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After two events with GiveSmart... here's my two cents.
October 19, 2022

After two events with GiveSmart... here's my two cents.

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with GiveSmart

Easy to use on the patron side, a lot more technical opportunities for event promotion, event site is lovely.
  • Collecting Necessary Information.
  • Microsite or event site has a lot of capabilities.
  • Separating packages into categories that are distinct.
  • The Data pulled from GiveSmart is not ideal - when running reports, our data, and analytics manager have to run several different reports and cross-compare to enter them into our donor database.
  • Not able to turn off "check-in," which confuses guests at registration - if they check in an hour or less before the event, and there is maybe a bid paddle involved, they get confused on where to go/why they have to wait.
  • In addition to the "check-in," there is an extra step patron have to take that doesn't seem very clear. A lot of guests will add their credit card information, but the system will not consider them checked in unless they do an extra step. Causes some confusion at registration for events.
  • Even if marked that guests must add a CC, somehow guests can check-in without adding - which is concerning.
  • User friendly, which encouraged table guests' information.
  • Since there is no staffing, you hire an outside company, along with renting I-pads, which in the grand scheme, end up costing the same as every other platform.
What pulled us toward giving smart was the fact that we were able to control the text and email communication as often or little as we wanted to our guests without having to export lists and send them via Mailchimp or another third-party platform. The ease of guests being able to add their guest list directly into the system was also a huge draw, as it is so much more efficient on the event manager side of things - where I can put my focus elsewhere or take care of our larger donors.
The only set back with GiveSmart, from a user standpoint aside from the data pulling, is that you can't do multi-raffle discounts across different raffle items.
The chat function has a little bit of a delay, and sometimes it feels as though support isn't trained as well on the system as they should be. There are, however, a ton of How To and Resources that are more helpful than support, in my opinion. I usually reach out to support when I need clarification.
This is by far the best platform to customize the look of each event. We do a few different fundraisers each year, and the fact that we are able to customize the banners, colors, auction/raffle items, sponsors, etc., is just a whole new level from where we have been in the past.

Do you think GiveSmart delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with GiveSmart's feature set?

Yes

Did GiveSmart live up to sales and marketing promises?

No

Did implementation of GiveSmart go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy GiveSmart again?

Yes

It is an amazing microsite/event site that you can customize to match your event and have all the information needed. An issue is that you can't have mobile bidding to just event attendees; technically, anyone can go onto your event site and bid if they see it is open, and you can "hide" the items however that defeats the purpose of the ease in mobile bidding. The check-in confusion was a setback in our recent event and confused a lot of guests.