GiveSmart

HIGHLY satisfied customer for over 5 years now. Amazing customer support!

Commenti: Nearly full event management by using this software.

Aspetti positivi:

Easy to use, customize and edit and update. Features offered have improved each year we have contracted with Givesmart. "One stop shopping" for event and auction management. We have utilized more features each year. What started as just utilizing auction management capability with limited effort into making the online auction site attractive has evolved to guest ticketing, table assignments, a highly customized auction site that reflects the event theme and with real time auction progress and bids scrolling on large screen ad televisions throughout the event venue to increase people's competitive bidding nature. After action information has been vital to determining what auction items had the most interests and highest profit margin. Has enabled us to better focus solicitation efforts for the next year.

Aspetti negativi:

Really very few cons for the software. Only limitation observed was limited printing options for auction item description for printing on card stock. There needs to be several options for the size and information/photo of the descriptive card tents.

The best campaign based fundraising tool on the market!

Commenti: Overall, we were very happy with our decision to move forward with GiveSmart. We recently renewed and extended our initial agreement for an extra two years.

Aspetti positivi:

The flexibility and detail that is offered with in the GiveSmart interface to admins is truly custom. We were able to set up our auction event and run multiple raffles, instant buys, and silent auctions along with our oral auction. The seating/reservations module was an amazing addition to the transparency and planning of our event. In the end, the team support from Givesmart made this transition and the overall event set up so easy.

Aspetti negativi:

The donor receipts are one per item and are not very custom or adaptive. This created additional work that should be captured in the software package.

Bad decision to purchase

Commenti: This was one of the worst technology purchases I have made with an organization. I regret bringing my team into this and spending a lot of money for very limited use cases and poor customer support.

Aspetti positivi:

I liked the ability to manage event registration, seating, and event fundraising in one place. I liked that sponsors, vendors, volunteers, and attendees could all have their own registration page for the same event.

Aspetti negativi:

We did not use the Auction component and actually opted for pen and paper after realizing the Givesmart Auction functionality. It does not look appealing or feel easy-to-shop for an attendee who is immersing in the software during the event. There was almost NO customization available for fundraising for units of impact as opposed to dollar amounts. The user (me) had very little ability to redefine an event attendee's experience on the platform. I had to spend weeks if not months requesting very simple changes to the giving forms. My experience with customer support was poor. They would reach out to me a few weeks before my event to see if I was using all the software features available and push me to integrate them that late in the project. There seemed to be no consideration for the user and where they are in the planning process versus what sales objectives they needed to accomplish before my renewal period arrived.

GiveSmart Review

Commenti: Boys & Girls Clubs of Larimer County uses GiveSmart frequently for events and other giving campaigns. It is super easy to set up campaigns and run them yourself. The GiveSmart staff is incredibly helpful on event days.

Aspetti positivi:

User friendly Clean, presentable look Unlimited events

Aspetti negativi:

Setting up new users with passwords tends to be difficult for us

The best product I have found in the online event fundraising market

Commenti: I've worked with GiveSmart for many years -- from the time they were Auctions By Cellular, Gesture and now GiveSmart. I have also worked with competitors and GiveSmart is the best product on the market due to their easy-to-use platform, staff support throughout the event planning process, and their onsite staff teams.

Aspetti positivi:

GiveSmart has excellent staff support and they are always quick to respond to questions, timely with email responses, and most importantly their onsite staff is excellent.

Aspetti negativi:

Not a great platform for live auctions - still not good enough to substitute for an "old fashioned" paddle raise. Lack of customization (font size, spacing around images, content) opportunities for the auction displays.

Perfect Addition to Our Events

Commenti: We looked around for awhile at a lot of different products before we settled on GiveSmart. Ultimately this one provided everything we needed with the perfect value for our money. So glad I found it!

Aspetti positivi:

Very user friendly, all of the features we were looking for in a software program.

Aspetti negativi:

There are certain things we cannot change/update ourselves. We have to contact support and have them do it.

Improving their platform more and more each year!

Commenti: GiveSmart makes it easy to enjoy an event/fundraiser by taking care of all customer needs and questions.

Aspetti positivi:

The event page was a very clear and concise hub to drive people towards our silent auction. I loved the customization that allowed you to match the design of the link to your event, in addition to the generic donate button.

Aspetti negativi:

The fact that the back end of the items tab didn't show a photo preview icon on each line. Also, that there isn't a comprehensive final report you can direct download all at once. Instead, you must click into each category of results you want to see one by one and download.

Limited functionality and customization

Commenti: I wish the people selling the product and facilitating its use had actual fundraising experience

Aspetti positivi:

My staff had used it before and thought it was easier to use.

