Clerestory: the embeddable membership form, with tiers, monthly and annual pricing and an auto-renewal switch.
Most comparison pages are written by the company that wants to win, and this one is too. So here is how we have tried to make it worth reading: every claim about Give Lively below is quoted from Give Lively's own website, help center, feedback board or pricing page, with the date we read it. Where Give Lively does something we do not, or costs less, we say so plainly.
Give Lively describes itself as "Free, values-driven tech built for nonprofits like yours and trusted by 50,000+ organizations." (Give Lively) It offers donation pages and embeds, peer-to-peer and team fundraising, text-to-donate, event ticketing and a live display, for 501(c)(3) organizations in the United States.
Clerestory is payments and a supporter CRM for everything a non-profit sells or collects: donations, memberships and dues, events, auctions, raffles, classes, admission and the shop. Every payment lands on the supporter's record as it happens.
Nothing. Give Lively's pricing page says "Give Lively is free for nonprofits.", and promises "no upsells, no paid premium tiers and no extra charges for things like Salesforce or data." (Give Lively) It is paid for by its founders and by donors: "Our philanthropist founders cover our operating costs", and "Donors can optionally tip Give Lively to support our work" (Give Lively).
Card processing is charged by Stripe, on the non-profit's own Stripe account. Give Lively's fees page lists Stripe's standard rate as 2.9% + $0.30 and its non-profit rate as 2.2% + $0.30, with ACH at 0.8% capped at $5 (Give Lively). Stripe's non-profit rate is for organizations where "At least 80% of your Stripe payment volume comes from tax-deductible donations" (Stripe), and Stripe does not count ticket sales or membership fees toward that.
On a refund, Give Lively says "the fees from the original charge are not returned." (Give Lively) That is Stripe's rule, and it applies on Clerestory too.
Our platform fee is 3% per successful transaction, and that is the whole of our price. No license fee, no per-seat pricing, no modules, no setup fee, no minimum and no contract. You never receive a bill from us, because the fee comes out at the moment of each payment, and if you refund a payment, our 3% comes back with it.
Card processing is a separate fee, charged by Stripe on your own Stripe account, at 2.2% + $0.30 for our customers with Stripe's non-profit rate.
And your supporters can cover both fees. A supporter who ticks the box covers our 3% and Stripe's fee together, so you receive the full amount. Across every payment through August 2026, that brought our customers' effective platform fee to 1.65%.
| $100 card gift, Stripe non-profit rate | Clerestory | Give Lively |
|---|---|---|
| Platform fee | $3.00 | $0 |
| Stripe processing | $2.50 | $2.50 |
| You receive, if the donor does not cover fees | $94.50 | $97.50 |
| You receive, if the donor covers fees | $100.00 | $100.00 |
For a 501(c)(3) that only needs donation pages, Give Lively costs less, and we would not tell you otherwise. The case for Clerestory is everything else a non-profit sells and collects, and the supporter record that ties it together.
Read the right-hand column carefully. "Not documented" does not mean Give Lively cannot do it. It means we searched Give Lively's website, help center and feedback board on 14 October 2026 and did not find it. Where its own feedback board shows customers asking for a feature, we link to the request. If something exists and we missed it, tell us and we will correct this page.
