How is Zeffy free?
How is Zeffy free?
Zeffy relies entirely on optional contributions from donors. At the payment confirmation step - we ask donors to leave an optional contribution to Zeffy.
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Nonprofit software

Zeffy Reviews from Nonprofits: Pros & Cons [2024]

January 21, 2025

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fundraising platform for nonprofits

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Zeffy is the only completely free fundraising platform for nonprofit organizations. When you're exploring fundraising software, it's helpful to hear from actual users about what works, what doesn't, and the results you can be inspired by.

Below is a full breakdown of Zeffy reviews from nonprofit organizations of all sizes and cause categories. Learn about pricing details, top features, and what to expect from the Zeffy support team as you adopt the platform.

Zeffy reviews from the most trusted sources

Responsive Table
Zeffy Reviews Source Overall Rating
Capterra 4.8
Getapp 4.8
Software Advice 4.8
G2 4.9
Truspilot 4.3

Responsive Table
Pros Cons
✅ Completely free ❌ Donors can be confused by optional tips
✅ User-friendly
✅ Feature-packed for in-person and online donations
✅ All in one fundraising and donor management
✅ Highly helpful and responsive support team

What is Zeffy?

Zeffy is the only zero-fee fundraising platform for nonprofits. Designed to help nonprofits do more for less, It offers an all-in-one solution for donor management, fundraising, marketing communications, and more. 

While every other platform charges a portion of fees, Zeffy’s online donation platform gives 100% of all donations directly to nonprofits. Thus, donors can be reassured that their entire gift goes to the cause.

Every donation form across the fundraising platform is built with nonprofits in mind, focusing on ease of use and an impressive donor experience that makes giving easy. Charities can build their community through every donation, ticket, auction bid, and item they sell through Zeffy, tracking it all in one place.

Is Zeffy legitimate?

Yes, Zeffy is absolutely legitimate! Over 50,000 charities across North America trust Zeffy, and together they’ve raised more than $800 million—saving over $40 million in fees. It’s the only 100% free fundraising and donor management platform out there.

Zeffy’s story started seven years ago when François, one of the co-founders, moved to Québec and wanted to give back. He realized it was surprisingly hard to find volunteer opportunities, so he teamed up with his friend Thibaut to create a platform that made it easy and accessible to volunteer. That was the beginning of Zeffy’s mission to help nonprofits for free.

Since then, Zeffy has grown into an all-in-one solution with a whole suite of fundraising tools, making it simple and transparent for nonprofits to connect with donors. The team is now 30 people strong, supporting charities in every state and province in the U.S. and Canada.

The best part? Zeffy has never charged nonprofits a single dime. It’s their way of helping nonprofits focus on what matters: changing the world. And with Zeffy tripling in growth each year, this is just the beginning!

Pricing and transaction fees

Zeffy is 100% free. While every other platform takes fees away from your mission, Zeffy delivers 100% of it to your nonprofit. Zeffy has a 4.9/5 “value for money” rating on Capterra to reflect nonprofit satisfaction as more proceeds benefit their cause directly.

How is Zeffy free for nonprofit organizations?

The only way Zeffy makes money is from optional contributions from donors.

Here’s how it works: When someone donates your fundraising form, they have the option (but are never obliged) to give to Zeffy. Not everyone provides every time, and that's okay. 

Enough donors leave contributions to cover the overhead and fees of the thousands of nonprofits fundraising on Zeffy. Last year, nonprofits paid $3 billion in transaction fees, but Zeffy is ending this with zero fees. 

Who is Zeffy best for?

Zeffy is best for nonprofits of all sizes—whether you’re a small, grassroots organization or a large, established charity—looking to centralize and simplify their fundraising efforts in one platform. It’s an excellent choice for organizations that want a comprehensive toolset to handle every fundraising aspect without worrying about hidden fees or added costs.

With Zeffy, nonprofits can track contributions, build relationships, and streamline communications across all campaign types. At the same time, its marketing and engagement features help you reach a broader audience and foster deeper connections with your community.

