In Use:
Zeffy, began six years ago by two college students, Thibaut Jaurou and François de Kerret in Quebec. Originally called SimplyK, the software re-branded in April 2022. Named after the word zephyr or “gentle breeze” - Zeffy expanded their reach into the United States celebrating not only with a new name, but a contemporary logo, color palette and typography. “As Zeffy, we become the wind propelling nonprofits towards their missions. Our goal is to be a force that empowers nonprofits at no cost,” Jaurou who is not only a co-founder but the current CTO of the platform explained. Z
The platform serves over 5,000 charities and organizations today, raising north of $100 million dollars. Because they only rely on voluntary contributions from donors - Zeffy is truly a free online fundraising solution for charities and nonprofits in North America. Because of this - Zeffy estimates they’ve saved nonprofits over $5 million dollars that they would have otherwise lost to fees.
Lke other fundraising solutions - Zeffy offers a variety of fundraising tools that charities can utilize. A nonprofit can create unique fundraising pages and personalized forms that they can brand with their logos and colors. These landing pages and forms can then be embedded on the nonprofit’s website or on their social media platforms - automatically sending tax receipts to those who donate.
Zeffy’s dashboard allows nonprofit organizations to see who has donated, their donation history, and upload both donor information and offline donations.
Finally, charities can advertise, fundraise and sell tickets to fundraisers right on the website - creating registration forms and landing pages. Because it’s free - they do not have to factor in transaction fees when choosing their ticket prices.
Technology Used:
Zeffy allows donors to pay using different methods such as credit cards, apple pay, and direct deposit - giving donors the power to pay however they’d like. By using Zeffy’s app - nonprofits can also accept payments by using their app - available on Apple Store.
Ease of Use:
Many users find Zeffy easy to use and intuitive. Nonprofits have found that Zeffy’s customer service representatives are helpful and easy to access.
Recap:
Zeffy - is the only zero-fee fundraising platform enabling nonprofits to keep 100% of the money that they fundraise. The software believes that charities should keep all of the money they raise and therefore do not charge them any fees whether it’s a transaction, platform, or credit card fee. Instead, they rely on donations from donors themselves - as opposed to charging nonprofits.
The software comes with numerous solutions from custom landing pages and forms, donor management, and peer-to-peer campaigns. Nonprofits can sell tickets to events, and take multiple methods of payments including direct deposits, apple pay, and credit cards either online or using their app, available on the Apple Store.
Advantages:
- 100% free for users
- Multiple payment methods for donors
- Easy to set up and comes with many different tools and features like donor management, registration pages, and customizable forms
Disadvantages:
- Zeffy’s app is only available in the US - and while coming soon is not available for android users.
- Not as robust as other competitors
My Opinion:
Never underestimate the importance of “free” to a nonprofit. Unless you’re a huge nonprofit like Red Cross, YMCA, or Feeding America - chances are money and resources are tight and any size donation goes a long way. A Zeffy user sums it up perfectly on Capterra when she wrote, “Just hoping it won't disappear, because it's funded only by voluntary donations.”
