In the rapidly evolving landscape of nonprofit fundraising, online donation platforms have emerged as indispensable tools for organizations seeking to expand their reach, engage donors, and streamline their fundraising efforts. By harnessing the power of these platforms, nonprofits can unlock a myriad of opportunities to amplify their impact and achieve their mission.
This comprehensive guide will navigate you through the top online donation platforms for nonprofits in 2024, empowering you to make a well-informed decision to elevate your fundraising potential.
Benefits of Donation Software for Nonprofits
Expanding Reach and Accessibility
Online donation platforms have revolutionized the way nonprofits connect with supporters, transcending geographical boundaries and enabling organizations to tap into a global network of potential donors. By leveraging the digital realm, nonprofits can extend their reach far beyond their local communities, attracting support from individuals who resonate with their cause, regardless of their physical location.
Enhancing Donor Engagement
These platforms offer a suite of innovative tools designed to foster deeper connections with donors and encourage sustained support. Through features like gamification, personalized communication, and incentives for recurring contributions, online donation platforms create an immersive and rewarding experience for donors, nurturing a strong sense of community and loyalty.
Streamlining Donation Management
One of the most significant advantages of online donation platforms is their ability to simplify and centralize the entire donation management process. From customizable donation forms and secure payment processing to comprehensive donor data management and reporting, these platforms equip nonprofits with the tools they need to efficiently organize and execute their fundraising campaigns, events, and initiatives.
Top Online Fundraising Platforms for Nonprofits
- Qgiv: Best Overall Online Donation Platform
- Donorbox: Best for Flexible Fundraising
- Classy: Best for Event Management
- Bloomerang: Best for Donor Management
- Fundraise Up: Best for AI-Powered Features
- Donately: Best for Custom Donation Pages
- Bonfire: Best for T-Shirt Fundraising
1. Qgiv
Qgiv stands out as a powerful and adaptable fundraising platform that empowers nonprofits to take their fundraising efforts to new heights. With its user-friendly interface and robust feature set, Qgiv offers a seamless experience for both nonprofits and donors alike.
On the platform, users can not only host events and attract new donors, the platform automatically prompts one-time donors to increase recurring donations. Plus, with AI-powered tech, users are able to provide a personalized giving experience to boost conversions.
Key Features
- Customizable donation forms
- Real-time phone and email customer support
- Seamless payment processing and automated receipt generation
- Automated donor prompting to increase recurring donations
- Integration with popular email marketing software and CRMs
Pricing
- Starter Package: Free
- Giving Essentials Package: $25.00/month
- Text Fundraising Add-On: $159.00/month
- Peer-to-Peer Add-On: $259/month
- Auction Add-On: $259/month
2. Donorbox
Donorbox delivers a user-centric and adaptable donation platform that caters to the diverse needs of nonprofits, facilitating both online and offline fundraising campaigns with ease. Using Donorbox, nonprofits can easily create and manage crowdfunding campaigns with included features to track results and boost support.
One of the standout features of the Donorbox platform is its QuickDonate™ donor portal that allows donors to manage their own contributions, set up self-recurring donations, and download receipts to provide an optimal customer experience and build donor loyalty.
Key Features
- Donor management tools
- Intuitive and customizable donation forms
- User-friendly QuickDonate™ donor portal
- Embeddable donate button for websites, emails, and social media
- Crowdfunding campaign tools
Pricing
- Standard Plan: Free with a 1.75% platform fee
- Pro Plan: $139/month with a 1.5% platform fee
- Premium Plan: Custom pricing with a 1.5% platform fee
3. Classy
Classy is an online fundraising platform built to streamline the management of fundraising events, equipped with a wide array of tools to support a holistic fundraising strategy. With Classy, nonprofits can build personalized experiences for donors, increase recurring donations, and build donation websites all on one platform.
One of the standout features included with the Classy platform is templated campaigns, allowing users to create cohesively branded campaigns built to scale. This strengthens the brand credibility, builds donor trust, and supports the nonprofit to reach a wider audience through brand recognition.
Key Features
- Customizable, easy-to-use donor forms
- Campaign templates for several use cases
- Support for direct giving experiences, virtual, hybrid, and in-person events
- Seamless integration of online peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns and recurring giving
- Donor websites that convert with Classy Studio
Pricing
Classy offers three plans, Essentials, Professional, and Advanced, all of which require custom pricing.
