FirstGiving Review

Rates and Fees
55/100
Truth in Advertising
90/100
Consumer Reviews
75/100
Customer Support
90/100
3

Best for

FirstGiving is best for nonprofit organizations and fundraising campaigns of all sizes, anywhere in the world.

Specializes in

FirstGiving provides merchant accounts services to fundraising campaigns and nonprofit organizations. The company has trademarked software to enable peer-to-peer fundraising. The company's donation software allows event and volunteer management, customizable web pages, and mailing lists. The software can easily integrate with third-party apps such as QuickBooks, Mailchimp, or Constant Contact. The company's platform allows fundraisers to accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover.

Pricing Summary

Setup Fee: $0

Monthly Fee: $0

Swipe Rate: Up to 7.5%

Keyed-in Rate: Up to 7.5%

Early Termination Fee : $0

Contract Terms:

1 Year
Visit FirstGiving

FirstGiving is an ISO/MSP of BMO Harris Bank, N.A., Chicago, IL, Deutsche Bank, USA, New York, NY, Chase Paymentech Solutions, LLC, Plano, TX, Elavon, Inc. Atlanta, Georgia, First National Bank of Omaha, Omaha, NE, and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Walnut Creek, CA.

Founded in 2003, the company has nearly two decades of experience with merchant accounts and donation platform. FirstGiving is headquartered in Reston, VA and is currently led by William Wood.

FirstGiving Overview

 

FirstGiving offers a proprietary software enabling fundraisers to crowdfund donation campaigns via a subscription model. The company's platform provides tools to raise funds, manage email campaigns, donor lists, and volunteer databases, seamlessly integrating it with merchant account processing and third-party apps such as QuickBooks and Constant Contact.

FirstGiving started operations in 2003 and is based out of Reston, VA. In 2012, FirstGiving was acquired by FrontStream Holdings and is currently led by William Wood.

The company offers two subscription plans for fundraisers and charges additional donation and performance fees.

FirstGiving does not have a Better Business Bureau profile. However, there have been limited complaints about the company. The complaints that do exist are from fundraisers who believe that FirstGiving's pricing is too steep.

Quick Facts

Head Quarters

Reston, VA

Year Founded

2018

CEO

William C. Wood

Employees

200

Merchant Provider Risk Tolerance

What We Like

What We Don't Like

Industries Served

  • Education
  • Educational Seminars
  • SAAS

Business Types Served

  • Information
  • Low Risk
  • Non Profit
  • Subscription / Continuity

FirstGiving Products & Services

 

FirstGiving's product is its fundraising and donation platform with a payment processing functionality built into the software. The company offers the platform via two[ annual subscription options with different levels of access. The subscription offerings are;

Panorama Pro – This subscription level offers customers Customizable peer-to-peer fundraising webpages that allow clients to;


  • Setup and schedule fundraising events

  • Launch donation campaigns

  • Manage multi-channel communication for campaigns and events

  • Access a database of more than 200,000 corporate gift matching programs

  • Management tools for eAuctions and live mobile bidding


Panorama Premium – This plan has the same offering as Panorama Pro as well as:

  • Donor and volunteer management tool

  • Organized mailing lists and tailored SmartLists

  • Intuitive reporting and analytics with a real-time Dashboard

  • Easily integrated with QuickBooks, Mailchimp and Constant Contact

FirstGiving Payment Processing

  • Credit Card Processing
  • Debit Card Processing
  • Mobile Payments App
  • Online Payments
  • Payment Gateway
  • Recurring Billing

FirstGiving Billing & Invoicing

  • Mobile Payments
  • Online Payments
  • Payment Processing
  • Recurring/Subscription Billing

FirstGiving Advertising & Sales

 
We have not found any complaints about FirstGiving sales tactics or marketing practices. There was no indication that FirstGiving hires outside sales teams. The company's website does not list any affiliate partnership programs with businesses to market their proprietary software.

FirstGiving's pricing page mentions "Pricing with No Surprises," and the company seems to live up to that transparency with full disclosure of its subscription and offerings.

Truth in Marketing

Discloses All Important Terms

Yes

Public Pricing Available

Yes

FirstGiving Pricing, Rates & Fees

 

FirstGiving has numerous charges on top of the company's annual subscription. This pricing structure is the source of most of the complaints found online against FirstGiving as many say that the fees are not only excess but also redundant.

Panorama Pro – $600/year

Panorama Premium – $1,800/year

Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Fee – 5%

Online Auction Fee – 5%

Event Registration Fee – 1.5%

Event Ticket Fee – 1.5%

Donation Fee – Up to 7.5

Pricing at a Glance

Pricing Model

Flat Rate

Swiped Rate

Up to 7.5%

Keyed-in Rate

Up to 7.5%

Mobile Payment Rate

Virtual Terminal Rate

7.5%

Monthly Fee

$0

Payment Gateway Fee

Batch Fee

N/A

Early Termination Fee

$0

PCI Compliance Fee

Undisclosed

Equipment Lease Terms

Undisclosed

Address Verification Service (AVS)

Application Fee

Account Setup Fee

$0

Gateway Setup Fee

Annual Fee

$600 to $1,800

Monthly Minimum

$0

Statement Fee

FirstGiving Contract & Terms

FirstGiving's agreement is an annual subscription pricing structure. The company has a complex set of additional and redundant fees on individual transaction charges and overall donation fees.

Contract Length

1 Year

Early Termination Fee

$0

FirstGiving Setup & Support

 

Setup Highlights

  • Documentation / Knowledge Base
  • Live Online (1-on-1)

Support Highlights

  • Domestic Phone Support (Business Hours)

FirstGiving Complaints, Ratings & Reviews

FirstGiving does not have a profile on the Better Business Bureau (BBB) website. There was a minimal number of complaints that we found on various online platforms. The complaints we did see were regarding the company's fees, which fundraisers found to be exorbitant.

There are also no outstanding FTC complaints against the company, nor any lawsuits filed against FirstGiving.

Ratings

BBB

None

Google

N/A

Facebook

None

Yelp

1 Star / 4 Reviews

Reviews

Total Online Reviews

50+

Total Online Complaints

Lawsuits

None

FirstGiving Alternatives

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