Givebear

Givebear is a giving platform for community organizations, combining donations, dues, event tickets and kiosk payments. It suits groups that need donor records and fund reporting across those channels. Its breadth is useful, but per-gift fees and the upfront cost of a kiosk deserve close attention.

Overview

Donors can give at a kiosk, through an online donation page or QR code, or by paying membership dues and event tickets. Gifts are recorded against the fund chosen by the donor, while gifts and recurring plans from these channels share a donor history. That combination makes Givebear a practical option for organizations trying to keep varied giving activity in one record; groups that need only a simple donation channel may find the extra breadth harder to justify.

Givebear sends email receipts after gifts and year-end statements, and its reports can be exported by fund and date range. Organizations can also export donor records and reports as CSV and manage donor-record access with role-based permissions. Stripe processes card payments. Givebear says it receives tokenized payment references and does not store raw card numbers.

Key features

Kiosks and online giving

The 21.5-inch kiosk accepts Apple Pay, Google Pay and contactless cards, with English, Arabic, Spanish and Turkish support. It can accept one-time gifts offline, which is useful where connectivity is intermittent, but recurring gifts require a live connection. Donation forms can be embedded on sites built with WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, Webflow, Shopify, GoDaddy, Weebly and Square Online.

Fund reporting and accounting

QuickBooks Online integration posts payout journal entries split by fund, with fees and refunds broken out. That should help organizations whose bookkeeping needs to preserve fund distinctions, though the platform fee on every gift remains a cost to account for alongside Stripe processing.

Pricing

Givebear has a free plan and a 30-day trial. The main ongoing cost difference is the platform fee per gift: 5.9% on Free, 2.9% on Plus and 1.9% on Growth. Stripe processing is passed through at cost on all plans, so organizations with substantial donation volume should compare those percentages against subscription savings.

• Free: $0 a month, with no subscription, 50 donor contacts, 100 emails a month and email support. It is a low-commitment way to start, but the 5.9% fee and small contact and email allowances may become costly or restrictive as giving grows.
• Plus: $29 a month billed annually ($348 a year), or $39 a month month-to-month. It includes 2,500 donor contacts, 10,000 emails a month, 250 texts a month and priority support. This is the sensible step up for organizations that need more room and a lower transaction fee without Growth's larger allowances.
• Growth: $39 a month billed annually ($468 a year), or $54 a month month-to-month. It raises the limits to 15,000 donor contacts, 75,000 emails a month and 1,000 texts a month, and adds dedicated onboarding alongside priority support. It fits organizations with heavier communication and donor-record needs; the larger subscription is harder to justify for a small operation.

Kiosks are separate one-time purchases, with no monthly kiosk fee. The wall mount costs $999 one-time and includes a 21.5-inch screen with wired power. The floor stand costs $1,099 one-time and adds a four-hour battery alongside wired power. Both models accept the same listed payment types and support the same languages, so the choice comes down to placement and whether battery power matters.

Plans support card payments, automated dunning and self-service renewals. Annual billing lowers the monthly subscription price compared with month-to-month billing, but requires committing to the annual amount.

Platforms

Givebear is available on Android, iOS and the web. Its kiosk handles one-time gifts offline, while recurring gifts need an internet connection.

Who it's for

Givebear is aimed at mosques, churches, schools, nonprofits and other community organizations. It is strongest for groups that want kiosk and online giving, dues and event tickets tied to shared donor histories and fund reporting. It is a weaker fit for organizations with little need for multiple giving channels, low donation volumes that make per-gift fees hard to absorb, or no budget for a kiosk purchase.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Gifts from kiosks, online giving, dues and event tickets share donor histories and fund tracking, which can simplify oversight across channels.
• Pros: QuickBooks Online journal entries split by fund and break out fees and refunds, supporting more detailed payout reconciliation.
• Pros: The free plan has no subscription, and both kiosk models avoid a monthly kiosk charge.
• Cons: The 5.9% Free platform fee is substantial for organizations receiving many gifts; paid plans reduce it but still pass Stripe processing through at cost.
• Cons: The kiosks require a $999 or $1,099 one-time purchase, so adding in-person giving brings a significant upfront expense.
• Cons: Free has only 50 donor contacts and 100 emails a month, while recurring kiosk gifts need a live connection.

Alternatives

Organizations focused on membership management can compare membership billing software options. ChamberedIn is a paid Android, iOS and web option with a Premier plan at $499 a month billed to your organization, including 250 members; its Revenue Share plan has no upfront cost.

Mybers is worth considering for clubs prioritizing membership over donation kiosks: it has a free Starter plan with unlimited members and 500 emails a month, and a $39/month Club plan. membermojo offers web-based membership management, including a 100-member plan at £50 a year with VAT included.

memberplanet is another freemium option for organizations that want membership tools across Android, iOS and web; its Essentials plan is $50 a month and includes a 2% platform fee. MembershipWorks may suit web-only groups comparing account-based membership tiers, with 300 accounts for $35 a month.

Paid Memberships Pro is a web and self-hosted option for groups that prefer open-source membership software; its core plugin and add-ons are GPLv2 licensed and can run on as many sites as desired. Associatify offers a free web plan with one admin, a member registry and simple email automation. Asovex has a free plan for up to 10 members and a $9 a month Basic plan, billed $90.00 yearly, for up to 100 members.

Verdict

Givebear is a strong fit for community organizations that need kiosk and online giving, dues, event tickets and fund-level donor records under one roof. Its best case is a group that will use several of those channels and can justify the platform fee or a paid plan to lower it. Look elsewhere if your needs center on membership administration, if per-gift fees outweigh the convenience of unified records, or if the kiosk's upfront price is out of reach.