Luminate Online
Fundraise Up vs Blackbaud Luminate Online
Giving is an experience, not an afterthought. By innovating, we consistently drive 2x conversion rates and 3x monthly donor growth for nonprofits. This is why 3,000+ nonprofits trust us to maximize donation revenue.
Up to 60% of donors increase their monthly giving
Increase recurring revenue stream with AI-powered upgrades.
Own 100% of your donor data
Control your data with no hidden costs or contracts.
95% customer satisfaction
Exceptional technical support you can rely on — without the price tag.
Fundraise Up vs Luminate Online comparison
 | Luminate Online | |
|---|---|---|
| Donation forms embedded with no code, zero redirects |  | Donation forms with page redirects, which introduce donor friction |
| Donation ask amounts | Personalized |  |
| AI-powered transaction cover fees | | |
| Ease of use for teams | | Requires developer customization |
| Intuitive, self-serve donor experience | | Requires developer customization |
| Donor data ownership | You own your donor data | Blackbaud Merchant Services (BBMS) restricts donor data transfer through its payments service, often charging nonprofits high fees when they move donor payment tokens from BBMS |
| Payment methods | Dynamically displays preferred and country-specific payment options, helping donors complete donations faster | Payment methods are static and do not adapt to the donors’ preferred payment options |
| Compliance | Advanced
| Minimum
|
| Handle spikes in donation traffic with ease |
| Luminate Online forms have experienced outages during Giving Tuesday |
| Roles & permissions | | Inefficient user management and password delivery delays |
| Comprehensive donor insights and analytics | | Out-of-the box analytics and insights lack depth and commonly reported by users as unusable |
| Donation forms support 23 languages | | Limited |
| No contracts | | Multi-year contracts are required |
| Integrations and APIs | Included | Additional cost |
| Analytics and insights | Included | Additional cost |
| Onboarding | Included | Additional cost |
| Donor migration | Included | Additional cost |
| Customer support | Included. 95% CSAT | Additional cost |
Real world impact with Boys Town
After switching to Fundraise Up, Boys Town found 30% of donations now come through mobile — a platform they can rely on during critical donation periods.
How does Fundraise Up deliver value?
Donor-centric, fundraiser‑friendly
Our AI-powered online giving platform delivers an unparalleled donor experience your supporters expect — without the costly developer upgrades and rigid donation form constraints found in Luminate Online.
Fundraise Up offers full flexibility right out-of-the-box:
- Enable popular payment methods with a single click — Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal.
- Built-in support for 135+ currencies and over 20 languages, with no custom development needed.
- Mobile-first donation forms deliver a responsive experience that delights donors on any device. With automatic screen optimization and intuitive design, supporters can give easily.
- Enable popular payment methods with a single click — Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal.
- Built-in support for 135+ currencies and over 20 languages, with no custom development needed.
- Mobile-first donation forms deliver a responsive experience that delights donors on any device. With automatic screen optimization and intuitive design, supporters can give easily.
| Luminate Online | |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile optimized | | |
| Ease of use for teams | | Requires developer customization |
| Payment methods | The Checkout on the donation form is designed to detect and display preferred and country-specific payment methods, helping donors to complete donations in seconds. SEPA, Direct Debit, PAD, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, and Venmo display based on the donor’s location, mobile device, and browser. | Payment methods are static and do not adapt to the donors’ preferred payment options |
Happy donors, higher revenue
With Fundraise Up, you get a modern platform that continuously improves the donation experience through smart testing and optimization. It delivers the highest-converting checkout experience while maximizing donor satisfaction and revenue.
- 29% conversion rate without the technical overhead, with many nonprofits achieving up to 40%, thanks to our AI-powered donation forms.
- An impressive 82% of donors cover transaction fees, increasing donation revenue by up to 3%.
- On average, donors give one-time gifts of $116, with conversion rates reaching 11% when Apple Pay is enabled.
- 29% conversion rate without the technical overhead, with many nonprofits achieving up to 40%, thanks to our AI-powered donation forms.
- An impressive 82% of donors cover transaction fees, increasing donation revenue by up to 3%.
- On average, donors give one-time gifts of $116, with conversion rates reaching 11% when Apple Pay is enabled.
| Luminate Online | |
|---|---|---|
| Donation forms embedded with no code, zero redirects | | Donation forms with page redirects, which introduce donor friction |
| Interactive website widgets | Engaging library of 20+ tested web components that convert website visitors into donors — goal meters, donate buttons, social proofs, to tributes, etc. | Requires developer customization |
| Personalized donation ask amounts | AI-powered ask amounts determine the optimal suggested donation by analyzing donor behavior patterns to personalize each suggestion amount. | Donation ask amounts are based on donor data analysis and only available on some donation forms |
| AI-powered transaction cover fees | AI-powered personalized transaction cover fee helps to maximize revenue and transaction volume | Customers have raised concerns about how BBMS cover fees are presented |
| Donation forms support 23 languages | | Limited |
Case study
Want to see a real-world example?
Read how Feed the Children made the switch from Luminate Online to Fundraise Up, and how they picked the perfect tech stack to improve their digital strategy.
increase in monthly gifts
increase in Giving Tuesday donations
Grow monthly gifts, sustain longer
Our AI features convert one-time donors into recurring sustainers. We offer built-in upgrade options that encourage donors to increase their recurring donation amounts.
- We lead the industry with a 76% recurring donor retention rate — 15% above industry average — by converting and retaining sustainers without the restrictive contracts.
- You have full ownership over your donor data. BBMS charges migration fees to transfer donor payment tokens elsewhere.
