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Nonprofits · head to head

Blackbaud Grantmaking vs Fundraise Up

Blackbaud Grantmaking logo

Blackbaud Grantmaking

Nonprofits

Grants management for foundations and corporate givers inside the Blackbaud ecosystem

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Fundraise Up logo

Fundraise Up

Nonprofits

Donation checkout layer that replaces the giving form on an existing nonprofit website

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Blackbaud Grantmaking no pricing is published at any tier, and Blackbaud contracts commonly run multiple years, so a foundation that finds the fit wrong is locked in past the point where switching is cheap.; Fundraise Up the fee is a percentage of donations, so cost rises exactly as the product succeeds, and a single large gift routed through the checkout carries the same rate as a twenty pound one unless the agreement caps it.
  • They diverge on capability: Blackbaud Grantmaking covers Online application portal, Fundraise Up covers Embedded donation checkout.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Blackbaud Grantmaking and Fundraise Up actually diverge.

Attributes where Blackbaud Grantmaking and Fundraise Up differ
AttributeBlackbaud GrantmakingFundraise Up
Pricing modelquotePercentage of each donation

Identical on both: starting price (On request), free tier (No), platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Nonprofits).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Blackbaud Grantmaking

  • Online application portal
  • Due diligence checks
  • Board dockets
  • Payment scheduling
  • Grantee reporting
  • Financial Edge integration
  • Reporting and dashboards

Only in Fundraise Up

  • Embedded donation checkout
  • Digital wallet payments
  • Recurring gift upgrade prompts
  • Multi currency and multi language
  • Donor covered fees
  • CRM sync

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Blackbaud Grantmaking

  • A private foundation already running Blackbaud Financial Edge that wants grant liabilities to post to the ledger without manual journalsnot Fundraise Up
  • A community foundation managing hundreds of donor advised funds with separate grant recommendationsnot Fundraise Up
  • A corporate giving programme needing documented US charity status checks before every paymentnot Fundraise Up
  • A foundation whose board approves grants by docket and needs a repeatable, auditable packet processnot Fundraise Up

Fundraise Up

  • A charity with a working CRM and website that wants to raise online conversion without replatformingnot Blackbaud Grantmaking
  • An international organisation needing donors to give in local currency and languagenot Blackbaud Grantmaking
  • A campaign pushing one time givers into monthly recurring support at the point of donationnot Blackbaud Grantmaking
  • A digital team that can measure conversion before and after and justify a percentage fee with datanot Blackbaud Grantmaking

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Blackbaud Grantmaking

  • No pricing is published at any tier, and Blackbaud contracts commonly run multiple years, so a foundation that finds the fit wrong is locked in past the point where switching is cheap.
  • Implementation and data migration from a legacy GIFTS or Access database are separately priced professional services and regularly exceed the first year licence.
  • The interface carries a long lineage and feels dated next to newer grants platforms, which shows up as training time for programme staff and reluctance among occasional users.
  • Value depends heavily on being inside the Blackbaud stack; a foundation running Sage or NetSuite for accounting loses the integration that is the main commercial argument for the product.
  • Blackbaud disclosed a ransomware incident in 2020 affecting customer backups and later settled with US regulators, so due diligence teams at some funders now require additional security review before approving the vendor.

Fundraise Up

  • The fee is a percentage of donations, so cost rises exactly as the product succeeds, and a single large gift routed through the checkout carries the same rate as a twenty pound one unless the agreement caps it.
  • It is a checkout, not a CRM, so it is always an additional cost on top of a donor database rather than a replacement for one.
  • Donor covered fee opt in rates vary widely by audience, so an organisation with an older or offline leaning donor base absorbs more of the fee than the sales model assumes.
  • Design control is limited to what the embedded component exposes, so brand teams that want full control over the giving experience will hit boundaries.
  • Live recurring gift authorisations are held in the platform, which makes leaving considerably harder than adopting, because migrating active mandates risks lapsing donors.

Pricing, plan by plan

Blackbaud Grantmaking

On request
  • Blackbaud Grantmaking$undefined/year
    • Grant application, review and award management
    • Applicant and grantee portals
    • Payment scheduling and liability tracking

Fundraise Up

On request
  • Fundraise Up$undefined/year
    • Platform fee taken as a percentage of every donation processed
    • Card processing billed separately on top of the platform fee
    • Optional donor covered fee prompt shifts the cost to the giver rather than removing it

Which should you pick?

Choose Blackbaud Grantmaking if

  • You need online application portal.
  • You also want due diligence checks.
Blackbaud Grantmaking review

Choose Fundraise Up if

  • You need embedded donation checkout.
  • You also want digital wallet payments.
Fundraise Up review

Questions people ask

Is Blackbaud Grantmaking or Fundraise Up better?
Neither clearly leads. Blackbaud Grantmaking starts at On request and Fundraise Up at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Blackbaud Grantmaking or Fundraise Up?
Blackbaud Grantmaking starts at On request and Fundraise Up at On request.
Does Blackbaud Grantmaking or Fundraise Up run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
What is Blackbaud Grantmaking best used for?
Blackbaud Grantmaking is most often used for a private foundation already running blackbaud financial edge that wants grant liabilities to post to the ledger without manual journals, a community foundation managing hundreds of donor advised funds with separate grant recommendations, a corporate giving programme needing documented us charity status checks before every payment, a foundation whose board approves grants by docket and needs a repeatable, auditable packet process. Of those, a private foundation already running blackbaud financial edge that wants grant liabilities to post to the ledger without manual journals and a community foundation managing hundreds of donor advised funds with separate grant recommendations are not what Fundraise Up is typically brought in for.
What can Blackbaud Grantmaking do that Fundraise Up cannot?
Blackbaud Grantmaking covers Online application portal, Due diligence checks, Board dockets, Payment scheduling. Fundraise Up covers Embedded donation checkout, Digital wallet payments, Recurring gift upgrade prompts, Multi currency and multi language.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Blackbaud Grantmaking: Is this the same as GIFTS Online?

Yes, in lineage. It comes from MicroEdge GIFTS, which Blackbaud acquired in 2014, and has been rebranded and reworked since.

Fundraise Up: Is Fundraise Up a CRM?

No. It is a donation checkout that syncs into a CRM you already run, so budget for both.

Blackbaud Grantmaking: What does it cost?

Blackbaud does not publish grantmaking pricing. Expect a quoted annual subscription plus a separate implementation and migration fee, and expect a multi-year term to be proposed.

Fundraise Up: How does it charge?

A percentage of each donation, plus separately billed card processing. There is no flat licence that insulates you from volume.

Blackbaud Grantmaking: Do we need Financial Edge to get value?

No, but the general ledger integration is the strongest single reason to choose it. Without Financial Edge, compare it more carefully against Foundant and SmartSimple.

Fundraise Up: Does the donor covered fee option remove the cost?

It shifts it. When donors opt in they pay the platform and processing fee; when they do not, the charity does.

Blackbaud Grantmaking: Does it verify charity status automatically?

Yes for US grantees, using charity status data as part of due diligence screening before payment.

Fundraise Up: What happens to recurring donors if we leave?

Active recurring authorisations sit with the platform and its processor, and migrating them is the part of an exit most organisations underestimate.

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