Raising money isn’t easy.
Nonprofit organizations spend a lot of time, energy, and resources developing plans to accelerate their fundraising efforts and deciding which software to use to make it all possible.
Thankfully, with free fundraising software, organizations can focus more on making a difference and less time worrying about how much their software costs.
No matter your budget, this round-up of the top ten free fundraising software platforms will help your organization connect with donors, lead successful events, and bring in more donations.
Various types of nonprofit organizations use fundraising software to oversee their funding processes and secure funding for a specific cause.
The list below contains real user reviews from our best animation software category page. In the context of this list, vendors that offer a free trial are also considered to be free.
To be a part of this category, a solution must:
This list is based on G2 data collected on January 24, 2024. Some reviews may have been edited for clarity.
Givebutter is a nonprofit fundraising platform that makes it possible for millions to raise more, pay less, and give better. As an all-in-one tool, it combines donation forms, fundraising campaigns, actions, events, email, and texting so users can prioritize making a difference in their community.
Interested fundraisers can enjoy all of Givebutter’s features for free, thanks to optional tips from donors. If users prefer to disable tips, a small platform fee applies instead.
“My company used Givebutter for our first fundraiser and had a great experience overall. The interface is clean, easy to learn, and transactions were seamless! We also loved the automated ‘Thank You’ function.”
- Givebutter Review, Ameilia C.
“I wish Givebutter had a spot where people could sign up to join the newsletter. Right now, I have to do it manually.
Our newsletter is going to over 10,000 people, and I've also noticed that sometimes there is a delay in the letter getting sent out – potentially because of the size of the list.”
- Givebutter Review, Annie B.
Formerly Network for Good, Bonterra Guided Fundraising’s platform helps users reach their fundraising goals, connect with supporters, and advance their mission. With a long list of features, like options for campaign management and donor tracking, nonprofits can confidently drive donations and build strong benefactor relationships.
Anyone interested in Bonterra Guided Fundraising can try it out with a free trial.
“I appreciate the platform's emphasis on the donor (client) and its ability to monitor our interactions with them. The diverse communication options for reaching out to clients are advantageous. I find it beneficial that clients have the autonomy to create their profiles, reducing the likelihood of errors.”
- Bonterra Guided Fundraising Review, Carolina D.
“When entering donations, the template requires multiple ‘tabbing’ past options we do not use. The page is long, so scrolling or tabbing multiple times to get to the bottom of the page takes extra steps. It would be nice to be able to customize the page for our organization's specific purposes.
On the fundraising page, the options for photos that will work with the template (automatic cropping) are quite annoying. It crops and makes the photo very grainy.”
- Bonterra Guided Fundraising Review, Shawn J.
Nonprofits can reap the benefits of Event.Gives, a clear-cut, reliable event fundraising platform with interactive ticketing, live events, and a long list of fundraising features. Event.Gives guarantees the success of your next function.
Those interested in trying Event.Gives can start with a free package with limited features.
“Event.Gives is super user-friendly. Its clean design makes it super easy for people to engage.It offers several features, and can be used in a virtual setting with ZERO latency! Also, you can't beat their pricing model.”
- Event.Gives Review, Seth W.
“I wish Event.Gives had more extensive customer relationship management (CRM) tools. While they offer an integration with Blackbaud, I would like to see something within their platform.”
- Event.Gives Review, Preston R.
DonorDock combines online giving pages, contributor management, and client outreach into an easy-to-use fundraising tool. Designed for small nonprofit leaders, DonorDock equips users with the features they need to move their mission forward and inspire change.
DonorDock offers various pricing options, starting with a free option for one user. From there, packages start at $89 per month.
“I have just moved a second organization to DonorDock because I love it so much. The support is phenomenal and the ability to integrate with so many other platforms through Zapier saves our staff SO MUCH TIME. It is fantastic!”
- DonorDock Review, Corinne D.
“I wish it was easier to connect mailing lists and that the merge features for duplicate contacts were more accurate.”
- DonorDock Review, Jeremy C.
SchoolAuction.net is a fast, simple, secure platform that frees nonprofits from the hassle of managing, planning, and running successful campaigns. Whether auctions are silent, online, mobile, or hybrid, you can rely on this tool for advanced bidding, ticketing and sponsoring capabilities, communication and branding, and recurring donations to make it easier for your nonprofit to raise money and make a difference.
Start a free trial to explore any of SchoolAuction.net’s packages.
“While there were many great features, the customer service provided by SchoolAuction.net was exceptional! Helpful staff directed me to the many features available and found solutions to any concerns. I would recommend this site (and this support team) to anyone running a fundraising campaign.”
- SchoolAuction.net Review, Molly S.
“The most difficult part for us was that the tool doesn't automatically sync with Kindful, our organization's CRM. We also wished we had more ownership over editing our invoices/receipts.”
