Online Fundraising Platforms: Top 5
These platforms provide comprehensive solutions for managing your entire fundraising program—from donor management to event registration and payment processing. Some include automated reminders to remind donors about upcoming events, while others let you manage multiple campaigns simultaneously.
Why use online fundraising?
Online fundraisers are a great way to help charities reach out to people who might otherwise never hear about them or their fundraising efforts. The best ones to choose for your nonprofit organization or personal funding are free, easy, give you complete control over how much money goes where, and other additional resources to help you along the way. Here are three reasons why online donation platforms are the way to go.1. Zero Overhead
When it comes to raising funds, online fundraisers have none of the overhead costs associated with traditional methods like telemarketing and cold calling. You don't have to pay for phone lines or printing materials. There are no office supplies to buy, and you won't have to hire someone to answer phones or send emails. In fact, the entire process takes place entirely online creating overhead costs of very little to none.2. Freedom to Share Your Cause with Anyone
One of the biggest benefits of online fundraising is that you can share your cause with anyone. If you've got a personal connection to the person who needs help, you can easily ask them to donate directly from within your campaign. And if you don't know anyone personally, you can still use social media to spread the word. In this day and age, things spread fast on the internet so if you go with the right online fundraising strategies you can end up reaching far more people than you'd ever imagine.3. More Accessible
Like the freedom to share your cause with anyone, another benefit of online fundraising is that it allows others to access it easier as well. Typically, with fundraising efforts that are not online, you have to reach out to every donor they do not come to you but with online fundraising platforms you simply post it targeting your audience and anyone can stumble upon it and decide to donate on their own. There is where your online event page really matters, you need to ensure that you choose a platform that allows you to create a page that will convince new donors to donate by just looking at what you have posted on your event page.Important details to look for in an online fundraising platform
Fees
When it comes to raising money online, there are many platforms out there that charge platform fees and everything from registration to payment processing. However, some platforms do offer free signup options while others require you to pay a monthly subscription fee to use their services. You might think that since you're paying a fee, you don't really need to know what those fees are. But the truth is, knowing about the fees associated with each platform can help you decide which one best fits your needs.Ensure you understand the different fees associated with the platform. As stated, some will offer a free sign up but not all the features will be available for you to use. So, it might be smarter to go with the platform that charges for signup but in the end, does not add up charges for every feature that is needed to support your fundraising efforts.
Customer Support
The Internet is full of great tools and resources for fundraisers, but how do you know whether a site offers good customer support? There are several things to look out for, including live chat, email, phone number, and even social media accounts. While we don’t recommend relying solely on customer support to determine quality because there are lots of factors that go into offering excellent customer service, it’s still important to consider.Live Chat
Going off of customer support, this will come in handy on the day of your event if you are experiencing any issues. It gives you comfort during an event to know that if anything goes wrong or if you have any questions someone will be there to answer your questions and keep your fundraiser running smoothly.Training
Request a demo to ensure that both you and your colleagues are able to properly utilize every feature the platform has to offer, you want to use everything they have to offer to create your fundraiser as successfully as possible. Some are harder than others to navigate and create your fundraiser while others are simpler and to the point. It is up to you to pick which one is the best and will fit your needs.Donor management options
While many online fundraising platforms simply let you process donations, others also offer tools for managing donor relationships and keeping up with your donors' contributions. If this sounds appealing, look out for a platform that functions as a "one-stop shop" for donor management. This means that you don't just collect donations -- you also help donors plan their giving and build relationships with your organization. You'll also find a platform that lets your supporters have an account of their very own, where they can easily manage their contribution plans and make quick repeats.And finally, you'll want to find a platform that keeps track of your interactions with donors, including what you've said to them over the phone or online. By logging your outreach, you can easily remember your past conversations and follow up later if necessary. DonationXchange is a great resource that can be used partnered with Events.org to manage corporate giving, in-kind and employee giving.
Top 5 platforms
Events.org/iBid-
Pros: Events.org and iBid work seamlessly together to ensure your online fundraising efforts are paying off. Events.org features your nonprofit event in a larger marketplace in addition to your specific branded page. This creates more advertisements for your event.
With low costs of $1 per registrant, you’ll keep your event overhead small and save your attendees excessive fees. Features OneClick Registration so your guests can register with ease and even check in to the event on their phones. There is no need for a check-in line in person, this allows for no rush at the beginning of the event.
IBid is a free feature with only a 3.5% payment processing fee + $1 transaction fee (which can be chosen to be covered by the bidder) that can be added to your event if you are running an auction, this is an easy way to have your attendees bid online for a virtual event or in person from their mobile devices. iBid has a quick and simple online donation form that allows you to communicate with your guests directly, send text messages, and email updates from within the portal, and receive instant text notifications when they are outbid on an item—increasing competition for your valuable items! In turn, reaching your fundraising goals.
No event day management of the auction is required with Auction AutoPilot™, freeing up your staff to better serve your guests. But if you would like event day staff that is available to offer you and your guest assistance.
Cons: If you are not utilizing its helpful features yet for your online fundraising event.
OneCause-
Pros: OneCause integrates with BidPal, a silent auction mobile giving solution, and also allows for custom registration, event websites, and live support online or in person the day of the event making sure you are prepared and worry fee. Supports online or in-person events.
Cons: Users report a slightly higher cost than average and difficulty with slow processes for check-in and check-out. This can make your attendees agitated by long waiting times and sway potential donors away.
Donor Box-
Pros: Donor Box is an online fundraising software featuring UltraSwift checkout allowing donors to skip adding in any personal information and check out 4X faster than a typical checkout process. Supports peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns and crowdfunding campaigns. With a wide range of payment methods supported.
Cons: Although check-out is shorter it does not ask for donors' information making it harder to maintain donor relationships and reach out at a later date for upcoming fundraising campaigns you might be hosting.
GoFundMe-
Pros: Has a well-known name trusted name, predominantly a free crowdfunding platform allowing individuals to crowdfund. Does support online only for charity fundraisers. The wide range of users that visit GoFundMe allows you to contact many prospective donors during your fundraising process creating additional donations.
Cons: When a goal has been reached a 2.9% + $0.30 processing fee will be applied, which means if you raised $5,000 from 30 donors a fee of $154 will be applied. Allows for less personalization on donation pages and during customer service due to the large company size. Mainly for individuals crowdfunding.
Fundly-
Pros: A online platform for nonprofits and individuals to fundraise that is free to create and share your fundraiser online. Provides a fundraising guide to help you during your process. No minimum funds needed to be raised in order to withdraw. Can add photos and videos to your donation page to create a more personalized page.
Cons: A deduction of a 4.9% fee from each donation that you receive and a credit card processing fee of 2.9% + $.30 cents per transaction will also be deducted from each donation adding up quickly, diluting your funds.
Conclusion
There are pros and cons to every online fundraising platform, do your research and see what different features each platform offers like different pricing tiers, fundraising success from other clients, payment options for your donors, as well as other fundraising tools they might offer with their software. This will allow you to know what will work best for you and your specific fundraiser. Fundraising 
Your All-in-One Event Management Platform
Host Events with Ease! Events.org's comprehensive event management platform makes it easy to optimize, automate and maximize your organization's entire charitable event calendar.Events.org Benefits:
✓ Simple, Affordable Pricing for Paid Events: $1 per Transaction!
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✓ Branded Event & Donation Pages
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BONUS: Free access to the iBid's Mobile Auction AutoPilot™ - This automation tool saves you time & stress while streamlining auction tasks. Manage auction items and payment processing, including express checkout & digital receipts!
