Best Fundraising Apps for Nonprofits in 2026 (Compared by Fees, Features & Ease of Use)

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Table of contents

• Quick comparison: fundraising app fees at a glance

• Best fundraising apps for nonprofits, ranked

• Does Zeffy have a fundraising app?

• Feature comparison: what each app includes

• Which fundraising app integrates with your existing tools?

• How to choose the right fundraising app for your nonprofit

• Real results: how nonprofits saved thousands by switching apps

• How we evaluated these fundraising apps

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There are roughly a dozen fundraising apps a small nonprofit will seriously consider in 2026, and the choice usually comes down to one question the marketing pages bury: how much of every $10,000 raised actually reaches the cause?

On most apps marketed as "free," the answer is $300 to $440 less than you raised, because the platform still passes a 2.2% to 2.9% + $0.30 processing fee onto the nonprofit through a third-party processor. On one, the answer is $10,000. That gap is the whole point of this comparison, and it is what the table below shows before any opinions get in the way.

A note on the term itself: "fundraising app" is used loosely on search. Most of the products ranked below are web platforms you use in a browser, not phone apps. Zeffy is a free fundraising platform; its one true native phone app is Tap to Pay, which turns an iPhone or Android into a card reader for in-person giving. We flag the difference for every product on the list so you know exactly what you are downloading.

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Quick comparison: fundraising app fees at a glance

The single most useful column is the rightmost one: total cost on $10,000 raised. We modeled each row at an average gift size of $50 (so 200 donations on $10,000), used each product's published rates for verified 501(c)(3) nonprofits, and added the entry-tier monthly fee annualized against that $10,000. Where a vendor's number is not publicly published, the cell says so plainly.

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Sources: Donorbox pricing page (donorbox.org/pricing, accessed June 2026); Give Lively pricing page (givelively.org/pricing, accessed June 2026); Bloomerang pricing page (bloomerang.io/pricing, accessed June 2026); GoFundMe pricing page (gofundme.com/c/pricing, accessed June 2026); GoFundMe Pro pricing page (pro.gofundme.com/c/pricing, accessed June 2026); Qgiv pricing page (qgiv.com/pricing, accessed June 2026).

For a small nonprofit: the fee column is what decides this. A "no platform fee" label still routes 2.2% to 2.9% + $0.30 through a third-party processor on most apps here, and that processing fee comes out of the nonprofit's share. $0 on every line is the only column that means $10,000 raised lands as $10,000 in the account.

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Best fundraising apps for nonprofits, ranked

One ranked list, ordered on the two questions a volunteer-led team actually asks: how much of $10,000 raised reaches the cause, and can I run the whole stack (forms, events, P2P, recurring, in-person card payments) from one login.

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1. Zeffy

Zeffy is the only free fundraising platform where $100 raised stays $100 for the cause, online and in person. It also ships a real native phone app for in-person giving (Tap to Pay on iPhone and Android) instead of marketing a Zapier integration as an "app." 100K+ nonprofits and $2B+ raised.

• Customizable donation forms, one-time and recurring

• Event ticketing with e-tickets and door check-in

• Silent auctions with bid tracking and outbid notifications

• Peer-to-peer campaigns with individual and team pages, leaderboards, and social sharing

• Raffles and lotteries where legally permitted

• Built-in free donor CRM: tags, smart filters, saved segments, donor history, automated receipts, plus donor mail

• E-commerce store for branded merchandise

• Tap to Pay for in-person card payments from an iPhone or Android, no terminal hardware

• Apple Pay and Google Pay at checkout

Pricing: $0. No platform fee, no transaction fee, no credit card fee. Ever. At checkout, donors are invited to add a voluntary contribution to Zeffy. Whether they leave one or not, your nonprofit is charged nothing. That is the core difference from every other product on this list: the rest pass a processing fee through to the nonprofit, and Zeffy never does.

Right fit when: a registered 501(c)(3) wants one login for online donations, events, auctions, P2P, recurring giving, and in-person card payments without giving up a percentage of every gift.

You can explore Zeffy's free donation forms or see how Tap to Pay turns an iPhone or Android into a free POS before signing up.

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2. Give Lively

Give Lively costs a nonprofit roughly $249 per $10,000 raised in processing fees, despite charging no platform fee. Payment processing still routes through a third-party processor (as low as 1.99% + $0.25 via Stripe, Shift4, or PayPal), so every gift carries a processing cost. The other catch is access: membership is application-reviewed for organizations Give Lively considers "values-aligned," so launch is not automatic and can take days or weeks.

• Donation forms, peer-to-peer, and event pages

• Processing fees still apply through the third-party processor

• No native consumer Tap to Pay app for in-person giving

Right fit when: an established, mission-aligned nonprofit raises primarily online and can wait through the application-review window.

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3. GoFundMe (verified 501(c)(3) rate)

Built primarily for individuals and personal causes. Verified 501(c)(3) charities pay 2.2% + $0.30 per donation and 5% on recurring donations, with an optional donor tip asked at checkout on top of the processing fee. There is no built-in donor CRM, no auction tool, and no nonprofit Tap to Pay surface, but the campaign-creation flow is fast and the reach is real.

• Crowdfunding and personal-style campaign pages

• iOS and Android app for campaign management (not for accepting in-person card payments)

• No ticketing, no auctions, no donor records

Right fit when: a one-off crisis or campaign needs maximum public reach and the nonprofit can absorb roughly $280 in fees per $10,000 raised on top of the optional donor tip ask. See how Zeffy stacks up as a GoFundMe alternative.

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4. GoFundMe Pro (formerly Classy)

An enterprise campaign and P2P product, distinct from GoFundMe standard. The Essentials tier is 2.4% + $0.30 per card transaction (2.5% PayPal or Venmo; +1% Amex); the Custom tier is demo-gated. Strong online suite (forms, P2P, campaigns, events) but CRM and email are paid add-ons (for example, a Salesforce connector).

Right fit when: a $1M+ nonprofit needs Salesforce add-ons and a dedicated onboarding cycle.

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5. Donorbox

Donorbox Standard stacks a 2.95% platform fee on top of Stripe's 2.2% + $0.30 processing, so a $10,000 online program costs the nonprofit about $515. Events get charged at 3.95%, and the in-person Live Kiosk add-on is $80/month per device, not a free phone-native Tap to Pay app. The Pro plan at $150/month brings the platform fee down to 1.75% to 2%, which only pencils out at higher monthly volume.

Right fit when: a nonprofit values the form builder and accepts a stacked platform-plus-processing fee in exchange.

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6. Bloomerang

Bloomerang is a donor CRM first, fundraising tool second. The entry tier starts at $40/month, the CRM module starts at $125/month, and Volunteer starts at $119/month, on top of payment processing per gift. Bloomerang's donor-engagement reporting is genuinely strong, so it is the right pick when the CRM is the system of record and a development team will run campaigns from inside it. For the donor records most small and mid-size nonprofits actually need (tags, smart filters, saved segments, donor history, and automated receipts), Zeffy's free donor CRM covers it at $0, so see how Zeffy compares as a Bloomerang alternative if you can live without the deepest enterprise CRM workflows.

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7. CauseVox

The Starter tier has a $0 platform fee (processing still applies) with thinner features. Premier at $200/month gates P2P, branded campaign pages, and integrations. No native mobile app; integrations are via Zapier. Strong for branded crowdfunding pages, weaker for in-person events; see how Zeffy compares as a CauseVox alternative.

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8. Funraise

A full fundraising suite (forms, P2P, recurring, events) with a demo-led sales motion. Essentials is published; Pro and Enterprise are demo-gated. Contact Funraise directly for current pricing before signing.

Right fit when: a mid-size to large nonprofit wants a full suite and is comfortable with a sales cycle.

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9. OneCause

An enterprise event-and-auction platform built around annual contracts. Mobile bidding and event check-in apps are genuinely strong, but pricing is custom-quoted with no published figures, and the tooling is tied to the contract.

Right fit when: a $1M+ gala team has dedicated event staff and a multi-year contract budget.

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10. Qgiv

Qgiv prices its platform at $0 to $259/month with roughly 1.95% + $0.30 per transaction, and ships two separate apps (Givi for mobile giving and a Virtual Terminal for card payments) instead of one unified fundraising app. Broad feature coverage (forms, events, P2P, auctions, recurring), split across surfaces.

