How much does it cost to build a donation app?

Standard price for a donation app: $10,000

Find out the cost to build your own custom donation app:

Get Estimate Now

What is a donation app?

A donation application is a web, mobile, or desktop application that enables users to donate money to a cause. Donation apps typically include the ability for users to browse different causes and organizations, view descriptions of the causes, contribute funds via credit card or other payment methods (such as PayPal), and share their donations with friends on social media sites.

Donation apps are similar to crowdfunding apps, peer-to-peer lending apps, and fundraising apps. CharityNavigator is an example of a donation app, while LendingClub is an example of a peer-to-peer lending app.

Here are some recent donation app examples built with Crowdbotics:

  • People can scan a QR code attached to collection jars with their phone and the app pops up to raise money for the homeless.

What is the typical cost to build a donation app?

A donation app usually costs $10,000 to build. However, the total cost can be as low as $10,000 or as high as $10,000. A donation app with a low number of features (also known as a "minimum viable product", or MVP) will be more affordable than an app that includes all intended functionality.

For example, here are some recent donation app price quotes from Crowdbotics:

  • $10,000

Here are some considerations that may impact the cost of a app:

How long does it take to build a donation app?

A donation app usually takes 133 hours to build. However, a donation app can be built in as few as 133 hours, or in as many as 133 hours. The exact timeline mostly depends on how complicated your app is. As a general rule, it will take longer if you require highly custom designs, niche features, or non-standard release platforms.

For example, the most recent donation apps built with Crowdbotics received the following hourly estimates:

  • 133

How to successfully grow your donation application

A donation app encourages growth by making it easy for users to donate money to a cause that they care about. An effective donation app will demonstrate that the funds are being used effectively, and it will also provide detailed information about the impact of donated funds on the ground. Donation apps can increase customer loyalty through gamification strategies, such as rewarding users with badges and points for their donations. They can also use social media marketing to generate more word-of-mouth referrals.

Risks and challenges of building a donation application

Donation apps are vulnerable to misrepresentation and fraud. Before building a donation app, you should ensure that you have the right people in place to handle the finances of your organization. It is also very important that you build fundraising campaigns that clearly communicate the values of your organization, including how funds will be used and who will be responsible for deciding how they are spent.

Want a more detailed estimate?

Get a feature-by-feature breakdown with our cost estimate calculator.

Browse our full library of app cost quotes.

Find pricing info for all other app types here.

Some of the descriptions on this page were completed with AI assistance. Learn more here.