Funraise vs Zeffy for Nonprofits: Feature-Rich vs 100% Free Fundraising

Nonprofit fundraising technology presents a fundamental trade-off: invest in advanced automation and AI to optimize every aspect of donor engagement, or eliminate all platform costs to ensure every dollar raised goes directly to your mission. Funraise and Zeffy represent these two philosophies, each serving the nonprofit sector with radically different approaches to maximizing fundraising impact.

Funraise has built a reputation as a feature-rich platform that leverages artificial intelligence to drive fundraising performance. Their AppealAI tool, powered by ChatGPT, generates campaign-specific content including peer-to-peer appeals, emails, and social posts. Machine learning algorithms optimize suggested donation amounts based on donor behavior, device type, time of day, and giving history—contributing to their reported 50% donation form conversion rate. Organizations using Funraise see their online revenue grow by an average of 73% annually, three times the industry average. The platform offers 300+ integrations including Salesforce, Raiser's Edge, and major marketing tools, making it suitable for nonprofits with sophisticated tech stacks seeking seamless data flow across their operations.

Zeffy takes a revolutionary approach by being 100% free—no platform fees, no transaction fees, no monthly subscriptions. Since launching, 70,000 nonprofits have raised over $2 billion while saving $50 million in fees that would typically be lost to payment processors and platform providers. This zero-fee model is funded by voluntary donor contributions at checkout, which donors can decline or reduce to $0 without affecting the nonprofit's donation receipt. For budget-constrained organizations, particularly those in early stages or with unpredictable donation volumes, Zeffy eliminates all financial risk while providing a comprehensive toolkit including donation forms, event ticketing, peer-to-peer campaigns, auctions, memberships, and built-in CRM capabilities.

The choice between these platforms depends on your organization's priorities and resources. If you're a growth-focused nonprofit with budget for premium tools and you want AI-powered optimization to maximize donor lifetime value, Funraise's feature set can deliver significant ROI. If budget constraints dominate your decision-making and you need reliable fundraising without any platform costs eating into your mission, Zeffy's zero-fee model offers unparalleled value. This comparison examines pricing structures, AI capabilities, ease of use, integration ecosystems, and real-world performance to help you select the platform that aligns with your fundraising goals.

What Is Zeffy?

Zeffy is the only 100% free fundraising platform in the market, designed specifically for nonprofits that want to eliminate all platform costs and ensure every dollar donated goes directly to their mission. Unlike traditional platforms that charge 3-5% in combined platform and transaction fees, Zeffy covers all credit card processing costs and maintains its operations through voluntary donor contributions—an optional tip that donors can add, reduce, or decline at checkout without affecting the nonprofit's donation receipt.

The platform has grown to serve over 70,000 nonprofits across North America, helping them raise more than $2 billion while saving $50 million in fees that would otherwise be lost to payment processors and platform providers. This zero-fee model is particularly transformative for small to mid-sized nonprofits operating on tight budgets, where traditional platform fees of 3-5% per donation represent meaningful resources that could otherwise support programs. Organizations can launch donation campaigns, sell event tickets, run auctions and raffles, manage memberships, and coordinate peer-to-peer fundraising—all without paying a single platform fee.

Zeffy's core functionality includes a comprehensive toolkit designed for simplicity: donation forms with one-time and recurring giving options (supporting credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and ACH transfers), event ticketing and registration with QR code check-in, online auction management with automatic winner notifications and payment processing, raffle and lottery support with numbered ticketing, membership management with automated renewals and membership cards, and peer-to-peer campaign creation with team leaderboards and donor boards. The platform includes built-in CRM capabilities for donor relationship management, automatic tax receipts, year-end summaries, and email marketing tools for donor communication.

Zeffy's interface is purposely designed for volunteer-led teams with minimal technical expertise. The platform consistently receives praise for its ease of use, with most organizations able to set up their first campaign in under 30 minutes. While Zeffy lacks advanced AI features and has fewer native integrations than enterprise platforms, it integrates with 6,000+ apps through Zapier and offers direct connections to QuickBooks, Salesforce, and Google Sheets for essential data management needs.