12 Best Fundraiser Websites: The Complete List

Every day, more and more digital trends crop up in every sector, showing that technology is here to stay. One trend that has been a big benefit to nonprofits and many other organizations is online fundraising, which has helped them raise amounts that were once unfathomable.

These online fundraiser websites can be used for everything from personal fundraising to cover medical expenses, to fundraising for schools and sports teams. Similarly, cause-based organizations can turn to crowdfunding sites for nonprofits to fund their work and continue striving toward their missions.

With so many options to choose from, many organizations are left wondering, “What is the best fundraising platform?” To give you a head start, we've put together a list of the 12 best donation sites, which we'll explore in-depth:

  1. Donately | Best Online Fundraising Website
  2. Double the Donation | Top Fundraiser Website for Matching Gifts
  3. DonorSearch | Best Fundraiser Website for Prospect Research
  4. Bonfire | Best T-Shirt Fundraiser Site
  5. Shopify | Best Fundraiser Website for eCommerce
  6. SendGrid | Top Fundraiser Website for Custom Follow-Up
  7. Patreon | Best Membership Fundraiser Website
  8. Webflow | Best Fundraiser Website for Web Development
  9. Experiment | Top Fundraiser Website for Scientific Research
  10. Indiegogo | Top Fundraiser Website for Creative Projects
  11. Edco | Best School and Team Fundraiser Website
  12. Kiva | Top Microlending Fundraiser Website
Logo of Donately, best-in-breed fundraiser platform

Donately | Best Overall Fundraiser Website

The digital space opens the door to a world of money-raising platforms for every cause—but Donately is the best overall. We offer a variety of fundraising tools to help you maximize the online donor experience and boost revenue.

When you partner with Donately, you can rest assured that all your online fundraising needs will be covered. Let's briefly walk through the core features of our fundraiser website that will enhance both your donors' experience and your teams' experience:

  • Mobile-Responsive Donation Forms: Configure your online donation forms to suit your exact needs and easily embed them on your own website. Collect donor information, set suggested donation amounts, promote recurring donations, pass processing fees to your donors, and more. Best of all, our donation forms and pages are mobile-responsive, meaning donors have the added convenience of donating from any device.
  • Peer-to-Peer Fundraising: Leverage your supporters' networks with peer-to-peer fundraising tools. We designed our fundraising page technology so that your organization can tell your story while your volunteer fundraisers also add their personal connections to further drive donations.
  • Donor Data: Gain valuable insights about your supporters and about the effectiveness of your online donation tactics to optimize your efforts. Instantly filter your data to view key metrics, such as your most active donors, popular donation amounts, and the effectiveness of your online campaigns—all on one convenient dashboard.
  • Text Messaging: With Text-to-Donate, supporters can skip numerous steps and donate just by texting. Set up a short donation message, phone number, and designated keyword, and donors will receive a link to your donation page immediately after texting the keyword. Along with enabling Text-to-Donate, our text messaging features allow you to communicate key updates to your donors, send sign-up pages, and more.
Three fundraising campaign page examples for Donately's fundraiser tool.

We also offer numerous integrations to connect all of your software and fundraising websites for a more harmonious experience. And while fundraising sites with no fees are rare, we give you the ability to customize your plan with rates as low as 0.5%, plus ask donors to cover your fees. 

Double the Donation logo

Double the Donation | Best Fundraiser Website for Matching Gifts

Matching gift programs represent a major fundraising opportunity. Through these programs, companies offer to match their employees’ philanthropic donations to eligible nonprofits. This means you can potentially double the contributions you're already receiving. Make sure you don’t miss a single dollar in available matching gift revenue by using a fundraising tool like Double the Donation

With a database that compiles information on 24,000+ companies and subsidiaries, Double the Donation is a leading matching gift search tool. Here’s how it works:

  1. Your nonprofit embeds the search tool into your fundraiser website's donation page or confirmation page.
  2. A donor types the name of their employer and hits “submit.”
  3. The fundraising tool provides all available information regarding the employer’s program.
  4. If eligible, the donor clicks through to the form and submits the match request to their employer.
Double the Donation dashboard insights preview

With Double the Donation’s integration with Donately, you can identify eligible donors directly from the donation process and use automated, customizable outreach strategies to follow up with them post-donation. For organizations that already raise more than $25,000 in matching gift funds each year, Double the Donation offers 360MatchPro, which fully automates the match-finding process.

