# GiveSmart Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Is GiveSmart the right Event Management solution for you? Explore 204 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/130794/GiveSmart/reviews --- GiveSmart 4.5 (204) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/130794/GiveSmart/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated March 13th, 2026 # Reviews of GiveSmart Ease of use 4.4 Customer Service 4.5 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews ST Stephanie T President of Friends of Atlantic Beach ElementaryNon-Profit Organization Management, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “We spent several thousand dollars launching our fundraising platform and expected a smooth integration with our existing website.“ December 1, 2025 ST Stephanie T President of Friends of Atlantic Beach ElementaryNon-Profit Organization Management, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “We submitted an IT ticket and were told they would “try,” and that our account manager was too busy and heading into a meeting, so we should just email general support.“ December 1, 2025 BB Bree B Adv Ops CoordinatorEducation Management, 201 - 500 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “Overall, I have had a very positive experience with GiveSmart, particularly in a multi-school environment.“ April 2, 2026 ST Stephanie T President of Friends of Atlantic Beach ElementaryNon-Profit Organization Management, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “The platform has caused us stress, delays, and unnecessary obstacles at every stage.“ December 1, 2025 AC Amy C Director of Special EventsNon-Profit Organization Management, 1,001 - 5,000 employeesUsed the software for: Less than 6 months. “it had all the functionalities I was use to and the price was better. Once I got used to the back end, I was able to set up my site easily“ July 20, 2023 ST Stephanie T President of Friends of Atlantic Beach ElementaryNon-Profit Organization Management, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “Now, right before a major fundraising event, we’re suddenly being asked for additional information that was never requested during onboarding.“ December 1, 2025 MI Maria I Executive and Office AssistantIndividual & Family Services, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “All the work we did on GiveSmart before the event made the day of way less stressful“ March 25, 2024 ST Stephanie T President of Friends of Atlantic Beach ElementaryNon-Profit Organization Management, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “We honestly don’t know what we paid for, as we’ve been forced to solve problems on our own that their team should have handled from the start.“ December 1, 2025 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-25 of 204 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use Kenneth M. COO Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "BEST ONLINE AUCTION RESOURCE OUT THERE" December 18, 2018 5.0 Cannot sing their praises more. If you want to go with a group that honestly cares about wanting to make your event a success, use GiveSmart. Pros Customer service is INCREDIBLE. The organizations has utilized GiveSmart for 4 years and has never had an issue. When they assign an event representative to you, you can be assured that any question you may have in setting up the auction site or any technical problems that you may have will be resolved immediately by the assigned rep or they will ensure that they find the right person to correct the issue or answer the question if they cannot immediately help. In addition to the auction management, their pacakge allows for FULL event management; everything from Cons Cost of using the service would be the only negative, and not really a negative because their costs are actually lower than some other options that the organization looked into. Review Source JS Jessica S. Development & Marketing Manager Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "GiveSmart Review" August 12, 2019 4.0 Boys & Girls Clubs of Larimer County uses GiveSmart frequently for events and other giving campaigns. It is super easy to set up campaigns and run them yourself. The GiveSmart staff is incredibly helpful on event days. Pros User friendly Clean, presentable look Unlimited events Cons Setting up new users with passwords tends to be difficult for us Alternatives considered [OneCause](https://www.capterra.com/p/145329/Fundraising-Software/) Reason for choosing GiveSmart We were already using the software, and for a similar price it made the most sense to keep moving forward with GiveSmart. Review Source HD Heather D. Director Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "I think the staff at Gesture are wonderful! " November 2, 2017 3.0 During this first year in using the software, I saw the additional benefit of securing bids in advance of opening the auction. This started us out thousands of dollars ahead of where we would have traditionally began at the event. Pros I love the ability to add photos, descriptions, bid, buy it now pricing, and much more all in a single entry of an item. I