Aspetti negativi:

Lacked basic software capabilities and extremely limited customization

GiveSmart is great

Commenti: Fantastic. Highly recommended.

Aspetti positivi:

Fantastic customer service. Like, seriously, the best. Better than any other vendor we use. The product is loaded with features, most of which we take advantage of -- auction items, auction packages, raffle tickets, event tickets, paddle raises, donations, users, registrants, etc. It's very intuitive to use; not difficult to set up a new event; very thorough and reporting capabilities; easy to process credit cards and receive payments...

Aspetti negativi:

The visual design is a bit bland. Could be more pretty.

Great customer support

Commenti: I loved the platform and the interface. The customer service it fantastic - especially that they have people come out and help with your events that truly care about the nonprofit sector. They really went above and beyond to help us close the auction and get the data inputted correctly!

Aspetti positivi:

I really liked the salespeople and the way thy helped you with anything you needed. This is the best customer support I've seen from all mobile bidding sites.

Aspetti negativi:

My only negative is the price for small nonprofits. If it were more affordable, I would use them again and again!

Amazing Product

Commenti: Most of our donors and guests loved the new aspect of our Auction, including switching to mobile bidding/checking in and out. Instead of the previous years of pen and paper bidding. There were only a few people that preferred the old method and just couldn't seem to get on bored. People were concerned that guests would be on their phones all night and no one would be interacting but it was quite the opposite. People had more time to mingle not having to go back and check the paper bid sheets since there were none.

Aspetti positivi:

We were looking for an affordable and easy to use mobile bidding auction program and this one did not disappoint. The company sends a representative to the auction to basically be the point person and fix anything that might come up and help with check in, entering data, etc. They show up early and stay through the event. They bring tablets that are easy to use for our volunteers and staff. Entering items and bidders is easy and functional. Your event can go live as soon as you'd like it to so that even donors that can't attend the night of, can bid on items. This increases revenue tremendously. They also helped us with not having small items but focusing on larger items of value and only having around 100-150 silent items. The colorful pictures and descriptions are easy to view on mobile devices. And if guests don't have a smart phone, we can help them bid on our tablets. Guests receive notification of being outbid, but you can add am amount you are willing to pay and Gesture will continue bidding on your behalf until the amount is reached. Guests are also able to check out from their device, so it makes check out a lot faster and smoother. It is a lot easier to collect on balances as well because we collect credit card information before the event. Guests received notification of being outbid, but you can add am amount you are willing to pay and Gesture will continue bidding on your behalf until the amount is reached.

Aspetti negativi:

If the tablets go down at check in, it pretty much puts everything at a stand still. Even though the tablets run without wi-fi. There are certain aspects that have to be changed or updated only by Gesture, we can't do it ourselves. Such as adding the individuals who receive notification of a payment or donation from the event. But they are usually quick about their customer service.

Great for in-person events, still working out the virtual event kinks

Commenti: Overall, I would recommend GiveSmart, especially as I know they will continue developing their software to provide better solutions for virtual events. It is really easy to set up your site and auction, and once users are in it is easy for them to use as well. The account managers are really fantastic and willing to help you through any questions or customizations you want to try. Unfortunately, in a virtual setting, it seems less risky to run the site and auction yourself on the day of the event. I appreciate their display, reporting and communication options.

Aspetti positivi:

This software is extremely easy to use from the administrative side. I like how easy it is to upload and edit auction items and do small customizations to the page to display information and even things like sponsor logos. The display for a live fundraising appeal with all the names and real-time amounts is great. I like being able to send texts very quickly. The reporting function is amazing. There are so many different types of reports to really be able to analyze the data. I like being able to livestream a youtube video with the presentation view. The customer support team is fantastic. I am excited to use the new Champions feature for peer-to-peer fundraising.

Aspetti negativi:

The switch to virtual events has created some kinks that need to be worked out. Whereas they typically were registered ahead of time by us as being on the guest list, or could register at the door, in a virtual setting they had issues registering themselves, especially if they were trying to register for a second event. It is not very intuitive to sign in if you forgot your password. I wish that you could customize the fonts and the order in which ads are displayed. I also would like to be able to send an email through Givesmart that would show up as coming from me so it would be less likely to be missed by event attendees. While the support team is fantastic, the on-site/day-of specialists can be hit or miss in their effectiveness.

My experience with the gesture site was easy, worry and stress free.

Commenti: I had a wonderful experience with this software. I found it was easy to make my own auction site.

