RallyUp vs Give Lively: A Detailed Nonprofit Platform Comparison (2026)

If you’re reading this, you’ve probably got both tabs open already.

RallyUp on one, Give Lively on the other, and maybe a pricing page somewhere in between. You’ve read enough to know both could work. Not enough to confidently close one of those tabs and move on.

That’s a completely normal place to be stuck.

Both names come up constantly when nonprofits go shopping for campaign fundraising software.

Both have solid reputations. Both have a version of “Free” that sounds great until you start asking follow-up questions.

Here’s what trips people up, though. These two aren’t really competing for the same job. It is more about which one suits your needs than which is better.

RallyUp leans toward range: the auctions, raffles, events, and peer-to-peer drives. Give Lively keeps to the essentials and gives them away. Once that clicks, the choice mostly makes itself.

So that’s the plan here.

A straight RallyUp vs. Give Lively nonprofit fundraising software comparison that walks through what separates them: features, pricing, event tools, peer-to-peer fundraising, integrations, and support.

Let’s get into it.

RallyUp vs. Give Lively at a glance

What is RallyUp?

RallyUp is an end-to-end fundraising platform for nonprofits that want to do more than collect donations.

Since 2012, it’s helped over 55,000 nonprofits raise more than $1 billion, and the range is a big reason why. 

Auctions, raffles, peer-to-peer drives, live events: it all runs from one account. You can stack campaign types together, customize them down to the details, and even hand the whole build off to RallyUp’s experts at no cost.

Note: Raffle and sweepstakes rules vary by state and organization type. Always confirm eligibility and local requirements before launching.

Key features

RallyUp packs a wide set of fundraising tools into a single platform, so you rarely need a second one.

Here’s what you get:

• Raffles, sweepstakes, and online or live auctions
• Peer-to-peer fundraising software for individuals and teams
• Ticketing and registration are built into fundraising event software
• Crowdfunding, a-thons, and free donation pages
• Online storefront for selling products
• Livestreaming built for virtual and hybrid events
• In-person tools like event balances and automated checkout
• Stackable campaign types for mixed, multi-format events
• Deep customization with no coding required
• Real-time reporting and a strong mobile experience
• Free campaign-build help from RallyUp’s fundraising experts
• QR codes and custom web addresses for easy sharing

Who is RallyUp for: RallyUp works for nonprofits of all sizes, from small grassroots groups and schools to mid-size charities and large enterprise organizations. It’s a strong fit for animal rescues, churches, sports clubs, PTAs, and any cause that runs events, auctions, or raffles.

What is Give Lively?

Give Lively is a free fundraising platform for nonprofits, funded by philanthropists rather than user fees.

Founded in 2015, it offers a fixed set of core tools and now serves over 50,000 nonprofits. To use it, an organization applies for membership and meets Give Lively’s values-based criteria.

Key features

Give Lively covers the standard online fundraising basics, with the same tools available to every member.

Here’s what the platform includes:

• Unlimited campaign pages and donation widgets
• Text-to-Donate with campaign-specific text codes on the 44321 short code
• Peer-to-peer and team fundraising with a leaderboard
• Event ticketing with custom tiers and pricing
• Live Display donation thermometer for events
• Digital wallets, PayPal, Venmo, and DAF payment options
• Salesforce and Zapier integrations, plus Double the Donation
• Real-time donor data with CSV exports
• Automated thank-you and receipt emails
• Offline donation tracking for cash and checks

Who is Give Lively for: Give Lively is for registered 501(c)(3) public charities and private operating foundations that pass its values-based review. It suits smaller, budget-conscious nonprofits whose fundraising sticks to donation pages, Text-to-Donate, and simple events.

RallyUp vs. Give Lively feature-by-feature comparison

This is where the two platforms separate, broken down by what most nonprofits care about when they run a campaign.

1. Campaign types and variety

The biggest split is how much each platform lets you do.

RallyUp: You get a full fundraising portfolio split into two groups. 

Best of all, you can run one on its own or combine several into a single multi-component campaign at the same web address.

Give Lively: You get a fixed set of core products across three groups: 

• Digital giving: Campaign pages, donation widgets, and Text-to-Donate
• Events: Event ticketing and Live Display
• Peer-based campaigns: Peer-to-peer, team fundraising, and a leaderboard

Every member gets the same tools. The set doesn’t include auctions, raffles, sweepstakes, or a-thons.

In short: RallyUp fits nonprofits that want a range or plan to combine formats in one campaign. Give Lively covers the essentials well if your fundraising stays within donation pages, Text-to-Donate, and simple events.

