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Compare 7 of the best fundraising apps for nonprofits

Discover some of the best fundraising apps for nonprofits—from online fundraising platforms and data management systems to our all-time-favorite creative design tool.

Nicola Scoon
December 28, 2023
Nerd Mr Butter

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Every changemaker should have a collection of go-to fundraising apps in their toolkit. But how do you know which ones should make it onto your shortlist?

In this guide, we’re sharing everything you need to consider to choose the right mobile tools for your organization. Learn about innovative apps for taking online donations, running peer-to-peer campaigns, and designing your way to engaging campaigns.

Features you should be looking for

Almost every tool you use can be considered a fundraising app—from dedicated fundraising platforms to productivity apps and analytics tools. While these apps are completely different in use, they should each help you progress toward your fundraising goals in some way.

Here’s what to focus your attention on as you compare potential fundraising apps:

  • Features designed for fundraising 💥 Look for tools that are either designed specifically for fundraising and nonprofit organizations, or that have features that support your specific goals. Ask yourself, does this app have the features we need to streamline our fundraising process?
  • Full mobile capabilities 📱 Whether you’re running in-person events or staying organized on the go, the right mobile app keeps the whole process moving smoothly. Ask yourself, how seamlessly does this app integrate with its desktop platform? Does it offer the same range of features or a limited mobile experience?
  • Intuitive functionality 😊 Any fundraising app you add to your toolkit should be easy to learn, use, and collaborate with. Ask yourself, does the app work for everyone on the team?
  • Robust resources 🎨 The best donation apps come with plenty of templates, guides, and instructions to help you make the most of its features and customize the experience to match your needs. Ask yourself, are there learning resources and templates to help me get started quickly?
  • Affordable pricing plans 💸 Seek out fundraising apps that are low-cost or allow the opportunity for donors to cover costs, so more of your budget goes towards your cause. Ask yourself, does this app fit within our budget, or can I make a case for it? 

7 innovative fundraising apps to consider

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

Givebutter is an online fundraising platform designed with changemakers (like you!) in mind. This free, easy-to-use fundraising tool has an impressive collection of features including online donation forms, fundraising pages, donor management (CRM), auctions, and marketing tools. 

Givebutter’s mobile app, available on iOS and Android devices, empowers you to access the full spread of features anywhere you are. Manage event ticketing, collect donations with Tap to Pay, and get campaign updates in real time. 

💰 Price: All Givebutter’s features are included for free, so there’s no monthly or annual commitment. Turn on optional tips to enjoy 0% platform fees and encourage donors to cover payment processing fees.

📣 Standout features:

  • Seamless event ticketing and check-ins
  • Tap to Pay for easy transactions from anywhere 
  • Real time campaign updates and donor info on the go
  • Robust nonprofit CRM built-in
  • Engaging donor tools like text-to-donate, scan-to-donate, live display, and more

✅ Best for: Nonprofits that want an all-in-one fundraising platform that’s easy to use and packed with engaging features to optimize the donor experience, including peer-to-peer fundraising, native integrations with popular tools, and access to connect with many other apps via Zapier.

🔥 Our take: Givebutter is the all-rounder of fundraising apps, giving donors more features and better value compared to other similar platforms. Nonprofits that choose Givebutter get access to online fundraising tools, built-in CRM, marketing and engagement tools, and more—for free—and with a top-rated support team on standby too.

Harness the power of mobile fundraising with Givebutter

2. Bloomerang: Comprehensive mobile donor management

Bloomerang is a fundraising software focused on simplifying the donor relationship experience, and the Bloomerang app brings its full suite of features to wherever you are, including donor management, task management, and analytics. Users can easily create a donor database, manage volunteers, enable online giving, and do more with their data right from their mobile devices.

💰 Price: Bloomerang’s plans start at $119/month and scale depending on the number of records in your donor database. Some features, like the online giving suite and Bloomerang Payments, are only available as paid add-ons.

📣 Standout features:

  • Nonprofit CRM and donor database
  • Voice-to-text to easily capture notes from a call or meeting in a donor’s profile
  • Tap to Pay to quickly accept donations from a phone or smart device
  • Easy compatibility with Givebutter fundraising tools through a native Bloomerang integration

✅ Best for: Nonprofits that want to focus on donor management and analytics who have the budget to pay for Bloomerang’s premium pricing model.

🔥 Our take: Bloomerang is a great choice for nonprofit leaders and marketers that are focused on establishing a detailed donor database, and are happy to pay a premium price for their fundraising apps. For nonprofits on a budget, similar features (and more) can be found in free fundraising platforms.

3. GoFundMe: Quick-start fundraising campaigns

GoFundMe is an online fundraising solution commonly used by individuals for crowdfunding, but nonprofits and charities can also use the platform for peer-to-peer fundraising with a quick and easy setup. 

With GoFundMe’s mobile app, you can also manage your fundraiser on the move—monitor progress, update your campaign, and add offline donations wherever you are.

💰 Price: GoFundMe’s platform is free to use. A transaction fee of 2.9% + $0.30 is automatically deducted from each donation (which donors aren't given the option to cover).

📣 Standout features:

  • Image and video embeds
  • Email, SMS, and social media sharing
  • Fundraising coaching tips and step-by-step guides

✅ Best for: Individuals or nonprofits that want a fast fundraising option.