Aspetti positivi:

The gesture software is very easy to learn. I am new to the website and it only took me about an hour to figure everything out. Everything is pretty self explanatory. I had to create an auction site for a silent and live auction. Adding each item came with ease. When you go to add an item each section is categorized telling you exactly what information to put in. I also found it very easy to go back and change things if I had made a mistake. The site is easy for others to use and view the auction items I posted. I felt that the crowd we were trying to attract was the older generation of people and this site allowed them to have the ability to see each item without complication. I really liked that the software told you who was watching certain items. It was easy to generate an item sheet in order to print them out and post them for our auction.

Aspetti negativi:

I think my least favorite thing about this software is trying to figure out when someone bids higher than you and who it is. I found that I had trouble when I bid on an item. My friend and I really wanted an item and we kept out bidding each other but didn't realize we were the only two bidding. I wish it would tell you who is bidding against yo.

First-time mobile bidding user

Commenti: Online technical troubleshooting is minimal and mostly limited to references to existing articles. Introduction to our on-site event lead was too late, and staff/volunteer training was therefore delayed. More pre-event communication and training with our direct event lead would have been helpful. The customer service provided by GiveSmart staff at registration was poor according to guest feedback. There was little effort in trying to understand the purpose and scope of our event and our intentions in how to use GiveSmart to facilitate our vision. Many guests had trouble with mobile bidding, but did not receive adequate support from GS staff. We instructed on-site GS staff about specific check-in procedures that were ignored; GS staff had pressured guests to provide credit cards despite our instructions.

Aspetti positivi:

Relatively easy bidding, data readily available for auction items, ability to import registrant data with custom fields

Aspetti negativi:

Page customization is relatively inflexible given our organization's needs. Any changes to auction item description input and packaging is tedious given that you have to un-package items to make more extensive changes to individual items. The donor recognition is automated so it's prone to errors. Auction item restrictions are not readily visible on the mobile site for bidders. Item photos can't be saved from the platform. Item certificate and acknowledgment letter formatting is inflexible and flawed. Funds to account are not easily distinguishable between auction and donation, which does not help our accounting.

GiveSmart Changes the Terms of Agreement without Notification!!!

Commenti: I would never recommend working with GiveSmart. The customer service is awful and the company deceives their clients. We signed up on a year-to-year annual renewal and did for 3 years in a row. We chose to cancel our year-to-year deal this year and provided over 30 days notice of cancellation as per the terms of the original and annual agreement. GiveSmart asked us to renew 3 months early in 2021 and changed the annual agreement to a multi-year agreement without notification the terms had changed prior to renewal. They say we are locked in for two more years with this service. Our leadership is not happy with GiveSmart's business practices and the company should be ashamed for deceiving their clients into long-term agreements.

Aspetti positivi:

Importing items. Reporting is decent post-event.

Aspetti negativi:

Training could be a lot better. When asked if we could get help setting up an auction for the first time, the GiveSmart rep sent a video for us watch instead of personally helping us. The design templates are limited along with the graphics. It's not intuitive and their customer service is worthless.

Give Smart for Non Profit Gala

Commenti: The past two years have been a good experience with Give Smart. The support team and the Customer Service Teams are professional and extremely helpful.

Aspetti positivi:

The software based on our users feedback is easy to use. Once someone is registered they appreciate their data remains in the system. We did a virtual gala this year, and with help from the Give Smart team, we were able to set up our entire gala on Give Smart with not alot of effort. The mobile bidding is easy for users for our silent auction and this year being virtual for our "live" auction as well.

Aspetti negativi:

We feel that some features could be improved. One is when adding sponsors even though there are two categories, premium and standard, if you add a premium sponsor after adding other sponsors they show up in random orders. It would be helpful if once you added the sponsors you could drag and drop them in the order you would like them, especially since most sponsorships are based on a dollar range. On the global settings screen and the home page there should be more flexibility with fonts and ability to add additional items not just the specific ones that are there like location and date and time.

GiveSmart for Nonprofit fundraising

Commenti: I like GiveSmart and so far our experience has been good. I look forward to using the platform with the assistance at our live event.

Aspetti positivi:

The GiveSmart platform was easy to get started and use as a landing page for our virtual fundraiser and for our golf benefit. The tracking of donations and ticket sales was convenient and well broken down in reports. We were unable to use the on site feature since the event was cancelled so I cannot speak to that.

Aspetti negativi:

Though we did not utilized the auction page with items, aesthetically, I do not prefer the format, it looks too busy once you have multiple items. We saw an auction in the office from Auctria and their item format was more aesthetically pleasing, not so busy. The page design feature has quite a few steps to create multiple pages with little flexibility in changing fonts, colors etc. I found I used Word Publisher to create a flyer then uploaded the flyer into the space as an image.