- Donors love our intuitive Donor Portal — they can manage recurring plans, upgrade donations, and access receipts, which reduces support calls and frees up your staff resources.
- We lead the industry with a 76% recurring donor retention rate — 15% above industry average — by converting and retaining sustainers without the restrictive contracts.
- You have full ownership over your donor data. BBMS charges migration fees to transfer donor payment tokens elsewhere.
- Donors love our intuitive Donor Portal — they can manage recurring plans, upgrade donations, and access receipts, which reduces support calls and frees up your staff resources.
| Luminate Online | |
|---|---|---|
| Donor data ownership | You own your donor data | BBMS limits donor data ownership, especially for recurring donors |
| AI-powered upgrade to monthly giving | AI personalizes monthly donation suggestions based on each donor’s giving capacity and engagement. This smart approach increases revenue by 10-15% and doubles donor acquisition rates | |
| Intuitive, self-serve donor experience | | Requires developer customization |
| Smart payment recovery | AI-powered card updater prevents failed charges, while smart retry logic uses machine learning to recover more payments | |
Rock-solid security and compliance
- Luminate Online requires nonprofits to independently maintain PCI DSS v4.0.1 compliance for donation forms — passing both responsibility and costs to organizations through service fees and strict deadlines.
- Luminate Online requires nonprofits to independently maintain PCI DSS v4.0.1 compliance for donation forms — passing both responsibility and costs to organizations through service fees and strict deadlines.
| Luminate Online | |
|---|---|---|
| Compliance | Advanced
| Minimum
|
| Roles & permissions | | Inefficient user management and password delivery delays |
| Handle spikes in donation traffic with ease |
| Luminate Online forms have experienced outages during Giving Tuesday |
Reduced technical overhead with zero-contract pricing
- All premium digital fundraising features are included in our pricing.
- Access powerful APIs and integrations at no extra cost.
- With our industry-leading 95% customer satisfaction score, your teams can count on proactive help to keep your digital fundraising running smoothly.
- All premium digital fundraising features are included in our pricing.
- Access powerful APIs and integrations at no extra cost.
- With our industry-leading 95% customer satisfaction score, your teams can count on proactive help to keep your digital fundraising running smoothly.
| Luminate Online | |
|---|---|---|
| No contracts | | Multi-year contracts are required |
| Integrations and APIs | Included | Additional cost |
| Analytics and insights | Included | Additional cost |
| Onboarding | Included | Additional cost |
| Donor migration | Included | Additional cost |
| Customer support | Included. 95% CSAT | Additional cost |
Ready to convert more donors?
Request demo
What customers say after switching from Luminate Online to Fundraise Up
Frequently
Asked Questions
How do Fundraise Up donation forms differ from Luminate Online forms?
Fundraise Up has pioneered AI-driven donation forms since 2017, delivering industry-leading conversion rates through smart personalization and donor-focused design.
Donation forms by Luminate Online have remained static since Convio’s acquisition in 2012, lacking enhancements needed to deliver a frictionless donor experience.
How does AI compare between Fundraise Up and Luminate Online?
Luminate Online does not offer AI within the donation forms, which has become table stakes for delivering a personalized donor experience. What sets us apart:
- AI has been purpose-built into our platform from the beginning, not added as an afterthought.
- Our AI engine delivers more accurate donation amount suggestions by analyzing live engagement data and anonymous donor patterns.
- Since 2017, our refined AI dataset has given us a strong lead in data quality and tech advancement.
How does Fundraise Up optimize its donation forms in comparison to Luminate Online?
Fundraise Up 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%!
Luminate Online offers customizations through extensive development work with custom code at an additional cost.
What is the difference between payment processing through Fundraise Up and BBMS?
Fundraise Up ensures that nonprofits retain ownership of their donor data, including donor payment tokens, enabling them to transfer this information freely and without cost when switching platforms.
Luminate Online uses BBMS, which restricts donor data transfer and charges migration fees when transferring payment tokens during platform migration.
How does Fundraise Up manage donor payment data?
Fundraise Up offers streamlined payment processing through Stripe and PayPal, providing accurate reconciliation and easy tracking of recurring payments, updates, and failed transactions.
Luminate Online integration with multiple payment processors (BBMS, PFP, iATS) makes it challenging for nonprofits to manage donor payment data, particularly when locating recurring payment methods across different systems.
Does Fundraise Up integrate with Blackbaud CRM and Raiser’s Edge NXT CRM?
How does Luminate Online pricing compare to Fundraise Up?
We succeed when you succeed. Our revenue is directly tied to results — we earn your business through consistent product improvements and measurable outcomes. No upfront payments or contract commitments, just simple transaction fee pricing.
Luminate Online requires upfront subscription and implementation fees while locking organizations into contracts, regardless of results.
Luminate Online offers email management and marketing automation products, etc. Why does Fundraise Up not offer these?
What security protocols does Fundraise Up offer that differentiate it from Luminate Online?
We maintain the highest industry standards for security, privacy-first AI, and compliance. Certified by independent auditors, we have certifications in ISO 27001, SOC II Type 2, and PCI Level 1 v4 compliance, and we adhere to all major privacy regulations, including GDPR, CCPA, PIPEDA, and Quebec Law 25.
- PCI DSS Level 1 v4 compliance: Fundraise Up forms are PCI v4 compliant out-of-the-box. Luminate Online requires nonprofits to either verify their forms for PCI compliance version 4 or pay a substantial service fee for verification.
- The user management system in Luminate Online is complex. Administrators must create constituent records before assigning user roles, while one-time passwords often experience delays or fail to arrive. Password reset requests often need manual administrator intervention.