99Pledges vs GiveSmart

99Pledges is free web-based fundraising software for schools, teams, youth organizations, and nonprofits running a-thon events. Organizers can create a fundraiser in minutes or have 99Pledges set one up for free. Each participant receives an individual donation page shareable by email, text, Facebook, and X. Donors can pay by credit or debit card, PayPal, Apple Pay, or Google Pay, while organizers can record cash and check donations. Real-time reports track participation, leaderboard rankings, and progress toward goals. After an event ends, funds are sent within one business day. Organizations receive a dedicated fundraising coach, and live chat typically responds within minutes. The 99Pledges plan costs nothing, with no contracts, subscriptions, or fundraising minimums, but charges 3.49% + $0.49 per transaction. The service is limited to organizations in the United States, except for U.S. military-based schools abroad. 99Pledges says Braintree handles payments as a Level 1 PCI DSS compliant provider and that it follows COPPA requirements for children’s privacy.

GiveSmart provides fundraising and donor management tools for nonprofits, schools and associations. Its platform covers online fundraising, recurring giving, peer-to-peer campaigns, text-to-donate, auctions and ticketing. Mobile auction bidding supports maximum bids, outbid notifications, item management and self-checkout. Event tools include seating and group management, contactless check-in, guest communication and tax receipts; virtual and hybrid events can add livestreaming, chat, donor recognition and proxy bidding. Campaign reporting includes live reports, dashboards and exports, with receipts and tax letters generated automatically. GiveSmart lists Salesforce, Google Analytics, YouTube and Vimeo among its integrations and supported services. It says its system is PCI and SOC 2 compliant, with encryption, restricted access, vulnerability testing and independent audits. Support includes 24/7 customer service, implementation help, a Help Center and an assigned Client Success Manager. The platform is available on Android, iOS and web. Both pricing models provide full access, unlimited events and campaigns, but prices are available on request; there is no free plan.