| Capability | Clerestory | Give Lively |
|---|---|---|
| Price published on the vendor's own website | Yes, a 3% platform fee per transaction | Yes, and it is free—"Give Lively is free for nonprofits." Its pricing page promises "no upsells, no paid premium tiers and no extra charges for things like Salesforce or data." (Give Lively) |
| How the software is paid for | Our 3%, which supporters can choose to cover | Its founders and optional donor tips—"Our philanthropist founders cover our operating costs", and "Donors can optionally tip Give Lively to support our work" (Give Lively) |
| Payments on your own Stripe account | Yes | Yes, and Stripe is required—"To use Give Lively technology, you must have an activated Stripe account connected to Give Lively." (Give Lively) |
| Card processing rate published | Yes. Stripe, at 2.2% + $0.30, the non-profit rate our customers receive | Yes. Its fees page lists Stripe's standard rate as 2.9% + $0.30 and the non-profit rate as 2.2% + $0.30 (Give Lively) |
| Supporters can cover the fees | Yes, both fees: our 3% and Stripe's processing | Yes, processing—"All except the Lob check fees may be covered by the donor." There is no platform fee to cover (Give Lively) |
| Who can use it | 501(c)(3) organizations and other non-profits, such as 501(c)(4), (c)(6) and (c)(7) clubs, chambers and associations | 501(c)(3) organizations only—"For the time being, Give Lively technology is only available to eligible 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations", and members "must be based in the United States" (Give Lively) |
| Several legal entities, each with its own EIN, bank account and receipts | Yes | Not documented |
| Donation pages and website embeds | Yes | Yes—"Unlimited campaign pages, embeddable donation widgets and text-to-donate features." (Give Lively) |
| Recurring gifts | Yes, monthly, quarterly, twice a year or annually | Yes. Its help center documents monthly gifts (Give Lively), and in November 2024 it announced quarterly and yearly options as coming (Give Lively blog) |
| Tribute gifts | Yes, with the family notified | Yes, with an optional email that "a donation was made in honor or in memory of another person" (Give Lively) |
| Peer-to-peer and team fundraising | No | Yes—"There's no limit to how many individual fundraisers can create pages", with a "Ranked leaderboard for friendly competition" (Give Lively) |
| Text-to-donate | No | Yes, free—"Donors text a custom code and give via a secure fundraising page." (Give Lively) |
| PayPal and Venmo | No | Yes. Its payment methods page lists PayPal, and Venmo on its new payment form (Give Lively) |
| Donor-advised fund gifts | Yes, recorded by staff, with the advisor credited and thanked | Yes, through DAFpay, at 2.9% (Give Lively) |
| Pledges | Yes, with payment schedules, automatic card payments and an Outstanding Pledges report | Not documented. A customer request to let donors pledge has been open on Give Lively's feedback board since October 2020 (Give Lively feedback) |
| Matching gifts | No | Partly, through Double the Donation—"This requires purchasing a Double the Donation subscription" (Give Lively) |
| Paid event tickets and sponsorships | Yes, with capacity, sponsorships and add-ons | Yes—"Customizable tiers for tickets, tables, sponsorships and advertising" (Give Lively) |
| Waitlists and offer codes for events | Yes | Not documented. Its ticketing page lists "pricing (including complimentary and discounted)", but no codes or waitlist (Give Lively) |
| Check-in by scanning each ticket's QR code | Yes, with a gala desk and a link for volunteers | Not documented. A customer request on Give Lively's feedback board from September 2021 reads "I'd love to have a way to quickly check in our guests using this site." (Give Lively feedback) |
| Links for virtual or livestreamed events | No | Yes—"Built-in space for public or private virtual / livestreamed event links" (Give Lively) |
| Silent and live auctions, paddle raise | Yes, with bidding from guests' own phones and one charge per guest at the end | Not documented. Customer requests for auctions on its feedback board date back to May 2020 (Give Lively feedback) |
| Raffles | Yes, with every draw recorded | Not documented |
| Paid memberships with levels and auto-renewal | Yes | Not documented. A customer request to sell recurring memberships has been on its feedback board since August 2020 (Give Lively feedback) |
| Dues for clubs, chambers and associations | Yes, with honorary and emeritus members waived | Not documented |
| Shop, sales tax and in-person card readers | Yes, online and at a kiosk or Stripe card reader | Not documented. A customer request on its feedback board says "Currently, Give Lively doesn't even integrate with Stripe Terminal so we have no way to process in person donations." (Give Lively feedback) |
| Classes with waivers | Yes | Not documented |
| Volunteer shifts and hours | Yes | Not documented |
| A supporter CRM built in | Yes: households, a Warmth score, giving history, and duplicates merged field by field with undo for 30 days | No. It points members to export—"download donor data from the Nonprofit Admin Portal as a CSV file and import it into any CRM of choice." (Give Lively) |
| Email appeals and newsletters with open and click tracking | Yes | Not documented. Its Zapier templates connect to Mailchimp and Constant Contact (Give Lively) |
| Automatic receipts and year-end statements | Yes | Yes, automatic receipts (Give Lively) and a yearly tax summary in each donor's portal (Give Lively changelog) |
| Staff roles | Yes, seven ready-made roles, from Owner to Front desk and Viewer | No. New users get "the same administrator rights as you do" (Give Lively) |
| Salesforce | No | Yes—"Free, native Salesforce integration", though Salesforce itself is a paid service (Give Lively), (Give Lively) |
| QuickBooks Online | Yes, connected directly | Through Zapier—"Zapier is a paid service, but our integration is free to initiate and use." (Give Lively) |
Read the "No" rows in our column as carefully as the others. Give Lively does peer-to-peer and team fundraising, text-to-donate, PayPal and Venmo, matching gifts through Double the Donation, links for virtual events and a free Salesforce integration. Clerestory does none of those. On donation pages, recurring gifts, tribute gifts, paid event tickets, donor-advised fund gifts and automatic receipts, both products do the job.
