GiveNow
Small to medium-sized Australian charities, not-for-profits, and community groups that want a low-overhead, no-lock-in donation platform with local Australian data storage and an optional donor-covers-cost model.
An Australian donation platform founded in 2001 and operated by social enterprise Our Community, built for small to medium-sized charities and not-for-profits, with percentage-based pricing and locally stored data.
- Headquartered in
- AU
- Funding model
- Optional tip
- Platform fee
- 1.5% + tip
- Payment processing fee
- 0.26% + A$0.00
- Recipient gets
- A$98.24 / A$100
- Data residency
- Australia
- Countries
- 1
- Languages
- 1
- Last updated
- 2026-06-08
Our overall editorial assessment. Full weights are published in the methodology.
The review
GiveNow is an Australian online donation platform founded in 2001 and based in Melbourne, describing itself as Australia's first digital fundraising platform. It is built specifically for small to medium-sized charities and not-for-profit organizations, and operates as a social enterprise of the Our Community group, which serves Australia's large community-organization sector.
The platform is operated by Our Community Pty Ltd and uses a percentage-based pricing model with no subscription, lock-in, or upfront cost; donors are given the choice to cover the platform's cost at checkout, and the platform reports that most of them do. Pricing tiers scale by capability, and a per-donation cap limits the platform's share on large gifts.
GiveNow's core strengths are its not-for-profit, low-overhead positioning and its Australian data residency: all customer data is stored locally in Australia, which matters for local privacy expectations. The trade-offs are a single-country focus - it operates only in Australia - and an English-only, domestically oriented product, so it is not suited to international or multi-currency fundraising.
Payments support Visa and Mastercard, both Australian and international cards, American Express, and direct debit for recurring giving, processed under Australian pricing where GST applies. The combination of low percentage-based costs, an optional donor-covers model, and local data storage makes GiveNow well aligned with Australian community groups, charities, and not-for-profits seeking a no-lock-in fundraising tool.
What’s good, what’s not.
- ✓Purpose-built for small to medium-sized Australian charities and not-for-profits.
- ✓Operated by Our Community, a long-running Australian social enterprise (since 2001).
- ✓Percentage-based pricing with no subscription, lock-in, or upfront cost.
- ✓Optional donor-covers-cost model, which the platform reports most donors choose.
- ✓All customer data stored locally in Australia.
- ✓Supports Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and direct debit for recurring giving.
- −Single-country focus: operates only in Australia, with no international footprint.
- −English-only, domestically oriented product not suited to multi-currency or cross-border fundraising.
- −International cards carry a higher processing cost than domestic Australian cards.
- −Payment options center on cards and direct debit, with limited documentation of digital wallets.
Where each A$100 actually goes.
Fees vary by payment method. We default to Credit card because that’s the dominant method in the United Kingdom.
GiveNow doesn’t process payments in GBP. Pricing is shown in AUD, its native currency.
1 countries · 1 languages · 0 payment methods.
Better-fit alternatives to GiveNow.
Our curated shortlist — the platforms we’d actively recommend instead of GiveNow for fundraising in the United Kingdom, with the figures behind the call. For the full, neutral index of every side-by-side, see Compare with below.
GiveNow keeps donor data in Australia; WhyDonate is EEA-resident and GDPR-native, so personal data never leaves the region.
Zeffy lets more of each donation through than GiveNow — £100.00 reaches the recipient per 100, against £98.24.
JustGiving operates in more countries than GiveNow (6 vs 1), so it reaches donors GiveNow can’t.
See how GiveNow stacks up head-to-head.
Frequently asked questions
What does GiveNow charge?
GiveNow charges a 1.5% platform fee with an optional voluntary donor tip on top, plus 0.26% + A$0.00 in payment processing per donation.
Where is GiveNow based?
GiveNow was founded in — and is headquartered in AU. Data residency is Australia.
Which countries does GiveNow operate in?
GiveNow operates in 1 countries including major European markets and English-speaking markets.
Is GiveNow suitable for nonprofits?
GiveNow’s primary audience is individual fundraisers and groups; nonprofits can use the platform but may find specialized alternatives better suited.
Rankings are produced by a public editorial methodology — open to peer review. We disclose ownership, scoring weights, and every change.