• by Lauren Kade , December 24, 2012

Tis the season for giving! Hopefully, everyone is having a successful year-end fundraising campaign, and since fundraising is top-of-mind right now (when is it ever not?), it got me thinking about alternative giving sites. You may have come across them before in your work -- third-party sites that take donations for various causes and nonprofits. Some donors prefer these sites, where they can go to just one site to browse different causes from around the world. In that light, I thought I'd review a couple alternative giving sites that I've come across or heard of in my work:

Global Giving

"A non-profit that connects donors with grassroots projects around the world to make a high impact."

Global Giving allows donors to search for a cause to support, either by keyword or by topic. Donors can browse campaigns from different charities around the world, and then donate to those organizations directly through Global Giving. They have three donation options -- one time, monthly giving, or tribute/memorial gifts.

Nonprofits can create online campaigns in the global giving network. Through Global Giving, your organization will also have access to their corporate partnerships, including grants and employee giving programs. In addition, nonprofits will have access to an online donation manager, allowing you to see information and stats on your campaigns and donations.

Global Giving doesn't have any monthly or annual fees, so the only costs are the donation transaction fees. However, their transaction fee (15%) is higher than other sites that I'll cover that do have annual or monthly fees, so keep that in mind.

Want to learn more about Global Giving? See an example campaign or nominate your organization here.

Crowdrise

"An online fundraising site for charity. Fundraise online for event fundraisers and charity fundraising campaigns using online fundraising pages and easy fundraising ideas."

(Do you think they're trying to optimize their site for the keyword "fundraising?")

Crowdrise was founded in 2009 as a fundraiser for the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust and has grown into a website with thousands of users raising money for numerous causes. Users can start their own fundraisers for a cause of their choice, or find and join another project and raise money for them. The users can then share their fundraiser across several social media networks and try to raise money.

As a member nonprofit, you can create your own project and share it with your friends on Crowdrise or invite them to join your project and help you fundraise. You are also able to receive analytics and reports, including email and physical addresses of your donors (sounds great for new donor acquisitions!). For nonprofits, they have several levels of accounts. The basic level is free, and includes transaction fees for each donation, depending on the amount given. They also have paid levels ("featured" and "royale" accounts) that have an annual fee, but have less or no transaction fees. 

Ready to get started? Claim your charity on Crowdrise, or see an example project to learn more.

Give2gether

"give2gether is a venue for social activism, improving the probability of success of online fundraising.

By turning more strangers into friends, friends into donors, and donors into fundraisers - give2gether revolutionizes online charitable giving."

Nonprofits can create online fundraising campaigns on give2gether, which is then connected to your social media profiles such as Twitter and Facebook. With your monthly subscription, give2gether will help you create a unique Facebook application to help cultivate your fans and convert them into donors. Give2gether provides a streamlined way to connect your Facebook fans and Twitter followers into donors and action-takers. They handle all the billing and can integrate with SalesForce.

Donors who click through to a campaign can either donate directly through give2gether, or share the campaign with their friends. 

Give2gether charges a monthly subscription fee and transaction fees -- and just like with Crowdrise, the higher your monthly subscription the lower your transaction fees.

Want to learn more about give2gether? See an example online fundraising campaign or read more about their pricing plans.

Does anyone have any good or bad experiences with any of these alternative giving sites? Share your experience in a comment below.