Zeffy — Independent Software Review

Empower Your Fundraising with Zero Fees

Compliance Transparency Index

Grade: C — Score: 60/100

Best For

• Eligible nonprofits seeking donation collection, donor CRM and digital communication without core platform or processing fees.
• Fundraising teams combining events, auctions, peer-to-peer campaigns, memberships and merchandise sales in one account.
• Small teams replacing separate contact spreadsheets with donor histories, segmentation, notes and scheduled email outreach.
• Nonprofit finance administrators reconciling campaign or fund payouts through exports or the documented QuickBooks Online connection, with refunds handled separately.

Not Ideal For

• Personal fundraisers or general commercial merchants without an eligible public-benefit organization and organizational bank account.
• Teams requiring control over the donor-tip prompt's wording or suggested amounts, which Zeffy says cannot be customized.
• Organizations needing manually triggered or guaranteed immediate payouts; Zeffy uses scheduled transfers and payment review.
• Teams needing multiple fundraising currencies within one account; account currency follows the supported organization's country.

Operational Overview

Pricing Structure

Zeffy: Free core fundraising platform

• No platform, transaction or card-processing fees for the documented core service
• One-time and recurring donations
• Event ticketing, raffles, auctions and peer-to-peer campaigns
• Memberships and nonprofit online stores
• Digital donor CRM and email communications
• Reporting and documented integration options
• Optional donor contributions to Zeffy can be set to zero

Donor Mail: Optional paid service, billed per letter; current rate requires confirmation

• Personalized physical letters from contact lists
• Printing, stuffing, postage and mailing
• Campaign QR codes and letter branding
• Advertised at US$1 per letter with no minimum; the help article also states $1.20 per letter
• Confirm the applicable amount and currency before sending

Alternative Consideration

Consider switching to GoFundMe: GoFundMe is a well-known platform for personal fundraising, while Zeffy focuses on nonprofit organizations.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can donors remove the extra contribution to Zeffy at checkout?

Yes, donors can adjust the optional contribution to Zeffy, including setting it to zero before completing payment. That contribution supports Zeffy separately from the donation to your organization. Organizations cannot customize the contribution prompt's wording or suggested amounts, so review the checkout experience before sharing your form.

Can Zeffy release funds immediately or let us request a payout?

Zeffy uses automatic payouts that cannot be triggered manually. Weekly payouts are the default, monthly payouts are available, and eligible organizations may receive next-day payouts after payments clear. Payments undergo an anti-fraud review and can miss the next payout cycle if they have not cleared in time. Plan event spending around cleared funds and the account's actual schedule rather than treating a successful donation as immediately available cash.

Can Zeffy replace a donor spreadsheet or a small nonprofit CRM?

Zeffy documents contact imports and donor profiles containing giving history, event attendance, notes, lists and email engagement. Its digital CRM also supports segmentation, scheduled emails and email-performance tracking. These functions can cover basic donor administration, but check your required relationship tracking, migration and reporting workflows before replacing an existing CRM.

Can Zeffy manage recurring memberships and event registrations together?

Yes, Zeffy supports membership campaigns with renewal options and separate event-ticketing campaigns within the same account. Ticketing can collect attendee information and issue scannable e-tickets, while contact profiles bring together giving history and event attendance. Confirm any requirement for member-only registration or automatic member discounts before rollout; the reviewed evidence does not establish those workflows.

How do we reconcile a Zeffy bank deposit in QuickBooks Online?

Zeffy's QuickBooks Online connection creates a deposit for each future payout, with revenue broken down by campaign or fund. You select the bank account and map the relevant income accounts so the bank-feed deposit can be matched. The connection is one-way and does not automatically sync past payouts, refunds or individual transactions. Use payout reports to check the total and handle refunds separately in QuickBooks.

Can Zeffy connect to our existing CRM or a custom reporting workflow?

Zeffy documents Zapier triggers for payment and contact activity, plus actions to create payment records, create or update contacts, delete records and find contacts or payments. New Zeffy 2.3 connections use an API key available to administrators. Separately, Zeffy's API provides read access to payments, contacts and campaigns, while webhooks notify an external system when a payment completes. Confirm the chosen connection's supported actions and field mapping for your workflow.

Can Zeffy export donor and payment data for use outside the platform?

Yes, Zeffy documents exports for contacts, payments, transactions and payouts. Payment exports include donor information and manual payment entries, while transaction exports cover transactions or refunds processed through Zeffy and exclude manual entries. Contact and payment exports are separate, so check the required fields and how you will combine records in the receiving system. Export the records you need before closing your account.

Can Zeffy take contactless payments at an event without a separate card reader?

Yes, Zeffy's Tap to Pay app accepts contactless payments on compatible phones without a separate terminal, using a verified account linked to the organization's bank account. The setup guide specifies iPhone XS or later on iOS 17+, or an NFC-equipped Android phone on Android 13+. Auctions, recurring donations and membership forms are excluded. Australian availability remains unresolved because the guide both includes and excludes Australia; UK Tap to Pay payments do not support Gift Aid.

When should we consider Givebutter instead of Zeffy?

Consider Givebutter if disabling campaign tip requests is a requirement: its documentation allows this, with a platform fee and processing fees when tips are disabled. Zeffy covers core processing costs through optional donor contributions, but its contribution wording and suggested amounts cannot be customized. Givebutter also places some advanced tools in its paid Plus subscription, so compare the required features and donor checkout experience before choosing.

AI Visibility Report

How AI agents (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, others) read this review page in the past 7 days. Updated weekly. View Zeffy AI Visibility Report.