SmartChange vs. Donately
Donately and SmartChange are both built for lean nonprofit teams that want clean, embeddable fundraising forms without enterprise complexity. Here's how they actually differ — on pricing, features, and which one fits your specific situation.
or $100+/moDonately plan options
What Are These Platforms?
Full-Featured Launch-Fast Fundraising
SmartChange is an all-in-one fundraising platform for nonprofits, PTAs, educational organizations, nonpartisan campaigns, NIL collectives, NIL athletes, and crisis fundraising. Same-day self-serve launch, no monthly fee on Standard, donor fee coverage (90%+ adoption), Spare Change round-ups, recurring giving, peer-to-peer fundraising, events and ticketing, crisis launch mode, and a dedicated NIL Collective campaign type. Full public API on every plan.
Standard: 3.9% + 25¢ per transaction. No monthly fee on Standard. Operated by Level Wins, Little Rock, Arkansas.
Clean Embeddable Forms for Growing Nonprofits
Donately is a nonprofit fundraising platform focused on clean, embeddable donation forms, recurring giving, and straightforward campaign management. It targets small-to-mid nonprofits that want simple, developer-friendly forms they can drop into any website. Donately offers a free plan with higher per-transaction fees, and paid plans starting around $100/month with lower rates. It integrates with major CRMs and marketing platforms.
Donately's strengths are its form simplicity, developer-friendly embed options, and clean donor experience. It does not offer Spare Change round-ups, NIL support, or crisis launch mode.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | SmartChange | Donately |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly Fees | Standard is free — no monthly fee | Free plan available (higher per-tx fee); paid plans ~$100+/mo |
| Standard Processing Rate | 3.9% + 25¢ (Standard, no monthly fee) | Free: higher rate; Paid: lower rate + monthly fee |
| Donor Fee Coverage | Yes — 90%+ adoption; 0–1% effective rate | Yes — fee offset available |
| Tip Prompts | Never | Not used |
| Embeddable Donation Forms | Yes — any website | Yes — core product strength |
| Recurring Donations | Yes — all plans, same rate | Yes |
| Peer-to-Peer Fundraising | Yes — all plans | Yes — on paid plans |
| Events & Ticketing | Yes — all plans | Limited |
| Full Public API | Yes — all plans | Yes — developer-friendly |
| CRM Integrations | Via full public API | Native integrations: Salesforce, HubSpot, Bloomerang |
| Donor CRM | CRM-Lite — profiles, history, segmentation | Basic donor management |
| Spare Change Round-Ups | Yes — exclusive passive giving | Not available |
| NIL Collective Campaign Type | Yes — dedicated type | Not supported |
| Crisis Launch Mode | Under 15 minutes | Not available |
| Compliance Reporting | Yes — all plans | Basic reporting |
| Annual Contract | No — cancel anytime | No — monthly or annual |
Key Differences
Both serve lean teams. The feature depth differs significantly.
Donately and SmartChange share a similar target user — small-to-mid nonprofits that want clean fundraising infrastructure without enterprise overhead. But their feature sets have diverged meaningfully. Donately is focused and minimal: great embeddable forms, recurring giving, solid CRM integrations. SmartChange goes wider: Spare Change round-ups, NIL Collective campaign type, crisis launch mode, compliance reporting, peer-to-peer on every plan, and events and ticketing — all without a monthly fee on Standard.
If all you need is a clean donation form embedded on your website, Donately is a strong minimalist choice. If you need that plus more, SmartChange includes it without stepping up to a paid plan.
Donately's free plan trades monthly fees for a higher rate. SmartChange's math is different.
Donately's free plan has no monthly fee but charges a higher per-transaction platform fee. Paid plans reduce the transaction rate but add a $100+/month subscription. SmartChange Standard charges 3.9% + 25¢ with no monthly fee. With 90%+ of SmartChange donors choosing to cover the fee, the effective rate drops to 0–1% — making the real-world cost for most organizations lower than either Donately plan.
The comparison isn't just rate vs. rate — it's what you keep per dollar raised, at realistic coverage rates, across your actual donation volume.
Donately has tighter native CRM integrations. SmartChange has a full public API.
Donately has built native integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, Bloomerang, and others — useful if you're already in one of those ecosystems and want a plug-and-play connection. SmartChange's full public API (on every plan) gives you the flexibility to connect to anything, but requires a bit more setup for non-standard integrations.
If your stack is standard and you want zero-configuration CRM sync, Donately's native integrations have a convenience edge. If you need custom workflows or connect to less common tools, SmartChange's open API is the more flexible path.
Features only SmartChange has — on the free Standard plan.
Spare Change round-ups, NIL Collective campaign type, crisis launch mode, and compliance reporting — none of these are available on Donately at any price point. For nonprofits that need any one of these, SmartChange is the only option. For organizations that don't — particularly those already deep in a CRM ecosystem Donately natively supports — Donately's focused simplicity is a real consideration.
Who Should Use Which Platform?
SmartChange is a strong fit if you…
- Want no monthly fee on Standard with full feature access
- Want 0–1% effective rate when donors cover the fee
- Need Spare Change round-ups for passive year-round giving
- Are a NIL collective, crisis fundraiser, or nonpartisan campaign
- Need peer-to-peer fundraising and events without a paid plan upgrade
- Need compliance reporting on every plan
- Want a full public API with no tier restrictions
Donately may be a fit if you…
- Want a highly focused, minimal donation form with zero platform complexity
- Are already using Salesforce, HubSpot, or Bloomerang and want native sync
- Have a developer on staff and want maximum embed flexibility
- Only need basic donation collection and recurring giving — no extra features
- Prefer the free plan model and don't expect high transaction volume
Frequently Asked Questions
Is SmartChange an alternative to Donately? ▾
How does SmartChange pricing compare to Donately? ▾
Does Donately have a free plan? ▾
Does Donately support NIL collectives or crisis fundraising? ▾
Is SmartChange free to sign up? ▾
More features. Standard is free. Live today.
Everything you need from a lean fundraising platform — and the things you didn't know you needed.
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