Givesmart is Getting Smarter!
March 15, 2024
Givesmart is Getting Smarter!
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with GiveSmart
We opted for GiveSmart when we were combining to have one event/content management system. The GiveSmart event platform (and auction feature) has worked well for us for many years. We now have fundraising and our donor database through GiveSmart as well. While it has taken some time, the integration is becoming much more smooth and over time will certainly make it easier for our nonprofit - with minimal staff to function efficiently.
- Event - Auction Platform
- Donor Thank You's
- Search tools
- Statement/Receipt email in events - would love the capability to email out receipts /auction donor thank you's en mass
- Improving - but transferring event donations/tax deductible amount to donor database (delineate the tax deductible amount from tickets, purchases, etc)
- I would like to have one customer support system for all three platforms - I feel like I get referred to other people frequently (events has the chat for help, others do not) so hesitant to reach out because I don't know if I am reaching out to the right person
- We have not used the database to its full extent, so I do not have specific examples as we have not used the donor insights very much
- I appreciate that the events information is now transferring to the donor database so those contributions and people are being included in the master database.
- Certainly much more efficient for a one-staff person organization as all of the information is in one place!
GiveSmart allows us to use one system for everything which makes doing business and understanding your donors and donations and operating your events much smoother and more efficient. And the information and insights that you can pull from Givesmart are much more extensive.
Once again, there is a learning curve - but with each event (have not done any straight fundraising calls) we have been able to customize it a little bit quicker and more easily. There are some structural limitations, but once you know those and know how to work with them, you can customize it. The benefit of customization is that people know they have landed on the correct site/place because they recognize your logo/ colors.
We have used personalized training - and it was incredibly helpful. It was especially helpful after a couple of events and I knew exactly what questions I had and challenges I needed help with. But the personalized training I felt has been the best investment to fully utilize GiveSmart. We have not used a remote technician, but have used GOAT Events, and company that knows GiveSmart very well, to staff our large event and that makes a huge difference. I honestly would probably go crazy trying to manage GiveSmart the night of our big event. (We only have one staff person in our organization, so if you have staff people that can be those experts than that would work, but we don't have those people.)
Do you think GiveSmart delivers good value for the price?
Not sure
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?
No
Would you buy GiveSmart again?
No
Using GiveSmart
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Like to use Technical support not required Consistent Convenient Feel confident using | Not well integrated Lots to learn |
- The adding a gift and donor thank you is relatively easy once you learn how to use it
- The Silent Auction system is really easy to use
- In the Event section, generating receipts/statements and emailing to donors can only be done individually - so really unpractical when you wrap up the event and you can't send out an email with each attendees statement or send all silent auction donors an email with a statement - those have to be done individually and so it is very tedious. No workaround for silent auction donors that I know of and the work-around for attendees is they have to log back into their account - easy for some, impossible for others.
- Initially the events information would not transfer to donor database. Now it transfers; however, it does not separate donations from purchases/ticket purchases so for the year end tax letter - the donor has to remember what is/isn't tax deductible. So it would be nice to delineate in the system what is a purchase (and fair market value) with what is a donation (like the event statement does.)
Yes - I think it works pretty well - but honestly because I am an admin, I don't really know how it works for a regular user. I rarely use the mobile interface to do administrative work on the platform.