Finding the best donation app to make a big impact is simpler than you may think, but it will require you to set aside time and evaluate your options. This guide to the most effective online donation platform is your go-to resource for making a confident decision for your nonprofit, business, or yourself as a curious donor.
Donation apps boost awareness and offer a seamless mobile giving experience. With most nonprofit traffic from mobile and users spending 4+ hours daily on phones, apps provide the convenience people love.
Donation apps, available on the Apple App Store, Google Play, and Shopify, offer flexible, fast mobile giving with just a few clicks. They simplify fundraising and increase impact.
Best donation apps for nonprofits:
Charity donation apps for individuals:
Best donation apps for businesses and eCommerce:
App type: Nonprofit fundraising apps, free app
Overview: Zeffy is the only zero-fee fundraising platform built for nonprofit organizations. Over 10,000 nonprofits use Zeffy to collect mobile donations, engage new donor audiences, host creative campaigns, and save on fees.
Key features:
Pricing: Zeffy is 100% free. They give you $100, you get $100.
Best for: Nonprofit organizations who want to prioritize a seamless mobile giving experience that helps them increase donations, strong donation data to make informed decisions, and complete assurance that every dollar goes to their mission.
App type: Nonprofit fundraising apps
Overview: Venmo is an app for transferring money to friends and family, companies, and nonprofits. Users link their bank accounts and credit and debit cards to the app to make purchases quickly.
Nonprofits and 501(c)(3) organizations can create Venmo charity profiles to accept donations.
Key features:
Pricing: Venmo charity profile pricing charges a fee of $1.00 or more for every donation.
Best for: Nonprofit organizations that want to appeal to younger generations of donors who already use the Venmo app. Venmo is great for donating directly to a cause but needs to support features like marketing or the ability to engage and manage donors.
App type: Nonprofit fundraising apps
Overview: Cash App is a financial services platform that makes collecting donations on any device effortless and quick. The app has many social components like $cashtags that link to a shareable URL and help people enhance marketing to donors.
Key features:
Pricing: Cash App charges a 2.75% processing fee for purchases.
Best for: Nonprofit organizations who want to give donors a simple path to donate with a familiar interface and quick ways to share between mobile devices. Cash App lacks nonprofit-specific functionality for in-depth campaigns but can support direct giving.
App type: Nonprofit fundraising apps
Overview: Fundly is an iOS app for nonprofits to raise money and accept donations from mobile devices or online. Individuals can also use Fundly to donate through Facebook, which contributes 25% of all Fundly donations.
Key features:
Pricing: Fundly charges a 2.75% processing fee for purchases.
Best for: Nonprofit organizations that want to build awareness, gain more donors, and share crowdfunding campaigns online. Fundly's integration with Facebook makes it easy to share with new donor audiences with a mobile donation option.
App type: Charitable giving apps
Overview: ShareTheMeal is an app created for fundraising in partnership with the United Nations World Food Programme. The app allows users to donate meals to those facing food insecurity worldwide.
To date, ShareTheMeal has shared over 212,000,000 meals to fight global hunger.
Key features:
Pricing: Minimum donation amount of $0.80 to begin.
Best for: Individuals looking to serve the hungry population worldwide from their phones.
App type: Charitable giving apps
Overview: RoundUp App is a fundraising tool for donors to find nonprofits and donate their change to make a difference. Individuals can manage one-time and recurring donations to various nonprofits from the RoundUp app.
Key features:
Pricing: RoundUp App is free for all donors.
Best for: Individuals who want to find new causes and nonprofits to give to at once while tracking it all from a single user-friendly RoundUp app.
App type: Charitable giving apps
Overview: Charity Miles is a donation app that tracks exercise and turns miles into donations. You can donate to your favorite charities every time you run, walk, or bike ride and share your fundraising efforts with friends and family through the app.
Key features:
Pricing: Charity Miles is free for all users.
Best for: Active individuals who want to turn their passions and hobbies for movement into a way to give back through simple mobile tracking on their phones.
App type: Charitable giving apps
Overview: Makua is a fundraising app that helps you find nonprofits that align with your values and make donations. You also benefit from learning about causes, from education and healthcare to the environment and animal rights.
Makua Communities also allow you to contribute recurring donations to the causes you want to build closer relationships with.
Key features:
Pricing: You can use Makua by donating a minimum of $1 to a nonprofit's community.
Best for: Individuals looking to get involved with causes on a deeper level and meet like-minded individuals who share similar charitable values.
App type: eCommerce donation apps
Overview: Givz is a Shopify app that helps eCommerce stores collect donations on a charity's behalf. Businesses and companies can set a flat-rate donation amount for purchases of a certain total or apply a donation to any purchase.
You can also use Givz charity donation promotions without a Shopify store.
Key features:
Pricing: Givz offers three payment plans with varying levels of functionality:
Best for: Businesses with a Shopify store that want to increase revenue and charitable contributions to boost brand reputation.
App type: Commerce donation apps
Overview: Easy Donation is a Shopify app for businesses and companies who want to find charities to donate to and an easy way to allow customers to donate. Donations are added as part of the checkout process on Shopify stores while keeping purchases swift and easy.
Key features:
Pricing: Easy Donation offers two pricing plans:
Best for: Shopify store merchants looking to integrate a donation feature into their shop and customize the experience to collect donations.
App type: eCommerce donation apps
Overview: Tip Cup (formerly known as Tip Jar) is a Shopify app that encourages customers to offer a donation as a tip for a purchase. You can choose where to place custom upcharges on your website or at checkout.
Key features:
Pricing: Tip Cup costs $9.99 per month.
Best for: eCommerce stores that want to offer multiple avenues to donate various interaction points throughout a customer's experience on their site. Tip Cup may require your business to facilitate the transfer of donation money to a nonprofit or cause.
The Farzana Naeem Foundation raised over $80,500 using Zeffy’s donation websites to collect donations and build awareness. Website visitors can access the mobile-optimized donation form from the nonprofit’s website with an easy-to-find donate button.
Zeffy's 100% free cost structure additionally saved the Farzana Naeem Foundation $4,025 in fees.
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