December 2, 2024
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5 min read
Fundraising is crucial for charities and non-profit organizations (NPOs) that require donations, sponsors, and memberships to keep the work going. Having the best tools is key to finding the right donors and raising money for your cause!
While government funding options exist to help your organization get started, we’re here to give you our list of top fundraising apps for non-profits! From donor management software to live auctions and email marketing, these tools can help you connect with the right donors and raise more money more often.
We’ve narrowed our selection down to a competitive five top fundraising apps:
Looking for more tips and tricks from us? We’re a web design agency that specializes in working with non-profits and social enterprises to help them secure the right clients and raise funding. Check out our bonus tips and free resources at the end of this blog.
Read: The Art of Nonprofit Branding: Our Complete Guide
As you research fundraising apps and systems for your organization, it’s important to know where your money is going and what terms you’re accepting. Read some terminology below to be aware of.
B Corp certification indicates that your organization meets the highest standards in three areas: legal accountability, public transparency, and social and environmental performance. A company must undergo a rigorous qualification process before it earns this designation.
A CRM is a software system that allows you to manage and keep track of your organization’s interactions with donors, potential donors, and their donations.
These (501(c)(3) nonprofits, U.S. & Canada) fees are charges from payment processors like Stripe or Paypal. For example, Stripe charges 2.2% + $0.30 on a transaction, and Paypal charges 1.9% + $0.49.
Individuals fundraise by organizing personal campaigns to collect donations from their social circles on behalf of a non-profit organization. This is also called social fundraising or P2P.
These are the fees charged by the fundraising platform for each donation/transaction.
Now, let’s take a look at our top fundraising apps for non-profits.
Meet DonorBox: one of the most popular fundraising systems for non-profits online. Donorbox has helped 80,000+ organizations from 96 countries with their fundraising efforts and remains one of the best feature-filled fundraising suites available to non-profits and charities. (But it isn’t cheap).
They have a full suite of fundraising tools for online and live fundraising, including:
While DonorBox boasts an all-in-one fundraising platform for non-profits, here are some stand-out features.
You can successfully integrate DonorBox with any web platform and add donate buttons, pop-up forms, or donation forms. There is no need to have donation forms separate from your website.
Some popular website platforms that integrate with DonorBox include:
You can integrate DonorBox directly with your websites and add embedded donation buttons to your social media and email marketing. With the simple click of a button, you can direct your donors to your secure donation page.
Like many fundraising platforms, DonorBox offers integration capabilities with Quickbooks, Xero, Mailchimp, Paypal, Stripe, Double the Donation, Google Analytics, Meta Pixels, and more. You can also integrate with Zapier, a web automation tool used to connect web apps and services and access thousands of apps.
Standard - $0 USD/month + Payment Processing Fee + Platform Fee*
Pro - $139USD/month* + Payment Processing Fee + Platform Fee***
Premium - Custom Pricing + Payment Processing Fee + Platform Fee
*1.75-2.95% Platform Fees
**approx. $195CAD/month
***1.5-2% Platform Fees
Want DonorBox for free?
While DonorBox is free to start, you can pass along processing fees to your donors through donation forms. You can ask donors to cover both the payment processing fees (from Stripe, PayPal, etc.) and the DonorBox platform fee.
Please note: the pricing packages above are not all-inclusive, and some features are available for additional costs. Check out the full suite of pricing options here.
Second up, we have Trellis. This software suite allows you to engage with your donors through in-person, hybrid, and virtual fundraising tools. They boast a donor-friendly interface and many features, including live & silent auction hosting, ticket and merchandise sales, and live-streaming fundraising events.
Here are some of the features they provide:
Also, did we mention they’re a Canadian company based in British Columbia? This makes their same-day and 1-day customer service easy for Albertan non-profits. (No more international time differences!)
You can create an event fundraising page that includes custom branding and layouts, videos, images, and all your fundraising elements in one place. Running an event, auction, or raffle and selling tickets is also made easier. You can even link to your website or use it for single fundraising events.
With Trellis, it’s possible to promote and sell merchandise through your fundraiser page. What does that include? Their system allows you to track items sold, add shipping fees, allow for on-page purchases and customize images and text. This is a great idea for non-profits who raise money through retailed products.
All Trellis plans are for three years, and as of 2025, they are removing transaction fees! These transaction fee changes will roll out across 2025.
All prices are listed in CAD:
Pro: $3,000 Upfront Annual Fee + Transaction Fees (3.5% + $0.30 per transaction)
Pro Plus: $5,000 Upfront Annual Fee + Transaction Fees (3% + $0.30 per transaction)
Enterprise: $10,000 Upfront Annual Fee + Transaction Fees
Want Trellis transactions for free?
To allow for 0% transaction fees, Trellis asks for a tip from either your organization or your donors. Pass payment processing fees to your donors through donation forms.
Next, we have the Canadian nonprofit management software Keela. This Vancouver company is a Certified B Corporation, demonstrating high environmental and social performance and transparency.
Their intelligent tools allow non-profits to mobilize volunteers, raise money, manage donors, and market themselves in one place. Organizations can also maximize team productivity and project management!
Their features include:
While other fundraising platforms may allow you to create event and donation forms, embedding them on your website can be difficult. Keela lets you embed your donation forms on your website so visitors can become instant donors.
Do you need to integrate with other apps besides your website? Connect Keela with accounting software and payment processors like Quickbooks, Stripe, and Paypal, or other apps like Zapier, Eventbrite, Mailchimp and more.
You can create custom emails that are regulation-compliant and save you time. Quickly build and segment donor email lists to reach more people and keep track of the emails you send.
