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You're evaluating Network for Good (now Bonterra Fundraising) and you want real answers, not a sales page. This review pulls from 1,300+ verified ratings across G2, Capterra, Software Advice, and Trustpilot to tell you what users actually experience. More importantly, it interprets what those reviews mean for a nonprofit your size, so you can make a confident decision.

Table of contents

• Cross-platform rating snapshot

• Is Network for Good the same as Bonterra?

• What users love about Network for Good

• What users complain about

• Who is Network for Good best for

• Pricing breakdown

• Best alternatives for small nonprofits

• FAQs

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Cross-platform rating snapshot

Before diving into what users say, here's how Network for Good (Bonterra Fundraising) scores across the major review platforms.

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What do these numbers mean for your org? A 4.4 on Capterra is solid for nonprofit software. But the lower Trustpilot score tracks with a pattern in the review text: users who interact with billing and pricing changes after the Bonterra transition tend to leave more critical reviews. The Capterra and Software Advice scores reflect day-to-day platform users, while Trustpilot captures a broader mix including donors and orgs dealing with account issues.

The takeaway: High satisfaction on product usability. Lower satisfaction on pricing transparency and the post-acquisition experience.

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Is Network for Good the same as Bonterra?

This is one of the most common questions in the search results, so let's answer it directly.

Yes. Bonterra acquired Network for Good and the product now operates as Bonterra Fundraising Essentials. The core functionality, donor CRM, fundraising pages, email marketing, event management, is the same product most Network for Good users know.

What changed:

• Branding moved from Network for Good to Bonterra Fundraising

• New plan tiers (Essentials, Pro, Enterprise) replaced the older pricing structure

• Pro and Enterprise plans require custom quotes

• Expanded AI features and automation tools were added at higher plan levels

• Transaction fees (up to 4.75%) remain across all plans

If you see "Bonterra Fundraising" and "Network for Good" used interchangeably in reviews, they're referring to the same platform. The confusion in user reviews is real and worth noting: several reviewers on Software Advice and G2 mention frustration with the rebrand and feeling uncertain about what features they were actually paying for post-transition.

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What users love about Network for Good

Here's what comes up repeatedly in positive reviews, organized by theme.

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Ease of use and onboarding

Our experience has been great from onboarding until today. All staff members were able to figure out Bonterra with little to no questions from their moment of first log-in. Questions were answered as needed. No complaints.
— Judy E., Capterra

For nonprofits without a dedicated IT person, low-friction onboarding is a real differentiator. Multiple reviewers across Capterra and Software Advice specifically mention that non-technical staff picked up the platform quickly.

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CRM and donor tracking

The CRM works really well — it's easy to keep track of donors, real-time donations, and events. It lets you stay in contact with donors and see their patterns of giving. It's also easy to see which events brought in the most donations, and lets you easily email groups of donors, either by event or by giving patterns.
— Aiden F., Capterra

Donor segmentation and giving history visibility are consistently praised. For small nonprofits managing a few hundred to a few thousand contacts, the CRM handles the core use case well.

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All-in-one platform value

I was able to get rid of a few software programs because of the versatility of Bonterra. I feel that this one product covers so many bases for me to collect donations, ticket sales, etc... and reach out to potential donors or buyers. It has saved our organization money because of its versatility.
— Kevin M., Capterra

Consolidating fundraising, donor management, and communications in one platform reduces administrative overhead. For lean teams, that time savings has real dollar value.

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Data in one place

It has simplified things by putting data all in one place! No more moving data from the event reservation platform, the credit card processor, and the newsletter service! And the platform is easy to use and generates great-looking newsletters.
— Carolina S., Capterra

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Customer support quality

Bonterra has a 4.6/5 customer support rating on Capterra. Support options include email, live chat during business hours, phone access, and an online help center. For an all-in-one platform at this price point, that's above average for the category.

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What users complain about

Balanced reviews earn trust. Here's what Bonterra users consistently flag as frustrating.

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Transaction fees add up fast

Least favorite part is that when you set up an event, after selling 50 tickets, NFG takes $1 per ticket sold. As a nonprofit, this adds up quick for us. Although I love using NFG, if we could find another platform that didn't do this but had all of the other good features NFG has, we would probably switch to them.
— Lizzy A., Capterra

Transaction fees up to 4.75% on top of monthly subscription costs are the single most common negative theme across all platforms. For a nonprofit raising $100,000 per year, that fee exposure can reach $4,750 before the subscription is even counted.

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Reporting requires manual workarounds

Reporting is sometimes awkward and not very intuitive. Data must be exported to an outside worksheet and then re-arranged in meaningful ways.
— Michael D., Capterra

Several reviewers echo this. Built-in reporting covers basics well, but anything beyond standard summaries requires exporting to Excel. For orgs that need board-ready reports or grantor reporting, this creates recurring manual work.

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Interface gaps and missing features

Some aspects of the user interface is clunky and unintuitive. Also lacks some functionality that we have discovered would be useful. Lacks social media integration for emails, which is a feature that was actually mentioned in our demo, but does not actually exist.
— Jessica B., Capterra

Features promised in demos not appearing in the product is a trust issue. It comes up in multiple reviews and is worth asking about specifically during any sales process.

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The Bonterra transition created confusion

Bonterra's product works ok, it's difficult to pull accurate data because of the lack of options for soft-credit management, and there are no reporting options. In general you can't do global changes and the options for custom fields are not robust. There are MANY better, cheaper options out there right now for a CRM if the main thing you need is quality data management and reporting. That said, the main reason for this review is Bonterra as a company seems to be going for the buying up all the small companies to weed out competition strategy instead of actually improving their product or user experience.
— Carolyn C., Software Advice

The post-acquisition period generated a noticeable cluster of critical reviews. Users who had established workflows under Network for Good found pricing changes and product direction less predictable under Bonterra.

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Who is Network for Good best for

This is the section that review aggregators don't give you. Here's the honest editorial assessment.

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Built for: Small-to-mid nonprofits that want simplicity

Network for Good (Bonterra Essentials) works best for:

• Organizations with under 10,000 donors in their database

• Teams of 1-5 staff who need fundraising, CRM, and communications without a technical lead

• Nonprofits running regular giving campaigns, events, and email appeals as their primary fundraising model

• Orgs that prioritize ease of use over advanced customization

If your team is spending time stitching together a separate email tool, donation platform, and spreadsheet-based donor list, Bonterra Essentials can genuinely reduce that fragmentation.

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Not ideal for: Growing orgs or budget-constrained small nonprofits

Network for Good becomes a poor fit when:

• Transaction fees eat into small donations. If your donor base gives a lot of $5-$25 gifts, per-transaction fees compound quickly.

• You need advanced reporting. Board reporting, grant reporting, and multi-fund tracking require exports and workarounds that cost staff time.

• Your database is growing fast. Pricing scales with your supporter count, and several reviewers note that costs increased significantly as they grew.

• You're a grassroots org where every dollar counts. The combination of monthly subscription fees and transaction fees creates real overhead for small budgets.

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The grassroots fee problem, a real example

Farming4Hunger is a Maryland grassroots nonprofit working on food insecurity and second-chance community programs at Serenity Farm. They switched away from their previous platform because the fee structure was undermining their fundraising model.

Linda Canfield, Grant Writer and Coordinator at Farming4Hunger, explains:

We find that our donors come from all walks of life and all socioeconomic levels. A $5 donation is just as valuable to us as a $50 donation. The fees from our previous platform cost us more than any grassroots donation.
— Linda Canfield, Farming4Hunger

After moving to Zeffy, Farming4Hunger raised $16,466 and saved $823 in fees on that fundraising alone. According to Linda, the savings compound significantly over a full year:

Zeffy is saving us, at minimum, over $3,000 annually. This frees up funds to go towards our cook trailer and other overhead expenses.
— Linda Canfield, Farming4Hunger

Farming4Hunger isn't alone. Nineveh Rising tried Donorbox, Venmo, GoFundMe, Network for Good, PayPal, and Square before landing on Zeffy, raising $54,832 and saving $2,742 in fees in the process.