Double the Donation also offers autosubmission, which allows donors to automatically submit a corporate match request. After the donor checks a box, the tool will check their donation’s eligibility and submit a request to their employer on their behalf. A simpler process for donors means more people will follow through!

Donor Search logo

DonorSearch | Best Fundraiser Website for Prospect Research

Prospect research is a vital component of any effective fundraising strategy. It provides insight into who your donors (and potential donors) are and what drives them to give. However, conducting this research manually is inefficient, especially for larger organizations. DonorSearch's dedicated fundraising website tools help organizations leverage data in smarter ways. 

With DonorSearch, your team will have access to the nation's largest philanthropic database of 150+ million records (with 500,000 new records added each week). You'll gain insights you won't find anywhere else and be able to develop more tailored fundraising outreach:

  • Wealth Screening: Discover details about your prospects, such as business and foundation affiliations, real estate, past giving history, and more.
  • Top Prospect Verification: DonorSearch is the only wealth screening company that will manually verify top prospects to maximize accuracy. Their prospect researchers will review any records you select.
  • Marketing Lists: Create targeted marketing lists based on more than 300 financial, demographic, and interest categories, so you can reach out confidently knowing you're contacting the best recipients.
picture of Donor Search fundraiser website landing page

With the help of fundraiser websites like DonorSearch, you can invest your efforts into creating hyper-personalized outreach, rather than spending all your time collecting metrics.

Logo for Bonfire, a fundraising platform

Bonfire | Best T-Shirt Fundraiser Website

Branded merchandise, like T-shirt fundraising, can help you connect with supporters by creating products that appeal to their interests. Plus, T-shirts can be conversation starters when donors wear them in public. Using Bonfire’s mobile-friendly, customizable campaign pages, you can reach supporters, share your story, and easily sell custom T-shirts to support your cause. 

Whether you're a nonprofit professional or a personal fundraiser, Bonfire is one of the top crowdfunding sites that allows you to actually give something back to donors. Simply create a dedicated online store where your supporters can easily browse your custom apparel. All you need to do is design your product, set your prices, and launch your fundraiser. While setting up your donation website is free, there are some other required costs, including:

  1. Donation fee: If you enable the donation option to be displayed at checkout, Bonfire will deduct an 8% fee for transaction costs. The other 92% goes directly to you. For certified nonprofits, this fee decreases to only 3.5%.
  2. Base cost: Each product's base cost is determined by its manufacturing, sourcing, and printing expenses. To decrease your base costs, simplify your t-shirt design.
  3. Shipping: Domestic shipping starts at $3.99 for the first product, and each additional product within the same campaign is decreased to $2.50 each. For international orders, shipping is $9.99 for the first product, and each additional product from the same campaign is decreased to $4.00 each.
image of Bonfire landing page for fundraisers to get started

Bonfire offers extensive custom apparel options that come in a variety of styles, fits, and colors for you to bring your vision to life. It’s one of the best charity donation websites for those who not only want to raise money, but also raise awareness for their cause.

logo for Shopify platform

Shopify | Best Fundraiser Website for eCommerce

While nonprofit revenue traditionally comes from donations and sponsorships, a storefront can be incredibly appealing to donors. Many organizations may not know that Shopify is a great donation platform for nonprofits. Shopify for nonprofits includes affordable rates and exceptional customer service, so you can seamlessly reach supporters around the globe.

image of Shopify store dashboard home landing view

Shopify's eCommerce platform is easy to set up: Your team can select from a diverse range of products and compile them into an attractive online store. Their customizable themes make it easy to get up and running. Through your nonprofit fundraiser website, you'll be able to accept donations, sell internationally, and analyze fundraising growth in real-time so you can refine your efforts as you go. 