4. Bloomerang
Bloomerang is a donor management software helping nonprofits reach and retain donors and volunteers for their organizations. The platform includes a variety of different features built to help nonprofits strengthen and grow their donor community.
On the Bloomerang platform, users are able to process payments with low fees and conduct fundraising using Qgiv, which the company acquired. The platform’s most noteworthy feature, however, is their reporting and analytics capabilities that empower nonprofits to know more about their donors to better allocate resources and improve outreach efforts with data-driven strategies.
Key Features
- Powerful reporting and analytics
- Volunteer management tools
- Donor database CRM
- Personalized marketing campaigns
- Payment processing
Pricing
- Bloomerang Glow: $83-$775/month (custom pricing available)
- Bloomerang Standard: $125-$775/month (custom pricing available)
5. Fundraise Up
Fundraise Up is a nonprofit fundraising software powered by AI and machine learning (ML). With Fundraise Up, nonprofits can increase conversions through customizable donation forms, enhanced user interfaces, and a streamlined checkout process.
The platform’s standout feature is their AI-powered optimizations that automatically adjust and personalize ask amounts to increase conversions. Plus, the platform charges no contract, setup, or support costs, only charging a percentage per donation.
Features
- Customizable donation pages
- Global donation features for over 135 currencies
- Self-service donor portal
- AI-optimized ask amounts
- Over 100 integrations available
Pricing
- Quick Start: 4% fee per donation
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
6. Donately
Donately is an affordable, scalable fundraising platform offering highly customizable, no-code fundraising pages and donation forms. Nonprofits looking for a seamless inclusion for their current tech stack benefit from Donately’s native integrations with widely used apps such as HubSpot, Facebook, and Google Analytics.
Plus, Donately customers gain access to robust reporting and management tools to track recurring giving, optimize outreach emails, and streamline daily fundraising operations with ease.
Key Features
- Customizable donation pages and forms
- Peer-to-peer fundraising tools
- Email and live chat support
- Donor and donations reporting
- Custom donation buttons and widgets
Pricing
- Free Plan: Free with a 4% platform fee
- Starter Plan: $15/month with a 3.5% platform fee
- Team Plan: $49/month with a 2% platform fee
- Custom Plan: Custom pricing with platform fees starting at 0.5%
7. Bonfire
Bonfire is a unique fundraising platform that allows nonprofit organizations to create and sell custom t-shirts and market them on organization profile pages. Through the Bonfire platform, nonprofits can easily launch fundraisers, send personalized thank you notes to supporters, and receive payouts directly.
Features
- Customizable organization profile page
- Design, promote, and sell custom t-shirts
- Personalized thank you notes
- Direct payouts when nonprofits connect to the platform
Pricing
- Verified Nonprofits: 3.5% processing fee
- Non-Verified Nonprofits: 8% processing fee
How to Choose the Perfect Nonprofit Donation Software
Selecting the ideal online donation platform is a critical decision that can significantly shape your nonprofit’s fundraising success. To navigate this process effectively, consider the following key factors:
Evaluate Your Unique Needs
Take a comprehensive inventory of your nonprofit’s specific requirements, placing a strong emphasis on security measures that safeguard donor information and uphold your organization’s reputation.
Align with Your Budget
Carefully assess the financial implications of each platform, seeking a solution that strikes a balance between functionality and affordability, ensuring long-term financial sustainability.
Prioritize Seamless Integration
Opt for a platform that seamlessly integrates with your existing technological infrastructure, enabling efficient data management, streamlined workflows, and a cohesive user experience for both your team and donors.
Tips for Nonprofit Fundraising
To fully harness the power of online donation platforms and propel your fundraising efforts to new heights, consider implementing these transformative tactics:
1. Define Clear and Compelling Goals
Establish well-defined, time-bound objectives that provide a clear roadmap for your fundraising journey. By setting ambitious yet attainable targets, you can galvanize your team’s motivation, performance, and sense of purpose, propelling your organization towards significant milestones.
2. Amplify Impact through Matching Grants
Leverage the immense potential of matching grant programs to magnify the impact of individual contributions, incentivize increased donor participation, and attract new supporters to your cause. By strategically promoting these opportunities, you can effectively double the power of each donation and accelerate your fundraising momentum.
3. Embrace the Virtual Event Revolution
Capitalize on the growing trend of virtual fundraising events as a cost-effective and highly scalable avenue for expanding your reach and engaging supporters across the globe. By eliminating the constraints of physical venues and logistical complexities, you can channel more resources towards your mission and amplify the overall impact of your fundraising initiatives.