Affiliate disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you click one and make a purchase, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend tools based on independent, research-grounded comparisons.
The Core Difference
This comparison comes down to one unusually stark trade-off: Zeffy charges nothing — ever — while Bloomerang charges a published monthly fee for a more structured, multi-module platform. If you’ve landed here, you’re probably a nonprofit weighing “free with a tip model” against “paid with a fuller feature set.” That’s exactly the question this guide answers, using only what each platform actually publishes.
Pricing: The Sharpest Contrast
Zeffy’s positioning is “100% free fundraising software,” sustained by optional tips that donors (not you) choose to leave. Zeffy publishes no pricing page — there are no plans, tiers, or fees to list. You keep 100% of what you raise. The model works because donors are prompted to optionally tip Zeffy directly; if they don’t, Zeffy still covers its costs through other means. There is no bill for your nonprofit.
Bloomerang publishes transparent, tiered pricing across three separate products:
| Product | Starting Price | Billing |
|---|---|---|
| Bloomerang Fundraising | $40/month | Billed annually |
| Bloomerang CRM | $125/month | Billed annually |
| Bloomerang Volunteer | $119/month | Billed annually |
These are starting prices — your actual cost depends on your organization’s size and configuration. But unlike Zeffy, you know the floor before you ever speak to sales.
Features: What Each Platform Actually Does
Zeffy
Zeffy is built around zero-fee transaction processing for nonprofits, covering the core activities most small and mid-sized organizations run:
- Donation forms: Accept one-time and recurring gifts, collect payments with zero fees, and customize colors, logos, and images.
- Ticketed events: Customize ticket types, create ticket bundles, issue e-tickets, scan them at the door, and sell online or in person — all with zero fees.
- Auctions: List items with images and descriptions, track participants, send outbid notifications, and collect payments automatically with no apps required.
- Merchandise/store: List products, add images and descriptions, offer custom options like size or color, set inventory limits, and offer discount codes.
- Peer-to-peer fundraising: Empower supporters with customizable fundraising pages, boost engagement with leaderboards, and track progress with donation thermometers.
- Membership management: Customize tiers with prices and renewal options, automatically issue membership cards, and engage members by email.
- Donor tracking: Track giving history, segment supporter lists, send personalized communications, and keep track of participant data.
Zeffy accepts all major payment methods. The promise — “keep 100% of what you raise” — is the defining feature of the platform.
In the reviews we scanned, no recurring complaint pattern stood out. That’s worth noting neutrally: it doesn’t mean universally glowing, just that no repeated friction theme surfaced in the sample.
Bloomerang
Bloomerang positions itself as a “Giving Platform” — three connected solutions sold as a combined or standalone package:
Bloomerang Fundraising covers donation forms, peer-to-peer fundraising, event management, text fundraising, marketing and engagement, and reporting and analytics.
Bloomerang CRM focuses on donor engagement and retention, with data management, major gifts tracking, grant management, membership management, and a mobile app.
Bloomerang Volunteer handles volunteer recruitment and coordination.
Across the platform, Bloomerang also lists artificial intelligence tools (described as “smarter fundraising with less effort — built right in”), integrations, support and services from staff with nonprofit experience, and data security. Additional resources include a donor retention calculator, ROI calculator, fundraising thermometer, and a communications audit tool.
Some users report friction with customer support, pricing and value, the mobile app, ease of use, and features and functionality — themes worth factoring into your evaluation, particularly if hands-on support matters to your team.
How They Compare by Theme
Fees and Financial Model
Zeffy: zero fees on all transactions; donor tips fund the platform. You never pay.
Bloomerang: starts at $40/month billed annually for the Fundraising product, rising to $125/month for the CRM and $119/month for Volunteer — each billed annually at their starting tiers. These are real, predictable costs on your nonprofit’s books.
Fundraising Breadth
Both platforms cover donation forms, peer-to-peer fundraising, event management, and membership management. Zeffy additionally captures auctions and a merchandise store as explicitly listed features. Bloomerang lists text fundraising, grant management, major gifts, and marketing and engagement as distinct feature categories not present in Zeffy’s captured feature set.
CRM and Donor Management
Zeffy includes giving history tracking, supporter segmentation, and personalized communications. Bloomerang’s CRM is a full standalone product with data management, major gifts, and grant management as named categories — a meaningfully different scope, though at a meaningfully different price.
Volunteer Management
Bloomerang Volunteer is a named product with a dedicated starting price. Zeffy has no captured volunteer management features.
AI and Integrations
Bloomerang lists artificial intelligence and integrations as platform-level features. Neither appears in Zeffy’s captured feature set.
Support
Bloomerang lists “Support & Services” with nonprofit-experienced staff as a named feature. Zeffy’s positioning doesn’t include a captured support offering — and some Bloomerang users flag support as an area of friction, so it’s worth asking pointed questions during any demo.
Pricing Transparency
Bloomerang publishes its starting prices publicly. Zeffy publishes no pricing page because there is no pricing — but that also means no published breakdown of what’s included, what the tip prompts look like to donors, or how edge cases are handled. For both platforms, a conversation with their teams before committing is wise.
Choose Zeffy If…
- Your budget is genuinely zero — you need fundraising software with no monthly fees and no per-transaction charges.
- Your core needs are covered by donations, ticketed events, auctions, merchandise, peer-to-peer campaigns, and membership management.
- You’re comfortable with the tip-based model, where donors are prompted to optionally contribute to Zeffy’s operating costs on your behalf.
- You don’t need dedicated volunteer management, grant management, major gifts tracking, or AI-assisted tools.
Choose Bloomerang If…
- You can absorb a predictable monthly cost (starting at $40/month billed annually for Fundraising, $125/month billed annually for CRM, or $119/month billed annually for Volunteer) and want transparent, published pricing.
- You need volunteer coordination as a named, dedicated product.
- Grant management, major gifts, and text fundraising are part of your program mix.
- You want AI tools and integrations built into the platform as listed features.
- A structured CRM with donor retention and reporting is central to how your team works — not just a nice-to-have.
Both platforms serve nonprofits, but they’re solving different versions of the problem. Zeffy optimizes ruthlessly for cost; Bloomerang optimizes for feature breadth and structured donor relationship management, at a real but published price. The right call depends entirely on which constraint matters more to your organization right now.