Available on all Team & Enterprise plans, Shopify's integration with Donately takes this fundraising tool’s effectiveness one step further. You'll be able to embed a donation form directly into your Shopify store, maximizing your online fundraising potential.

logo for Twilio SendGrid, a platform for online outreach

SendGrid | Top Fundraiser Website for Custom Follow-Up

Email is a crucial channel for online outreach. The timeliness of your follow-up post-donation goes a long way in making online donors feel valued and can mean the difference between securing that sought-after second donation or losing their support. With all that rides on your outreach, it's important to invest in an intuitive email system, like Sendgrid. This fundraising tool helps you send customized emails that encourage your supporters to keep returning.

image of SendGrid landing page promotion of services for marketing emails

With more than 60 billion emails sent every month through their services, Sendgrid is a trusted resource that enables you to provide a best-in-class experience for your recipients. Here are a handful of ways this fundraiser website improves the email experience:

  • Email automation: Create personalized experiences that are scalable and relevant to each donor. Devise a warm welcome with an automated onboarding series, nurture attendees prior to an event, and follow up with leads who interact with your content.
  • Responsive templates: Save time customizing messages with responsive designs that are optimized to drive results on any device. Easily edit content and customize it with your logo and brand colors without breaking the design of the overall page.
  • A/B testing: Determine what content is most effective with A/B testing tools. Compare various design elements and refine your emails to best suit your audience and drive results.

You can also integrate Sendgrid with Donately to supercharge your donation receipts. Quickly customize your thank-you emails with custom HTML, which will pull in individuals’ details directly from your donations.

Logo for Patreon, a fundraising and membership platform

Patreon | Best Membership Fundraiser Website

While crowdfunding platforms for nonprofits are useful, it's also important to develop a consistent revenue stream. Memberships allow you to create a sustainable base of support, cultivate lasting relationships, and future-proof your fundraising. But you'll need an intuitive membership-based fundraising website, like Patreon.

Patreon is a fundraiser website that lets your passionate advocates support your work. It offers member-based tools that allow you to connect with your most valuable supporters and grow your community. Patreon has also tailored its membership services to the nonprofit sector using these core features:

  • Exclusive forums. Gauge your members' experiences by giving them the opportunity to collaborate and provide feedback for strategic improvement.
  • Messaging tools. Engage with your members and build a sustainable community by chatting directly with members.
  • Create exclusive opportunities. Offer valuable content by live streaming exclusively to your members to convey gratitude for their ongoing support.
image of the Patreon landing page for signing up to get started with their fundraising membership platform

With 150,000+ creators, creating (or revamping) an engaging membership program will be a breeze. This money-raising platform is ideally suited for content creators like podcasters, video developers, and writers. 

logo for Webflow, an easy to build website platform without needing a developer

Webflow | Best Fundraiser Website for Web Development

A well-designed website will help you connect with the right prospects, build brand awareness, and drive conversions. Before you can do this, you'll need to invest in an effective website builder, like Webflow.

With Webflow, you can design and build free fundraising sites without help from a professional developer. There’s no cost to get started and it allows you to fully control design elements without paying a dime. Upgrading to a paid plan gives you access to additional features that can supercharge your fundraiser website.

image of the Webflow CMS landing page for getting started with their tool

Using Webflow, you'll be able to launch an immersive website for your cause, whether for a nonprofit or a personal fundraiser, that garners attention and resonates with visitors. Your team will be able to:

  • Edit content from the front end and build production-ready websites without extensive coding.
  • Customize your design from end-to-end with custom fonts, color swatches, and more.
  • Improve your SEO by editing meta titles and descriptions to signal to search engines the topic of site pages without needing to install additional plugins.

With 100+ hours of tutorials, Webflow ensures you have all the educational resources you need to become an expert and get up and running with your nonprofit's fundraising website. Best of all, you can integrate with Donately to embed a donation form directly onto any Webflow website and page.

Logo for Experiement fundraiser platform

Experiment | Top Fundraiser Website for Scientific Research

Research institutions need adequate funding in order to continue their work and inspire others. But most researchers want to focus on their work, not spend precious time fundraising. Often, generic fundraiser websites won't cut it. That's why Experiment developed this top crowdfunding site for funding scientific research.

image of a campaign page for scientific research found on the Experiement fundraiser platform

With more than 47,000 members backing nearly 950 experiments, and specific categories like psychology, biology, and neuroscience, Experiment aims to "help fund the next wave of scientific research." To maximize your use of this free fundraising site, follow these simple steps:

  1. Start a project and set your fundraising goal.
  2. Get endorsements from colleagues and peers.
  3. Submit your campaign for review by the Experiment team.
  4. Spread the word about your campaign across your personal network.
  5. Once you hit your fundraising goal, you'll receive the funds.

