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Snap Raise Reviews: Pros, Cons, and What Real Users Are Saying
Wondering whether Snap Raise is the right fundraising platform for your organization? In this article, I’ll highlight their pros and cons based on real user reviews to inform your decision.
Snap! Raise – or Snap Raise – is an online fundraising platform specifically built for schools, youth programs, teams, and clubs in the U.S.
If you’re considering fundraising on Snap Raise and wondering what real users have to say, I’m here to help.
Below, I’ll explain the benefits, drawbacks, features, and pricing of the platform to help you decide, based on Snap Raise reviews from schools, sports teams, and youth groups.
Key Takeaways 💡
Snap Raise offers a convenient, guided fundraising experience.Users appreciate its simple setup and hands-on support, which helps schools, sports teams, and youth groups manage campaigns effortlessly.
A 20% fee is deducted from successful fundraising campaigns. While there are no upfront costs, organizations keep only 80% of funds raised, and manyreviewers express that the fees are too high.
Users note that the donation experience can be confusing. Various reviews raise concerns about unclear tipping prompts and additional potential charges that may affect donor trust.
Snap Raise is specifically focused on schools and youth groups. If your organization falls outside this category, consider alternative, global fundraising platforms likeDonorbox that offer a unified online and in-person fundraising experience.
Snap Raise Benefits
1. Simple and convenient online fundraising
Users appreciate that Snap Raise offers a convenient way for schools, sports teams, and youth groups to raise funds.
We love the ease of Snap Raise; it makes raising funds simple and easy.” – Verified User
“It was easy to use and easy to connect with loved ones from far away and local!” – Gary L.
2. Guided fundraising model
Snap Raise reviews highlight that creating a campaign requires minimal effort, with help from their team of fundraising experts guiding you through the setup process.
They handle everything, leaving you with the bare minimum to do.” – Makayla C.
“Snapraise is so simple; 20 emails and they do all the work.” – Jonathan H.
“…After minimum setup, the campaign ran itself…” – Julie B.
3. Hands-on fundraising support
Some Snap Raise reviewers note that the platform’s support team is readily available to assist during your campaign.
…Snap Raise staff was always available to offer assistance and guidance.” – Priscilla R.
“The representatives are extremely helpful…” – Tim P.
Snap Raise Drawbacks
1. High platform fees
While no clear pricing exists on the Snap Raise website, many reviews complain about the high fees associated with the platform.
Terrible, just terrible. Takes 20% of profits and then asks for a tip. Just so greedy.” – Max
“It’s set up where you must be extremely careful, or you’ll be giving these aggressive people a tip also for taking 20-25% of the money you’re donating to your child’s school…” – B Aberry
2. Overwhelming fundraising approach
Some Snap Raise reviews note that the approach used to solicit donations for fundraising campaigns can feel overwhelming for supporters.
…First, they tried to get me to donate $1000, 500, or $250 … Next, they wanted me to cover a fee for my nephew. THEN I noticed they had added a $5 tip for themselves. After I finally sorted all that out, they tried to get me to buy a $58 jersey for my nephew.
Like that wasn’t bad enough, today I received an email from them asking me to buy more.” – Darlene
3. Confusing donation experience
Certain Snap Raise reviews describe a confusing checkout experience due to a lack of transparency around the donor tipping model, and auto-prompts that may result in additional charges incurred.
We made a $35 donation on Snap Raise. We ‘checked out’ and paid the $35 + $1.40 processing fee with our credit card. Received a email receipt for the full $36.40. Our credit card statement arrived with two charges…one for the $36.40 donation and a second charge for $55. No email receipt was ever received for the $55, nor were we asked to ‘check out’ and pay for the extra $55 charge.
I called Snap Raise to question the charge and they said we received an auto-prompt after paying the $36.40 donation to see if we want to tip a $55 hoodie. We never received notice or selected to ‘tip’ a hoodie…” – Jim Hamilton
“I wanted to donate $100 to my great-nephew’s soccer team … I put in a credit card number and they wanted to add a 4% fee and then a $22 tip. I changed out to a debit card and they still wanted the 4% fee. Somehow I refreshed the page and it was gone. I deleted the tip amount… At the last screen, there it was again, asking for another tip.” – Dan B.
If you’re concerned that supporters may feel misled or unable to distinguish between an actual donation and additional charges, you may want to consider alternatives to Snap Raise.
Snap Raise Pricing Explained
You may be wondering, “Is Snap Raise legit?”
Snap Raise offers custom pricing based on your unique fundraising needs. Their website mentions zero upfront costs or hidden transaction fees to use the platform.
While Snap Raise’s pricing and fee structure are not publicly disclosed, they note that organizations keep 80% of all funds raised at the end of a campaign.
Many Snap Raise reviews express frustration over the 20% platform fee, along with additional optional tips being requested from donors.