2. Event fundraising tools

Events are where the gap between these two platforms is widest, which matters if you’re after the top campaign fundraising software for your nonprofit event.

RallyUp: You get a deep in-person and hybrid toolkit. Run live auctions and silent auctions, collect gifts with Fund-a-Needs and Paddle Raise+, and manage the room with event balances and automated checkout. 

Live Display auto-generates a real-time donation feed, a fundraising thermometer, and QR codes you can project on screens.

Pair any of it with ticketing and registration, and livestreaming for a complete event.

Give Lively: The event toolkit has three products: event ticketing, Live Display, and Text-to-Donate. 

Ticketing handles tiers, sponsorships, an event map, and thank-you emails. Live Display is currently in open beta and tracks contributions in near real time. 

There are no auctions, paddle raises, or in-person checkout tools.

In short: For galas, auctions, and run-of-show event management, RallyUp clearly does more. Give Lively handles simple ticketed events and a giving thermometer.

3. Peer-to-peer and team fundraising

Both platforms handle peer-to-peer well, with one key difference.

RallyUp: Peer-to-peer is built to layer onto other campaigns. 

It works with raffles, sweepstakes, crowdfunding, storefronts, ticketing, and more, with individual and team fundraising pages, leaderboards, badges, and milestone rewards to keep supporters motivated.

Give Lively: Peer-to-peer and team fundraising are dedicated products. Unlimited fundraisers get a customizable page, leaderboards, social sharing, and personal goals. 

In short: Give Lively offers clean, standalone peer-to-peer. RallyUp matches it and links peer-to-peer to other campaign types for more ways to raise.

4. Customization and branding

The extent to which a campaign page looks like your nonprofit is where these two diverge.

RallyUp: You can match your pages to your website with your own logo, fonts, colors, header, footer, favicon, and even a custom domain or subdomain.

The branding carries over to donation pages, experience pages, marketing emails, system emails, and thank-you notes, so every touchpoint looks like you. 

And if design isn’t your thing, RallyUp’s team will help you build it.

Give Lively: The toolkit is tidier. You can upload customizable brand assets, donation amounts, and thank-you messages, drop in YouTube and Vimeo embeds, and choose whether to show a list of recent donors.

In short: RallyUp gives you control all the way down to the email footer. Pages, donor emails, and even system messages all carry your brand. Give Lively keeps things simple. Your logo and brand color land on a clean page, and the platform gets out of the way.

5. Donor giving experience

A smooth checkout means more completed gifts, so the donor’s experience matters as much as the back end.

RallyUp: Donors can give with credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal, set up recurring gifts, and dedicate donations in honor of someone special.

You can also automatically invite one-time donors to give monthly instead, using a custom percentage. 

Give Lively: The flow is similar. Donors can use digital wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, and Venmo, along with DAF grants. They can also give anonymously and dedicate gifts.

In short: Both make giving easy with most of the same options. RallyUp’s edge is the recurring-gift upsell that nudges one-time donors toward monthly support.

6. Membership and eligibility

Who can actually use each platform is a difference worth knowing before you commit.

RallyUp: Sign-up is open to charitable causes. Many charitable organizations, including registered nonprofits, schools, churches, NGOs, clubs, and community groups, can create an account and start building right away.

There’s no Give Lively-style membership application. Some campaign types, especially raffles and sweepstakes, may require eligibility review, permits, or state-specific compliance checks.

Give Lively: There’s a gate to clear first. Membership is open only to eligible 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations, specifically public charities and private operating foundations.

You apply, connect a Stripe account, and wait 5-7 business days while the team reviews your application for alignment with their values. Not every nonprofit qualifies.

In short: If you want to start now, RallyUp lets most charitable organizations sign up and go. Give Lively works once you’re approved, but the eligibility rules and review step mean it isn’t open to everyone.

RallyUp vs. Give Lively pricing comparison

Pricing is where these two platforms make their philosophies clear, so it deserves a close look.

RallyUp pricing

RallyUp keeps its fundraising software pricing activity-based, with three options: Free, Flex, and Enterprise.

No contracts, subscriptions, setup fees, or minimums.

• Free plan
  • 0% platform fee
  • Optional donor tipping at checkout (tips go to RallyUp)
  • You keep 100% of every donation (except processing charges to Stripe/PayPal)
  • Best for cost-sensitive nonprofits and simpler campaigns
• Flex plan
  • Pay-as-you-go platform fee by activity
  • Donor tipping off by default
  • Option to pass fees to donors or absorb them
  • Unlocks advanced components for in-person events

Flex fees by activity:

Peer-to-peer fees follow whichever activity it’s attached to.

