Being the world’s biggest web platform, WordPress boasts a huge number of options for achieving donations on your website, but which one is the best? To find the answer, you have to consider audience, location, fundraising model, internal capacity and what kind of donor experience you want to create on your site.
How to do donations on WordPress
There are three main ways to add donation functionality to your website:
1. By using a plug-in
2. By integrating with a custom API
3. By embedding an iframe.
All options can be highly effective, depending on the application and your needs, but they each take varying times for installation. Embedding an iframe is very quick, whereas styling a plugin can take longer to ensure the look is consistent with the brand. API integration is the most variable depending on the result needed.
Below are some of the platforms we’re currently using with our clients and why we think they’re strong contenders.
Fundraise Up
Fundraise Up is a feature-rich donation platform that works extremely well for organisations with international audiences or a strong focus on online fundraising. We’re currently using it with Food 4 Education.
What features does Fundraise Up offer for online fundraising?
Fundraise Up offers advanced tools such as smart donation prompts, recurring giving, A/B testing, multiple currencies and strong CRM and analytics integrations. The donation experience is animated and interactive which is proven to encourage engagement.
How does Fundraise Up work on WordPress websites?
On WordPress sites, Fundraise Up is implemented via JavaScript and embedded components. Customisation is good, but the donation journey is still driven by Fundraise Up’s system rather than a fully bespoke build. This one falls into the non-Gift Aid friendly group, but with a stronger focus on conversion optimisation and donor experience. As it supports digital wallet payments (Apple Pay, Google Pay) and autofill, it streamlines the transaction side for donors.
Is Fundraise Up a good fit for all organisations?
It’s more of a commitment than a simple donate button, and best suited to organisations treating online fundraising as a core channel. It’s more involved than a simple donate button and it’s not the lightest solution, but when you want flexibility, data insight and a polished fundraising journey, Fundraise Up is a strong contender for organisations treating online fundraising as a core channel.
Donorbox
Donorbox is another platform we rate highly and we are in the process of implementing it on The Gurkha Welfare Trust.
What features does Donorbox offer for online fundraising?
Donorbox supports recurring donations, employer matching, peer-to-peer fundraising and integrations with Stripe and PayPal. For charity teams, it’s a fast way to get professional donation forms live and is often a good choice for international organisations wanting a robust, reliable platform.
How does Donorbox integrate with WordPress?
Donorbox integrates cleanly with WordPress via a feature-rich plugin, making it relatively quick to set up. From a development perspective, it’s straightforward to implement, and visual customisation is also possible.
Are there any limitations or considerations with Donorbox?
Donorbox is not particularly UK-focused and Gift Aid isn’t built in. We also recommend reviewing fees and plan limits early so no one gets caught out as fundraising grows.
Donorfy
Donorfy is primarily a CRM and fundraising platform, but its donation tools can work well in the right context. We’re currently using it with Bristol ARC.
When is Donorfy a good fit for fundraising campaigns?
For organisations already using Donorfy as their CRM, the trade-off can make sense. Its donation widgets can be styled to sit naturally within a WordPress site, but the embedded forms are more functional than emotive.
How customisable are Donorfy donation forms for WordPress sites?
Its donation widgets can be styled to sit naturally within a WordPress site, but the embedded forms are more functional than emotive.
Is Donorfy suitable for emotionally driven or storytelling campaigns?
For campaigns where storytelling and emotional engagement are key, Donorfy isn’t as easily customisable as some of the other platforms. It tends to work best when integrated into a wider CRM-led fundraising setup rather than as a standalone creative campaign tool.
Other donation platforms worth considering
These platforms are all hosted donation tools that integrate with WordPress via plugins, embeds or APIs. Each has strengths and limitations, whether that’s around branding control, reporting, fees or ease of use.
GoDonate is designed for frictionless, branded donation journeys with Apple Pay and Google Pay support, and flexible data fields including Gift Aid and address capture. It’s used by UK charities such as Surfers Against Sewage and can streamline address entry via your digital wallet, meaning users don’t have to manually enter their address within the GiftAid declaration.
Enthuse is widely used in the UK and puts a strong emphasis on Gift Aid capture and processing, which can significantly reduce admin time. As with most platforms, you’re buying into their donation flows and fee model. It’s fairly simple to set up and the implementation is usually an embed or hosted form.
JustGiving (Giving Checkout and embeds) benefits from strong brand recognition, especially in the UK, and built-in Gift Aid. It’s super quick to implement on WordPress sites, but the donor experience and reporting are largely defined by JustGiving’s system.
Wonderful.org uses Open Banking and positions itself as fee-free for charities. Whilst it supports Gift Aid and can be integrated with WordPress, a key limitation is that card payments aren’t supported. This won’t suit every audience or campaign, so it’s important to check it fits the type of fundraising you do. Donations typically take place off-site.
