What types of fundraising activities are you planning? Platforms offer and excel in different types of fundraising, so the right pick depends on whether you're running events, collecting donations online, or both.
Fundraising at Gala Events
If your fundraising centers on an in-person event, a gala with a silent auction, live auction, paddle raise, or fund-a-need, you need a platform built for mobile bidding, ticketing, and check-in, not a donation form builder for your website.
1. GalaBid
Ideal for: event fundraisers looking for a feature-rich platform with responsive support and flexible pricing options, including free with tips.
GalaBid runs silent auctions, live auctions, paddle raises, fund-a-need, ticketing, and check-in from a single campaign, and because everything runs online, supporters who can't attend in person can still bid or donate.
Reviews: It holds strong ratings across G2, Capterra, and Trustpilot (4.7 to 4.9 out of 5), with reviewers consistently praising ease of setup, responsive live-chat support (available 7 days a week, and phone support from fundaising experts), and a fee structure that lets nonprofits keep a high share of proceeds.
Drawbacks: The most common complaint is around the necessity to create or connect a Stripe account. GalaBid's payments are powered by the fundraiser's own Stripe account, which is a big plus for many fundraisers (funds go directly to your account with no holding period) but an inconvenience for others. A few reviewers described the Stripe setup as cumbersome.
2. OneCause
Ideal for: nonprofits that want a full-service partner for large, high-production galas, and value having a live event team on-site.
OneCause (formerly BidPal) covers auctions, paddle raises, ticketing, check-in/check-out, peer-to-peer, and text-to-give, and has powered more than 90,000 fundraising events. It's rated a G2 "Leader" in fundraising software and has strong satisfaction scores from users who run big annual galas. Reviewers repeatedly cite excellent, hands-on customer service, including dedicated event managers who show up on-site the night of the event.
Drawbacks: The recurring criticism across dozens of reviews is a real learning curve ("it has taken us over four years to get comfortable with the application," one user wrote), and, notably, that OneCause does not offer a direct, native integration with common donor CRMs like Blackbaud Raiser's Edge. Several reviewers specifically say they had to use a third-party connector (Omatic) or build manual workarounds. If integrating cleanly with your existing donor database is a top priority, weigh this carefully. It's also priced at the higher end of this category, which reviewers say is justified for large, frequent events but a stretch for smaller or occasional ones.
3. GiveSmart
Ideal for: larger or multi-site nonprofits (for example, organizations running campaigns across multiple schools or chapters) that want one comprehensive event and donor platform, are already invested in Salesforce, and can absorb a higher price point for a fuller feature set.
GiveSmart (now part of Momentive Software) covers mobile bidding, silent/live auctions, ticketing, guest check-in, peer-to-peer, and text-to-give, and cites more than $7 billion raised through the platform. Reviews are more polarized than the other providers here. On the positive side, users highlight ease of setup, integrations (including with Salesforce), and simplified event-day logistics.
Drawbacks: There's a meaningful cluster of serious complaints: slow or unresponsive support, funds held for months after a banking issue, and a handful of reviewers describing the auction module as unpolished. It's worth reading a spread of recent reviews yourself before committing, since the experience appears to vary significantly by account team and organization size. GiveSmart is generally viewed as capable but pricier, and best suited to organizations that will use its full range of tools rather than just one piece.
4. ClickBid
Ideal for: small to mid-size nonprofits that want a straightforward, lower-cost auction platform without a long feature list to manage.
ClickBid covers ticketing, silent and live auction management, paddle raises, and text-to-give, integrated payments (Apple Pay/Google Pay), and connects to nonprofit CRMs including Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT, Bloomerang, Kindful, Neon CRM, and Salesforce.org Nonprofit Cloud.
It's positioned around a "simple software, expert support" philosophy, and reviewers consistently back that up: intuitive setup, responsive and patient support (including reps who attended events in person in early years), and pricing many nonprofits switching from OneCause or Handbid describe as more affordable.
Drawbacks: The trade-off for the simplicity is less customization. A few reviewers note the guest-facing pages look generic with limited ability to restyle them, and some mention technical hiccups on event night (messaging winning bidders, guests leaving without checking out).
