Best for
FirstGiving is best for nonprofit organizations and fundraising campaigns of all sizes, anywhere in the world.
Specializes in
FirstGiving provides merchant accounts services to fundraising campaigns and nonprofit organizations. The company has trademarked software to enable peer-to-peer fundraising. The company's donation software allows event and volunteer management, customizable web pages, and mailing lists. The software can easily integrate with third-party apps such as QuickBooks, Mailchimp, or Constant Contact. The company's platform allows fundraisers to accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover.
Pricing Summary
Setup Fee: $0
Monthly Fee: $0
Swipe Rate: Up to 7.5%
Keyed-in Rate: Up to 7.5%
Early Termination Fee : $0
Contract Terms:
FirstGiving is an ISO/MSP of BMO Harris Bank, N.A., Chicago, IL, Deutsche Bank, USA, New York, NY, Chase Paymentech Solutions, LLC, Plano, TX, Elavon, Inc. Atlanta, Georgia, First National Bank of Omaha, Omaha, NE, and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Walnut Creek, CA.
Founded in 2003, the company has nearly two decades of experience with merchant accounts and donation platform. FirstGiving is headquartered in Reston, VA and is currently led by William Wood.
FirstGiving offers a proprietary software enabling fundraisers to crowdfund donation campaigns via a subscription model. The company's platform provides tools to raise funds, manage email campaigns, donor lists, and volunteer databases, seamlessly integrating it with merchant account processing and third-party apps such as QuickBooks and Constant Contact.
FirstGiving started operations in 2003 and is based out of Reston, VA. In 2012, FirstGiving was acquired by FrontStream Holdings and is currently led by William Wood.
The company offers two subscription plans for fundraisers and charges additional donation and performance fees.
FirstGiving does not have a Better Business Bureau profile. However, there have been limited complaints about the company. The complaints that do exist are from fundraisers who believe that FirstGiving's pricing is too steep.
Head Quarters
Reston, VA
Year Founded
2018
CEO
William C. Wood
Employees
200
Merchant Provider Risk Tolerance
FirstGiving's product is its fundraising and donation platform with a payment processing functionality built into the software. The company offers the platform via two[ annual subscription options with different levels of access. The subscription offerings are;
Panorama Pro – This subscription level offers customers Customizable peer-to-peer fundraising webpages that allow clients to;
Panorama Premium – This plan has the same offering as Panorama Pro as well as:
Discloses All Important Terms
Yes
Public Pricing Available
Yes
FirstGiving has numerous charges on top of the company's annual subscription. This pricing structure is the source of most of the complaints found online against FirstGiving as many say that the fees are not only excess but also redundant.
Panorama Pro – $600/year
Panorama Premium – $1,800/year
Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Fee – 5%
Online Auction Fee – 5%
Event Registration Fee – 1.5%
Event Ticket Fee – 1.5%
Donation Fee – Up to 7.5
Pricing Model
Flat Rate
Swiped Rate
Up to 7.5%
Keyed-in Rate
Up to 7.5%
Mobile Payment Rate
Virtual Terminal Rate
7.5%
Monthly Fee
$0
Payment Gateway Fee
Batch Fee
N/A
Early Termination Fee
$0
PCI Compliance Fee
Undisclosed
Equipment Lease Terms
Undisclosed
Address Verification Service (AVS)
Application Fee
Account Setup Fee
$0
Gateway Setup Fee
Annual Fee
$600 to $1,800
Monthly Minimum
$0
Statement Fee
FirstGiving's agreement is an annual subscription pricing structure. The company has a complex set of additional and redundant fees on individual transaction charges and overall donation fees.
Contract Length
1 Year
Early Termination Fee
$0
FirstGiving does not have a profile on the Better Business Bureau (BBB) website. There was a minimal number of complaints that we found on various online platforms. The complaints we did see were regarding the company's fees, which fundraisers found to be exorbitant.
There are also no outstanding FTC complaints against the company, nor any lawsuits filed against FirstGiving.
BBB
None
N/A
None
Yelp
1 Star / 4 Reviews
Total Online Reviews
50+
Total Online Complaints
Lawsuits
None
If you're in the market for a merchant account provider, be sure to check out our user reviews, our merchant accounts guide and our top popular merchant provider picks