8 best free fundraising platforms for nonprofits compared

Imagine pouring your heart into a fundraising campaign, rallying supporters, and then watching a significant chunk of your hard-earned donations disappear into platform fees. It's every changemaker's nightmare. 

The harsh reality? Many fundraising platforms gobble up to 8% (or more!) of your donations—before you even factor in additional costs for features, contact management, and processing fees. Those "free" platforms? They're about as free as a "complimentary" hotel breakfast.

But here's the good news: Not all fundraising platforms for nonprofits are created equal. We've done the deep dive, sifting through the noise to uncover fundraising solutions that actually care about your mission—platforms that help you keep more of every single dollar you work so hard to raise.

By the end of this guide, you'll know exactly how to choose a fundraising platform that maximizes your impact, minimizes your costs, and lets your nonprofit's mission shine bright. 

Are there any free fundraising sites?‍

Each platform is a little bit different, including how they define “free.” 

We’ve narrowed down our list to the eight best nonprofit fundraising platforms that don’t charge fees or require any monthly or annual subscriptions. While most free platforms still charge transaction fees for payment processing, we’ll show you how they’ve come up with ways to offset these costs and put more money toward your mission. 

Let’s see what’s free!

The top 8 free fundraising platforms at a glance

1. Givebutter: Best free, all-in-one fundraising platform 
2. Funraise: For conversion-focused growth
3. GoFundMe: For individual online crowdfunding
4. Give Lively: For the basics
5. Fundly: For Facebook integration
6. FundRazr: For cause-based crowdfunding 
7. Facebook: For community-driven fundraising 
8. PayPal: For payment processing 

1. Givebutter: Best free, all-in-one fundraising platform

Givebutter is the easiest-to-use, all-in-one fundraising solution that empowers changemakers to raise more, pay less, and give better. With a mission to power the next billion changemakers, Givebutter brings together powerful fundraising tools—donation forms, donate buttons, fundraising pages, peer-to-peer campaigns, event ticketing, auctions, and more—that nonprofits need to fuel their impact.

💸 How free is it? With optional donor tips enabled, your nonprofit pays $0 in platform and processing fees, backed by the Givebutter Guarantee. Turn tips off, and a flat 3% platform fee applies, plus standard processing that you can pass on to donors, make optional, or cover yourself.

🫰 Can donors cover fees? Yes.

🤝 Optional donor tipping? Yes.

🔥 Our take: Givebutter's donor-friendly platform eliminates the cost and hassle of juggling multiple fundraising websites and managing various logins. With Givebutter, there’s no need for an external email marketing platform, auction software, events management, or even a nonprofit CRM—it’s all included with Givebutter for free.

What users like about Givebutter

Reviewers say Givebutter is easy to use, with widgets, events, and auctions that work well together, and they appreciate the free plan.

What users dislike about Givebutter

Some users say a few of the most-requested features are still in development, though they note how much is already free.

Did you know?

Givebutter is rated #1 by nonprofits like you →

2. Funraise: For conversion-focused growth

Funraise is an all-in-one fundraising platform built for nonprofit teams. While the industry average donation page conversion rate hovers around 12–17%, Funraise’s conversion-optimized donation forms average 38%.

💸 How free is it? Funraise offers a free core plan with no subscription required. Payment processing is handled securely through Stripe at standard industry processing rates.

🫰 Can donors cover fees? Yes. About 90% of donors choose to cover fees when donating on a Funraise donation form. Funraise does not assess a fee when the remaining 10% of individual donors opt out of fee coverage.

🤝 Optional donor tipping? Yes.

🔥 Our take: Funraise pairs high-converting donation forms with automated donor journeys and unified team workflows. It’s a strong fit for nonprofit teams that want to spend less time on manual data entry.

What users like about Funraise

Reviewers say the donation forms and peer-to-peer pages look modern and are easy for donors to use, and that automations save small teams admin time.

What users dislike about Funraise

Some reviewers say customization is limited, especially for experienced development teams, and that some features come with a learning curve.

