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GiveSmart
May 26, 2021

GiveSmart

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with GiveSmart

I've used GiveSmart as the online platform for our virtual silent auction for the past 2 years. It is used within our school's Development Department. It was great when we had to pivot from an in person auction to an online auction with only 2 weeks at the start of the pandemic. We used it for hosting the online auction, as well as, collecting donations from our current parents, alums, and sponsors. We were also able to host a drawing through GiveSmart. I found it useful for getting the word out about the event and keeping all the information in one place for our constituents.
  • Online Auction - the site is pretty easy to set up on your own and to fill it with as much or as little information that you might need for each item. The bidding system works well for users.
  • Ease of use - for the most part setting up all aspects of your webpage is straightforward. I was able to create different sections and different pages that addressed all of the things I needed.
  • Support - The GiveSmart website has many resources like videos, tutorials, webinars, etc. to find answers to questions. I also found the support chat to be helpful when I used it.
  • Ads - the ads that you can place are very limiting, only allowing 80 characters whether you have a small picture or not. Since sponsors love ads, I think there should be a better way to highlight our sponsors.
  • GiveSmart allows you to create as many different pages on the website as you need, but then you have to provide the specific link to it. I think it would be easier if there was just a drop down menu from the event's homepage that users could use to navigate.
  • GiveSmart has been great especially during the pandemic, when we shifted to an online event with no time to spare. We actually ended up making the same profit as we had in years where the auction was live.
I found GiveSmart to be quite useable. Although I am pretty computer savvy, I am by no means an expert, but I have been able to get our events set up in a way that makes sense to me and is easy for our constituents to use. I am sure there are aspects that I am not using to it's full capability but I think as I use GiveSmart more and more I'll be able to figure that out.
As a DIY level customer I find the support to be pretty great. I've taken full advantage of their help section which almost always has what I'm looking for and their support chat. I was able to have zoom meeting with my account manager that allowed me to bounce some ideas off or her and see if they would work within GiveSmart. I've also taken advantage of some of the webinars that they host to learn more about the different ways different organizations utilize the platform.
I've been able to make the homepage look basically exactly how I would like it. It's pretty easy to customize. Though I do wish there were options for fonts and font sizes within in the boxes.
GiveSmart is great for an online auction, and that is mainly what I have used it for and what I have the most practice in. We also used it to sell "tickets" to a virtual Homecoming for our alumnae, that got a little clunky in places, but could very well be that I didn't have it set up just right. I like that I have been able to teach myself how to do most things on with the use of the tutorials, etc. in their help section. I have also appreciated the various webinars that they host with other organizations sharing how they use the platform and their different fundraising ideas.