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Nonprofits · head to head

Bonterra vs Give Lively

Bonterra logo

Bonterra

Nonprofits

The rolled-up parent of EveryAction, Apricot, CyberGrants and Network for Good, sold as three product lines

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Give Lively logo

Give Lively

Nonprofits

Fundraising software given free to nonprofits, funded by its founders rather than by fees

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Give Lively has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Bonterra the three lines are separately acquired codebases, so buying two of them gives you two logins, two support queues and a connector rather than one system.; Give Lively eligibility is limited to US 501(c)(3) organisations, so charities registered in the UK, Canada, Australia or the EU cannot use it at all regardless of fit.
  • They diverge on capability: Bonterra covers Case management, Give Lively covers Branded donation pages.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bonterra and Give Lively actually diverge.

Attributes where Bonterra and Give Lively differ
AttributeBonterraGive Lively
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquoteFree to nonprofits, card processing charged by the processor
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb

Identical on both: 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 Bonterra

  • Case management
  • Fundraising and engagement
  • Corporate grantmaking
  • Employee giving and volunteering
  • Outcomes reporting
  • Impact data connectors

Only in Give Lively

  • Branded donation pages
  • Peer-to-peer fundraising
  • Text-to-donate
  • Event ticketing
  • Donor database
  • DAFpay
  • Multiple processors

What people use each for

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

Bonterra

  • A human services agency that must report participant outcomes to a government funder and cannot do it in a donor CRMnot Give Lively
  • A national advocacy organisation needing high-volume email, action alerts and distributed organising in one donor recordnot Give Lively
  • A large employer running a global employee match and grant disbursement programme across many countriesnot Give Lively
  • A nonprofit consolidating a legacy Salsa or ETO deployment onto a supported product within the same vendornot Give Lively

Give Lively

  • A US nonprofit currently paying a percentage platform fee on every gift and wanting that money back in programme budgetnot Bonterra
  • Running a peer-to-peer campaign where thin margins make a per-donation platform cut painfulnot Bonterra
  • A small organisation with no software budget that still needs branded, mobile-ready donation pagesnot Bonterra
  • Adding donor advised fund giving at checkout without paying for a separate DAF integrationnot Bonterra

Where each one falls short

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

Bonterra

  • The three lines are separately acquired codebases, so buying two of them gives you two logins, two support queues and a connector rather than one system.
  • Legacy products absorbed in the roll-up, notably ETO and older Salsa modules, receive limited development while investment goes to flagship products, leaving those customers on a slowly ageing platform.
  • No pricing is published for any line, and quotes vary widely by contact count and negotiation, so benchmarking against competitors requires a full sales cycle.
  • Private equity ownership has produced repeated renewal price increases reported by customers, and the portfolio structure reduces the credibility of threatening to switch since several obvious alternatives are also Bonterra products.
  • Implementation for Case Management is a configuration project measured in months, and agencies routinely underestimate the internal staff time required to define forms and outcome measures.

Give Lively

  • Eligibility is limited to US 501(c)(3) organisations, so charities registered in the UK, Canada, Australia or the EU cannot use it at all regardless of fit.
  • The platform is funded by its founders' personal philanthropy rather than by revenue, so there is no contractual commitment to a roadmap or a service level and no paying customer base to keep it alive if that funding stops.
  • Support is email based with no paid escalation tier, so an organisation mid-campaign with a broken form has no way to buy faster attention.
  • The donor database is adequate for gift tracking but thin compared with a real CRM, so most organisations still pay for Bloomerang, DonorPerfect or Salesforce alongside it and maintain a sync.
  • Optional donor tips appear at checkout to fund the platform, which some boards object to because it puts a second ask in front of a donor who has already decided what to give.

Pricing, plan by plan

Bonterra

On request
  • Bonterra Fundraising and Engagement$undefined/year
    • Donor CRM and email
    • Advocacy and organising tools
    • Priced by contact record count
  • Bonterra Case Management$undefined/year
    • Apricot participant records and assessments
    • Outcomes and funder reporting
    • Priced by user seats and programme count
  • Bonterra Corporate Social Responsibility$undefined/year
    • CyberGrants grant disbursement
    • Employee giving and volunteering
    • Enterprise contract, priced by programme spend

Give Lively

Free
  • Give LivelyFree
    • All fundraising products included
    • No platform fee on donations
    • No setup or subscription charge

Which should you pick?

Choose Bonterra if

  • You need case management.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want fundraising and engagement.
Bonterra review

Choose Give Lively if

  • You need branded donation pages.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want peer-to-peer fundraising.
Give Lively review

Questions people ask

Is Bonterra or Give Lively better?
Neither clearly leads. Bonterra starts at On request and Give Lively at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Bonterra or Give Lively?
Give Lively has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Bonterra and Free for Give Lively.
Does Bonterra or Give Lively run on more platforms?
Bonterra runs on Web, iOS, Android. Give Lively runs on Web.
Can I use Give Lively for free?
Yes. Give Lively has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Bonterra starts at On request.
What is Bonterra best used for?
Bonterra is most often used for a human services agency that must report participant outcomes to a government funder and cannot do it in a donor crm, a national advocacy organisation needing high-volume email, action alerts and distributed organising in one donor record, a large employer running a global employee match and grant disbursement programme across many countries, a nonprofit consolidating a legacy salsa or eto deployment onto a supported product within the same vendor. Of those, a human services agency that must report participant outcomes to a government funder and cannot do it in a donor crm and a national advocacy organisation needing high-volume email, action alerts and distributed organising in one donor record are not what Give Lively is typically brought in for.
What can Bonterra do that Give Lively cannot?
Bonterra covers Case management, Fundraising and engagement, Corporate grantmaking, Employee giving and volunteering. Give Lively covers Branded donation pages, Peer-to-peer fundraising, Text-to-donate, Event ticketing.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Bonterra: Is Bonterra a single product?

No. It is three product lines built from separately acquired software. You buy one of them, and integration between them is a connector rather than a shared database.

Give Lively: Is it genuinely free, or free with a percentage taken?

Genuinely free. Give Lively takes no cut of donations and charges no subscription. You pay only the card processing fee, which goes to Stripe, Shift4 or PayPal, starting around 1.99% plus $0.25.

Bonterra: What happened to EveryAction and Apricot?

They still exist as the underlying products, rebranded as Bonterra Fundraising and Engagement and Bonterra Case Management respectively.

Give Lively: How does the company make money?

It does not, in the ordinary sense. Operating costs are covered by its founders as a philanthropic commitment, plus voluntary tips donors can add at checkout.

Bonterra: Does Bonterra publish pricing?

No line has published pricing. Fundraising is generally priced by contact record count, case management by seats and programmes.

Give Lively: Can a UK or Canadian charity use it?

No. Give Lively requires US 501(c)(3) status.

Bonterra: Should a small nonprofit consider Bonterra?

Rarely. The entry price and implementation effort suit organisations with dedicated operations staff; smaller charities are better served by a single-product CRM.

Give Lively: Does it replace a donor CRM?

Not for most organisations. It stores donors and gift history, but fundraisers running major gift or grant pipelines usually keep a dedicated CRM and sync to it.

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