A Give Lively alternative with the CRM included
Give Lively charges nonprofits nothing: no membership fee, no platform processing fee, and card processing as low as 1.99% + $0.25. On cost they are genuinely hard to beat. What they do not include is a donor database. Their answer is a free native Salesforce integration, which is excellent if you already run Salesforce and a gap if you do not. Give Lively alternatives rarely beat it on cost, and we are not going to claim otherwise. The trade is the donor database, which Give Lively leaves to Salesforce.
What SAPu offers
CRM included
Donor records, segmentation, notes and tasks in the free tier
Open to every 501(c)(3)
No values screening on who can sign up
Grants and volunteers too
990 funder discovery and volunteer management in one system
It replaces your whole stack, not just Give Lively
A CRM here, a donation form there, email somewhere else. Sponsor A Purpose brings all of it into one connected platform.
Cost and what you get free
Both platforms are free with no monthly fee, take 0% in platform fees, publish their rates and offer a donor-covers-fees option. Give Lively's third-party card processing can go as low as 1.99% + $0.25, which beats our 2.2% + $0.30. On cost alone they are excellent.
| Feature | Sponsor A Purpose | Give Lively |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan with no monthly fee | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | Give Lively: yes |
| 0% platform fees on donation processing | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | Give Lively: yes |
| Published processing rates | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | Give Lively: yes |
| Donor covers fees option | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | Give Lively: yes |
| Card processing below 2% | Sponsor A Purpose: no | Give Lively: yes |
Donor CRM
This is the trade. Give Lively has no donor database of its own; it ships a free native Salesforce integration and full data exports instead, so the donor record lives in Salesforce and you run that. Records, giving history, segmentation, notes and tasks are part of the free tier here.
| Feature | Sponsor A Purpose | Give Lively |
|---|---|---|
| Built-in donor CRM | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | Give Lively: no |
| Donor records with full giving history | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | Give Lively: no |
| Segmentation and custom fields | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | Give Lively: no |
| Notes on contact records | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | Give Lively: no |
| Tasks and activities | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | Give Lively: no |
Giving and payments
Donation widgets, campaign pages, recurring giving and DAF giving run on both. Text-to-donate, event ticketing and automatic rolling disbursement with no holding period are theirs. Employer matching gifts are ours.
| Feature | Sponsor A Purpose | Give Lively |
|---|---|---|
| Donation widgets and campaign pages | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | Give Lively: yes |
| Recurring giving | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | Give Lively: yes |
| DAF giving built into the widget | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | Give Lively: yes |
| Text-to-donate | Sponsor A Purpose: no | Give Lively: yes |
| Event ticketing | Sponsor A Purpose: no | Give Lively: yes |
| Automatic disbursement with no holding period | Sponsor A Purpose: no | Give Lively: yes |
| Corporate matching gifts | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | Give Lively: no |
Communication and automation
Give Lively leaves email to Salesforce or whatever you connect. Fundraising email campaigns and prebuilt donor journeys run off the donor record here.
| Feature | Sponsor A Purpose | Give Lively |
|---|---|---|
| Fundraising email campaigns | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | Give Lively: no |
| Prebuilt donor journeys | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | Give Lively: no |
Grants
Give Lively does no grant work. Grant discovery on IRS 990 funder filings and AI-assisted writing are add-ons here.
| Feature | Sponsor A Purpose | Give Lively |
|---|---|---|
| Grant discovery on IRS 990 funder data | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | Give Lively: no |
| AI grant writing | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | Give Lively: no |
Volunteers
Give Lively has no volunteer side. Volunteer management is a $29 a month add-on here.
| Feature | Sponsor A Purpose | Give Lively |
|---|---|---|
| Volunteer management | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | Give Lively: no |
Services and support
Both are nonprofit-only, but Give Lively reviews every membership application against its own values criteria, where we are open to any registered nonprofit. Website design and hosting and appointment scheduling are paid services we add.
| Feature | Sponsor A Purpose | Give Lively |
|---|---|---|
| Appointment scheduling | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | Give Lively: no |
| Website design and hosting (service) | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | Give Lively: no |
| Open to any registered nonprofit | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | Give Lively: no |
| Nonprofit-only focus | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | Give Lively: yes |
