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Nonprofits · head to head

Cause IQ vs Give Lively

Cause IQ logo

Cause IQ

Nonprofits

Integrated fundraising and CRM platform

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: Cause IQ pricing is not published; 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: Cause IQ covers Donor 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 Cause IQ and Give Lively actually diverge.

Attributes where Cause IQ and Give Lively differ
AttributeCause IQGive Lively
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionFree to nonprofits, card processing charged by the processor
Free tierNoYes
Founded2013Unknown

Identical on both: 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 Cause IQ

  • Donor management
  • Event management
  • Online giving
  • Volunteer tracking
  • Stripe
  • PayPal
  • Salesforce
  • Google Analytics

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.

Cause IQ

  • Prospect research across nonprofit organisationsnot Give Lively
  • Benchmarking a nonprofit client against peersnot Give Lively
  • Building target lists for firms serving the sectornot Give Lively
  • Enriching existing records with nonprofit financial datanot Give Lively

Give Lively

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

Where each one falls short

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

Cause IQ

  • Pricing is not published
  • Sold to firms selling into the nonprofit sector rather than to nonprofits running their own operations

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

Cause IQ

On request
  • Standard$95/month
    • Donor management
    • Event management
  • Advanced$200/month
    • Prospect research
    • Fundraising reports
    • Advanced analytics

Give Lively

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

Which should you pick?

Choose Cause IQ if

  • You need donor management.
  • You also want event management.
Cause IQ 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 Cause IQ or Give Lively better?
Neither clearly leads. Cause IQ 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, Cause IQ or Give Lively?
Give Lively has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Cause IQ and Free for Give Lively.
Does Cause IQ or Give Lively run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Give Lively for free?
Yes. Give Lively has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Cause IQ starts at On request.
What is Cause IQ best used for?
Cause IQ is most often used for prospect research across nonprofit organisations, benchmarking a nonprofit client against peers, building target lists for firms serving the sector, enriching existing records with nonprofit financial data. Of those, prospect research across nonprofit organisations and benchmarking a nonprofit client against peers are not what Give Lively is typically brought in for.
What can Cause IQ do that Give Lively cannot?
Cause IQ covers Donor management, Event management, Online giving, Volunteer tracking. Give Lively covers Branded donation pages, Peer-to-peer fundraising, Text-to-donate, Event ticketing.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Cause IQ: Does Cause IQ offer a free plan?

Yes. Cause IQ offers a free plan with basic nonprofit searches using 8 filters and limited profile access. Core and Pro plans are paid subscriptions.

Source
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.

Cause IQ: What is included in Cause IQ's pricing?

Core Plan costs $349/month (or $199/month for 501(c)(3) nonprofits) with access to 400+ filters. Pro Plan costs $5,988/year with three user licenses and unlimited exports. Annual discounts available.

Source
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.

Cause IQ: Does Cause IQ integrate with Salesforce?

Yes. Cause IQ provides direct Salesforce integration to create, update, and enrich Leads, Contacts, and Accounts with nonprofit data. Bulk operations and field mapping are supported.

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

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

Cause IQ: Does Cause IQ have an API?

Yes. Cause IQ provides a REST API that returns JSON responses. The API allows programmatic searches for nonprofits, EIN lookups, and access to over 400 organization fields.

Source
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.

Cause IQ: How much nonprofit data does Cause IQ contain?

Cause IQ aggregates data from over a dozen sources covering 1.73 million organizations, 9.86 million people (board members and key personnel), and 52,143 vendor profiles.

Source
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