One of the crucial aspects of a fundraising software for any nonprofit to consider is the pricing structure. Since nonprofits have to operate on a budget, it’s important to make sure that the platform they choose is not just capable of carrying out all the necessary functions, but also falls within the organization’s budget. Because of this, you need to take the pricing and fee structure into consideration for any nonprofit fundraising platform. There are many platforms out there – one such example being Crowdrise – and each has its own pricing structure.
Pricing Facets
There is more to pricing structure and fees than just looking at the overall cost you’d initially have to take. For example, some platforms are subscription-based, and you have to pay at intervals to continue using it. Others may be a one-time cost, with you having to pay for the entire software on one occasion and continue using it indefinitely.
Some other programs will be for free for a few basic features and require purchase or subscriptions to unlock other, more advanced features.
Each of these suits different budget levels and requirements of nonprofits. For example, smaller nonprofits would want to incur lower costs, but if the full one-time purchase is too much, they might choose to use a subscription-based platform. You’d also have to consider whether or not the features being offered within a given pricing structure are feasible, and if you are getting your money’s worth of functionality.
Let’s look at the pricing structure for a fundraising software as an example.
Crowdrise
How much does Crowdrise take? Crowdrise is a site that allows nonprofits to set up free campaigns and raise funds for projects and funding for different varieties. Though it is not limited to nonprofit fundraising, it is commonly used by many nonprofit organizations because of the ease with which they can use it.
Crowdrise has a ‘keep what you raise’ policy, which means that it doesn’t use the all-or-nothing approach that some other websites use. Even if you don’t reach your goal, you still get to keep whatever you managed to raise, which can be very useful for nonprofits that are new and still growing towards their goals.
The platform does have a small 3-5% fees that are charged upon transactions and includes the processing fee. Unlike many other crowdfunding websites, Crowdrise does not charge a platform fee, and nonprofits can set up their campaigns free of cost, without being charged anything until they actually receive donations. This makes Crowdrise very beneficial for smaller, growing nonprofits.
Certain features can’t be accessed in the basic plan, and you will have to use the paid tier to have them made available to you. While these plans do provide added features, they also have a higher fee percentage and may also require you to pay for the platform, which becomes customizable in the premium plans.
Ashraf Samhouri