- SchoolAuction.net Review, Nicole W.
RallyUp is an interactive fundraising platform that facilitates professional and interactive fundraising experiences for organizations of any size. Customizable features are designed to help nonprofits recruit new donors, engage with existing ones, and deliver more money during events.
Users can fundraise for free with RallyUp’s core features and functionality. Admins can decide to pay more to add on premium features as they need them.
“The platform is easy to use and intuitive. It was easy to get a site up and running in barely any time. The terrific online help resources meant that questions were answered clearly and simply without needing to contact customer support.”
- RallyUp Review, James D.
“I would have liked a way to track shares per participant for incentive purposes.”
- RallyUp Review, Christine M.
Donorbox boasts features like donation forms with fast checkouts, customizable giving buttons for websites, crowdfunding options, and text-to-give functionality.
An easy-to-use donation platform for online or in-person fundraising, organizers can enjoy the Standard package of Donorbox completely free. For even more features, the Pro package starts at $139 per month.
“I love how simple it is to create a donation form and how easy it is to embed it on our website. It's so useful and allows more people to donate than ever before. I also use it to create all of my more targeted fundraising campaigns. It’s great to have a place where all my photos, text, videos, donor comments, and fundraising goals can all be in an easy-to-digest format.”
- Donorbox Review, Emma H.
“The layout to get your campaign going could be easier to understand. The pages look the same, and it is hard to tell where you are supposed to go to manage each area of the campaign or event. I often get turned around on the page when trying to edit the campaign or event or change the layout. The size of the banner application is also difficult. It doesn't look like the screen when you open it on your phone or computer. It is stretched out even when you fall into the parameters.”
- Donorbox Review, Athena H.
GivingFuel helps people and organizations fundraise with a simple and affordable donation platform. Companies can expedite their fundraising efforts with a long list of modern tools, like branding control, recurring donations, employer matching, donor management, and text-to-give.
The Starter page of GivingFuel is free for smaller organizations raising less than $25,000 online annually. For organizations with more funding, the Pro plan is offered free for three months and then billed at $59 monthly.
“Whether you're an expert at GivingFuel or new to the site, the customer service team is fantastic. They are willing to help every step of the way and are very responsive.”
- GivingFuel Review, Samantha W.
“I would like to see even more customization. I also wish there were more learning videos on CSS through their site so I could really make my online form pop.”
- GivingFuel Review, Lea S.
GiveWP is a plugin that enables donations for fundraising websites created using WordPress. The highest-rated, most downloaded, and best-supported donation plugin, it boasts donation forms, fundraising reports, and other add-ons to take nonprofit funding to new heights.
GiveWP’s free services include unlimited forms, Stripe and PayPal, donor management, and other must-have features. From there, you have the Basic plan, priced at $149 annually.
“I love GiveWP. Our donations have increased 10-fold since implementing it into our giving strategy. I love the ease and flexibility of building the forms – for this non-tech person, it’s a must. I am most grateful for their priority support team, which always responds quickly when I encounter any issue. I have been tempted by other platforms and have vetted them against GiveWP. None have passed the test. I highly recommend GiveWP to my non-profit friends and anyone needing to generate revenue quickly. “
- GiveWP Review, Linda S.
“I wish there was a live online support chat to get answers immediately. The email support is friendly and helpful, but it can take a couple days to resolve any issues, depending on the complexity.”
- GiveWP Review, Ashlynn W.
Giveffect makes it easy for nonprofits to take care of fundraising, online donations, volunteer management, offline gift tracking, and donor management all in one place. It aims to reduce manual work and connect your crucial program data on one CRM platform.
Giveffect has a 14-day free trial. The Starter plan for smaller nonprofits starts at $399 a month.
“I like that it is a comprehensive CRM. I like that I can also track volunteers as well. My sole purpose for using Giveffect is to keep track of offline donations made to us. It makes sure we’re writing thank you’s for them and can steward them properly. We also really like to use the campaign option not only for volunteers, but also for fundraising efforts. It allows us to update our donors regularly and create individual websites for each campaign.”
- Giveffect Review, Laura R.
“Editing contacts is a bit of a task, as you have to navigate through a few windows, and addresses could be ranked or sorted better. When there is an insufficient address, there's currently no way to mark it besides listing it as a previous or secondary address.”
- Giveffect Review, Tony L.
The tools on this list make it easy for nonprofits to digitize their fundraising efforts and utilize the power of social media to spread the word about important causes – and on a budget. So no matter what cause is near and dear to your heart, find a free option that helps you be the change.
Learn more about crowdfunding and how these free fundraising tools find contributors, manage the funding process, monitor campaigns, track funding efficiency, and develop long-term relationships with donors.
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