PayPal vs.
Sponsor A Purpose
Discover why nonprofits choose Sponsor A Purpose
A PayPal alternative that manages donors, not just payments
PayPal is a payment processor with a donate button on top. It will take money reliably, and for a confirmed charity its rate is genuinely competitive. What it will not do is tell you who gave last year and lapsed, which volunteers also donate, or which lapsed donors to call this month. Sponsor A Purpose includes donation processing and the CRM around it. PayPal alternatives are easy to compare on rate and hard to compare on everything else, because PayPal has no donor record to compare against.
What SAPu offers
Every gift on a record
Donation history, notes and tasks on one supporter profile
0% platform fees
Stripe processing at 2.2% + $0.30, published openly
Follow-up built in
Segments, email and journeys from the same data
It replaces your whole stack, not just PayPal
A CRM here, a donation form there, email somewhere else. Sponsor A Purpose brings all of it into one connected platform.
Cost and what you get free
PayPal publishes its rates and charges nothing to set up or cancel, and confirmed charities can qualify for 1.99% + $0.49, which beats our 2.2% + $0.30 on larger gifts. That rate needs an application and pre-approval; standard commercial rates run 2.99% to 3.49% otherwise. What PayPal does not include at any price is a CRM.
| Feature | Sponsor A Purpose | PayPal |
|---|---|---|
| Free core CRM | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | PayPal: no |
| Published processing rates | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | PayPal: yes |
| No setup or cancellation fees | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | PayPal: yes |
| Rate below 2% for approved charities | Sponsor A Purpose: no | PayPal: yes |
Donor CRM
This is the whole argument. PayPal gives you transactions in a payments dashboard: no supporter profile, no giving history in one place, no segmentation, no notes, no tasks. Every gift here attaches to a donor record you can act on.
| Feature | Sponsor A Purpose | PayPal |
|---|---|---|
| Donor records with full giving history | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | PayPal: no |
| Segmentation and custom fields | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | PayPal: no |
| Notes on contact records | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | PayPal: no |
| Tasks and activities | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | PayPal: no |
Giving and payments
PayPal is strong here and matches us on processing, recurring giving, a hosted donation page, an embeddable button, QR codes for in-person giving and letting donors pick a program or fund. DAF giving and employer matching gifts inside the widget are ours.
| Feature | Sponsor A Purpose | PayPal |
|---|---|---|
| DAF giving built into the widget | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | PayPal: no |
| Corporate matching gifts | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | PayPal: no |
| Online donation processing | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | PayPal: yes |
| Recurring giving | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | PayPal: yes |
| Hosted donation page | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | PayPal: yes |
| Embeddable donation button | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | PayPal: yes |
| QR code for in-person giving | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | PayPal: yes |
| Donors choose a specific program or fund | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | PayPal: yes |
Communication and automation
PayPal sends payment notifications and nothing else. Segments, email campaigns and prebuilt journeys run off the same donor data here, so a gift can trigger the follow-up without an export.
| Feature | Sponsor A Purpose | PayPal |
|---|---|---|
| Fundraising email campaigns | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | PayPal: no |
| Prebuilt donor journeys | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | PayPal: no |
Grants
PayPal does no grant work. Grant discovery on IRS 990 funder filings, deadline and pipeline tracking and AI-assisted writing are add-ons here.
| Feature | Sponsor A Purpose | PayPal |
|---|---|---|
| Grant discovery on IRS 990 funder data | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | PayPal: no |
| AI grant writing | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | PayPal: no |
Volunteers
PayPal has no volunteer side. Volunteers, fosters and partners sit on the same record set as donors with us, with volunteer management as a $29 a month add-on.
| Feature | Sponsor A Purpose | PayPal |
|---|---|---|
| Volunteer management | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | PayPal: no |
Services and support
PayPal is a payments company serving every kind of business; we work only with nonprofits. Website design and hosting, growth consulting and appointment scheduling are paid services we offer and they do not.
| Feature | Sponsor A Purpose | PayPal |
|---|---|---|
| Appointment scheduling | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | PayPal: no |
| Website design and hosting (service) | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | PayPal: no |
| Nonprofit-only focus | Sponsor A Purpose: yes | PayPal: no |
Sponsor A Purpose vs. PayPal: common questions
Keep the processor. Add the donor record.
PayPal is a competent way to take a payment. Sponsor A Purpose gives you the CRM, forms, reporting and follow-up around it, with no monthly fee on the free tier.