Charitable donations have an amazing impact. Charities can improve access to education, conserve ecosystems, or save lives.
Americans donate over $470 billion dollars each year to charity, with 69% of that amount coming from individual donors.
Charity donation apps can make it even easier for you to donate your money to causes you believe in. There are charity apps for individuals, businesses, and non-profits. Below, we dive into the main types of donation apps and show you our top 15 picks.
The 4 main types of charity donation apps
Are you looking for an easy way to make tax-deductible donations? Or maybe you want to collect donations for your non-profit or a non-profit that your business supports.
Whatever your motivation, one of these types of charity donation apps will be the right fit for you:
- Ecommerce donation incentive apps – These types of apps incentivize your shoppers to hit a donation threshold, for example you might offer the ability to donate $25 for any purchase over $150. The software should collect and send donations on behalf of your business.
- Non-profit donation collection apps – An app designed to collect donations for non-profits will include not only payment processing features but also donor contact information management for further marketing and communication.
- Ecommerce donation at checkout apps – There are also apps that allow ecommerce stores to collect donations at checkout (such as rounding up a purchase or collecting a $1 donation). Many of these apps have been created specifically for Shopify, one of the most popular ecommerce platforms in the world.
- Charity donation apps for individuals – And of course, there are also donation apps that are designed for individual donors. Some of these will roundup your everyday purchases, while others can be used to make one-time donations.
15 charity donation apps to try in 2022
Want to donate to charity this year? Try one of these apps.
1. Givz
Givz makes it easy for Shopify stores to collect donations on behalf of charities. Here’s how it works: stores can set donation criteria (donate a flat-rate amount for purchases over a threshold, a flat-rate amount for any purchase, or a percentage of any purchases), and after a qualifying purchase, shoppers can choose from over 150 charities.
App type: Ecommerce donation incentive apps
Core features:
- Flat-rate and percentage donations
- Threshold options designed to help increase AOV
- Donations are made by your company—extra funds are not requested from customers
- Allows customers to choose the charity
- Makes donations to the charities
- Collects necessary tax information
- Built for Shopify
2. Give Lively
Give Lively is a charity fundraising app that makes it easy to add donation pages and donation widgets to any website.
App type: Non-profit donation collection apps
Core features:
- Donation pages and widgets
- Text-to-donate campaigns
- Event ticketing
- Peer-to-peer fundraising management
Learn more about Give Lively.
3. Easy Donation
Easy Donation is a Shopify app that allows merchants to add donation options on the view cart or checkout page of their store. The platform can be used by non-profits, but is more frequently used by businesses looking to donate to charity.
App type: Ecommerce donation at checkout apps
Core features:
- Charity donations collected along with product purchases
- Works on Shopify cart or checkout page
- Individual donation products or landing pages (to collect donations without product sales)
Learn more about Easy Donation.
4. RoundUp
With RoundUp, anyone can start rounding up their everyday purchases to support a non-profit of their choice.
App type: Charity donation apps for individuals
Core features:
- Connect to your multiple credit and debit cards or just one
- Transactions are rounded up and donations are made on a monthly basis
- Pause and re-start donations as desired
- Set monthly donation maximums
- One-time donations are available
- 1 million non-profits are supported
5. Tip Jar
With Tip Jar, Shopify stores can collect tips, donations, and upsells.
App type: Ecommerce donation at checkout apps
Core features:
- Collect donations in the form of upsells during checkout
- Make charitable donations with this amount (you’ll need to manage this)
- Accept tips
6. Freerice
Created by the United Nations World Food Program (UN WFP), Freerice is a fun way to donate to charity without having to spend your own money. For every question you answer correctly, the UN WFP will donate 10 grains of rice to people in need.
App type: Charity donation apps for individuals
Core features:
- Free to play
- No monetary donation required
- Ability to set question difficulty level
7. DonateMate
With DonateMate, companies can collect donations for non-profits they believe in, whether or not someone makes a purchase.
App type: Ecommerce donation at checkout apps
Core features:
- Custom donation amounts
- Donations can be accepted independently of product purchases
- Donations can be accepted post-checkout through one-click add-ons
8. One Tree Planted
With One Tree Planted, you can add a $1 upsell to your Shopify store in order to plant one tree.
App type: Ecommerce donation at checkout apps
Core features:
- Add-on to the Shopify checkout page
- 1 tree planted for every $1 donated
- Created by One Tree Planted, a 510(c)(3) founded in Vermont
Learn more about One Tree Planted.
9. Pledge
With Pledge, non-profits can not only collect donations through forms and pages but with interactive content too.
App type: Non-profit donation collection apps
Core features:
- Donation collection forms and pages
- Livestream fundraising (turn livestream events into fundraisers)
- Text-to-donate campaigns
- Donor data management
- Event fundraising management
10. Share The Meal
Created by the UN WFP, Share The Meal is a charity donation app that requires a small donation to send a meal to someone in need.
App type: Charity donation apps for individuals
Core features:
- For every $0.80 donation you make, a meal is sent
- Choose where in the world you want the meal to go
- Location options change based on UN WFP programs and current natural disasters
Learn more about Share The Meal.
11. St. Jude Donation App
With St. Jude’s Shopify donation app, any ecommerce store can divert customer funds towards St Jude’s Research Hospital.
App type: Ecommerce donation at checkout apps
Core features:
- Add-on to collect donations for St. Jude during Shopify checkout
- Customers can select their donation amount ($1, $5, $10)
- 100% of donations go directly to St. Jude
Learn more about the St. Jude Donation App for Shopify.
12. Coin Up
Want to roundup your everyday purchases to donate to charity? You can do it with Coin Up.
App type: Charity donation apps for individuals
Core features:
- Link your credit or debit card
- $5 minimum donation monthly
- Ability to set a monthly maximum
- 100s of charities supported
13. Charity Miles
You don’t have to donate money to have a positive impact. With Charity Miles, the miles you move are converted into charitable donations.
App type: Charity donation apps for individuals
Core features:
- Free to use
- Log multiple types of movement (running, walking, swimming biking)
- Corporate sponsors pay donations per mile
- Dozens of large charities are supported
Learn more about Charity Miles.
14. DonorPerfect
With DonorPerfect, non-profits can collect donations and manage donor contact information.
App type: Non-profit donation collection apps
Core features:
- Donation payment processing
- Donor and fundraising analytics
- Non-profit marketing tools
- Fundraising events
- Donation forms
Learn more about DonorPerfect.
15. Bloomerang
Bloomerang is a donor management platform with multiple G2 awards to its name.
App type: Non-profit donation collection apps
Core features:
- Donation payment processing
- Donor CRM
- Donation analytics
- Non-profit marketing tools
How to choose the right charity donation app
How do you choose the right app? Here are our top tips
For individuals:
- Use a round-up app like RoundUp or CoinUp if you want to donate automatically.
- Try Freerice or Charity Miles if you want to donate to charity but can’t afford to make monetary donations at this time.
For businesses:
- Go for Givz to increase your average order value through donation incentives with minimum order thresholds (by donating from your profits, instead of asking customers for money, you’ll foster a better brand image).
- Choose an app like St. Jude or One Tree Planted if you just want to ask customers to donate $1.
For non-profits:
- Choose DonorPerfect. Give Lively, or Bloomerang if you need a solution for collecting donations and donor information.
- Opt for Pledge if you want to take your fundraising to the next level with livestream events and peer-to-peer fundraising.
We could all be doing more to support our favorite charities. And with these donation apps, we can.