5. Handbid
Ideal for: nonprofits and schools that want a polished, native mobile-app bidding experience, including for high-value or enterprise-scale auctions.
Handbid runs mobile bidding, silent/live auctions, ticketing, peer-to-peer, crowdfunding, and text-to-donate through both a native iOS/Android app and web bidding. It's SOC 2 compliance-ready and completes HECVAT for higher-ed clients, and integrates with Salesforce, Salsa Engage, and Kindful. Reviewers are consistently positive about ease of use, the quality of the mobile bidding experience, and the customer support.
Drawbacks: The most-cited limitation is the lack of a direct accounting-system integration, meaning finance teams doing double-entry across CRM and accounting tools may need manual reconciliation. A few older reviews (2020 to 2022, during rapid COVID-era virtual-event demand) mention slowness and a rockier support experience, but recent reviews trend more positive.
Type 2: Collecting Donations via a Website & Peer-to-Peer Campaigns
If your core need is a donation form for your website, dedicated campaign pages, and tools to help supporters fundraise on your behalf (peer-to-peer), you're looking at a different category of platform, one optimized for checkout conversion and recurring giving rather than event-night fundraising.
6. Fundraise Up
Ideal for: mid-size to large nonprofits that want to maximize conversion on an existing website, especially if recurring giving is a priority.
Fundraise Up is a checkout-and-conversion-focused donation platform, not a full CRM. It's built to sit inside your existing site and CRM stack rather than replace them. Its core pitch is a conversion-optimized checkout (it claims up to 3x higher conversion and 30% larger average gifts versus typical forms), AI-driven prompts to convert one-time donors into recurring givers, and a self-service donor portal. It supports peer-to-peer fundraising ("Fundraisers"), including a built-in corporate-matching prompt at checkout that some competitors only offer via a third-party add-on like Double the Donation. Reviewers are near-uniformly positive on ease of use, dashboard/reporting quality, and customer support.
Drawbacks: The most common criticism is around fees, which some smaller nonprofits find hard to justify when donors are asked to cover them. It integrates natively with Salesforce (including NPSP), Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT, DonorPerfect, HubSpot, Bloomerang, and QuickBooks Online.
7. Classy / GoFundMe Pro
Ideal for: larger, enterprise-scale nonprofits that need heavy customization, native Salesforce integration, and can absorb an annual contract.
Classy was acquired and rebranded GoFundMe Pro in 2025/2026, and reviews genuinely split into a "before" and "after" era. Longtime Classy users consistently praised peer-to-peer fundraising, event management, and Salesforce integration. More recent GoFundMe Pro reviews are more mixed, with some users citing slowed product development since the merger, "wonky" Salesforce integration issues, and rising costs.
It remains enterprise-grade with annual contracts at a higher price point, and targets larger organizations with dedicated fundraising staff. Its strengths, per reviews, are genuinely comprehensive peer-to-peer tooling (team pages, individual and team fundraising), a native Salesforce integration, and custom domain support so donation pages stay on your own web property. Capterra and G2 both put it around 4.3/5.
Drawbacks: One point worth flagging directly to a nonprofit evaluating it: ask explicitly whether you can take your recurring donors' payment tokens with you if you ever switch platforms. Several reviewers flag this as a real lock-in risk.
8. Give Lively
Ideal for: small, lean nonprofits (often volunteer-run) that want a genuinely free donation platform and don't need a full CRM or complex event tooling.
Give Lively is a 501(c)(3) itself, funded by anonymous philanthropists, and offers donation pages, event ticketing, peer-to-peer fundraising, and text-to-donate at no platform fee or subscription cost. You only pay standard Stripe/PayPal processing fees.
It's membership-based: you must be a US-based 501(c)(3) with a GuideStar/Candid profile to apply, and approval isn't instant (a few reviewers mention the application/approval process taking longer than expected, and Give Lively has publicly declined to work with organizations whose values don't align with its own value statement, per at least one review).