The pattern is consistent: when your donor base skews toward smaller gifts and your budget is tight, platform and transaction fees matter more than advanced features.

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Network for Good Fee Calculator

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Pricing breakdown

Bonterra's pricing structure requires a direct conversation with their sales team for anything beyond the Essentials plan. Here's what's publicly known.

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Bonterra's 4.4/5 "value for money" rating on Capterra reflects the reality that users generally feel the platform delivers on its core promise for small nonprofits. But "value for money" perceptions shift once transaction fees are factored into total cost of ownership, particularly for orgs raising over $50,000 per year.

Add-on features increase costs further. If you're requesting a custom quote, ask explicitly about the total cost per donation including all transaction fees, not just the subscription price.

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Best alternatives for small nonprofits

If the fee structure or feature gaps make Bonterra a poor fit for your organization, here are the platforms worth evaluating. See also: a full Network for Good vs. Zeffy comparison.

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Zeffy

Zeffy is purpose-built for nonprofits and charges no platform, transaction, or credit card fees on any fundraising. It's funded entirely by optional donor tips, which donors can adjust or remove at checkout.

The platform supports online donations, events, raffles, peer-to-peer fundraising, memberships, auctions, e-commerce, and a built-in donor management CRM. Over 100,000 nonprofits have raised $2B+ through Zeffy.

On pricing: Zeffy has a 4.8/5 "value for money" rating on Capterra, the highest among platforms in this comparison.

Zeffy provides an ideal platform for event registrations for my non-profit organizations. Setting up events and managing registrations is quick and easy. Registration forms can include custom questions which is essential for our events. The ability to accept optional donations has proven helpful. The fee structure which ensures our non-profit receives 100% of the proceeds from registrations and donations is terrific.
— Cynthia L., Capterra

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Bloomerang

Bloomerang focuses on donor retention and engagement analytics. It's a strong choice for nonprofits that want built-in retention scoring and wealth screening.

• Starts at $125/month, increases as your donor database grows

• 4.7/5 overall rating on Capterra

• Best for: orgs with 1,000-10,000 donors that prioritize relationship depth over breadth

Bloomerang was a great tool to have with a team that was not tech-literate/savvy. All of its basic functions necessary for tracking a donor through a donor-lifecycle also made it a great foundational CRM.
— Operations Manager, Capterra

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DonorPerfect

DonorPerfect is an established CRM platform used by nearly 11,000 organizations. It offers strong customization and reporting, but the interface feels dated and the learning curve is steeper than Bonterra.

• Starts at $99/month; transaction fees average 2-3%

• 4.6/5 overall rating on Capterra

• Best for: orgs that need deep CRM customization and can invest in staff training

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Neon One

Neon One's CRM handles donor management, membership, volunteer coordination, and peer-to-peer fundraising in one platform. Pricing requires a custom quote.

• 4.3/5 overall rating on Capterra

• Best for: mid-sized nonprofits that need a scalable all-in-one system with strong integrations

The built-in fundraising, event registration, and contact management features have allowed us to keep everything inside of NEON. Previously we were cobbling together data from separate systems with quite a lot of Excel exporting and importing in between.
— Stuart W., Capterra

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Classy

Classy is the strongest option for peer-to-peer and crowdfunding campaigns, especially for mid-to-large nonprofits running high-volume campaigns.

• Custom quotes with transaction fees on all plans

• 4.3/5 overall rating on Capterra

• Best for: orgs with dedicated fundraising staff running large-scale campaigns

The trade-off for simplicity, ease of use and reliability is a more limited array of options and features. The complexity of our events frequently stretches the capabilities of the software's standard features.
— Mick W., Capterra

For small nonprofits managing lean budgets and diverse donor bases, keeping every dollar that reaches your cause matters. No platform fees, transaction fees, or credit card fees means more of what you raise goes directly to your mission.

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FAQs

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