…They also charge exorbitant fees. Taking 20% is unreasonable when this is for non-profit causes…” – K Ramsey
“Being asked to cover a processing fee on top of the donation — and then being prompted for an additional “tip” — feels excessive and poorly aligned with the spirit of charitable giving. The payment-processing charge of 4% is way higher than the standard card processing fee of 2.99%, and the tip prompt makes the whole experience feel less like fundraising support and more like another way to extract money from donors…” – Joseph Bush
High platform fees can minimize your fundraising impact over time. In addition, requesting optional donor tips to cover operating costs can erode trust and drive away supporters.
Features
Here are some of the features available on the Snap Raise platform:
Community engagement app for managing rosters, communications, and scheduling, and driving engagement through events and incentives.
Basic donation tracking for each fundraising campaign
As I mentioned, Snap Raise is a platform primarily built to help schools and youth groups raise funds for specific programs.
If your organization requires a more comprehensive platform with additional fundraising features – such as donation kiosk software and text-to-give, you’ll need to consider alternatives.
Customer Support
Snap Raise has a chatbot available to answer direct questions or request support from their team. They also offer various help articles and are contactable via email and phone.
While reviews on their customer support are mixed, some users note that connecting with a human representative is challenging:
Almost impossible to reach a live representative.” – Dan S.
Snap Raise vs. Donorbox: Features and Fees at a Glance
Feature
Snap! Raise
Donorbox
Starting subscription
$0
$0/month
Platform fees
20% fee deducted at the end of every successful campaign
2.95% for most features on the Standard plan; processing fees apply
Modern payment methods
Limited
✅ – 25+ familiar payment methods
Recurring donations
❌
✅ – 7 recurring intervals supported
In-person donation kiosk software
❌
✅ – Supports tablets and smartphones
Customizable donation forms and pages
✅ – Basic customization
✅ – Advanced customization
Text-to-give
❌
✅
Event ticketing tool
Limited
✅
Crowdfunding
✅
✅
Peer-to-peer fundraising
✅
✅
Memberships
❌
✅
Online store
✅
❌
Community engagement app
✅
❌
Built-in CRM
❌
✅ – Coming soon
Now, let’s see why organizations choose Donorbox over Snap Raise in further detail.
How Donorbox Compares
Now that I’ve highlighted various Snap Raise reviews from schools, sports teams, and youth groups, you may be wondering why over 100,000 organizations across 96+ countries choose to fundraise with Donorbox.
Donorbox is a unified, global fundraising platform designed to help organizations of all types and sizes fundraise smarter. It offers a full suite of online and in-person fundraising features, plus advanced donor management tools for building lasting supporter relationships.
Here’s what one user had to say:
Top features:
Create a highly customizable donation form and page that truly reflects your brand. Add your brand colors, images, and text to appeal to supporters and build trust.
Bring in steady, reliable support with recurring donations. Choose from seven recurring intervals – in addition to one-time gifts – and add up to four on your form.
Collect cashless in-person donations via credit/debit cards and digital wallets with donation kiosk software for tablets and smartphones.
Promote and sell event tickets, simplify guest check-in, track attendees, and accept donations on top of ticket sales with Donorbox Events.
Increase engagement, donations, and campaign awareness with Donorbox Crowdfunding.
Effortlessly turn your one-time donors into long-term supporters with the Recurring Donation Upsell feature.
Get your biggest supporters to fundraise for you using their own customizable campaign pages with Donorbox Peer-to-Peer. Funds raised flow directly to your Donorbox account.
Elevate your mobile fundraising with Donorbox Text-to-Give.
Build lasting donor relationships, strengthen your outreach, and track every donation with Donorbox CRM (coming soon).
Donorbox offers three pricing plans built to grow with your fundraising needs:
Standard Plan: $0/month with a 2.95% platform fee for most features, and 3.95% for Events, Peer-to-Peer, and Memberships.
Pro Plan: $150/month with a reduced 1.75% platform fee for most features and additional perks like advanced form customization and white-label receipts included.
Premium Plan: Customize your plan based on your unique fundraising needs. Enjoy a reduced 1.6% platform fee for most features, plus additional benefits like a dedicated account manager, fundraising coaching, and more.
Pricing excludes standard Stripe and PayPal processing fees. Donorbox gives you the option to ask donors to cover the fees so more of their donation goes toward your cause.
Donorbox Pro and Premium users also enjoy a flat 2% platform fee for Events, Peer-to-Peer, and Memberships.
Nearly 70% of Pro organizations raise an average of 9x more within six months of signing up.
Interested in giving Donorbox a try? Sign up today.
For more reviews, comparison articles, and fundraising ideas, visit the Nonprofit Blog. Subscribe to the monthly newsletter to receive a hand-picked selection of articles sent to your inbox.
Jamy-Lee has over 7 years of experience in copywriting and content marketing. With experience teaching in underserved communities and volunteering for animal rescue organizations, she has a first-hand understanding of the challenges faced by mission-driven organizations. She now uses her passion for writing to share practical insights that help nonprofits fulfill their missions.