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Nonprofits · head to head

Constant Contact vs Give Lively

Constant Contact logo

Constant Contact

Nonprofits

Email marketing and event management

From
Free
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

  • Each has a real cost: Constant Contact core plan started at $9.99 per month and Plus plan at $45 per month, both scaling by contact list size rather than a flat rate (Internet Archive capture, 2022); 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: Constant Contact covers Email marketing, 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 Constant Contact and Give Lively actually diverge.

Attributes where Constant Contact and Give Lively differ
AttributeConstant ContactGive Lively
Pricing modelsubscriptionFree to nonprofits, card processing charged by the processor
PlatformsWeb, Mobile-responsiveWeb
Founded1995Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Constant Contact

  • Email marketing
  • Event management
  • Contact management
  • Automation
  • Analytics
  • Salesforce
  • Zapier
  • 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.

Constant Contact

  • Business operationsnot Give Lively
  • Productivitynot Give Lively
  • Automationnot Give Lively

Give Lively

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

Where each one falls short

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

Constant Contact

  • Core plan started at $9.99 per month and Plus plan at $45 per month, both scaling by contact list size rather than a flat rate (Internet Archive capture, 2022)

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

Constant Contact

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Basic email marketing
    • Contacts up to 100
  • Plus$45/month
    • Advanced features
    • Event management
    • Automation

Give Lively

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

Which should you pick?

Choose Constant Contact if

  • You need email marketing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Mobile-responsive.
  • You also want event management.
Constant Contact 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 Constant Contact or Give Lively better?
Neither clearly leads. Constant Contact starts at Free and Give Lively at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Constant Contact or Give Lively?
Constant Contact starts at Free and Give Lively at Free.
Does Constant Contact or Give Lively run on more platforms?
Constant Contact runs on Web, Mobile-responsive. Give Lively runs on Web.
Can I use Constant Contact for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Constant Contact best used for?
Constant Contact is most often used for business operations, productivity, automation. Of those, business operations and productivity are not what Give Lively is typically brought in for.
What can Constant Contact do that Give Lively cannot?
Constant Contact covers Email marketing, Event management, Contact management, Automation. Give Lively covers Branded donation pages, Peer-to-peer fundraising, Text-to-donate, Event ticketing.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

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.

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

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

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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