Zeffy is ideal for nonprofits that value efficiency, transparency, and a user-friendly experience, enabling them to focus on their mission while reaching their fundraising goals.

Whether planning a gala, running a campaign, or managing a recurring donor base, Zeffy’s all-in-one platform ensures your nonprofit has everything it needs to thrive.

Zeffy fundraising software features

  • Fee-free fundraising: No transaction fees, with donors optionally covering platform costs.
  • Customizable donation pages: Easily create pages that reflect your nonprofit’s unique branding.
  • Automated tax receipts: Instantly generate and send receipts for donors’ tax purposes.
  • Recurring donations: Offer options for monthly, quarterly, or annual contributions to drive consistent support.
  • Peer-to-peer fundraising: Enable supporters to create personalized campaigns for your cause.
  • Ticketing and event management: Sell tickets and manage events seamlessly without extra fees.
  • Embedded donation forms: Integrate donation forms directly into your website for a streamlined experience.
  • Donor management tools: Track donor information and build stronger relationships.
  • Reporting and analytics: Gain valuable insights into campaign performance and donor behavior.
  • Integrations with CRMs and marketing tools: Connect with external platforms to simplify workflows.

Zeffy Pros and Cons

Why should you use Zeffy for your nonprofit fundraising efforts?

Zeffy is an intuitive platform designed to streamline nonprofit donor management and fundraising. With It, nonprofits can manage donor relationships, track donations, and analyze fundraising efforts effectively. They can host raffles and lotteries, create an online store, or manage memberships. 

Zeffy also offers robust reporting and analytics tools, allowing nonprofits to gain insights into donor behavior, campaign performance, and fundraising trends. 

From customizable donation forms to automated email campaigns, Zeffy enables nonprofits to engage donors and fundraise more effectively than ever.

The limitations of Zeffy

Zeffy doesn’t have many drawbacks for noprofits. However, the optional tip can sometimes confuse donors. Customers are eager for more features, like auction management tools, which Zeffy is always working on.

Zeffy reviews from real nonprofits

Price you can’t beat

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
“The biggest selling feature of Zeffy for nonprofits is that they cover the costs of all credit card transaction fees, which saves us a lot of money. On the user end, it's a very clean-looking website, and fairly simple to use. On the back end, setting up ticket pages and campaigns is straightforward and pulling reports is not very complicated.”  -University of Montreal (Education)

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
“Zeffy has allowed our nonprofit to professionally launch several fundraising campaigns, while best stewarding the money our donors have given to us, allowing more dollars to go toward our mission.” - Christine Lewis, Project Gallantly Forward Supports Veterans

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
“By eliminating fees, Zeffy has allowed us to maximize every donation and focus on expanding our programs. It’s opened new revenue streams and empowered us to make an even bigger impact for the children and families we serve.” - Holly Odogwu, Autism Meets Faith (Community)

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
“Thank you Zeffy for providing us with a platform that is free and helps small nonprofits like us where every penny counts!” - Ricardo Juarez, Dear Future, Inc. (Community)

Features

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
“Zeffy was exactly what we needed to register and collect fees for our soccer camps. We needed a way to build forms with their shirt sizes, years of experience etc., as well as receive payments at the same time, and Zeffy does just that.” — Tyler P. (Sports)

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
“I was shocked. For the features that you get, yeah I was shocked. Compared to other forms I’ve used, Zeffy is just amazing.” -Bryan  Cowden, Noelle’s Gift to Children’s Run Convenor  (Community)

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
“The platform is easy to use and understand. All of the features are helpful to our organization. . It is so versatile, from ticketing, to donations, to registrations - we use it all. Not only is it free, it is functional and genuinely useful.” —Louise S. (Environment)

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
“Zeffy provides an ideal platform form for event registrations for my non-profit organizations. Setting up events and managing registrations is quick and easy. Registration forms can include custom questions which is essential for our events. The ability to accept optional donations has proven helpful. The fee structure which ensures our non-profit receives 100% of the proceeds from registrations and donations is terrific.” - Cynthia L. 