3. GoFundMe: For individual crowdfunding

GoFundMe is one of the most recognizable crowdfunding platforms for launching quick fundraising campaigns—most often used for personal needs, community projects, or disaster relief. While nonprofits can also fundraise through GoFundMe, the platform is primarily designed for individual and short-term campaigns. GoFundMe Pro (formerly Classy) now serves as a separate, more advanced option for organizations with larger fundraising needs.

💸 How free is it? GoFundMe has no monthly costs or platform fees, but a 2.9% + $0.30 processing fee is automatically deducted from each donation, and donors cannot choose to cover it—so fundraisers never receive the full amount raised.

🫰 Can donors cover fees? No.

🤝 Optional donor tipping? Yes—every donor sees a tipping prompt that cannot be disabled.

🔥 Our take: GoFundMe is simple, trusted, and great for personal or one-time fundraisers. However, it lacks the fundraising tools nonprofits often need—like donor management, event registration, text-to-donate, and integrated marketing—making it less suited for long-term growth or engagement.

What users like about GoFundMe

Reviewers say it’s easy to set up campaigns, especially for small organizations.

What users dislike about GoFundMe

Some reviewers say GoFundMe’s fees are high compared to other platforms.

4. Give Lively: For the basics

Give Lively takes a different approach to being free. With philanthropic backing, Give Lively provides a suite of free fundraising tools for nonprofits with no monthly costs or platform fees. The platform has also recently introduced donor tipping, called “Pay Free Forward.”

💸 How free is it? Give Lively is a 100% free fundraising website—no subscriptions or platform fees. Payment processing fees vary but are fairly standard.

🫰 Can donors cover fees? Only for certain payment methods.

🤝 Optional donor tipping? Yes.

🔥 Our take: Organizations must complete an application process to access the platform, but those that are accepted can create fundraising pages, run peer-to-peer campaigns, and use engaging event features like live display. But without features like auction management or a nonprofit CRM, organizations may still need to seek out additional tools to have a fully operational fundraising and donor engagement plan.  

What users like about Give Lively

Reviewers praise Give Lively’s hands-on guidance, noting it offers mentorship and planning support beyond payment processing.

What users dislike about Give Lively

Some users say peer-to-peer fundraisers can only see their page totals, not individual donor names and amounts.

5. Fundly: For Facebook fundraising integration

Fundly is a simple fundraising platform that offers donation processing and crowdfunding platform features—including a built-in Facebook integration.

💸 How free is it? Fundly allows donors to tip to cover platform fees and charges the standard 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction for credit card processing.

🫰 Can donors cover fees? Yes.

🤝 Optional donor tipping? No.

🔥 Our take: Fundly offers a range of basic fundraising tools, including donation forms and peer-to-peer campaigns. But, it lacks some features offered by its competitors, such as auction management, livestreaming, and donor management tools.

What users like about Fundly

Reviewers say fundraisers are easy to set up and share, and they mention helpful customer support.

What users dislike about Fundly

Some users mention a learning curve when running reports and creating communications.

6. FundRazr: For cause-based crowdfunding

FundRazr is a popular online fundraising platform that allows individuals, groups, and organizations to create and manage crowdfunding campaigns. Versatile and user-friendly, the platform is used for a wide range of purposes, from personal needs to charitable causes.

💸 How free is it? FundRazr has 0 platform fees, thanks to optional tips from donors. If nonprofits prefer to disable tips, a small platform fee applies instead (1%-5%), plus 2.9% + $0.30 processing fees.

🫰 Can donors cover fees? Yes.

🤝 Optional donor tipping? Yes.

🔥 Our take: FundRazr is primarily focused on crowdfunding campaigns, making it a great platform for raising money for specific causes. However, it lacks some important nonprofit fundraising tools like auction management and CRM capabilities. 

What users like about FundRazr

Reviewers highlight FundRazr’s supportive team and the time saved by automatic tax receipts.

What users dislike about FundRazr

Some users say parts of the campaign editor can be hard to navigate.