Givey is a UK-friendly platform with Gift Aid support, often used by smaller charities. Integration is quick, but customisation is mostly limited to placement and surrounding page design as we’re tied into the Givey UI.
KindLink offers Gift Aid friendly embedded donation forms alongside broader fundraising tools. The donation forms can sit neatly within WordPress so donors stay on the site, but it’s important to ensure the wider platform fits the organisation’s workflows. While you can match the style of your websites page, it can be more difficult to keep the embedded form as consistently designed due to iframe constraints.
Donation Manager (Raise Your Profile) combines online and offline donation management with Gift Aid processing and is free for UK-registered charities. In practice, it’s usually implemented by embedding their checkout tools into WordPress pages. With this tool, it’s particularly important for the charity to have a good understanding of how the donation flow works in practice and what the donor experience looks like.
Givebutter is a slick platform for campaigns and quick fundraising pages, with a WordPress plugin and widget-based setup. It works well when speed and simplicity matter, but it’s worth noting it doesn’t support Gift Aid. The main consideration is its pricing and donor “tips” model, which may not suit every brand. Customisation is limited to the widget structure.
GoFundMe Pro (Classy) sits at the enterprise end of the spectrum. It’s designed for large or complex fundraising operations that don’t require Gift Aid and offers strong tooling and integrations. It’s heavier, more expensive, and not a quick WordPress add-on, but makes sense where scale and system integration are priorities.
Donately is a hosted platform for getting donation forms live quickly, without building payment infrastructure. On WordPress it’s usually added via JavaScript or iframes, as the official plugin isn’t maintained anymore, according to their support docs. Customisation is limited, but it’s a suitable alternative for straightforward online giving, as well as those that don’t require Gift Aid.
Qgiv (Bloomerang Fundraising) provides embedded forms to keep donors on your site and the donation experience inline with your brand. It’s quick to implement and reliable, but the donation experience is driven by Qgiv’s form system, which can limit flexibility for more bespoke layouts or journeys. This is another option for those who do not require Gift Aid functionality.
Your donation questions answered
Which WordPress donation plugin is easiest to set up?
Platforms like Donorbox are often quick to implement and work well out of the box, especially for straightforward donation journeys. More advanced tools like Fundraise Up take a little longer to configure but offer greater flexibility and insight once they’re in place.
How much do donation plugins cost?
All platforms involve costs in some form, whether that’s subscriptions, transaction fees, payment gateway charges or donor tipping models. Most donation platforms cost between 0% and ~5% per donation, plus payment processing (~1.4%–2.9% + ~20–30p). Some also charge £0–£100+/month, while enterprise tools can exceed £5,000/year.
“Free” tools like Wonderful.org or Givebutter still rely on processing fees or donor tips, while platforms like JustGiving or Fundraise Up take a percentage of each donation.
In practice, most charities pay ~1.5%–3% for payment processing, plus 0%–5% platform fees, meaning total costs typically fall between ~2% and 6% per donation depending on the platform. For specific platforms, check with the provider if you would like to know more.
Which donation platforms work with apple pay / google pay?
Apple Pay and Google Pay are supported by platforms that use Stripe, including Donorbox, Fundraise Up and Donately. However, support varies platform to platform. Some (like Donorfy) only allow wallet payments for one-off donations, not recurring payments, while others depend on configuration. Platforms without card processing, such as Wonderful.org, do not support digital wallets at all as they use A2A (open banking systems).
How to make Gift Aid work with apple pay / google pay?
Digital wallets reduce friction by removing the need to manually enter billing/contact info so some platforms, such as GoDonate, use this information to streamline data capture within the donation flow. However, since Gift Aid requires explicit consent and confirmation, donors will typically still need to complete a Gift Aid declaration step. Therefore, Gift Aid and digital wallets can work together, but they’re handled separately.
Can WordPress donation platforms accept recurring donations?
Yes, most modern donation platforms support recurring giving. Fundraise Up, Donorbox and Donorfy all offer tools for monthly or regular donations, which can be an important part of building sustainable income rather than relying solely on one-off gifts.
Can donors give without being sent to a third-party site?
In most cases, yes. Platforms often provide embedded forms or overlays that allow donors to complete their donation without leaving your website. How seamless this feels varies by platform, and it’s something we consider carefully when designing the donation experience.
What’s the best WordPress donation platform for fundraising campaigns?
Campaign-led fundraising can benefit from platforms with strong storytelling, visual prompts and analytics, such as Fundraise Up. For others, simplicity and reliability may matter more. The right choice comes down to your audience, your internal setup and your long-term fundraising goals.
How we approach the options
There’s no single “best” donation platform for WordPress, which is why we don’t push one platform. Instead, we help charities and non-profits choose donation tools that are appropriate for their individual needs. So talk to us about finding the best option for you.