Ease of use

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
“We love it! No complaints whatsoever. Zeffy is about as simple to use as one could ask, yet provides the detailed reports we need.” — John L. (Religious)

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
“The Zeffy platform is so simple that when there are changes to be made, I ask a colleague and she can do them in five minutes, even if she has never touched the tool before.” - Corinne Gonzalez, SPCA Laurentide-Labelle (SPCALL). (Animal Rescue)

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
“EVERYTHING is fantastic from the immediate setup time to the ease of use to their phenomenal customer service … the “savings” are way more than just not losing money to credit card companies. It saves TIME and is so elegant and easy to use.” — Nicolas D. (Small nonprofit)

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
“Setting up and implementing new forms is done in minutes. Finding Zeffy is the best thing that happened to our nonprofit.” — Amy W. (Small nonprofit)

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
“This is the easiest donor management software I have ever seen. I am older and often confused by software but this was intuitive and lovely to use. The receipts are very clean and professional.” - Kathryn P.

Customer service

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
“I couldn’t ask for better customer service. My questions are always responded to promptly, and the team always seems to welcome suggestions for future improvements.” - Susan Willats, The Community Music School of Santa Cruz (Education)

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
“Overall, we are thrilled with Zeffy and hope to use it for future class reunions, even if each ticket requires a small processing fee. The site is extremely user-friendly, and the support staff has been phenomenal.” —  Doreen H. (Education)

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
“The customer service has been exceptional. It's clear that the staff cares and wants to help.” — Rebecca R.  (Art/history museum)

A glimpse at the fundraising potential of Zeffy

So, we know Zeffy is free for nonprofits, but what can its blend of features and savings result in? We identified some examples of how nonprofits turned Zeffy’s tools into significant results.

Noelle's Gift to Children raised $325,208 

Noell’s Gift to Children also saved $16,260 to improve the lives of children with the help of Zeffy’s donation forms, peer-to-peer campaigns, and event ticketing.

University of Ottawa raised $200,000 

University of Ottawa also saved $10,000 to promote and secure financial support for scholarships, research initiatives, and infrastructure projects with the help of Zeffy’s donation forms and event ticketing.

Sacred Portion raised $187,000 

Sacred Portion also saved $9,350 to support the care and adoption of orphaned children all over the world with the help of Zeffy’s donation forms, peer-to-peer campaigns, and an e-commerce site.

Si Se Puede raised $140,622 

Si Se Puede also saved $7,031 to allow students to get hands-on STEM experience with the help of Zeffy’s donation forms, event ticketing, and e-commerce site.

Should you use Zeffy?

While every other platform takes fees away from your mission, Zeffy delivers 100% of it to your nonprofit. So, if you’re an organization looking to make more impact for less, Zeffy might be the perfect fit.

Plus, Zeffy offers free support whenever you need it and is rated as one of the best for ease of use. It is simple yet extensive and powerful and always available to answer your questions.

Zeffy reviews FAQ

Anyone can use Zeffy. Zeffy is designed for use by nonprofit organizations of all sizes that are seeking to streamline their donor management and fundraising efforts. It caters to various nonprofit sectors, including charities, foundations, religious organizations, educational institutions, and more.

Zeffy is safe and secure. The platform prioritizes the security and privacy of its users' data. It implements industry-standard security measures such as encryption, access controls, and regular security audits to safeguard sensitive information.

Zeffy is the only zero-fee fundraising platform for nonprofits. While every other platform takes fees away from your mission, Zeffy delivers 100% of it to your nonprofit.
Zeffy believes that costly platforms and hidden fees should not limit nonprofits, so the platform offers equal access to the best fundraising technology.
Read our full list of the best free fundraising platforms for nonprofits

The only way Zeffy makes money is from optional contributions from donors. Here’s how it works: When someone donates your fundraising form, they have the option (but are never obliged) to give to Zeffy.
Not everyone gives every time, and that's okay. Enough donors leave a contribution to cover the overhead and fees of the thousands of nonprofits that fundraise on Zeffy.

The only 100% free
fundraising platform
for nonprofits

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