Keep in mind that Experiment is an “all-or-nothing platform,” which means your campaign must reach its fundraising goal in order for supporters to be charged. This extra motivation challenges supporters to pledge adequate funding. It's also completely free to launch a campaign on Experiment's fundraising site. You’ll only be charged fees when your campaign is fully funded.

Logo for Indiegogo fundraising platform

Indiegogo | Top Fundraiser Website for Creative Projects

When you've created a unique product and attempt to take it to market, the sooner you rally support and funding, the better. With more than $1 billion raised on their fundraising website, Indiegogo is one of the top crowdfunding sites available for attaining a high-profile reach for creative projects.

Indiegogo's crowdfunding campaigns are where groundbreaking products and projects take flight, sometimes long before they hit mainstream availability. It’s a leading platform for entrepreneurship in three primary areas:

  1. Tech and Innovation
  2. Creative Works
  3. Community Projects
Example of an Indiegogo fundraiser page highlighting jewelry fundraising

When creating your Indiegogo crowdfunding page, you'll be able to prominently display videos and images that feature your project or product. Then, take it a step further with compelling text that details the purpose behind your project. 

Overall, Indiegogo is a strong option for entrepreneurs and new technology in the earliest stages of development all the way to distribution, from concept to prototype to production to shipment. Check out their helpful field guide for successful crowdfunding to boost your campaign.

Logo for the fundraiser platform, EdCo

EdCo | Best School and Team Fundraiser Website

All too often, just one person is responsible for school fundraising. Instead, make fundraising a team effort and get everyone involved! EdCo's team fundraising platform aims to minimize the pressure of hosting crowdfunding campaigns by splitting up the marketing responsibilities.

With EdCo, you can set up a school, sports team, or club fundraising page within minutes. Then, get students and parents in on the action with social media sharing features. EdCo helps classrooms and teams collect donations from across the entire country. All it takes is persistence and teamwork. 

landing page featuring a start now option for online fundraising with EdCo

Here are a few EdCo features that allow you to take advantage of everything this fundraiser website has to offer:

  • Build your team. The more people on your team, the greater your reach will be. Recruit parents and students to participate and ensure everyone does their part in making the campaign a success.
  • Promote your fundraiser from a central system. Using customizable templates, easily broadcast your campaign on social media and direct marketing outlets with just a few clicks.
  • Recycle old campaigns. Once you've created your first campaign page, you'll never have to start from scratch again. This makes it easy to re-engage donors and continue growing your reach.

EdCo works directly with students, teachers, parents, mentors, coaches, and community leaders, so you can rest assured it’s one of the best donation sites for schools. Best of all, they take care of the payment processing details and provide donation receipts. Any donations that are made on EdCo's fundraiser website are tax-deductible, and you can withdraw raised funds whenever it's most convenient.

Logo for Kiva

Kiva | Top Microlending Fundraiser Website

Microlending is a form of financing that provides small loans to those in need, helping them raise funds and overcome financial barriers. It's most often used to help individuals escape poverty by providing funds to start small businesses, cover expenses, and more. Through microlending fundraiser websites like Kiva, people around the world can lend a hand to those in need. 

Once someone in need is approved for a loan on Kiva, philanthropic individuals can lend money, which the borrower will repay over time. Kiva connects millions of philanthropic individuals with the projects and causes that matter most to them. Here’s how it works:

  1. Apply through Kiva's fundraising website. Find out if you're prequalified. Then, easily fill out the online application.
  2. Invite supporters. Prove your creditworthiness by inviting your personal and professional networks to lend to you.
  3. Fundraise. Push your Kiva fundraising page live, with your loan visible to nearly 2 million lenders worldwide.
  4. Repay your loan. As funds are collected, repay your loan and any accumulated interest.

With nearly 2 million lenders in 77 countries and all sorts of categories, from agriculture to health or education, many organizations can find financial backing on Kiva's fundraiser website.

image of an international Kiva campaign fundraiser page

There are countless options for you to choose from, but selecting the perfect fundraiser website doesn't have to be challenging. As you research, simply use your cause's needs as a guide. Do you need peer-to-peer fundraising capabilities? Do you want to sell products and merchandise? Or set up a membership program? Once you know the functionality you need, you'll be well on your way to selecting a fundraiser website that helps you exceed your financial goals.

Now that you've thoroughly kickstarted your search for the best charity donation websites, continue your research by exploring these helpful resources: