11 Best Donation Websites (free & paid) for Fundraising [2024]

There are several online donor websites for nonprofits and individuals. The number of these tools can change daily, thanks to mergers, closures, or other new developments.

Most small and medium-sized nonprofits have limited time and resources to research all available fundraising tools.

That's where we can help. We've researched, used, and read reviews on fundraising websites to get you the best information. 

In this article, we'll share tips on what to look for in a donation website and supply in-depth data on 11 of the top fundraising websites for nonprofits and individuals.

As you learn more about each of these online fundraising solutions tools, keep in mind your organization's fundraising goals and donor's primary interests.    

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11 Best Fundraising Websites

• ‍1. Zeffy – A 100% free fundraising for your nonprofit organization

• 2. Givebutter – free comprehensive event fundraising website

• ‍3. Give Lively – flexible and affordable fundraising tool for nonprofits 

• ‍4. GoFundMe – free individual crowdfunding tool

• ‍5. Fundly – easiest individual fundraising site

• ‍6. Patreon – membership platform for individuals and nonprofits

• ‍7. Donor Perfect – best major donor management and fundraising tool 

• ‍8. Donorbox – affordable fundraising tool with integrations to help charities grow

• ‍9. Double the Donation – comprehensive matching gift donation tool

• ‍10. Donors Choose – best fundraising website for teachers 

• ‍11. RallyUp – easy and impactful fundraising tool for charities   

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Our articles on the best fundraising websites are written by humans who've spent their careers working on fundraisers.

We spend dozens of hours researching and testing websites to see which is best for the goal in which it's used. We have not been paid for placement in our articles by any website or company.

Our goal is to be as transparent as possible with readers to ensure their trust. 

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Key Features to Consider when Choosing a Donation Site

Most donation platforms let organizations and individuals create donation forms and web pages to raise money online. Many fundraising websites also focus on events, major donor prospecting, and product sales. The following list includes different fundraising features your nonprofit can use for raising money.

• Recurring donations 

• Event ticketing 

• Raffles 

• Peer-to-peer and crowdfunding 

• Auction bidding 

• Donor databases 

• Text-to-give 

• Memberships 

• T-party integrations 

• Mobile giving 

• eCommerce 

• Customized donation pages

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Top Donation Websites at a Glance

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The Best Free Donation Fundraising Websites for Nonprofits 

New and smaller nonprofits may worry that they can't afford a quality fundraising website. Luckily, there are several affordable options (Zeffy is the only 100% free website) with tools that can help nonprofits collect donations, sell event tickets, and more. 

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Zeffy - The only 100% free fundraising website for nonprofits 

Pros: 

• 100% free (no platform, transaction, or processing fees) - All the money goes to your organization.

• Easy to use 

• Customizable donation form, page and tickets 

• Donor database to collect online and offline donor information 

• Helpful customer service 

• Peer-to-peer fundraising campaign tool 

• Ticket selling for events and raffles 

• Mobile-friendly 

• Multiple payment methods for donors (and recurring giving options) 

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Cons: 

• Only available for registered nonprofits in the US and Canada 

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Zeffy started in Canada by two college students who wanted to ensure nonprofits can keep all the funds they raise. This easy-to-use tool is the only 100% free fundraising website. Zeffy's only source of revenue comes from voluntary donor tips.  

This fundraising solution is excellent for new and smaller nonprofits. With all the tools you need like event and raffle ticketing, team fundraising, peer-to-peer campaigns, eCommerce, and memberships, organizations can try out various fundraising strategies and grow their organization absolutely free!

Zeffy's donor management system automatically imports donor information when purchases and gifts are made. Nonprofits can also manually import donor information and past transactions, add notes, and segment donors to send personal communications.   