• Enterprise plan
  • Custom pricing
  • Built for high-volume campaigns, large galas, and complex programs

Other costs to know

• Auction platform fee capped at $100 per item
• Custom domain: one-time $99 (SSL included)
• Stripe/PayPal processing: 1.9% to 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction
• RallyUp does not mark up processing fees

Give Lively pricing

Give Lively has one plan: Free for approved member nonprofits.

• What’s free
  • Set up, platform, membership, subscription, monthly, and annual fees
  • Every product and feature, no tiered access or upsells
• What costs money (third-party processing)

At checkout, donors can choose to cover the fees. Otherwise, the fees are deducted from the donation.

• Stripe (required processor, nonprofit-discount rates):
• Major credit cards: 2.2% + $0.30 per transaction
• American Express: 3.5% per transaction
• ACH bank transfers: 0.8% (capped at $5 per transaction)
• PayPal (optional additional processor, nonprofit-discount rate): 1.99% + $0.49 per transaction
• Shift4 (optional alternative processor)
  • Major credit cards: 1.99% + $0.25 per transaction
  • American Express: 3.4% per transaction

• DAFpay by Chariot (optional, for donor-advised fund grants): 2.9% per transaction
• Lob (check disbursement): $1.01 per check
• Disbursement
  • Automatic and rolling, no holding period
  • Funds typically reach the nonprofit’s bank in 0 to 7 business days
• Eligibility
  • Open to approved 501(c)(3) public charities and private operating foundations
  • Applications reviewed against Give Lively’s values criteria

Which costs less for your nonprofit?

For simple donation pages, peer-to-peer, and basic event ticketing, the two are close. Both can run these without platform fees, so payment processing is the main cost either way.

RallyUp’s advantage is coverage. Its Free plan and Flex options extend to raffles, auctions, sweepstakes, storefronts, a-thons, and advanced event tools.

Give Lively doesn’t offer any of those. If your fundraising ever moves past the basics, RallyUp covers the new campaign without a platform switch.

Integrations and compatibility

Both platforms connect to outside tools, with different depths and approaches.

RallyUp integrations

CRMs: Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics, ActiveCampaign, Virtuous CRM, NeonCRM, Bloomerang, Pipedrive, ZohoCRM, Act! CRM, and more

Email marketing: Mailchimp, Constant Contact, HubSpot, Emma, Campaign Monitor, Brevo, ActiveCampaign, MailerLite, Klaviyo, and more

Analytics: Google Analytics, Meta (Facebook) Pixel

Automation: Zapier (5,000+ apps)

Payments: Stripe, PayPal

Other: REST API for custom builds, Double the Donation 360MatchPro (coming soon)

Give Lively integrations

CRM: Salesforce Nonprofit Success Pack, with native app, hourly auto-sync, and a free integration specialist

Automation: Zapier (6,000+ apps)

Matching gifts: Double the Donation 360MatchPro

Payments: Stripe (required), PayPal, Venmo, Apple Pay, Google Pay, DAFpay by Chariot

Customer support

Both platforms have your back when things get tricky.

RallyUp

Email, live chat, and phone support, plus a knowledge base and FAQs. 

Standout: Free campaign-build help from RallyUp’s fundraising experts on every plan, no extra cost, no upsell.

Give Lively

Live chat is available 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET, and email support runs 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday. An AI bot handles after-hours questions, backed by a resource hub. Phone support isn’t available.

Members also get capacity-building programs called Give Lively Grow and Gold.

RallyUp vs. Give Lively: Which should you choose?

You’ve seen the RallyUp vs. Give Lively comparison side by side. Here’s the call.

Choose the platform that keeps up

The choice between RallyUp vs. Give Lively comes down to range.

Give Lively does the basics well for nonprofits that qualify. Donation pages, Text-to-Donate, and simple events are all handled cleanly.

RallyUp gives you more room to grow. Raffles, auctions, galas, peer-to-peer, custom branding, and a free expert to build your campaign all live in one platform, with no application required to start.

If your fundraising is small and simple, Give Lively will get the job done. If you want a platform that can run everything from a quick donation page to a full-blown gala, RallyUp is built for that.

Try RallyUp’s end-to-end fundraising platform today and start raising. 

Watch the demo video to learn more