When exploring a new fundraising platform, board members and other people responsible for a nonprofit may have questions about the platform’s cost, security, and impact, as well as the ease of transition, degree of support offered, and other things. 

This article provides clear, detailed answers to the most common question asked when a nonprofit is considering a switch to Give Lively – a powerful, practical fundraising solution that’s free for nonprofits and intuitive for donors.

What are the total costs of switching to Give Lively, both immediate and long-term?

• Give Lively is free for nonprofits – no setup fees, no platform fees, no membership or subscription fees, no annual or monthly fees, no hidden Give Lively fees. 
• Give Lively does, however, rely on third parties like Stripe and PayPal to power its payment processing and disbursement. These market-leading service providers attach their small fees to every transaction. 
• Give Lively is fully transparent about all non-Give Lively costs, including how much they are and who must or may cover them.
• Give Lively accepts voluntary tips from donors to support its work and extend the reach and capability of its free products and services. 

How will this switch impact our budget and overall fundraising goals?

• Give Lively believes that nonprofits, no matter their size, should not sacrifice their means to satisfy their missions.
• In practical terms, nonprofits using Give Lively save thousands of dollars each year by disburdening themselves of for-profit fundraising software. Give Lively has helped thousands of nonprofits save $100 million in tech costs on $1 billion raised since its start in 2015.
• Extra funds can be put toward added or extended programs, as well as overhead costs and staff salaries, increasing benefits and more. 

Is there a contract? Are we locked in for a specific period?

• Give Lively has no membership contract. Membership is free and members gain full access to all of its digital fundraising products. Nonprofits can use or not use these products as they see fit.
• If a nonprofit is already under contract with a paid fundraising platform, Give Lively can be added for specific campaigns or events, or select Give Lively products can complement existing tools until the paid contract with the other platform expires.

How secure is donor data and payment processing?

• Give Lively takes privacy, security and transparency very seriously, pursuing appropriate steps to protect data and undertaking with partners to keep privacy and security a top priority in its operations.
• Give Lively and its members nonprofit never directly see or store any donor payment information. Saved payment details are captured by and stored securely in a third-party payment processor without passing through our servers.
• Give Lively uses Stripe and PayPal to process donations made using Give Lively's fundraising technology. Both are PCI Level 1 compliant, which means they maintain the highest level of data security when it comes to protecting payment information.
• Give Lively acknowledges and respects donors’ right to control their data.
• Give Lively never sells, rents, leases or otherwise gives away data to third parties.

What is the transition timeline and will it disrupt any active campaigns?

• Switching to Give Lively can be as gradual as needed. Many nonprofits get up and running in under a week – sometimes even faster. It is also possible to run a campaign or two in parallel with an existing platform while getting comfortable with the Give Lively platform. 
• Give Lively offers free resources and onboarding to help nonprofits set up fundraising pages and manage integrations.
• Give Lively also provides free technical support when integrating Give Lively with Salesforce (if that’s the chosen CRM) and Zapier (which is able to connect with many other CRMs). That said, Give Lively is not able to assist with importing data from another CRM into Salesforce, though it can recommend qualified consultants.

How does the application process work?

• The Give Lively membership application process can be completed in just a few minutes if you have a few essential details right at hand. That includes the nonprofit’s EIN, an understanding of whether it is an eligible 501(c)(3) and a readiness to connect an active Stripe account to Give Lively.
• Give Lively then takes 5-7 business days to personally review every application for alignment with its values. Give Lively’s values are its core membership criterion. Use of its platform is reserved for nonprofits that make the world a better place by elevating marginalized voices, striving to meet the needs of the underserved, imagining an inclusive future for their communities and advocating for equality.

How user-friendly is the platform for both staff and donors?

• Nonprofits do not need to be tech savvy to use Give Lively tech. The platform is user friendly and designed to get nonprofits up and running quickly. Anyone who can use email has the skills to start fundraising through Give Lively. 
• Nonprofit staff, volunteers and board members can easily and quickly set up campaigns or events, make changes while they’re underway and review data at any time. 
• Donors are guided through a clean, optimized, mobile-friendly checkout process that allows for multiple types of payment methods.

Does the new platform integrate with our CRM/accounting software?

• Give Lively offers a direct, native, five-star integration with Salesforce NPSP, so nonprofits can keep their CRM up to date without double entry. 
• Give Lively also plays nicely with other systems though its Zapier integration. If a CRM works with Zapier, then the CRM will work with the Give Lively platform.

What’s the level of customer support and ongoing training available?

• Give Lively’s highly accomplished customer experience team takes pride in its effectiveness and human touch at a time when tech support can sometimes feel too automated. 
• Normal live chat support hours are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET and support via email hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday (on business days), plus 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET on Sundays.
• Give Lively’s business development team holds weekly live platform demos for prospective members (a presentation followed by Q&A), as well as weekly live onboarding webinars for members and weekly Community Office Hours. For specific questions or concerns, nonprofits can email membership@givelively.org to schedule a call.
• When the human support team is unavailable, members and donors can consult with the Give Lively AI bot, which has an encyclopedic understanding of the platform.
• Give Lively also maintains abundant online self-service resources, including the Resource Hub, a one-stop shop for technical  information and instructions about the platform.

Can the platform handle our future growth, campaign variety or changing needs?

• Give Lively is a dynamic company, proactively collaborating with, but also responsive to, nonprofits by bringing an adaptive mindset to problem-solving. Give Lively questions, evolves and strives never to assume that any solution is the final solution.
• Give Lively continues to add features to its platform, which already includes digital fundraising, event fundraising and peer-based fundraising solutions.
• To see how the GIve Lively platform is growing, visit its Updates page and its Changelog.
• To learn what’s new, what’s coming and see the product requests shared by Give Lively member nonprofits, visit its feedback page and roadmap forum.

Have we seen success stories from similar-sized organizations?

Give Lively offers inspirational examples of how members are fundraising in creative ways: 

• Give Lively tech in action
• Nonprofit spotlight articles