Right fit when: an established mid-size nonprofit already runs Qgiv for forms and wants to add an event or auction layer at a published rate.

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11. Fundly

Self-serve P2P and crowdfunding sign-up with templated emails and social embeds. The published rate is 4.9% platform + 2.9% + $0.30 processing, so a $10,000 P2P campaign loses about $810 before the nonprofit sees the rest. Some surfaces market the same product as NonProfitEasy.

Right fit when: a short-term crowdfunding push needs zero setup and the team can absorb the fees.

Discontinued or rebranded products you may be searching for: GoFundMe Charity and Classy are now GoFundMe Pro (ranked above); NonProfitEasy is the same product as Fundly (ranked above).

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Ideal for your use case

• Events and auctions: Zeffy at $0 with door check-in, silent-auction bidding, and Tap to Pay at the door. OneCause if you have a $1M+ gala budget and a multi-year contract.

• Peer-to-peer: Zeffy at $0 with team pages and leaderboards. GoFundMe Pro for an enterprise Salesforce-integrated P2P stack. CauseVox Premier if branded pages are the priority.

• Recurring giving: Zeffy at $0. Donorbox if you accept the stacked platform plus processing fee. Bloomerang if the CRM is the system of record.

• Small or first-time nonprofits: Zeffy (sign up, build a form, accept gifts online and in person, all at $0). Give Lively if you are comfortable with the membership-review window.

• Mid-size and growing nonprofits ($500K to $5M): Bloomerang (CRM-first), Funraise (full suite, demo-led), or GoFundMe Pro (enterprise P2P + Salesforce).

Launch a free peer-to-peer campaign with team pages and leaderboards or see how recurring giving works on Zeffy.

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Does Zeffy have a fundraising app?

Yes. Zeffy ships a real native app called Tap to Pay, available on iPhone and Android. To be precise about what it does: Zeffy itself is a free fundraising platform you use in a browser, and Tap to Pay is the downloadable phone app that pairs with the same free Zeffy account to accept in-person card payments. Your phone is the card reader. No terminal hardware, no per-swipe fee, no monthly device charge.

To get started: create a free account at zeffy.com/register, build a donation form or event page (most teams have one live in under thirty minutes), then download the Tap to Pay app from the App Store or Google Play to take cards in person at events, galas, or the door. The whole stack is $0 to the nonprofit.

For a small nonprofit: if you have been juggling a separate processor for in-person sales (a card reader at the gift shop, a borrowed terminal at the gala) and re-entering the totals later, Tap to Pay is the one piece that collapses that workflow back into the same login as your online forms.

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Feature comparison: what each app includes

The feature column that gets the most fudged on competitor pages is "native mobile app." A Zapier integration is not a native app. A campaign-management app that does not accept card payments at the door is also not an in-person fundraising app. Below, "Tap to Pay" means a real phone-native card reader; everything else is labeled honestly.

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For a small nonprofit: the row to scan is the rightmost one. If you take any cards at the door (gala, gift shop, donor visit), a real Tap to Pay app is the difference between collecting in the room and routing it through a second processor later.

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Which fundraising app integrates with your existing tools?

The integration question has two layers: does the app push donor and gift data into the CRM you use (Salesforce, HubSpot), and does it push gifts into accounting (QuickBooks) and email (Mailchimp, Constant Contact)? For most fundraising apps in 2026, the honest answer for most of these is "via Zapier or a paid add-on," not native.

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Zeffy's QuickBooks integration auto-categorizes payouts by campaign or fund, so donations land in the right account without manual cleanup. For Salesforce, HubSpot, and Mailchimp, the path on Zeffy is Zapier, which works for most workflows but is worth testing before you commit if a specific automation is mission-critical.

A note on in-person payments: if you currently run a card reader at a gift shop or event table and manually re-enter the totals into your fundraising tool later, the cleaner fix is taking cards at the door on Tap to Pay (same login as your online forms) instead of looking for a deeper integration that does not exist on most of these apps.

