Non-Profit Fundraisers

What organizations raise for here

The fundraisers in this category belong to organizations, and to the people still building one. Some are covering an operating gap that no grant cycle will close in time, and others are funding a launch, a building, a posting overseas, or a program cost an insurer denied. The person who starts it is usually the founder, the executive director, or the volunteer who ended up holding the fundraising, rather than a development department.

You don't have to be finished to start. Anyone can start a fundraiser, and no nonprofit status or EIN is required. Registered 501(c)(3)s, organizations mid-formation with the paperwork filed, and ministries still run out of a home office all raise here. And one account can run more than one fundraiser, so this year's mission trip and next year's building fund don't need two separate homes.

Nonprofit fundraising, step by step

Nonprofit fundraising here works the way it does for an individual: no nonprofit status to prove first, no EIN, and no minimum size. What changes for an organization is who stands behind the money and where it lands, so settle these before you publish.

• Pick the fundraiser's country first, because it's locked at creation and it decides the currency and which bank accounts can receive a transfer.
• Write the ask the way your board would want it written, with a realistic goal, a breakdown of what the money covers, and a photo or a short video.
• Have your legal representative ready to verify, since whoever completes it is always a person, 18 or older, with a government-issued photo ID.
• Say your 501(c)(3) status out loud in the fundraiser itself, because GiveSendGo doesn't display or verify it for you.
• Expect up to 48 hours before it appears in GiveSendGo's own search, so send the link to your own list instead of telling people to look for it.
• Keep sharing it and posting updates, because steady sharing does more than one big announcement.

Start a GiveSendGo

Tax-deductible giving, stated exactly

Nothing given on GiveSendGo is tax-deductible unless it goes through GiveSendGo Charities, the 501(c)(3). That includes the Giver Army, which is Charities' recurring giving program. The one exception is a recipient that is itself a verified 501(c)(3). GiveSendGo itself is not a 501(c)(3), does not verify any recipient's tax status, and does not issue tax receipts for a personal fundraiser. When the recipient is a nonprofit, the receipt comes from them, not from us.

If your organization is a verified 501(c)(3), you are the one who tells your givers, because GiveSendGo doesn't display or verify nonprofit status for you. Say it in your fundraiser story, and say it again in a custom thank-you message that states your 501(c)(3) status, your organization's legal name, and your EIN. The official GiveSendGo donation receipt can't be edited to add that.

GiveSendGo does check an EIN in one place: when a fundraiser's funds go to a business bank account during verification. That's bank verification, not 501(c)(3) verification.

What it costs

GiveSendGo doesn't take a cut. There's no platform fee. What's deducted is the payment processor's fee: 2.7% + 30¢ per gift for US fundraisers, 3.5% + 30¢ outside the US. On a $100 gift to a US fundraiser, $97 reaches you. A $250 gift lands at $242.95, and outside the US that $100 gift lands at $96.20. Non-USD fundraisers may also incur currency exchange fees set by the processor.

We can charge nothing because of the optional tip at checkout: every giver sees a suggested tip to GiveSendGo, adjustable to any amount including $0, and that's what funds our operating costs. No percentage of what your organization raises comes to us.

One setting to know about, because givers see it: if you set a percentage of funds raised to go to GiveSendGo when you created the fundraiser, that amount is added on top of each gift and shown to your givers at checkout. It's editable anytime from fundraiser Settings and applies only to future donations.

Getting the money into the organization's account

Funds can land in the organization's own account rather than a personal one. The person who completes verification is always an individual, 18 or older, with a government-issued photo ID, acting as the organization's legal representative. That person selects the Business bank account type and enters the legal business name and the organization's own bank details. Identity verification runs through the payment partner as a standard financial-industry requirement, and it isn't waived for anyone. Review starts once the ID is uploaded and the fundraiser has received its first gift, whichever comes later.

Your first gift becomes available 5 days after it's received. Every gift after that becomes available on a rolling 3-day basis. Once you request a transfer, it typically lands in your bank within 2 to 3 business days. Non-USD transfers can take longer. You can also set transfers to go out weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly from the Transfers tab. A manual request sends the whole available balance, and you wait 24 hours after one is approved before asking for another.

Start a GiveSendGo

If you came here to give

You may not be raising money for an organization at all. You're here to give to one, and every fundraiser listed above has been published for at least 5 days and has taken $100 or more in online gifts, because that's what it takes to be listed on this page. Before any money moves, the recipient completes identity verification and the trust and safety team checks the fundraiser over.

You can also give monthly rather than once, by choosing a subscription instead of a single gift, and you can change the payment method or cancel it yourself from My Impact.

Support a nonprofit fundraiser on this page