Better Giving vs GiveSmart
Better Giving
better.givingGiveSmart
givesmart.comSide by side
| Figure | Better Giving | GiveSmart |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $250/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 3 | 4 |
| Spec score · Nonprofit Fundraising Software | 8.5 (#6) | 8.9 (#4) |
| Purpose | Better Giving provides nonprofits with a fundraising and financial platform centered on an embeddable donation form. | GiveSmart provides fundraising and donor management tools for nonprofits, schools, and associations. |
| Security | The security policy states that data is encrypted in transit with TLS 1.2+ and at rest with AES-256, and raw card data is not stored or processed by Better Giving. | GiveSmart states that its system is PCI and SOC 2 compliant and describes controls including encryption, restricted access, vulnerability testing, and independent audits. |
| Support | The homepage offers live chat for additional support, and the product page lists [email protected] for portability requests. | GiveSmart advertises 24-hour, seven-day support by chat and email, with live agents reachable from the product Help button. |
Plans
Better Giving
- Fundraising & fund managementFree
- Self-hostedFree
- Fiscal sponsorship$2.90, paid once
GiveSmart
- Pay-As-You-GoFree
- Pay-As-You-GoFree
- Listed starting price$3,000 a year
- Annual Fee SubscriptionPrice not published
In their own words
Better Giving
Better Giving is a fundraising and financial platform for nonprofits built around an embeddable donation form. The form accepts card and bank or ACH gifts, PayPal and Venmo, Apple Pay and Google Pay, stock, donor-advised funds, IRA or QCD gifts, and cryptocurrency. Fundraising tools include recurring donations, peer-to-peer campaigns, dedication gifts, program-specific giving, goal progress bars, automated receipts, and reporting. Organizations can export donor-level records and giving history through CSV or API at no charge. The platform and donation form are public code and can be self-hosted with an organization’s own payment gateway. The free Fundraising & fund management plan is free, with all features included and donor contributions optional. Self-hosted software is free, but organizations pay gateway processing costs and manage receipts, compliance, and operations. Fiscal sponsorship costs $2.90 gift. Better Giving says donations are handled by Stripe; its security policy describes TLS 1.2+ in transit and AES-256 at rest, and says raw card data is not stored or processed by Better Giving.
GiveSmart
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.