🔥 Our take: GoFundMe’s app appeals to users as its quick and easy to launch a campaign. For nonprofits that want a temporary solution, GoFundMe fulfills that need, but for extra features or ongoing campaign management, an all-in-one platform may be a better choice.

4. POINT: Complete volunteer management

POINT is a comprehensive volunteer management platform designed to help nonprofits assemble and mobilize their volunteer community. 

The POINT mobile app simplifies volunteer recruitment, management, and engagement. Existing volunteers can also download the app for an easier way to engage with their cause—like viewing upcoming events and registering right from their device.

 

💰 Price: POINT has a range of pricing plans, including a free Core plan that includes the essential features. Unlock additional features like volunteer documents and background checks with the Pro plan, available from $99/month.

📣 Standout features:

  • Volunteer recruitment
  • Event sign-up and check-in
  • Volunteer-facing mobile app
  • Works alongside Givebutter donate buttons and donations forms with native POINT integration

✅ Best for: Nonprofits that want an easier and more engaging way to connect with volunteers.

🔥 Our take: POINT offers nonprofits a valuable way to handle the volunteer management process for free. Recruit, manage, and stay engaged with your volunteer community all from one place with the best charity app for volunteer management.

5. monday.com: Collaborative operations management

monday.com describes itself as a “work OS” that can help you manage not just projects but tasks and operations too. The monday mobile app brings the robust capabilities of its desktop software straight to your phone with the ability to view tasks, manage your workload, and get real-time updates wherever you are.

Nonprofits can use the app to streamline workflows, store data, and track fundraising campaigns in one central source of truth.

💰 Price: monday.com has a free plan that’s designed for individuals, but nonprofit teams will want to invest in a paid plan to get the most from the platform. monday’s paid plans start at $8/month per user, with enterprise plans available for large-scale nonprofits. Eligible nonprofits can benefit from monday’s nonprofit program.

📣 Standout features:

  • Manage and collaborate on projects, tasks, files, campaigns, resources, and more in one centralized hub
  • Template center with ready-made workflows to jumpstart onboarding
  • Drag and drop mobile feature for easy board editing
  • Real-time insights and analytics
  • Works perfectly alongside Givebutter with the first-of-its-kind monday.com integration

✅ Best for: Teams looking for a best-in-class tool to help them manage fundraising projects and campaigns.

🔥 Our take: monday.com is the best project and task management tool around, thanks to its wide range of features and how easy it is to customize the experience. Nonprofits that need to add a Work OS tool to their collection should definitely consider monday a top contender.

6. Canva: Simple, beautiful graphic design

Canva is a cloud-based creative design and management app that rose to popularity thanks to how easy it is to use. With Canva, your team members don’t need to be graphic designers to create aesthetic images and video content for your social media, events, website, and presentations. 

Canva’s mobile app lets you design, edit, and share created content while you’re at fundraising events, traveling, or away from your main workstation.

💰 Price: Canva has a free plan, but it’s best suited for individuals. Canva Pro is available for $14.99/month and unlocks extra features, templates, and tools. See if you’re eligible for the Canva for Nonprofits program to access Canva Pro for free.

📣 Standout features:

  • User-friendly graphic design templates and elements
  • Photo and video editor
  • Content planning, scheduling, and social media management
  • AI-powered content creation tools
  • Baked-in to Givebutter fundraising pages and donor messages, thanks to a native Canva integration

✅ Best for: Nonprofits that want to create their own impressive graphics, without investing in expensive traditional design tools.

🔥 Our take: Canva brings graphic design to the masses, and makes it easy to create something impressive—thanks to intuitive features and a collection of built-in templates. This tool is a must-have for nonprofit teams that want to be able to design assets at their own pace, without relying on external designers or an agency team.

7. Google Analytics: Deep user trend analysis

Google Analytics is the leading website analytics tool available today, and it remains a popular choice for nonprofits that want a tried-and-tested data platform. With Google Analytics you can gather data on website visits and actions your users take to inform your SEO and marketing strategies. 

Use the Google Analytics app to bring the power of data insights to your organization’s mobile device, no matter where you are.

💰 Price: Google Analytics is completely free to use. A paid version of the tool, known as Google Analytics 360, does exist, providing additional customization and resources for enterprise-level businesses (but pricing starts at $12,500/month!).

📣 Standout features:

  • Real-time data monitoring
  • Built-in reports to check key metrics
  • Custom report building
  • Do more with your fundraising data with Givebutter’s Google Analytics integration

✅ Best for: Teams that want to understand how donors and supporters interact with their website.

🔥 Our take: Google Analytics is the industry standard, and it’s easy to see why. While you’ll need some expertise to understand all the data, it’s still the easiest to set up, configure, and monitor. If you need a tool to help you understand your audience’s behavior on your website, this is our top pick.

Hit your fundraising goals with Givebutter

These fundraising apps are our go-to tools and platforms to simplify the fundraising process, introduce new ways to take donations, and create an excellent donor experience. If you’re looking for one tool to help you manage it all, Givebutter is the only fundraising app you need. Not only does our app offer several options for receiving donations, but it also gives you access to a built-in nonprofit CRM and exciting donor engagement features.

Ready to see why so many consider Givebutter the best nonprofit app? Sign up for free today.

Already using another all-in-one fundraising platform? See how easy it is to make the switch.

Methodology

Our editorial team sources comparison metrics directly from sites like G2, Capterra, Trustpilot, BBB, InHerSight, Comparably, Glassdoor, and more. Data gathered on November 8, 2023.
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