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Pricing: 

100% free — no hidden fees

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Givebutter - Customizable tools to increase excitement and funds raised at your event

Pros: 

• Nonprofits and Individuals can raise funds 

• Affordable thanks to the “tip” option 

• Easy to integrate with third-party websites  

• Helpful customer service 

• Live event display to inspire attendees 

• Mobile-friendly fundraising and ticket scanning  

• Multiple payment options 

• Customizable donation forms, pages, and tickets 

• Mobile auction bidding for online and in-person events  

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Cons: 

• Not a 100% free fundraising tool 

• Campaign and reporting tools can be complicated and need updating 

• Can't send individual emails to specific donors 

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Givebutter advertises itself as a free fundraising tool, but this website has two payment models that nonprofits can choose. Givebutter does offer several fundraising options for nonprofits and individuals, including donation forms and pages, event ticketing, online auction bidding, donor management, and more.

A unique feature that can help nonprofits excite donors at fundraising events is their Live Display. Organizations can use this to share donations coming in and promote QR and text-giving during events.

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Pricing: 

In the first model, nonprofits add the “tip” option to every campaign. With this model, there is no platform fee and the tips cover the 2.9% + $0.30 transaction fee. Givebutter claims that 95% of donors will cover these charges. 

In the second model, nonprofits can turn off the “tip” option, and pay a 1% platform fee for donation forms, 3% for fundraising pages, and 5% for events and auction services, plus the 2.9% + $0.30 transaction fee. 

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Give Lively - Donor-centric and customizable designs for nonprofit donation pages and fundraising campaigns

Pros: 

• No platform or transaction fees 

• Simple set-up 

• Text-to-give 

• Event ticketing 

• Peer-to-peer fundraising 

• 3rd-party integrations 

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Cons: 

• Only available for 501c3 charities 

• As a nonprofit themself, Give Lively screens all applications manually  

• Can take up to 10 days 

• Give Lively does not accept organizations that don't meet their values (this can be a pro or con depending on your organization) 

• Limited database and reporting feature 

• Not as customizable as other websites 

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Philanthropists founded Give Lively in 2015 to level the playing field for nonprofits of all sizes. Give Lively is another 100% free fundraising website. They can do this because of funding by the founders and their “pay free forward” option for donors to leave voluntary tips when checking out.   

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Pricing: 

Give Lively has no platform or transaction fees. Nonprofits will still pay fees from Paypal, Stripe, and Lob processing fees and fees from other third-party integrations with Salesforce and Double the Donation. 

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The Easiest Donation Websites for Individual Fundraisers 

Nonprofits are not the only ones who need a help them in their fundraising efforts.

This is especially true in the United States where individuals may need to quickly raise funds for medical bills and other emergency expenses. The following fundraising websites are specifically designed for these individuals. 

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GoFundMe - individuals and nonprofits can reach a larger audience with this powerful crowdfunding campaign tool

Pros: 

• Available in several countries 

• You don't have to meet your fundraising goal to withdraw funds 

• Campaigns are easy to set up 

• You don't have to meet your goal to collect funds 

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Cons: 

• Fees model with 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction.

• You must use Facebook to upload a profile picture 

• Transparency issues with where they're using funds 

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GoFundMe was founded in 2010 and became popular because it was the first of its kind. GoFundMe campaigns have helped raise over $15 billion. Since its founding, GoFundMe has made changes to its website and allows fundraisers to collect funds even if they don't hit their fundraising goals.  

There are issues surrounding GoFundMe campaigns that have people questioning using the website. Recent reviews show issues with transparency, missing funds, and a lack of real-life support. GoFundMe is still popular thanks to its ability to reach donors. Campaigns are automatically made public and can be found on GoFundMe's search directory or you can make it private. 