For a small nonprofit: the integrations table over-promises across the board. For most volunteer-led teams the right plan is to pick one tool that covers forms, events, recurring, and in-person on its own, and use Zapier or a CSV export for the rest. Adding a paid CRM and a paid email tool to a paid fundraising tool is exactly the three-login operational pattern people are trying to escape.

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How to choose the right fundraising app for your nonprofit

The decision framework is simpler than the marketing pages make it. Work through these questions in order and the right pick reveals itself.

• Are you a registered 501(c)(3)? If yes, you have access to the full nonprofit-rate market, including the only $0 option (Zeffy). If no (you are an individual raising for a cause), GoFundMe standard is the route.

• What is your annual fundraising volume? Under $250K: prioritize zero or near-zero fees and a fast self-serve setup (Zeffy, Give Lively). $250K to $1M: one tool that covers forms, events, P2P, and recurring (Zeffy, Donorbox). $1M+: CRM-first or enterprise (Bloomerang, Funraise, GoFundMe Pro, OneCause).

• Do you accept in-person card payments? If yes, you need real Tap to Pay or a terminal. Zeffy's Tap to Pay on iPhone and Android is the only cost-free in-person option here. Donorbox Live Kiosk is $80/month per device.

• Do you run a gala or auction? Zeffy (free, with door check-in and silent-auction bidding) or OneCause (enterprise, annual contract).

• Do you run peer-to-peer? Zeffy (free), GoFundMe Pro (enterprise), or CauseVox (Premier tier).

• Is recurring giving the engine of your program? Zeffy, Donorbox, or Bloomerang.

• Is your team volunteer-led with no IT staff? Prioritize self-serve sign-up and published pricing. Skip demo-gated enterprise sales cycles (OneCause, Funraise Pro, GoFundMe Pro Custom).

For a small nonprofit: the two questions that actually decide this are the fee math and the login count. If the same tool covers forms, events, recurring, and door payments at $0, you are done. Everything else is a feature tour.

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Real results: how nonprofits saved thousands by switching apps

Reasons to Smile Foundation Inc., a nonprofit supporting individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, switched to Zeffy and raised more than $79,000 without losing a cent to platform or transaction fees: roughly $51,000 through online donation forms (saving about $2,550 in typical processing fees) and $28,500 from their annual Spring Gala (saving about $1,425 in event fees). Total fees saved by switching: about $4,000 redirected back to the mission.

42 Strong, a nonprofit honoring a community legacy through scholarships and outreach, ran its annual fundraising event on the same Zeffy account. The team sold 606 gala tickets online ahead of the event and took an additional $9,090 in card payments at the door on Tap to Pay, same platform, same login, no separate processor to reconcile after the night was over. Every dollar collected online and in person stayed with the cause.

Looking for more comparisons? Explore free fundraising platforms and the broader list of best fundraising sites, or read about peer-to-peer fundraising platforms.

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How we evaluated these fundraising apps

This is an attempt at objective, truthful reviews of our competitors, evaluated against the apps most asked about among the 100K+ nonprofits in our community. We assessed five criteria.

• 1. Effective fee on $10,000 raised (online and in person). Truly zero cost means no platform fee AND no processing fee passed to the nonprofit. Products that absorb both pass the bar; products that waive only the platform fee while still routing 2.2% to 2.9% + $0.30 to a processor do not. You can see how Zeffy's zero-fee model actually works.

• 2. True native phone app vs Zapier wrapper. A real phone-native Tap to Pay (no terminal hardware) is fundamentally different from a Zapier integration marketed as an "app." We flagged the difference in the feature matrix.

• 3. All-in-one feature set in one login. Forms, ticketing, P2P, recurring, and a free donor CRM in a single account. Stacking three subscriptions to cover what one tool should is a fail for a small team.

• 4. Setup time for a no-tech, volunteer-led team. Self-serve sign-up that goes live in under thirty minutes passes. Demo-gated enterprise sales cycles do not, for this audience.

• 5. Pricing transparency. Published rates on the vendor's site pass. "Contact us for pricing" does not, and we flagged it in the table when we hit it.

Where a vendor's pricing was not publishable as of our June 2026 review, the comparison table says so directly rather than guessing. Where the source was a vendor pricing page, the table cites it. Where a figure was not verifiable to a working primary source, we omitted it instead of estimating.

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