Great for Events

Aspetti positivi:

This makes it easy to fundraise for special events like golf tournaments or galas.

Aspetti negativi:

There are some functionalities that cannot be changed- like being notified if a general donation (not ticket) is made and tabs/website layout.

Out of Box, Very Specific Tool

Commenti: We were hoping to use it for more fundraising applications, but the team is looking for ways to stop using outside of random auctions we do.

Aspetti positivi:

They were an answer to allowing us to do online silent auctions during the pandemic.

Aspetti negativi:

There seems to be more and more walls we have hit with this product. Our team has found itself reaching out to support for what we deem as very basic functions that should be available to the product (being able to delete a custom page that was created on a campaign). There have been many glitches: charging donors multiple times or not notifying admins of gifts at all.

Fun, Easy to Use Software

Commenti: The first year, we did not feel the support was adequate on the night of the event. Last year, we had a dedicated GiveSmart person in our organization and we were very satisfied with the support we received. Also, the support from the beginning of the campaign until weeks after was very good. We are a nonprofit organization composed of an all volunteer workforce. We needed help and it was available. We are using GiveSmart again this year. We look forward to another successful event.

Aspetti positivi:

We use this software for our annual fall fundraiser. We utilize the functions for Silent Auction, Live Auction, Ring The Bell, First Choice, etc. it is extremely easy to add, delete and correct items. Downloading the reports to Excel take seconds. If mistakes are made, they are easily corrected. Our members enjoy using the product, even though many of them are not computer literate. It’s easy to use! We have had a lot of success using this software.

Aspetti negativi:

I wish the list of available reports had names that better defined the reports.

Definitely recommended!

Commenti: The company & employees are top notch, knowledgeable in their industry, and seem very eager to help. We were able to get some items/issues addressed and fixed prior to launch. Other items were 'dealt with' on our side because there was no work around. They have rolled out a couple of changes we requested as product enhancements since then. Reporting leaves a lot to be desired, but you don't realize it until you are in the thick of it. Was cost comparable to other companies we researched and worked with.

Aspetti positivi:

We have worked with the company for several years now on a single event and have appreciated the seamless transition from year to year on the event. We are now planning to utilize it for other events and look forward to working with their great customer support group!

Aspetti negativi:

Some things are very customizable, and some things are not. It would be beneficial to have more flexibility and less rigidity on parts of the website design, automated forms/responses, etc.

Ease of Event Management

Commenti: The experience with Givesmart has been very good so far. The support team is always good about answering questions or getting back to me quickly when we are the middle of an event crisis. We have used the on-site staff to help us at the live events and I cannot say enough wonderful things about how smoothly our event ran, the helpfulness of the staff and the ease of keeping the data accurate during the event.

Aspetti positivi:

The software is pretty user friendly. There are various options for reporting tools to access the data stored per event which makes it handy for when I need to reconcile an event.

Aspetti negativi:

The option for customizing the home page is still not as easy to arrange as I would like it to be.

Good Suite of Services, and Hands on Team

Aspetti positivi:

There are a lot of ways to use the GiveSmart platform. From ticket sales to silent and live auction items, as well as stand-alone campaigns. The customer service is responsive, and our hands-on GiveSmart reps for even day have been easy to work with.

Aspetti negativi:

I feel a little nickel and dimed on some of the features. The ticketing option is great, but the cost associated with it was a little steep for my budget.

A great fundraising tool!

Aspetti positivi:

It's an incredible fundraising tool and has grown our fundraising efforts through online ticket sales, online auction, and donation ask.

Aspetti negativi:

I wish there was an app the guests could download and use year after year. The current platform is not difficult but I wonder if an app would be easier to navigate and store donor information.

Gesture use for our annaul Gala

Commenti: Aside from the comprehensive report, everything else with gestures was fairly simple and easy to use. The staff from gestures that helped during the event was knowledgeable and able to help and respond quickly and effectively during the event went on which made it less chaotic feeling for us.

Aspetti positivi:

I love that gesture was easy for our guests to use at our gala. We used it for check in and the process was simple and easy to understand for our volunteers at registration to find info. We used it for our silent auction and guests were able to see the items from their phones and bid very easily and they received notices when they were outbid or when they won. We used it for general donations, selling centerpieces, and checkout. Overall pretty easy to use during the event.

Aspetti negativi:

During the check in process we were unable to search by table number which would have been helpful because sometimes we are asked who is sitting at a certain table and it would be nice to look up by table. Also after the event we needed specific reports to be able to input all of the money we received and record all of the info and gestures did not yet have one comprehensive report to give us what we needed, instead I had to modify and combine several reports to make it work for our needs.