Also, did you know that you can integrate your email domain, too? You can keep track of every email you send through Keela, making donor management much easier.
Keela pricing plans are determined by how many contacts you have, with custom pricing plans offered for more than 10,000 contacts.
All prices are listed in CAD:
0-1,000 Contacts - $109/month (annually) or $125/month (monthly)
1,100-2,500 Contacts - $169/month (annually) or $200/month (monthly)
2,600-5,000 Contacts - $229/month (annually) or $275/month (monthly)
5,100-7,500 Contacts - $289/month (annually) or $350/month (monthly)
7,600-10,000 Contacts - $349/month (annually) or $410/month (monthly)
You can also upgrade customer support packages.
Standard Care - $0/month (included in every Keela plan)
Premium Care - $60/month (more customer support options, billed annually)
Platform & Transaction Fees
Keela uses PayPal and Stripe to process donations - which have a nonprofit rate of 2.2% + $0.30. However, unlike some competitors, they do not charge any platform fees on top of this. (That means a 0% platform fee!)
Hello, GiveButter! Get ready to see the cutest branding from this fundraising and donor management CRM software company. Not only do they have stand-out branding, but they also offer a whole host of excellent features and solutions for non-profit fundraising needs.
So, what sets Givebutter apart? Their fundraising software is completely free to use. This is likely due to optional tips from donors. However, it is possible to disable tips and pay a 1-5% platform fee that applies to all transactions.
Here are some of the features they provide:
You can add easy-to-embed fundraising widgets on your website without complicated coding. Popular widgets include one-time donation forms, ticket sales, progress bars and fundraising thermometers. You can also drive donations through your website with free donate buttons! Copy and paste the code to embed a donation widget on a website platform like WordPress, Wix, Squarespace and more.
You can create and customize online donation forms that accept multiple payment options, collect donor information, and encourage recurring donation options. The great news is that GiveButter’s free online donation forms can also be easily embedded on your website.
With GiveButter, you can build and host in-person, hybrid and virtual fundraising events. From selling tickets to hosting an auction, the options are limitless.
The GiveButter mobile app allows guests to check in to events and scan tickets. Guests can also make quick payments and donations through the app.
Who couldn’t love this lil’ butter?
GiveButter claims their software is free, thanks to optional tips from donors. If tips are disabled, a small platform fee applies instead.
Optional Tips On
Platform Fees: None
Processing Fees: 2.9% + $0.30*
*covered by 95% of donors
Optional Tips Off
Platform Fees: 1% (donation forms), 3% (fundraising pages), 5% (event or auction)**
Processing Fees: 2.9% + $0.30**
**covered by 88% of donors
GiveButter Plus
An upgraded suite of features promises a supercharged GiveButter experience, including discounted direct mail, task management, texting, and custom reports. It is based on contact-based pricing, starting from $29/month for 250 or fewer contacts (billed annually). Check out GiveButter Plus pricing here.
Zeffy is a fundraising solution for non-profits that offers a suite of features - all 100% free. Zeffy covers all transaction and credit card fees, allowing all features to be 100% free for non-profit organizations.
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They’re also a Canadian Certified B Corporation.
Zeffy’s free features include the following:
Zeffy promises the same great features you love in paid platforms, like automatic tax receipts, customizable donation forms, donor management CRM and events like auctions and raffles.
With Zeffy, you can create a free online store for your non-profit! Style your store with customizable colours, banners, images and logos, and easily offer discount codes to your buyers. Are your buyers French Canadian? You can offer your forms in French. (One of the benefits of using software from a company founded in Quebec!)
Zeffy eCommerce sites make it easy to automatically keep inventory up to date and accept payments of all types.
Surprise! On top of all other features, you can also start your non-profit with Zeffy. They can save you $2000 in legal fees, assist you with document assembly and get your 501(c) status. In fact, you could get your non-profit status in as little as two to four weeks!
You only have to pay state and IRS filing fees depending on where you’re located. Learn more about starting a non-profit for free here.
Zeffy is free forever. They make money from donor tips and do not charge transaction or platform fees. But what if donors don’t tip? The non-profit organization will still receive 100% of the money raised.
Zeffy’s promise: “We've never charged a single cent to nonprofits and we never will. 100% of all payments you receive through Zeffy go directly to your nonprofit.”
So with that said:
Pricing: $0/month
Fees: $0
We have built a comparison table of some key differences between our five competitive fundraising apps.
Being a non-profit organization in a for-profit world can be challenging, but we’re here to help. Read through this list of free resources we’ve compiled for you as you embark on your fundraising journey.
Fundraising Ideas - curated lists or browse all fundraising ideas below by cost, effort, and impact. (GiveButter)
Freebies for Non-Profits - nonprofit templates that include planning guides, sample letters, checklists, and other practical tools. (GiveButter)
Non-Profit Tools - helpful worksheets, guides and templates dedicated to helping nonprofits. (Keela)
Fundraising Resources - a free downloadable guide, articles, featured webinars and more helpful resources for non-profits. (Trellis)
Non-Profit Glossary - a comprehensive glossary of non-profit jargon for fundraisers and non-profit professionals. (DonorBox)
A Tool For Your Non-Profit - guides, templates, tips and tricks, and more resources to help you start and run a non-profit organization. (Zeffy)
Government Funding Options - an article explaining government funding options for Alberta non-profit websites. (Spark & Pony)
Non-Profit Branding - an article offering branding tips and strategies for your non-profit organization. (Spark & Pony)
Are you looking for a high-performing strategic website for your non-profit? We specialize in branding and website design for organizations looking to better the world.
Book a consultation with our team to discuss your branding and website goals here.
Check out our extensive portfolio here.
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