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Nonprofits · head to head

Give Lively vs Sumac

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
Sumac logo

Sumac

Nonprofits

Modular nonprofit CRM that pairs donor management with client case management

From
On request
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: 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.; Sumac pricing is not published at all, so a small organisation cannot compare Sumac against per contact priced competitors without committing to a sales process.
  • They diverge on capability: Give Lively covers Branded donation pages, Sumac covers Donor and gift management.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Give Lively and Sumac differ
AttributeGive LivelySumac
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelFree to nonprofits, card processing charged by the processorquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWebWeb, Windows

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 Give Lively

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

Only in Sumac

  • Donor and gift management
  • Case management module
  • Memberships and volunteers
  • Grant management
  • Role based permissions
  • Custom fields and forms

What people use each for

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

Give Lively

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

Sumac

  • A social service agency that must record client cases and donor gifts without buying two systemsnot Give Lively
  • A charity that wants only donor and grant modules and refuses to pay for an events suite it will not usenot Give Lively
  • A Canadian organisation wanting local support hours and receipting conventionsnot Give Lively
  • An agency replacing a legacy Access or FileMaker database with something supportednot Give Lively

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Sumac

  • Pricing is not published at all, so a small organisation cannot compare Sumac against per contact priced competitors without committing to a sales process.
  • The interface reflects the product's age, and staff arriving from consumer grade software find navigation and data entry slower than in newer CRMs.
  • Holding client case notes and donor records in one database makes permission design a compliance obligation, and a misconfigured role can expose confidential client material to fundraising staff.
  • The integration catalogue is small, so payment, email and accounting connections outside the listed few mean manual export or paid custom work.
  • Modular licensing means the price rises in visible steps as programmes expand, and organisations frequently discover the module they need most was not in the original quote.

Pricing, plan by plan

Give Lively

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

Sumac

On request
  • Sumac$undefined/year
    • Quoted by module selection and organisation size
    • Case management is a separately licensed module
    • Implementation and data migration quoted separately

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Sumac if

  • You need donor and gift management.
  • You work on Web, Windows.
  • You also want case management module.
Sumac review

Questions people ask

Is Give Lively or Sumac better?
Neither clearly leads. Give Lively starts at Free and Sumac at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Give Lively or Sumac?
Give Lively has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Give Lively and On request for Sumac.
Does Give Lively or Sumac run on more platforms?
Give Lively runs on Web. Sumac runs on Web, Windows.
Can I use Give Lively for free?
Yes. Give Lively has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Sumac starts at On request.
What is Give Lively best used for?
Give Lively is most often used for a us nonprofit currently paying a percentage platform fee on every gift and wanting that money back in programme budget, running a peer-to-peer campaign where thin margins make a per-donation platform cut painful, a small organisation with no software budget that still needs branded, mobile-ready donation pages, adding donor advised fund giving at checkout without paying for a separate daf integration. Of those, a us nonprofit currently paying a percentage platform fee on every gift and wanting that money back in programme budget and running a peer-to-peer campaign where thin margins make a per-donation platform cut painful are not what Sumac is typically brought in for.
What can Give Lively do that Sumac cannot?
Give Lively covers Branded donation pages, Peer-to-peer fundraising, Text-to-donate, Event ticketing. Sumac covers Donor and gift management, Case management module, Memberships and volunteers, Grant management.

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.

Sumac: Is Sumac the same product as Societ?

The vendor has been moving its products under the Societ brand, so you may see both names for the same platform during a sales cycle.

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.

Sumac: Can it handle client case management?

Yes, that is its clearest differentiator among donor CRMs. It is a licensed module, not part of the base product.

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

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

Sumac: Is pricing published?

No. It is quoted by module and organisation size, which makes like for like comparison harder than with published per contact products.

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.

Sumac: Does it work for US charities?

Yes, though the vendor is Canadian and its receipting and support conventions are strongest for Canadian organisations.

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