also really like the ease in which bidders can participate, get alerts, and have knowledge of their purchases. Finally, the added bonus of a PR team to work with was an extra perk I was not expecting! Cons There are certain gaps in the software we have discovered such as: Nowhere to record solicitors such as staff, committee, or Board member who was responsible for bringing in the item; Nowhere to record an individual's name associated with a company in donor details; Nowhere to record details for pledged item, such as when it will be delivered, staff pick-up needs, etc.; Need to have ability to check box if donor has already received thank you for their contributions (such as when it went unsold at a past event and is being used again); Non-transferrable input from one event to another such as donor information. I also have major concerns over the software abilities to capture donations during the ask. There is simply no way to ensure those that raise their hands, are actually hitting the button to donate that is texted to them. Review Source Response from Momentive Software November 3, 2017 Heather, Thank you so much for the review! We love working with the National MS team! I'm sure your account manager will touchbase on a couple of the software items you mentioned, but we are excited to let you know that the ability to record an individual's name associated with a company in donor details, and the ability to transfer donor information between campaigns/events have recently been addressed and we can do a quick demo of those items. We've also logged your other notes for the development team, as you know, we are always looking for new ways to improve the software and greatly appreciate your feedback. We look forward to many more National MS events! JG Jessica G. Consultant Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "The best product I have found in the online event fundraising market" August 30, 2019 5.0 I've worked with GiveSmart for many years -- from the time they were Auctions By Cellular, Gesture and now GiveSmart. I have also worked with competitors and GiveSmart is the best product on the market due to their easy-to-use platform, staff support throughout the event planning process, and their onsite staff teams. Pros GiveSmart has excellent staff support and they are always quick to respond to questions, timely with email responses, and most importantly their onsite staff is excellent. Cons Not a great platform for live auctions - still not good enough to substitute for an "old fashioned" paddle raise. Lack of customization (font size, spacing around images, content) opportunities for the auction displays. Alternatives considered [OneCause](https://www.capterra.com/p/145329/Fundraising-Software/)[ClickBid](https://www.capterra.com/p/144446/ClickBid/) Reason for choosing GiveSmart I have used the alternatives and both have poor customer service and confusing platforms in comparison to GiveSmart. Review Source BG Brandi G. Office Manager Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Perfect Addition to Our Events" August 12, 2019 4.0 We looked around for awhile at a lot of different products before we settled on GiveSmart. Ultimately this one provided everything we needed with the perfect value for our money. So glad I found it! Pros Very user friendly, all of the features we were looking for in a software program. Cons There are certain things we cannot change/update ourselves. We have to contact support and have them do it. Switched from [Auction-Tracker](https://www.capterra.com/p/93245/Auction-Tracker/) We needed something more interactive and web based. Although our old program had a cloud based alternative it was difficult to utilize at events. Review Source BO Bri O. Communications and Events Coordinator Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Improving their platform more and more each year!" August 20, 2019 4.0 GiveSmart makes it easy to enjoy an event/fundraiser by taking care of all customer needs and questions. Pros The event page was a very clear and concise hub to drive people towards our silent auction. I loved the customization that allowed you to match the design of the link to your event, in addition to the generic donate button. Cons The fact that the back end of the items tab didn't show a photo preview icon on each line. Also, that there isn't a comprehensive final report you can direct download all at once. Instead, you must click into each category of results you want to see one by one and download. Alternatives considered [Greater Giving](https://www.capterra.com/p/127257/Event-Software/)[GiveSmart](https://www.capterra.com/p/130794/GiveSmart/) Reason for choosing GiveSmart We liked parts of Gesture and GiveSmart, and now that they're combined, it was very impressive to work with them this past year. They also improved their customer service in comparison to previous years. Review Source ST Stephanie T. Director of Development Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Limited functionality and customization" August 12, 2019 2.0 I wish the people selling the product and facilitating its use had actual fundraising experience Pros