Altruism Ireland vs Alvarum
Irish donors and registered Irish charities that want zero-platform-fee giving with a strong emphasis on charity transparency and accountability.
French and European charities and associations running cause-based or sports-challenge fundraising who want donations paid directly to the beneficiary and support for European local payment methods.
On a €100 donation, Altruism Ireland delivers €0.70 more to the recipient than Alvarum.
Altruism Ireland & Alvarum don’t process payments in GBP — pricing shown in EUR.
What the data says.
Altruism Ireland stores donor data inside the EEA — a practical advantage for GDPR-sensitive campaigns — while Alvarum does not.
On the headline numbers, Altruism Ireland and Alvarum are closely matched — the better pick comes down to Credit card availability, language coverage, and where your donors are.
Side-by-side.
| Metric | Altruism Ireland | Alvarum |
|---|---|---|
| Recipient gets (€100) | €98.55★ winner | €97.85 |
| Platform fee | 0% | 0% |
| Payment processing fee | 1.2% + €0.25★ winner | 1.9% + €0.25 |
| Trustpilot | — (0) | — (0) |
| Country coverage | 1 countries★ winner | 0 countries |
| Data residency | EU★ winner | France |
| Languages | 1 | 2★ winner |
| Payment methods supported | 1 | 1 |
Winner by category.
€98.55 vs €97.85 reaches the recipient.
— vs — on Trustpilot.
1 vs 0 countries.
EEA data residency for GDPR-sensitive donor data.
Choose based on who you are.
Irish donors and registered Irish charities that want zero-platform-fee giving with a strong emphasis on charity transparency and accountability.
- ✓0% platform fee, so listed charities keep the full donation apart from payment-processing costs.
- ✓Operated by a registered Irish charity (CRA 20082475), aligning its incentives with the causes it lists.
- ✓Transparency focus helps donors assess how charities use their funds.
- ✓Education programmes offered to high-performing charities.
French and European charities and associations running cause-based or sports-challenge fundraising who want donations paid directly to the beneficiary and support for European local payment methods.
- ✓Donations are routed directly to the beneficiary charity and settled on an automated monthly cycle rather than held by the platform.
- ✓Strong fit for sports-challenge and participatory event fundraising such as marathons and cycling events.
- ✓European local payment methods - iDEAL, Bancontact, Sofort, and SEPA direct debit - alongside Visa and Mastercard cards.
- ✓Payments handled by HiPay, a payment institution authorised by France's ACPR; Alvarum registered with ORIAS as a donation crowdfunding intermediary.
A third option.
Dutch and other social-impact initiators running Global-Goals-aligned campaigns who value personal coaching and community-building over a high-volume, self-serve crowdfunding marketplace.
Other comparisons.
Frequently asked questions
Which is cheaper, Altruism Ireland or Alvarum?
On a €100 donation, Altruism Ireland delivers approximately €98.55 to the recipient and Alvarum delivers approximately €97.85. Real costs depend on the payment method donors choose.
Which is better for European nonprofits?
Altruism Ireland is generally better suited to European nonprofits handling GDPR-sensitive donor data because of its EEA data residency.
Which platform has more country coverage?
Altruism Ireland operates in 1 countries; Alvarum operates in 0.
Rankings are produced by a public editorial methodology — open to peer review. We disclose ownership, scoring weights, and every change.