needs technical knowledge to get started.
These questions can help you better understand how user-friendly your platform will be. While some platforms will be intuitive during the setup process, others may be more comprehensive, requiring a more substantial effort on the backend.
Is the online fundraising platform customizable?
Your nonprofit is unlike any other. While you may be doing similar work to different organizations, your staff, the people you serve, and the communities you change are what sets you apart. Your online fundraising platform should be flexible enough to accommodate customization according to your needs.
For example, if you’re using an online fundraising tool like PayPal, your customization will be limited. Without enough branding, donors will get confused about who is receiving their money and potentially decide not to give.
Each platform will vary, but you should ensure that whatever you’re purchasing allows you to:
- Brand your donation forms with your nonprofit’s name, logo, and colors.
- Upload pictures or videos.
- Display your mission statement.
- Customize your giving tiers.
Is the online fundraising platform PCI-compliant?
PCI compliance is crucial for any nonprofit that accepts donations via credit card. It’s a set of requirements that ensures that all entities accepting payments or donations via credit card process, store, and transmit that credit card information in a secure environment.
PCI compliance ensures that your donors’ sensitive payment information is safe and sound.
Is the online giving tool mobile responsive?
In 2023, 52% of nonprofit website traffic came from users on mobile devices, with 48% coming from users on desktop devices.
To better understand what mobile responsive platforms should offer your organization, look for these important characteristics:
- The page does not have to be resized when it loads (i.e. the donor doesn’t have to zoom in or out).
- Data fields and buttons are large and easy to click.
- The page loads in less than 3 seconds.
- Images and text are vertically aligned.
What types of payments does the platform accept?
Offering multiple payment options makes giving more convenient for donors because they can use whatever payment method they have on hand. Look for a platform that can accept multiple payment types, including:
- Credit and debit cards
- Apple Pay
- Paypal
- Venmo
What type of support does the platform provide?
Nothing is perfect, and your nonprofit’s online fundraising platform won’t be either. Even software can break, encounter errors, and inexplicably stop working. That’s why you must choose a vendor that is:
- Easy to contact.
- Frequently and readily available.
- Quick and responsive.
- Attentive to your needs.
Some platforms also charge your organization for additional IT support, so it’s important to consider that in your budget.
What kind of integrations are available?
The best online platform for your organization will be compatible with your existing software or offer integrations that can help your nonprofit grow.
For example, consider how your platform will integrate with your nonprofit CRM. A streamlined integration process will automatically transfer your donor data, saving your organization time, money, and resources.
The more comprehensive your online fundraising software, the more centralized your various campaign tasks will be.
When all of your donor data is contained in one place, it’s much easier to gain a big picture of who your donors are. Centralization and integration allow you to use your information to craft an informed fundraising strategy and effectively reach your donors.
Does the online fundraising platform have positive reviews?
Before investing in an online donation tool, make sure you review what other customers have said about it.
To access reviews, your nonprofit can:
- Ask your vendor for testimonials or references.
- Check product comparison resources.
- Search public reviews or forums for the product.
If previous or current customers have had issues with setup or have found the tool lacking in support, perhaps your nonprofit should do a little more research.
In conclusion
It’s important to invest time in finding the right online fundraising platform, as it can boost your fundraising efforts. Use this list of tools and questions to help you find the perfect software for your needs.
For more fundraising resources, check out these useful articles:
- Mobile Giving 101: The Essential Fundraising Guide. Learn how a mobile-optimized fundraising platform can support your mobile campaigns and help you raise more through these platforms.
- 34 Nonprofit Donation Page Best Practices (That Work Fast). Get advice for building an effective donation page using your organization’s fundraising tools.
- 15 Top-Rated Nonprofit Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Platforms. Explore fundraising platforms specifically built to facilitate peer-to-peer fundraising.