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Nonprofits · head to head

Bonterra vs GiveSmart

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
GiveSmart logo

GiveSmart

Nonprofits

Mobile bidding and event fundraising for charity auctions and galas

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • 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.; GiveSmart licensing is annual while many buyers run a single event a year, so the effective cost per event is far higher than the annual figure makes it look.
  • They diverge on capability: Bonterra covers Case management, GiveSmart covers Mobile bidding.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bonterra and GiveSmart actually diverge.

Attributes where Bonterra and GiveSmart differ
AttributeBonterraGiveSmart

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), platforms (Web, iOS, Android), 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 GiveSmart

  • Mobile bidding
  • Auction management
  • Ticketing and check in
  • Text to give
  • Paddle raise and appeals
  • Payment settlement

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 GiveSmart
  • A national advocacy organisation needing high-volume email, action alerts and distributed organising in one donor recordnot GiveSmart
  • A large employer running a global employee match and grant disbursement programme across many countriesnot GiveSmart
  • A nonprofit consolidating a legacy Salsa or ETO deployment onto a supported product within the same vendornot GiveSmart

GiveSmart

  • A hospital or school foundation running an annual gala with a live and silent auctionnot Bonterra
  • An organisation losing revenue to uncollected pledges after event nightnot Bonterra
  • A charity running several auction events a year that can amortise an annual licencenot Bonterra
  • A team wanting bidding, check in and payment settlement handled by one system on the nightnot 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.

GiveSmart

  • Licensing is annual while many buyers run a single event a year, so the effective cost per event is far higher than the annual figure makes it look.
  • Pricing is not published, and quotes commonly separate the licence, payment processing, hardware and event night staffing, so the first number a buyer sees is rarely the total.
  • On site technical support and equipment are usually extra, and organisations that decline them discover that event night is the worst possible time to be self supporting.
  • It is event software rather than a donor CRM, so guest and bidder data has to be pushed into the CRM afterwards or the relationship built at the gala is not retained.
  • Consolidation under Community Brands means several nominally competing products share an owner, which reduces the negotiating leverage a buyer thinks a shortlist gives them.

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

GiveSmart

On request
  • GiveSmart$undefined/year
    • Quoted as an annual licence rather than per event
    • Payment processing charged separately on funds raised
    • On site staffing, hardware and additional event support quoted as add ons

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 GiveSmart if

  • You need mobile bidding.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want auction management.
GiveSmart review

Questions people ask

Is Bonterra or GiveSmart better?
Neither clearly leads. Bonterra starts at On request and GiveSmart at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Bonterra or GiveSmart?
Bonterra starts at On request and GiveSmart at On request.
Does Bonterra or GiveSmart run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
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 GiveSmart is typically brought in for.
What can Bonterra do that GiveSmart cannot?
Bonterra covers Case management, Fundraising and engagement, Corporate grantmaking, Employee giving and volunteering. GiveSmart covers Mobile bidding, Auction management, Ticketing and check in, Text to give.

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.

GiveSmart: Is GiveSmart priced per event?

It is normally an annual licence, so organisations running one event a year carry the full cost against one night.

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.

GiveSmart: Who owns GiveSmart?

Community Brands, the private equity backed nonprofit and association software group that also owns MemberClicks.

Bonterra: Does Bonterra publish pricing?

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

GiveSmart: Does it replace our donor database?

No. It captures bidders and guests at an event and needs to feed a CRM afterwards.

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.

GiveSmart: What is the actual benefit over paper bid sheets?

Bidding continues across the room and payment settles before guests leave, which is where paper auctions lose money.

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