My staff had used it before and thought it was easier to use. Cons Lacked basic software capabilities and extremely limited customization Alternatives considered [GoFundMe Pro](https://www.capterra.com/p/127258/GoFundMe-Pro/)[Funraisin](https://www.capterra.com/p/154184/Funraisin/)[OneCause](https://www.capterra.com/p/145329/Fundraising-Software/) Reason for choosing GiveSmart Because my staff requested it and my price specifications were met. Switched from [OneCause](https://www.capterra.com/p/145329/Fundraising-Software/) Because my staff preferred this platform Review Source MB Matt B. Associate Director of Resource Development Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "GiveSmart is great" October 13, 2020 5.0 Fantastic. Highly recommended. Pros Fantastic customer service. Like, seriously, the best. Better than any other vendor we use. The product is loaded with features, most of which we take advantage of -- auction items, auction packages, raffle tickets, event tickets, paddle raises, donations, users, registrants, etc. It's very intuitive to use; not difficult to set up a new event; very thorough and reporting capabilities; easy to process credit cards and receive payments... Cons The visual design is a bit bland. Could be more pretty. Alternatives considered [OneCause](https://www.capterra.com/p/145329/Fundraising-Software/) Reason for choosing GiveSmart They offered the best product and solution for the price. Review Source HS Heather S. Senior Consultant Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great customer support " November 26, 2019 5.0 I loved the platform and the interface. The customer service it fantastic - especially that they have people come out and help with your events that truly care about the nonprofit sector. They really went above and beyond to help us close the auction and get the data inputted correctly! Pros I really liked the salespeople and the way thy helped you with anything you needed. This is the best customer support I've seen from all mobile bidding sites. Cons My only negative is the price for small nonprofits. If it were more affordable, I would use them again and again! Alternatives considered [OneCause](https://www.capterra.com/p/145329/Fundraising-Software/) Reason for choosing GiveSmart Price was lower and liked the sales people at Gesture. Review Source MR Mindee R. CEO/Executive Director Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Virtual Auction Support & Success" October 19, 2020 4.0 Pros GiveSmart allows you to retain auction item and participant information from year to year, saving significant time on data entry. Cons The label printing functionality needs to be expanded/further developed. Alternatives considered [OneCause](https://www.capterra.com/p/145329/Fundraising-Software/) Switched from [OneCause](https://www.capterra.com/p/145329/Fundraising-Software/) BidPal requires dual data entry for auction items that are not part of a combined package. Review Source ND Nathalie D. Special Events Manager Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "JBWS GiveSmart Review" November 6, 2020 4.0 Our experience with GiveSmart has been extremely positive and I would (and do) recommend them to others. I would like to see more proactive information from GiveSmart for event planning in our new virtual world - the competition is in my email daily with free webinars and informative tips. Pros Indefinite access to past campaigns Reports and analysis Attractive event website Ease of use by participants (in most cases) Ease of uploading items (in most cases except for raffle items) Excellent support Cons \- Inability to stratify sponsors - We have 5 tiers of sponsors but are limited to only standard & premium categories. Would be optimal to highlight them at their exact levels, especially title and top tier sponsors. - Inability to bulk upload raffle items. - Inability to bulk upload images. - Inability to reorder campaigns on the Campaign page. All our 2021 events appear first - I'd like to view active/current campaigns first. - Inability to copy an individual item from one campaign to another. - No log of sent text/e-mail blast messages. - Item title character limit is too short. - The term "User" for event participants/donors is confusing - they should be titled as participants/donors in their own category. It's confusing when every GiveSmart staffer who provided help is included in the list of event participants and donors. - If you are on the dashboard page of a specific campaign and want to get back to the main Campaign page, you have to click on your name in the top right corner. When you click on this, it gives you the options of Profile, GiveSmart Events, JBWS, Logout. "GiveSmart Events" is the intuitive choice but you have to click on the name of your organization (which for us is JBWS) to get back to the Campaign page. - Please add an option for guests to choose to be invoiced for donations. We have many donors give through foundations that need an invoice for the donation to be processed. We need to let them give through GS without our manual intervention. Reason for choosing GiveSmart Cost, attractiveness of the microsite, reporting features, access to campaigns, backend options. Review Source RB Richelle B. Event Coordinator/ Data Manager Fund-Raising Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "501 Auction to GiveSmart" August 14, 2019 4.0 I have used 501 auctions for a few years until GiveSmart took over. This is our first year working with the new company since the change and so far we have had a good experience. We assigned one staff member for all of our events, so it is great to have the same person so they are able to get the feel of the organization and the population we work with. Rather than having a new GiveSmart team member every time. Pros A pro of GiveSmart is the flexibility of being able to have several different campaigns for all the different events you are hosting. We have 4-5 events a year with silent/live auctions for each so this is a great way to use online bidding for each event. With the online bidding we are able to widen our reach to individuals who do not attend the event . We have seen an increase in money raised from silent and live auction with this feature. This also takes away the annoying bidder sheets and having to text/email winning bidders. The system will automatically send them a text that they have won an item and provide the item number. Another great feature is you can customized tests that goes out to bidders and attendees. This is a great way to keep your guest up to date with auction information and send text to encourage them to donate. Cons One con is you can not batch checkout any accounts that are 1,000 or more. A good portion of our guests usually donate/bid over 1,000 at our bigger events of 300+. This is going to be time consuming to checkout all of these individuals. It would be helpful to select the amount for each event since the giving culture at each event varies. Reason for choosing GiveSmart n/a Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Founder/Director Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: I used a free trial ### "We received no value for their service and would not recommend for several good reasons." October 12, 2021 1.0 We signed up for Givesmart to celebrate our 10 year anniversary for our non for profit. We were let down at every turn when the company management could have made good on the experience we had. We ONLY used GiveSmart because we wanted to benefit from Experienced interactive staff. They sent two young ladies who had no previous experience on how to manage their tasks for the event. Their tasks were to welcome guests at the front door, take their tickets and most importantly RUN THE FUNDRAISING VIA TEXT DURING THE EVENT, Thereby helping us to raise upwards of $10,000.00 by speaking to the guests, encouraging them to donate and shouting out funds raised in real time. They DID NOT introduce themselves to me and we already had volunteers to take tickets so we did not need GiveSmart for this. What we wanted was THEIR EXPERTISE IN RAISING MONEY IN REAL TIME AT THE EVENT. In the midst of my event both the young ladies were no where to be found. The FUNDRAISING ASPECT NEVER TOOK PLACE. We paid over 2400.00 for their service. No one took responsibility for this at GiveSmart. The woman that scheduled our event was no longer in the same position in the company so she never even assisted us in the mess. The women who represented GiveSmart apologized for the mixup and admitted they had not done the event before and DID NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO. Givesmart ignored our complaint. They did not return our calls and incredibly asked us for a balance of $200? This experience was really unforgiveable. Pros I was not able to experience the software. We did not receive the service for which we paid. The software has no value without the package of benefits namely the TEXT TO DONATE feature while at the event which is what is supposed to help your company raise funds. Cons You can use Eventsmart for free so I see not value to their software. Reason for choosing GiveSmart They were recommended to me by someone that HEARD about their service. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Director of Athletic Development Sports Used the software for: 2+ years ### "GiveSmart Changes the Terms of Agreement without Notification!!!" May 24, 2022 2.0 I would never recommend working with GiveSmart. The customer service is awful and the company deceives their clients. We signed up on a year-to-year annual renewal and did for 3 years in a row. We chose to cancel our year-to-year deal this year and provided over 30 days notice of cancellation as per the terms of the original and annual agreement. GiveSmart asked us to renew 3 months early in 2021 and changed the annual agreement to a multi-year agreement without notification the terms had changed prior to renewal. They say we are locked in for two more years with this service. Our leadership is not happy with GiveSmart's business practices and the company should be ashamed for deceiving their clients into long-term agreements. Pros Importing items. Reporting is decent post-event. Cons Training could be a lot better. When asked if we could get help setting up an auction for the first time, the GiveSmart rep sent a video for us watch instead of personally helping us. The design templates are limited along with the graphics. It's not intuitive and their customer service is worthless. Review Source JC Janice C. Co-Chair and Board Member Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Give Smart for Non Profit Gala" October 22, 2020 5.0 The past two years have been a good experience with Give Smart. The support team and the Customer Service Teams are professional and extremely helpful. Pros The software based on our users feedback is easy to use. Once someone is registered they appreciate their data remains in the system. We did a virtual gala this year, and with help from the Give Smart team, we were able to set up our entire gala on Give Smart with not alot of effort. The mobile bidding is easy for users for our silent auction and this year being virtual for our "live" auction as well. Cons We feel that some features could be improved. One is when adding sponsors even though there are two categories, premium and standard, if you add a premium sponsor after adding other sponsors they show up in random orders. It would be helpful if once you added the sponsors you could drag and drop them in the order you would like them, especially since most sponsorships are based on a dollar range. On the global settings screen and the home page there should be more flexibility with fonts and ability to add additional items not just the specific ones that are there like location and date and time. Review Source LO Leslie O. Executive Director Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "GiveSmart for Nonprofit fundraising" October 19, 2020 5.0 I like GiveSmart and so far our experience has been good. I look forward to using the platform with the assistance at our live event. Pros The GiveSmart platform was easy to get started and use as a landing page for our virtual fundraiser and for our golf benefit. The tracking of donations and ticket sales was convenient and well broken down in reports. We were unable to use the on site feature since the event was cancelled so I cannot speak to that. Cons Though we did not utilized the auction page with items, aesthetically, I do not prefer the format, it looks too busy once you have multiple items. We saw an auction in the office from Auctria and their item format was more aesthetically pleasing, not so busy. The page design feature has quite a few steps to create multiple pages with little flexibility in changing fonts, colors etc. I found I used Word Publisher to create a flyer then uploaded the flyer into the space as an image. Reason for choosing GiveSmart We received recommendation from another non profit that we trust. Review Source CC Camellia C. Director of Special Events & Strategic Fundraising Education Management Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Auction & Reservations" August 15, 2019 4.0 GiveSmart was such a game-changer for our event. It streamlined the entire evening and provided a smooth way for our guests to interact with bidding, and our team to coordinate the winning details. The reports were a great feature, and having the details instantly was a huge win. Our account manager and the support staff in the chat feature were always very responsive and helpful. Pros We love the functionality of live-time updates in a program that tracks and manages the bidding at our auction. It's wonderful to streamline both bidding participation and ticket reservations all in one place. And the support team at the start and end of the night is a great feature to have day-of. Cons There are a few functionality pieces we wish we could have customized to our specific group. Not every component of the reservations process is editable, and that would have been helpful. The support staff was great to have on-site, but some of them seemed very confused by the program and the flow of our evening. It would be nice to have slightly more aware team members to help, or even a training with them the day before the event so everyone was on the same page. A few of the support team members gave inaccurate information to our guests. Reason for choosing GiveSmart Responsiveness, the DIY event add-on feature, and colleague recommendations. Review Source kP katrina P. consultant Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "GiveSmart is a great tool!" September 30, 2022 4.0 GiveSmart provides a relatively easy to use auction and ticketing platform that looks good on desktop and mobile. Auction check out is plug n play! Pros The customer service is AMAZING--the chat support has walked me through a myriad of questions and helped me in real time set up campaigns and avoid mistakes. Cons The ticketing feature is not as user friendly as the auction feature and unfortunately information can't be transferred between the two. Review Source CF Carrie F. Special Event Coordinator Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Overall, great product" October 14, 2020 5.0 The account managers have been a pleasure to work with. We've also utilized the in-person staff for our auction event. They were professional and helpful. Pros Ease of use, able to quickly set-up a new event and make changes as needed. Encompasses most of our fundraising needs Cons Limited P2P fundraising abilities, which they have started incorporating Reason for choosing GiveSmart We chose GiveSmart initially for the auction abilities. We have expanded our use of GiveSmart since then, with the new features that have been added. Review Source CC Cleve C. Retired Religious Institutions Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Covers All The Bases" October 16, 2020 4.0 Not a fan of the fact that someone on our dropped the fee for user support and had us go DIY but that's on us and I made it work anyway Pros Fairly easy to figure out. With enough lead time a and lab scenario deployments most folks can work it out. Cons Little cludgy trying to get the card readers and IPADs. Come on now, one stop shopping. E en if you use two vendors you can mask that with software so that we don't have to know. I have had many complaints from folks trying to purchase the online raffle tickets. Once they click the buy they get the message that KS for your purchase. They have actually added multiple tickets to their cart trying to figure out how to actually purchase the tickets. You should change the phrase to "you items have been added to your cart" and NOT thank you for the purchase. Or add verbiage that says now click the "Pay" button to continue. Alternatives considered [BiddingOwl.com](https://www.capterra.com/p/130932/BiddingOwl-com/) Reason for choosing GiveSmart Better pricing model and had seen it before Review Source VM Val M. Executive Director Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great System" August 20, 2019 4.0 GiveSmart support is always quick and helpful. Overall GiveSmart works for us, but I wish it was a little more user friendly on the admin side for sponsorship groups and groups of tickets. Pros This system works very well for us for its silent auction capabilities. Easy to use and increased our revenue from a paper system. Also great for instant buys (wine pull, raffle tickets) and donations. Easy to use system for guests. Cons I wish there was more flexibility in the ticket purchasing side. Guests that are part of a group of tickets that have been pre-purchased are not able to go on to update their own information. This makes the check-in process longer as we try to capture the information that is needed (addresses). Did not like having to buy their specific swipers at such a high cost to use once a year. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Program Director Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "They used to be really good, now just okay" March 31, 2020 4.0 They used to be great, they tried to expand, they couldn't handle the workload and the quality declined drastically. Pros Initially, the customer support and the features they offered were amazing, and priced very competitively. Cons They purchased at least one other company, and they experienced a lot of growing pains. The quality of the employees dropped insanely. We no longer work with them. Review Source aC andrea C. Events Manager Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "GiveSmart helped us streamline and go virtual!" October 13, 2020 5.0 GiveSmart is easy to use software that helped us transform fundraising events. In particular this year, when we have switched to a virtual format for our fundraising events, we relied on GiveSmart to make it happen Their team of dedicated staff is helpful with guidance and fixing problems. The system is easy to use and navigate and allows us to track and analyze financial and donor information post-event. Pros The ease of use, clear guidelines provided, and helpfulness of the account manager assigned to our project. Cons There are a few functions that would be helpful to add, and figuring out how to correctly apply sales tax can be a bit confusing. It is more expensive than other software, but the ease of use for both the admin and users makes up for the cost difference. You get what you pay for! Review Source CL Carrie L. Auction Chairman Education Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Givesmart is the best!" August 13, 2019 5.0 We have had a great experience with Givesmart! They are knowledgeable and helpful with regards to every aspect of our events! Pros We love the online support as well we the staff that assists at our events! Cons I can’t pick anything that I liked least. It was such a great solution for our team! Review Source SB Sophie B. Events Manager Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "GiveSmart for Nonprofit Events" August 13, 2019 5.0 Pros I have used GiveSmart for three events now and each time it has been easy to set-up, use on the day of the event, and pull reports post event. Cons Nothing really. It is super easy to use and each time I have had a questions I have found an answer on the help page. Review Source Similar Products Featured ## Send me user reviews about this product ### Fill out the form and we'll send a list of the top-rated software based on real user reviews directly to your inbox.