7. Facebook: For community-driven fundraising 

Anyone can create a fundraiser on Facebook, and the platform continues to support nonprofit fundraising through its partnership with PayPal Giving Fund (PPGF), which processes and distributes donations to verified organizations.

💸 How free is it? Donations made directly through Facebook are processed by PayPal Giving Fund, with standard fees of 1.99% + $0.49 per transaction. But with Givebutter’s free Facebook integration, you can keep 100% of donations when you enable optional tips.

🫰 Can donors cover fees? Yes.

🤝 Optional donor tipping? Yes, when using the Givebutter Facebook integration. 

🧈 Our take: Facebook makes it simple for nonprofits to connect with donors where they already spend time online—and with Givebutter’s Facebook integration, you can take it further. Every Givebutter campaign link you share on Facebook automatically includes a donate button, campaign image, and progress bar, plus faster payouts, full donor data, and more flexible payment options.

What users like about Facebook

Reviewers like Facebook’s intuitive interface and advertising tools for reaching the right audience.

What users dislike about Facebook

Some users say the number of features can feel overwhelming.

Dive deeper

Learn how to get more from Facebook birthday fundraisers →

8. PayPal: For payment processing

Like Facebook, PayPal for nonprofits provides convenient ways for supporters to contribute when they use PayPal for their online shopping. But as with Facebook, you’ll have limited access to donor data when you collect donations on the platform, making it hard to steward new supporters and build relationships. 

💸 How free is it? PayPal’s donation features are 100% free. Payment processing fees for charitable donations are 1.99% + $0.49 per donation.

🫰 Can donors cover fees? No.

🤝 Optional donor tipping? No.

🔥 Our take: Beyond accepting donations, PayPal doesn’t offer the range of features you’ll get with other free fundraising platforms. A good workaround? On most digital fundraising sites, PayPal is offered as a payment option among several others—all on one universal fundraising form or donate button. Plus, your nonprofit doesn’t even need to set up a separate PayPal account to easily accept PayPal donations. 

What users like about PayPal 

Reviewers value PayPal’s fast transfers and easy international payments.

What users dislike about PayPal 

Some users say PayPal’s transaction fees are high compared to other payment gateways, though its wide brand recognition helps.

More to explore

Thinking about Snap Raise? Learn if the 20% fee is worth it →

Free fundraising is better with Givebutter

To reach your fundraising goal, you need a free online fundraising platform that offers enough features to engage your audience without taking a huge cut of your earnings. That’s where Givebutter comes in.

With Givebutter, you can run seamless silent auctions, livestream virtual events, and track donor relationships in the nonprofit CRM—and so much more.

Ready to start fundraising for free on Givebutter? Sign up today and launch your first campaign in minutes.

FAQs: Top questions about the best fundraising platforms for nonprofits

What is the best fundraising platform for nonprofits?

Givebutter is the easiest-to-use, all-in-one nonprofit fundraising platform that empowers changemakers to raise more, pay less, and give better. Its core fundraising features are free, with 95% of donors choosing to cover transaction fees, allowing nonprofits to keep 99.5% of funds raised. 

Designed for nonprofits of all sizes—from small teams to faith-based organizations—Givebutter provides a comprehensive toolkit including donation forms, fundraising campaigns, events, and donor management. As the #1 rated nonprofit software company on G2, Givebutter is on a mission to power the next billion changemakers! 

What are people using instead of GoFundMe?

GoFundMe alternatives, like Givebutter, offer comprehensive fundraising solutions that go beyond basic crowdfunding. Givebutter provides customizable donation pages, event management, auctions, recurring donations, and robust donor tracking tools that GoFundMe lacks. 

It’s a great alternative for organizations looking to do more than simple donation collection.

What is the best free fundraising platform?

Givebutter is the top solution for free fundraising. Nonprofit organizations, schools, faith-based groups, sports teams, and individuals looking to raise money and scale their fundraising efforts can take advantage of Givebutter’s comprehensive functionality. 

Host fundraising events, create campaign pages, engage supporters in real time, and track progress with quality, user-friendly tools—all for free!