shouldiuse.io

Categories

VERDICT

Should I use Give Lively - A Free Fundraising Platform For Nonprofits?

We built and support a powerful and practical fundraising platform that is free for nonprofits and intuitively easy to use for donors. Sign up today for Fundraising Pages, Text-to-Donate, Peer-to-Peer, Event Ticketing, and more! - givelively.org

Worth it. A safe, genuinely free pick for US 501(c)(3) nonprofits needing donation pages, text-to-donate, peer-to-peer, and event ticketing. Skip it if you are outside the US, not a 501(c)(3), or need deep donor-CRM features.

Confidence

Medium. Based on ~20 public sources; few carry numeric review scores, so confidence is medium.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support qualityNo direct support evidence found
  • Security posture

Pricing

$0 platform fee

Nonprofit plan

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly fees$0
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes

Best for

  • Small US 501(c)(3) nonprofits
  • Budget-zero fundraising teams
  • Peer-to-peer and event campaigns
  • Clubs and grassroots groups

Not for

  • Non-US or non-501(c)(3) orgs — eligibility is restricted
  • Teams wanting a full donor CRM database
  • Anyone who hates donor-facing tip prompts
  • Businesses and political fundraising — nonprofits only

Gotchas - check before you buy

medium

Tip-request prompts at checkout have drawn donor complaints

medium

'Free' means no platform fee; card processing and tip model still touch donor money — read fine print

medium

Eligibility limited to US 501(c)(3)s — verify status before committing time to setup

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Platform, products, and features are free for nonprofits
  • Reports $100M tech-cost savings across $1B raised
  • Breadth: fundraising pages, text-to-donate, peer-to-peer, event ticketing
  • Long track record; trust scanners rate the site excellent
  • Actively discussed and recommended in nonprofit communities

Cons

  • US 501(c)(3) nonprofits only
  • Donor complaints about checkout tip requests
  • Some user threads cite complaints and frustration
  • Competitor reviews probe what 'free' really includes

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/30/2026 - 13 sources - No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

official x3review x6security x2news x2

Key stats

  • Value for money: 5/5

    Rating

  • $0 platform fee

    Starting price

  • 13

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 5/5. $0 platform fee; $100M reported savings
  • Ease of use: 4/5. Positioned as simple for donors and admins
  • Feature depth: 3/5. Solid fundraising suite; no deep donor CRM
  • Support quality. No direct support evidence found
  • Security posture: 4/5. Public security page; clean trust scans
  • $0 Platform fee Free for US 501(c)(3) nonprofits
  • 2015 Founded Domain ~11 years old
  • $1B Raised via platform $100M in nonprofit tech costs saved
  • 4+ tools Product suite Pages, text-to-donate, P2P, event ticketing

Pricing

Nonprofit plan

$0 platform fee

  • Fundraising pages, text-to-donate, peer-to-peer, event ticketing
  • Free for qualifying US nonprofits

Security

No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

What users say

Nonprofit forums show active interest and adoption, with the main recurring gripe being donor-facing tip requests.

“I'm looking for a service to process recurring donations. I came across Give”
Reddit, r/nonprofit
“Is anyone out there using Give Lively to process donations and having donors”
Facebook, nonprofit tech group
“Have any clubs moved to taking online donations through the club website re”
Facebook, Lions clubs group

Alternatives

Compare Give Lively - A Free Fundraising Platform For Nonprofits with each alternative.

Companies that use it

  • Project 1.27
  • Seafood Nutrition Partnership13
Full analysis

Based on ~20 public sources; few carry numeric review scores, so confidence is medium.

Genuinely free fundraising platform for US 501(c)(3)s. Great value; skip if non-US or needing donor CRM.

Methodology

Based on ~20 public sources; few carry numeric review scores, so confidence is medium.

Sources

  1. Give Lively official sitegivelively.org
    official
  2. Give Lively pricing pagegivelively.org
    official
  3. Give Lively security pagegivelively.org
    official
  4. PRNewswire: $100M saved on $1B raisedprnewswire.com
    news
  5. Zeffy: Give Lively reviews, pricing, pros & conszeffy.com
    review
  6. Donorbox: Give Lively reviewsdonorbox.org
    review
  7. SoftwareAdvice: Give Lively profilesoftwareadvice.com
    review
  8. NonprofitCRMSoftware: Give Lively reviewnonprofitcrmsoftware.com
    review
  9. Reddit: Any experience with Give Lively?reddit.com
    review
  10. Facebook: donor tip-request complaintsfacebook.com
    review
  11. ScamAdviser trust checkscamadviser.com
    security
  12. GridinSoft trust reportgridinsoft.com
    security
  13. Seafood Nutrition Partnership using Give Livelyseafoodnutrition.org
    news

Rate this review

Anonymous. You can change your vote.

Loading votes…

Comments

One queue. No nested comments. Give a display name first. Limit: 200 words per comment and 7 comments per day. You can edit or delete yours.

Save a name to write a comment.

0 / 200 words

No comments yet.