Accepting donations on WordPress for many organizations has for a long time required using multiple plugins on top of one another to achieve an end result which often times lacks critical functionality or good user experience. We have work with a number of non-profits and have developed donation solutions using WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads, Gravity Forms and many of WordPress.org’s donation solutions. None did exactly what we wanted. That’s why we created Give.
Introducing Give
Give is a plugin that allows users, non-profits, organizations and pretty much anyone, to accept donations on WordPress quickly and easily. It’s built to provide the best donation experience possible. No more unnecessary cart systems, incorrect terminology, or hacky workarounds.
Features Include:
- Single, Multiple-Level. and Custom Donation Options
- Robust Reporting Features
- Donation History for Donors
- PayPal Standard and Offline Payments by Default
- Custom User Roles
- Lots of Hooks for Developers
- … and so much more
…We also have a lot of Add-ons for Give.
Why Use Give?
If you want to accept donations on WordPress there are a number of routes to go. The two most popular solutions are:
- Using an eCommerce based solution like WooCommerce with a plethora of extensions
- Using a form-based solution like Gravity Forms with a more Add-ons
This works, but there are many drawbacks:
- Incorrect terminology
- Lack of reporting features
- Lack of importing/exporting
- High price points
- Gateways aren’t developed specifically for donations
- Unnecessary tax and shipping calculations
- Middleman cart screens and checkout pages
We’ve looked at all the solutions out there, built many solutions on top of them, and listened to the community. Give is the culmination of all the feedback received and our own experiences. The result, we believe, is best plugin for accepting donations on WordPress. Plus, it’s free! We never make any money off your cause, only on premium Add-ons. The core plugin is robust and has everything you need to get started. Need an additional feature like a specific gateway or integration with your email marketing system? That’s where Add-ons come into play.
Under the Hood
We know other developers play a large role in the overall success of a plugin. Give was born (forked) from Easy Digital Downloads. We have long admired Pippin Williamson and his team’s ability to craft well formatted and highly functional code. He has been a stand up guy throughout our development and has supported us from day 1. In turn, we are actively contributing to EDD and hope to continue to work closely with him and his team.
Give Documentation has also been important for us to continue writing and curating. This is important to help both users and developers. As such, we have built out various documentation sections for Add-ons, Give Core, and Developer docs. We coded Give with developers in mind. Give has a ton of flexibility via hooks (actions and filters).
A Bright Future Ahead
Since our initial release in early April, we have had nearly ~2,000 downloads and are at 500+ active installs. Right now downloads per day is around 35-50. We are working to get that number in the 100s by end of summer. To do that we are continuing to improve the plugin, release more content, and doing lots of marketing. I’m writing this right now at WordCamp Miami where we are here to learn and also network with key WordPress people about Give. Rest assure, we are in it for the long haul.
Key Give Links:
BONUS!
Here is a presentation I did recently on the Give creation process. I was invited to present by Chris Lema at his North County San Diego Meetup. Check out the slides here:
