Fundraise Up vs Classy

Drawing from e‑commerce best practices and AI since 2018, we deliver higher conversion rates through a rigorously optimized checkout flow.

Our Checkout Modal features personalized cost coverage, AI‑powered suggestion donation amounts, and embedded forms that drive conversions.

Key differences from Classy:

• Intelligent Ask Amounts: Our AI has been refining donation ask amounts since 2018, while Classy launched this feature in 2024.
• Cost coverage: Our AI dynamically serves up transaction fees — pre‑selecting or unchecking them — to maximize donor revenue and overall donation transaction volume. Classy uses basic nudges.
• Embedded forms: We exclusively use embedded forms, proven to reduce friction by 10%, while Classy makes them optional.
• Recurring giving tools: We offer advanced tools like one‑click upgrades, flexible giving options, intelligent card retries, subscription pausing, and upsell techniques within the Donor Portal to sustain donor relationships.

Fundraise Up’s donation forms are rigorously tested and optimized for maximum conversions. Through continuous data-driven testing of layouts, colors, images, sizing, payment options, and many more attributes, we ensure nonprofits achieve better conversion rates, more revenue, and minimal friction.

For instance, our testing revealed that requesting mailing addresses upfront in the checkout reduces conversion rate by 3.4%! We only implement changes after proving their success to all customers.

Classy Studio offers "customizations" through professional services at an additional cost, but shifts the testing responsibility to the nonprofit. While Classy Studio depends on each nonprofit’s limited testing, we leverage data from thousands of organizations to determine what truly drives higher conversions.

Our AI‑powered adaptive cost coverage determines whether to ask donors to cover fees based on their behavior, location, and other factors. By intelligently choosing when to request fee coverage, it finds the optimal balance between maximizing conversion rates and fee coverage. This leads to higher donation revenue overall.

On average, 82% of donors choose to cover both Fundraise Up and credit card transaction fees — increasing donation revenue for your development program.

Fundraise Up regards customers as long-term partners, regardless of size. Our philosophy centers on customer success — our revenue depends entirely on our product’s performance and ability to deliver results. Unlike Classy, which requires upfront subscription and setup fees while locking organizations into contracts before demonstrating any value, we take a different approach.

We succeed when you succeed. We only get paid when we deliver results, earning your business through consistent product improvements and measurable outcomes, not through upfront payments or contract commitments.

Our seven years of anonymized nonprofit data enables faster machine learning model training and higher accuracy compared to Classy’s one-year-old dataset.

While Classy’s dataset includes hosted donation forms, donor history, and GoFundMe session data, it primarily reflects individual donations for personal causes — not nonprofit initiatives — representing fundamentally different donor motivations. Our analysis shows that a donor’s current behavior is a stronger predictor of future actions than their past giving history.

Though historical giving patterns provide valuable context, real-time behavior offers the clearest signal of how donors will respond in the moment. Read more to get a detailed overview of Fundraise Up’s AI.

We maintain the industry’s highest standards for security, privacy, and accessibility. Our independent auditors have certified us for ISO 27001, SOC II Type 2, and PCI Level 1 v4 compliance, and we adhere to all major privacy regulations including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPEDA.

We are certified by an independent auditor stating that we adhere to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), ensuring you meet any regulatory or compliance requirements for accessibility.

From its inception, Fundraise Up chose to be best-in-class rather than all-in-one. Through our laser focus on delivering an exceptional donor experience and increasing revenue with our carefully curated platform, we continue to lead innovation in this space.