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Pricing: 

2.9% + $0.30 transaction fees on each donation 

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Fundly - this crowdfunding tool makes it easier to raise money for your next campaign

Pros: 

• Easy to set up 

• Mobile optimized 

• No minimum fundraising amount to keep your funds  

• All “likes” and comments from social media sites are automatically shown on your activity feed 

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Cons: 

• Transaction fees with 2.9% + 30 cents/transaction

• Limited customization 

• No recurring donations 

• Not as much exposure to external donors as GoFundMe 

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Fundly was founded in 2009 but didn't gain the same level of brand recognition. Earlier reviews complained about high fees, but they now have the same fee structure as other similar websites. Fundly offers pretty much the same fundraising options as GoFundMe and has a little better customer service. 

The fundamental issues for this website are due to its limitations on accepting recurring donations and customizing your campaigns, but it will meet your basic fundraising needs. 

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Pricing: 

2.9% + $0.30 transaction fees on each donation 

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Patreon - build and strengthen relationships with your audience using this membership program

Pros: 

• Use anywhere 

• Share exclusive content in exchange for paid membership 

• Predictable and reliable revenue streams 

• You can sell media products too  

• Members are sent reminders for expired cards and when payments are declined 

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Cons: 

• Only useful for content creators 

• Not build for non-profits

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Patreon is the newest on our list of individual fundraising tools. It was founded in 2013, and instead of focusing on charitable causes, the target market was content creators who were looking for additional income. Since its founding, it has become a primary source of revenue for content creators worldwide. They have helped raise over $3.5 billion for creators, but they take between 5 to 12% of their earnings. 

While nonprofits can create Patreon pages, the fees, and outreach limitations make it less useful than other fundraising websites. If you don't already have a popular blog post or YouTube channel, we recommend you look elsewhere. 

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Pricing: 

Patreon is free to sign up, but its fees are higher than other individual fundraising websites. Patreon's Lite plan has a 5% commission for workshops, communication tools, and hosted webpage. Content creators can join their Pro plan and pay 8% fees for more features like membership tiers, analytics, unlimited integrations, and promotional tools. Patreon also has a Premium plan for 12% fees and a dedicated partner manager.

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Best Fundraising Websites for Donor Management 

Relationship building is critical for fundraising. Websites that make it easier to collect donor information and find connections to strengthen these relationships are a necessary expense if you hope to grow. The following websites stand out for their donor database and integration with other tools. 

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Donor Perfect - Use this fundraising tool to unlock and get more use from your donor data

Pros: 

• Customizable donor database to meet specific needs 

• Ability to track team goals 

• Comprehensive fundraising and financial reporting  

• Integrates with third-party websites to provide tools like major donor prospecting 

• Excellent customer service 

• Easy to import data, track donor connections, and pull reports 

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Cons: 

• Can be challenging to figure out 

• Costly 

• Missing ways to search for donors and doesn't include information like whether the donation was in memory or in honor of 

• Doesn't include a simple way to record and report on volunteer hours 

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As we all know, relationship building is the most crucial part of fundraising. Donor Perfect is an excellent tool for that purpose. This fundraising website develops in-depth reporting for major donors, grants, and financial requirements. It also allows nonprofits to tag donors and pull reports to send personal appeals. 

The integration with Donor Search allows users to learn even more about a donor's past giving history and interests. Donor Perfect also allows users to upload a photo of the donor so staff and volunteers can easily find them and connect during events. 

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Pricing: 

You can contact Donor Perfect and get a quote on your ideal fundraising website needs, but remember the more you need, the more costly it will be. 

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Donorbox - make it easier for donors to give to your nonprofit

Pros:  

• Donors can pay with Stripe, PayPal, ACH, Google Pay, Apple Pay, Venmo 

• Donors can cover all fees 

• Nonprofits can collect donor information on the backend and segment donors based on numerous factors 

• Customizable donation forms and pages 

• Integrates well with several third-party fundraising tools 

• QuickDonate makes it easy for donors to set up their own recurring donations and make regular gifts without importing contact information. 

• Live Kiosk lets nonprofits collect credit card donations with only a tablet 

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Cons: 

• Everything is kept in Donorbox. If a donor wants to manage their information, they must create a Donorbox account. 