The price. Give Lively charges no platform fee at all. A 501(c)(3) that raises money mostly through donation pages pays only Stripe's processing.
Fundraising that spreads. Peer-to-peer and team pages with a leaderboard, text-to-donate and a live display are built for campaigns that travel through supporters' own networks. Clerestory does not do peer-to-peer or text-to-donate.
More ways to pay, and Salesforce. PayPal and Venmo at checkout, and a free native Salesforce integration for organizations that already run on Salesforce.
Everything a non-profit sells, not only gifts. Paid memberships with levels, households and auto-renewal; dues for clubs, chambers and associations; silent and live auctions with bidding from guests' own phones; raffles with every draw recorded; a shop with sales tax, online and on a Stripe card reader; classes with waivers; and volunteer shifts and hours. As of 14 October 2026 Give Lively documents none of these, and its own feedback board shows customers asking for memberships, auctions, pledges and in-person payments since 2020.
A supporter CRM, built in. Give Lively points its members to export a CSV into another CRM. In Clerestory, every gift, ticket, membership and purchase lands on one supporter record, with households, a Warmth score, email appeals with open and click tracking, and duplicates merged with undo for 30 days.
Events that run on the night. Waitlists, offer codes, and check-in by scanning the QR code on each ticket, with a gala desk and a link for volunteers.
The right access for each person. Seven ready-made staff roles, where Give Lively gives every user "the same administrator rights as you do".
Non-profits that are not 501(c)(3)s, and more than one entity. Give Lively is for 501(c)(3) organizations only. Clerestory also serves clubs, chambers and associations, and a club and its foundation can run in one account, each with its own EIN, bank account and receipts.
If you are a 501(c)(3) raising money through donation pages, peer-to-peer campaigns and text-to-donate, and you keep your supporter records somewhere else, Give Lively does that well and for free.
The case for Clerestory starts when your money comes from more than donations: memberships, dues, a gala with an auction, a raffle, a shop or classes, and you want all of it on one supporter record. Ask both of us the same two questions: what does the software cost, and what does the card processing cost, each on its own line? Give Lively's are nothing and Stripe's rate. Ours are 3% and Stripe's rate, and your supporters can cover both.
On 14 October 2026 we read Give Lively's own pages at givelively.org: its home, pricing, free, membership, fees and disbursement, event ticketing, peer-to-peer and text-to-donate pages, its integrations page, its help center articles on users, refunds, payment methods, recurring gifts, tribute gifts and eligibility, and its public feedback board and changelog at feedback.givelively.org. For Stripe's non-profit rate we read Stripe's own support page. Each row links to the page it draws on. We did not use G2, Capterra or any comparison site.
Where a row says "Not documented", these are the capabilities we looked for and did not find: legal entities and multiple bank accounts, pledges, waitlists and offer codes, event check-in, auctions, raffles, memberships, dues, a shop and in-person payments, classes and waivers, volunteer management and built-in email appeals. Feedback board requests show what customers have asked for, not what Give Lively has decided. Documentation moves and products change. If anything here is out of date or wrong, tell us and we will correct it.
Yes. As of 14 October 2026, Give Lively's pricing page says it is free for non-profits, with no platform fee, subscription or paid tier. Its founders cover its operating costs, and donors can choose to tip Give Lively. Stripe's card processing is still charged on the non-profit's own Stripe account, at 2.9% + $0.30, or 2.2% + $0.30 at Stripe's non-profit rate, and donors can choose to cover it.
Clerestory runs paid memberships and dues, silent and live auctions, raffles, a shop with sales tax, classes with waivers and event check-in, alongside donations and a built-in supporter CRM. As of 14 October 2026 Give Lively does not document memberships, auctions, raffles, a shop or check-in. Clerestory charges 3% per transaction, which supporters can choose to cover, on the organization's own Stripe account.
No. As of 14 October 2026 Give Lively says its technology is only available to eligible 501(c)(3) organizations based in the United States. Clerestory works for 501(c)(3) organizations and for other non-profits such as clubs, chambers and associations, and receipts never call a payment to a non-501(c)(3) tax-deductible.
No. Clerestory does not offer peer-to-peer or team fundraising pages, text-to-donate, PayPal or Venmo. As of 14 October 2026 Give Lively offers all of these free.
Yes on both. On Give Lively, donors can cover the processing fee, and there is no platform fee to cover. On Clerestory, a supporter who covers the fees covers both Clerestory's 3% and Stripe's processing, so the organization receives the full amount.
