Rates and models described here were checked in August 2026. Platform pricing changes — always confirm directly before making a decision.
When setting up online donations, some community organisations consider using a general payment processor such as Stripe, Braintree, or Square rather than a purpose-built fundraising platform. This guide explains the differences between the two approaches, including a worked fee example, so your organisation can make an informed choice.
What payment processors do — and what they do not
Payment processors like Stripe, Braintree, and Square accept card payments and deposit the funds into an organisation's bank account, minus a transaction fee. That is essentially all they do.
They usually do NOT provide:
- A custom donation form with both one-off and recurring giving options.
- Automatic and customisable tax-deductible receipts for donors.
- A dashboard for managing donors, donations, and recurring giving.
- Peer-to-peer fundraising options and pages.
- Membership sign-up and renewal.
- Event ticketing.
To use a payment processor for online donations, an organisation would either need to build these tools themselves (which requires developer time and ongoing maintenance) or subscribe to another platform that provides them on top of the processor, which adds another layer of fees.
In comparison, GiveNow provides all the features above in one place. The platform is designed for small to medium sized Australian not-for-profit organisations, so it’s simple and easy to use — no coding required.
Transaction fee comparison: a $100 donation example
The table below compares fees for a single $100 donation to an Australian charity with DGR status, paid by an Australian Visa or Mastercard, based on publicly available rates as of August 2026.
| Provider | Transaction fee — with DGR |
|---|---|
| GiveNow | $0.26; Free for direct debit |
| Stripe | $1.70 ($1.40 + 30c fixed fee per transaction) |
| Braintree | $2.05 ($1.75 + 30c fixed fee per transaction) |
| Square | $2.20 |
The table below compares fees for a single $100 donation to an Australian charity without DGR status, paid by an Australian Visa or Mastercard, based on publicly available rates as of August 2026.
| Provider | Transaction fee — without DGR |
|---|---|
| GiveNow | $0.99; Free for direct debit |
| Stripe | $2.00 ($1.70 + 30c fixed fee per transaction) |
| Braintree | $2.05 ($1.75 + 30c fixed fee per transaction) |
| Square | $2.20 |
What GiveNow offers besides payment processing
The GiveNow platform offers a full fundraising toolkit:
- Customisable donation forms for one-off and recurring donations.
- Automatic tax-deductible receipts issued to donors (for DGR organisations).
- A donor management dashboard showing who has donated, when, and how much.
- Peer-to-peer fundraising (CrowdRaisers), where supporters can raise funds on the organisation's behalf.
- Membership sign-up, renewal, and management.
- Event ticketing, including free events.
- Grants search and free fundraising resources.
- Local Australian phone and email support.
- Secure data storage in Australia-based data centres.
The platform fee depends on the plan of choice (1.5%/2.7%/3.5%), and you can enable the feature for donors to cover the platform fee (our stats show that ~80% of the donors cover the fee). There are no additional fees involved.
When you might need a solution besides GiveNow
GiveNow is purpose-built for online donations, memberships, event registration, and peer-to-peer fundraising through CrowdRaisers. It does not currently include the following features, which some organisations may need alongside GiveNow:
- Online auctions. For fundraising auctions, organisations would use a specialised auction platform.
- Tap-and-pay in person. For accepting card payments at physical events, market stalls, or in-person merchandise sales, organisations would use a point-of-sale service such as Square or a payment terminal from a bank.
- Online shops (e-commerce). For selling merchandise, tickets to non-fundraising events, or other goods, organisations would use an e-commerce platform such as Shopify.
- Instant payouts. GiveNow remits donation funds to organisations on a monthly cycle rather than making payouts per transaction. Most grassroots charities prefer this option, as reconciling donations in batches is often easier than tracking each transaction individually. The scheduled cycle also allows GiveNow to assist with any refunds or chargebacks before funds are remitted to the organisation.
Organisations that need these capabilities can continue to use GiveNow for donations, memberships, events, and CrowdRaisers, accompanied by additional tools for the specific needs above.
Why choose GiveNow?
The most experienced
Founded in 2001, we are Australia's first online fundraising platform. We have been around for a while, and we will continue to serve the community sector for a long, long time.
100% local and secure
All of our team are based in Australia, and all data is stored locally in Australia. We support Australian not-for-profits only. We have never had a security breach since the day we were founded.
Lowest fees
Our fees (platform and transaction) are the lowest in Australia. There are no sign-up, subscription, or onboarding fees, and no fixed fee per transaction. Donors can choose to cover the platform fee, and 80% of the time they do.
Community at heart
As an Our Community social enterprise, we stand by the mission to build stronger communities through stronger community organisations. We approach every interaction with our members and customers with goodwill and assume others will do the same.
Simple and easy to use
Most of our customers are small to medium-sized community organisations, and our platform is designed to be simple and easy to use with no technical expertise required.
Comprehensive support
We offer 100% human support for our customers, including phone calls, emails, weekly group demo and onboarding sessions, one-on-one Zoom support sessions, monthly fundraising newsletters, and educational workshops.
Ready to get started? Register your organisation for free — we look forward to seeing you on the platform!