• Complex pricing model. Their fee structure is constantly changing  

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Donorbox started out as a basic fundraising tool for small to medium-sized organizations. Since then, they have added many features and increased the cost. These added features and integrations with other third-party websites help nonprofits collect vital donor information and develop a system customized to your needs.

Donorbox also makes it easy for nonprofits to segment donors based on their program interests and ability to pay. Donorbox is a great tool to grow your organization, but if cost is your primary concern, this is no longer as affordable as other fundraising websites.  

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Pricing: 

Donorbox's Standard Package is free to set up and has no monthly fees. For a 1.75% platform fee plus processing fees, nonprofits can create donation forms and pages and use Donorbox's QuickDonate and Donorbox Live features. A higher platform fee of 2.95% allows nonprofits to use Donorbox's events, memberships, and peer-to-peer campaigns. 

Donorbox's Pro Package is $139 a month and includes a 1.5% flat rate platform fee for all features and integrates with Zapier & API for better donor database collection, tracking, and analytics. 

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Donation Websites with Unique Features 

Many fundraising websites on this list offer various tools, but we wanted to include a few that target specific fundraising needs or groups.  

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Double the Donation - Double your organization's income with matching gifts

Pros: 

• Best matching gift tool available 

• Integrates with many other fundraising websites 

• Email appeal templates 

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Cons: 

• No simple list of companies that match donations 

• Costly with licence cost

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Double the Donation stands out on this list and in the nonprofit fundraising website world because it dominates one specific fundraising category: matching gifts. Nonprofits that want to find matching gifts from their donor base will greatly benefit from using this fundraising website. Many fundraising websites integrate with this website to better serve their donor base.  

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Pricing: 

Small Nonprofit Plan for organizations raising less than $1,000,000 is $999/year 

Standard plan starts and $2,500/year 

Customizable plans start a $30,000/year 

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Donors Choose - Support teachers nationwide with the tools they need

Pros: 

• Absolutely free for teachers 

• Easy to set up an account and start a campaign for classroom projects 

• Offers donation matching opportunities 

• Individuals can support teachers and classrooms nationwide 

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Cons: 

• Higher prices – Donors Choose adds an automatic fee 

• Can only use approved vendors 

• Teachers only receive funds if they meet their fundraising goals 

• No live support 

• Shipments can take awhile 

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Donors Choose is a fundraising website only for teachers. Teachers can set up a campaign for their classroom and request specific tools to help. Donors from anywhere can give to the project, and Donors Choose will purchase the products needed.

Resources are only for the classrooms for which they were requested, so teachers cannot take them if they transfer schools. While this can be frustrating for teachers, it does provide the schools with more resources. 

Campaigns like this are tricky. If you have a unique idea that will catch people's attention, a website like this can be ideal. According to their website, 75% of donations come from donors with no connection to the school or teacher.  If you just need funds to help cover a shortfall of pencils or paper, it's probably best to stay local and try to find cheaper resources.

Still, this fundraising website has funded over two million classroom projects. 

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Pricing: 

There is a 1.5% processing fee on every donation. 

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RallyUp - Run multiple raffles and auctions at once with this easy-to-use fundraising tool

Pros: 

• Easy to use and customizable 

• Excellent customer service 

• Can run multiple raffles and silent auctions in an event 

• Can include several pictures in your silent auction 

• Online and offline ticket management 

Cons: 

• Limited contact with people who buy tickets 

• Limited reporting 

• Must pay more for donation pages, forms, and CRM 

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RallyUp is a fundraising website that specializes in raffles and auctions but has additional fundraising tools for Premium users. The RallyUp system is easy to set up and use, and they have helpful support staff to answer questions. 

The primary issue nonprofits may have with this website is that you can't collect in-depth donor information with their free package. This means relationships with raffle and auction winners are limited. In the short term, the ease of use for this website is excellent, but if you want to grow your nonprofit, you'll need to sign up for Premium services.  

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Pricing: 

Both RallyUp’s free and flex plans give you access to all rallyup fundraising activities and features. Free pricing allows you to use RallyUp’s platform without paying a platform fee. 

With flex pricing, RallyUp deducts a platform fee, which starts at 2.9%, depending on the activity.

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How Y'all Used Zeffy to Raise $17,435 with Online Fundraising 

Anyone in the nonprofit industry knows how difficult it can be to start a nonprofit. Y'all was founded in Indiana in 2022. Their goal was to create a supportive and inclusive environment for queer individuals. 

Setting up their first fundraising event, “Fill All My Bowls,” seemed simple, but it didn't take long before they realized they needed a way to sell tickets. They decided on Zeffy because it was free, and donations would make the most impact.  

As a new nonprofit, they Y'all hadn't received their tax incorporation letter from the IRS. The fact that Zeffy allowed them to start a campaign as a nonprofit at any level made it possible to raise funds right away.  

After a successful fundraising event, Y'all decided to use Zeffy for everything. They're even planning to open an eStore with Zeffy's eCommerce site. So far, Y'all has saved $850 in fees and has raised $17,435. 

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What You Should Know Before Choosing a Donation Website 

Fundraising is critical for nonprofit organizations. Online donation websites make it easier for nonprofits and individuals to raise funds for any goal. 

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Define your goals 

Before you can find the right fundraising tool for your organization, you must have detailed goals and a strategic fundraising plan.

A fundraising strategy provides a map for your board, staff, and volunteers, and includes ways you can spread your organization's mission to raise necessary funds. As you research these fundraising websites, keep in mind your organization's fundraising strategy and how each feature will help you manage donations.

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Consider your audience 

In addition to your nonprofit goals, you also have a unique donor base. Are most of your donors young professionals or senior citizens looking to retire? Do you have more families or individual donors?

The answer to these questions will determine what types of fundraisers can help you find success.

Before choosing an online fundraising website with exciting features, make sure these features match your donors' interests and ability to give. 

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Look for Scalability 

As your organization grows, you'll want a comprehensive online fundraising platform to grow with you. Many of the fundraising websites on this list offer customization and integration with other 3rd-party websites.

These features are especially important for new and smaller organizations who want to try out different campaigns to see which works best for their needs. 

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Research Fundraising Trends 

Most online donation websites include crowdfunding and peer-to-peer fundraising, but why has it become so popular and is it worth it?  

41%  of people have donated to a crowdfunding campaign, and the popularity of these campaigns isn't going down. Crowdfunding and peer-to-peer fundraising have already raised billions of dollars for individuals and nonprofits worldwide. Campaigns that consistently update supporters receive 126% more and have a better chance of success.  

These numbers are exciting, but there are several things your organization needs for a successful campaign.

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Check Security Measures and Tax Receipts 

Donors have a lot of organizations to choose from, and they are much more informed about how organizations use their funds and private information.

You'll want to do due diligence to ensure fundraising websites have necessary security measures to protect this information. Security policies can change over time, so it's a good idea to review the current version before purchasing. 

Remember that a primary reason donors give to charities is to get a deduction on their taxes. Donors can only do this with proper documentation.

Online donation websites can help donors and nonprofits with automatic donation receipts. In most cases, donors will receive a receipt via email after making a purchase or donating. In some cases, online donation websites also allow nonprofits to send year-end tax receipts to their entire donor base.  

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Which Fundraising Website Should You Use? 

Choosing an online fundraising website for your nonprofit can be time-consuming and confusing.

We hope our list of tools and features has given you a good head start on finding the right one for your organization. Remember to keep in mind your nonprofit's fundraising goals, and look for websites that provide customization, integration, and scalability to ensure it grows with your organization.  

If you're looking for more, check out more articles to help you find nonprofit tools and get donations for a fundraiser. Are you ready to learn more about Zeffy?

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Frequently Asked Questions

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