Drawbacks: Reviewers consistently praise the price (free), ease of setup, and responsive support (including weekend responses). The trade-offs are real: limited customization compared to paid competitors, no CNAME/custom domain support, event ticketing can't be embedded on your own site, and reporting is fairly basic (no donor segmentation, lifetime-value reporting, or advanced analytics). Several reviewers say you'll eventually need a separate CRM alongside it as you grow.
Donation platforms with credible event/auction add-ons
Theseplatforms are donation-first in origin but have built out genuinely capable auction and event tools, making them worth considering if you want one platform to flex across both fundraising types rather than running two separate systems.
9. Givebutter
Ideal for: small-to-mid-size nonprofits that want a free-with-tips or low-cost donations and peer-to-peer platform that also offers some basic CRM and event fundraising features.
Givebutter is currently the highest-rated nonprofit fundraising platform on G2 across multiple categories (fundraising software, nonprofit CRM, donor management, and auction software), and was named G2's Best Nonprofit Software of 2026.
It runs on a "tip-or-fee" model: if you enable an optional donor tip at checkout, the platform is free to your organization (Givebutter backstops any uncovered processing fees under its "Givebutter Guarantee"); if you disable tipping, a flat 3% platform fee applies.
It covers donation forms, campaign pages, peer-to-peer, event ticketing with QR check-in, and silent/live auctions, plus a built-in light CRM, all in one dashboard. Reviewers consistently cite ease of use, fast and human customer support, and genuine value for the price.
Drawbacks: The most common criticisms are that CRM/reporting depth (duplicate management, custom exports) lags behind dedicated donor-management systems, and that some donors find the tip prompt confusing or, per a minority of reviews, not obvious enough that it's optional.
10. Zeffy
Ideal for: small, budget-conscious nonprofits (and volunteer-run organizations) that want to eliminate platform and processing fees entirely, across donations, events, auctions, raffles, and peer-to-peer.
Zeffy has a single pricing option. It's free for fundraisers in return for a suggested tip to Zeffy added at checkout. There is no platform fee, no subscription, and it covers credit card processing fees itself out of tips. Zeffy says roughly two-thirds of donors proceed with a tip to Zeffy.
It covers online donations, event ticketing, an online shop, raffles, online auctions, peer-to-peer, and memberships, plus basic donor management, genuinely broad feature coverage for a free tool. Reviews are very strong on the fee-free model and ease of use.
Drawbacks: The recurring criticisms are that the donor tip prompt (which defaults to a suggested percentage, higher on smaller gifts) can feel pushy or confusing to some donors, reporting is fairly basic for larger or grant-funded organizations that need to track program-specific metrics, integrations run through Zapier only (no direct API), and payout timing is limited to weekly/monthly bank transfers rather than instant.
For a small nonprofit that needs deep reporting or fast payouts, it may not be the long-term fit.
How to choose a platform
A few practical starting points, based on what shows up consistently across independent reviews:
- If your fundraising is 80%+ one annual gala: GalaBid, ClickBid, or Handbid are the most cost-effective, purpose-built options for small-to-mid galas. OneCause or GiveSmart make more sense once you're running several large events a year and want dedicated on-site support
- If your fundraising is mostly a website donation form and monthly giving: Fundraise Up (conversion-focused, mid/large orgs) or Give Lively (genuinely free, small orgs) are the clearest fits. Classy/GoFundMe Pro if you're already enterprise-scale and need heavy Salesforce integration.
- If you want one platform for both, and don't want to pay a subscription: Givebutter and Zeffy are the two most consistently well-reviewed "do almost everything for free or near-free" options. Givebutter has a wider range of features and is more CRM-capable; Zeffy is more strictly, and simply, fee-free.
- CRM integration is the detail nonprofits can get blindsided by. Several platforms above (notably OneCause and, to a lesser extent, GiveSmart and Handbid) show up repeatedly in reviews with complaints about not natively syncing to Blackbaud Raiser's Edge, QuickBooks, or other systems nonprofits already run. If you have an existing donor database, ask each vendor directly, "is this a native integration, or do we need Zapier, Omatic, or a manual export?", before signing anything.
Ratings and reviewer quotes cited above are drawn from G2 and Capterra as of mid-2026. Check current listings before publishing, since ratings and pricing shift and vendors periodically respond to or dispute individual reviews.
