How to Choose an Online Fundraising Platform for a Small Nonprofit

Choose donation software by tracing gifts, checking payouts and receipts, comparing written costs, and testing checkout and records before launch.

Quick answer

Choose an online fundraising platform by following one donation all the way through: what the donor sees at checkout, which organization or intermediary receives the money, what fees are removed, when and how the payout reaches your nonprofit, how staff reconcile it to the gift record, and who sends the donor acknowledgment. If any step is unclear, request a written answer and test it before launch. The FTC's guidance for online giving portals explains why the recipient, fees, timing, and data sharing should be clear to donors.

This guide is for a small nonprofit choosing online donation software, not a vendor for merchandise or an event. For broader questions about contracts, references, and provider due diligence, use our guide to comparing fundraising companies. Browse other formats in the fundraising articles index.

Start with one campaign and the features it needs

Write a two-sentence brief: "We want to raise funds for ___ by ___; donations will support ___." Add expected gifts, typical gift size, staff owner, launch date, and reporting schedule. An emergency appeal may need faster payouts than a general appeal.

Mark each feature required, useful, or not needed. Many small teams need a mobile-friendly one-time gift form, a clear designation, a receipt, basic exports, and access for a second staff member. Recurring giving, peer-to-peer pages, matching gifts, event tickets, and CRM integrations may be useful later, but each adds work. Ask candidates to demonstrate your actual flow, not their entire catalog.

Draw the money path before comparing designs

For each candidate, write down the named entity that accepts the donor's payment and the entity that ultimately receives the funds. Ask whether a processor, sponsoring charity, or other intermediary receives the gift first. If so, ask whose name appears on the donor's statement, who issues the receipt, whether your nonprofit receives donor details, and what happens if it cannot accept a payout. The FTC's donor-facing platform guidance notes that some platforms route donations through an intermediary, charge fees, and take time to transfer funds. Do not assume every candidate uses the same arrangement.

Request the payout schedule in writing. Is it automatic or must staff request it? What triggers a hold, what happens when bank details fail, and who handles a reversed gift? Ask what donors are told if a gift cannot reach the charity. The FTC's portal guidance calls out timing and failed delivery as information donors should understand.

Compare total cost using actual written terms

Get the candidate's current fee schedule or written quote for your account, payment methods, and expected gift mix. Record platform charges, processing fees, fixed per-transaction amounts, subscriptions, setup or integration fees, payout charges, currency conversion if relevant, refunds, and disputed-payment charges. Ask whether donors may be prompted for optional tips and whether a donor's choice changes your payout. Do not substitute an advertised "free" headline for these terms.

Hypothetical worksheet, not a provider quote: Suppose a campaign receives 100 gifts of $25, or $2,500 gross before refunds or tips. For each candidate, calculate:

$2,500 - (100 × that candidate's written per-gift charge) - its written percentage-based charge on the applicable transaction amounts - its other applicable charges - refunds and disputes = estimated nonprofit proceeds.

Leave unknown terms blank and ask the provider rather than assuming a rate. Record whether a donor tip affects the amount on which fees are calculated and whether recurring gifts have different rates. Compare the same scenario across candidates, then a smaller campaign, since fixed monthly charges affect those cases differently. These estimates are not promised proceeds. The FTC advises donors to check how much reaches the charity; your worksheet should answer that question.

Test the donor journey on a phone

Open an approved demo on a phone, not just a desktop screenshot. Can a donor understand who receives the gift before payment? Check amount buttons, custom amount, designation, final total, contact fields, payment choices, and confirmation. Are error messages understandable and keyboard controls usable? Ask someone unfamiliar with the campaign where they think the money goes.

Look closely at optional tips: are they clearly optional, what is selected by default, and can a donor remove one before submitting? If recurring giving is offered, test whether one-time and recurring options are distinct, how the frequency and start date are shown, and how the donor can change or stop future payments. In a sandbox, trigger a failed payment and a refund. Confirm what the donor sees, what staff see, and whether the same gift is accidentally counted twice. Never use a real person's card or donor details in a test environment without authorization.

Match the acknowledgment to the actual recipient

Ask for sample confirmations and receipts for successful and refunded gifts. Check the recipient, amount, date, designation, contact address, and processor wording. If an intermediary receives the money or sends the receipt, do not imply your nonprofit directly received or receipted it. Assign someone to handle corrected acknowledgments.

Tax wording deserves its own review. The IRS guidance on charitable contribution deductions discusses gifts to qualified organizations and points readers to more detailed substantiation guidance. A platform's checkbox or receipt alone is not a determination that a particular gift is deductible. Have your organization's qualified adviser review the receipt language for its own situation, especially if donors receive goods or services or an intermediary is involved.

Ask for exports with transaction reference, date, amount, designation, status, refunds, fees, payout batch, and available donor contact and consent fields. Can finance match a payout to gifts and avoid thanking a refunded donor? Get a sample file; assign ownership of corrections and retention.

Understand donor data, permissions, and support

List the data collected at checkout and identify which party can see, use, or share each field. Ask whether a donor can give without agreeing to marketing, whether optional consent is recorded in exports, whether the platform contacts donors on its own behalf, and what happens to data after you leave. The FTC's online giving portal guidance says portals should explain whether donor information is shared and give donors a choice. Ask how to export transactions, recurring authorizations, and consent history when a contract ends, what cannot be transferred, and when data is deleted.

Give staff only the access they need. Can a fundraiser edit the story without changing bank details? Can the finance lead download payouts without changing the public page? Review the provider's documentation for multi-factor authentication, account recovery, incident notification, accessibility, and relevant independent security assessments. Ask for documented accessibility support and test the donor flow with keyboard navigation and mobile text enlargement yourself. A badge or broad promise does not replace a usable form.

Finally, contact support with two realistic questions: "A payout is missing; what information do you need?" and "A donor asks for a refund; who responds?" Note the hours, channel, response commitment, and escalation path offered in writing. Your campaign owner should know whom to call before a launch-day problem occurs.

Run an approved pilot and reconcile it

Use a provider-authorized sandbox when available. If a real transaction is necessary, obtain your organization's approval for a small pilot and follow its payment and recordkeeping rules. Give the pilot a named owner and a checklist. Record the donor-facing amount and any optional tip, the payment and receipt timestamps, the transaction reference, the fee entries, the payout batch and date, and the amount deposited. Ask finance to match the bank deposit to the platform's payout report and then to the underlying gift records. Resolve differences before inviting the public.

Test a declined payment, authorized refund, and recurring update where supported. If the sandbox cannot simulate settlement, label it not yet verified and require a live payout check before launch. A working test page does not prove reconciliation works.

Comparison worksheet for two or three candidates

Copy these prompts into a sheet and give each candidate its own column. Enter the written term, document link, and the person who verified it. Use "unknown" instead of a guess.

Next action: Shortlist two candidates that can answer the money-path questions in writing. Run the same mobile test and 100-gift worksheet for both, then let your finance lead reconcile an approved pilot before your team commits to a public launch. SuperFundraiser offers comparisons and partner offers; it does not process online donations.