Pledge

Pledge is a fundraising and charitable-giving platform for companies, nonprofits, and individuals, with web tools and APIs for donations and campaigns. It best suits organizations that want to offer several ways to give or connect fundraising to other services. Its free plans make it worth considering, but donation and disbursement fees need to be part of the budget.

Overview

Pledge brings campaign formats, payment methods, and integration options under one roof. Fundraiser pages, donation forms, crowdfunding, event fundraising, and livestream fundraising give organizations a range of ways to solicit support without narrowing the experience to a single channel. The breadth is useful for teams running varied campaigns; organizations with only a simple giving page may not need all of it.

Donations can be made by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, Venmo, cryptocurrency, stock, and donor-advised funds. Pledge says it covers credit card fees on donations of $1,000 USD or less when donor tipping is enabled. That condition matters: fee coverage is not unconditional, and its free fundraising option that passes fees to donors and partners can still leave the organization managing donor choices.

Donations are processed through Pledgeling Foundation, a 501(c)(3) donor-advised fund, with monthly grants to nonprofits and emailed tax receipts. Pledge also charges a $5 monthly disbursement fee to send funds to nonprofits, a recurring cost to weigh against the free platform plans.

Key features

The API supports embedded donations and crowdfunding, donation widgets, webhooks, and access to a database of verified charities. Pledge says API usage itself has no charge, but Donate API donations incur a 5% fee plus payment-method fees. That distinction makes the API attractive for teams building an integration, but donation costs can add up and should be assessed separately from usage charges.

Listed integrations span Zoom, Shopify, Mailchimp, Slack, Constant Contact, Salesforce, Bloomerang, HubSpot, and Google Analytics. Shopify merchants can use Give & Grow, a free app for round-up donations, donations added to purchases, and giving options embedded with product sales. Donation keywords, mobile giving links, SMS campaigns, recurring donations, automated tax receipts, and CRM integrations extend the available fundraising routes.

Pledge cites PCI DSS Level 3, GDPR, CCPA, encryption at rest and in transit, and internal fraud detection among its security and compliance measures. It says it verifies U.S. 501(c)(3) public charities, vets international nonprofits, and blocks donations from restricted countries under OFAC guidelines. Chat support, ticket submission, and a help center provide support routes.

Pricing

Pledge’s Free Fundraising — Cover Fees plan costs nothing. It carries a 5% platform fee and 2.9% + 30¢ processing fees, with donors and partners able to choose to cover fees. That can suit organizations willing to offer fee coverage as a donor choice, but “free” does not mean donations are fee-free.

Free Fundraising — Optional Tips also costs nothing, with no monthly fees, contract, or setup fees and optional donor tips. It is the clearer fit for groups avoiding fixed commitments, though tip-based coverage should not be treated as guaranteed income. The fee-coverage condition Pledge gives for credit card donations—$1,000 USD or less and donor tipping enabled—should be considered when deciding how to structure giving.

Custom enterprise integrations have custom pricing. Pledge also lists a $5 monthly disbursement fee for sending funds to nonprofits; organizations should include it when estimating the cost of regular grants. There is no free trial, but both fundraising plans are free.

Platforms

Pledge is available on web and through an API. That pairing works for organizations using campaign tools directly as well as teams embedding giving into their own experiences. The API’s no-usage-charge terms do not remove the 5% Donate API fee or payment-method fees.

Who it's for

Pledge is a strong candidate for nonprofits and companies that want multiple campaign formats, varied donation methods, and connections to commerce, communications, or CRM tools. Shopify merchants in particular can add giving through the free Give & Grow app. Organizations that need embedded giving can consider the API, provided they account for its donation fees.

It is less compelling for organizations whose priority is minimizing transaction costs above all else, or those that do not need its range of fundraising routes. The 5% platform fee on one free plan, API donation fees, and monthly disbursement charge make the full cost more important than the headline plan price.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Fundraising pages, forms, crowdfunding, events, and livestream campaigns cover a broad range of giving scenarios.
• Pro: Donors can choose among cards, digital wallets, PayPal, Venmo, crypto, stock, and donor-advised funds.
• Pro: The API has no usage charge, while Shopify’s Give & Grow app is free.
• Con: The Cover Fees plan lists a 5% platform fee plus 2.9% + 30¢ processing fees.
• Con: Donate API donations carry a 5% fee plus payment-method fees, and nonprofit disbursements cost $5 monthly.
• Con: Credit card fee coverage applies only up to $1,000 USD when donor tipping is enabled.

Alternatives

For organizations focused on text-to-give, browse Nonprofit Text-to-Give Software.

KindEngage is another web-based option with a free plan and free trial. Give Lively suits nonprofits seeking a free platform with no setup, platform, membership, subscription, annual, or monthly fees. Anedot is worth comparing for its listed payment methods and payment-specific rates, though its Standard and 501(c)(3) plans have no published price.

Donorbox is an alternative for organizations that want Android, iOS, web, and API platforms; its Standard plan includes five team members, with 2.95%–3.95% platform fees and processing fees applying. AstraGive is a paid web option with unlimited campaigns and donors, Apple Pay and Google Pay, and a dedicated phone number, at $29 a month plus 2.5% per donation and a $25 one-time setup fee.

Givebutter offers a free-forever plan and Android, iOS, and web access, with forms, pages, events, auctions, donor management, and CRM. Donr is a paid web text-giving option with a £5 monthly Text Giving plan and a 5% plus VAT donation charge. Mobile Giving Foundation Canada charges a one-time $350.00 USD new charity application fee, with campaign costs depending on services and campaign numbers.

Verdict

Pledge is best for organizations that want varied fundraising formats, broad donation methods, and integration or API options without a monthly platform subscription. Its range and free Shopify app are persuasive, but transaction fees and the $5 monthly nonprofit disbursement charge deserve close attention. Choose it when those capabilities justify the cost; look elsewhere if keeping fees low is the overriding priority.