ActBlue

RATING:

2.5

(33)

About ActBlue

Trusted by grassroots organizations, ActBlue is a free online fundraising solution that utilizes a single-click payment system and customizable branded forms to create online donation pages. With ActBlue's payment system, ActBlue Express Lane, organizations can easily embed links to fundraising emails, enabling higher conversion rates. For ongoing support, ActBlue provides a customer service team that handles all donation questions and issues. ActBlue provides an unlimited number of forms that can be branded to match any fundraising cause within minutes. All contribution forms are designed to be mobile responsive for any mobile fundraising campaign. In order to optimize forms for the highest conversions, built-in A/B tools are available for every contribution form...

ActBlue Pricing

Flat rate of 3.95% on each contribution received.

Free trial: 

Not Available

Free version: 

Not Available

Slide 1 of 2

ActBlue Reviews

Overall Rating

2.5

Ratings Breakdown

Secondary Ratings

Ease-of-use

3

Customer Support

1.5

Value for money

2

Functionality

2.5

Most Helpful Reviews for ActBlue

1 - 5 of 33 Reviews

User Profile

Sara

Verified reviewer

Marketing and Advertising, 11-50 employees

Used weekly for less than 12 months

Review Source: Capterra
This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered

OVERALL RATING:

5

EASE OF USE

5

VALUE FOR MONEY

4

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

3

FUNCTIONALITY

4

Reviewed December 2022

ActBlue is a powerhouse for democratic & progressive campaigns

Overall, my experience with ActBlue is amazing! You can literally set up a free ActBlue account within minutes, and see for yourself how wonderful the platform is. Overall, I am thankful for the effort that goes into security, compliance and data integration, so I never have to put my political campaigns or nonprofit events in jeopardy.

PROS

I like the fundraising tools that ActBlue offers to utilize the "people power" in order to successfully execute political campaigns and nonprofit events. Specifically, I appreciate that the contribution forms have an intuitive interface and are customizable whether you are an administrator or user. They are also mobile friendly, which is crucial to capturing grassroots contributions on the go! I also like that the data and analytics reporting is easy to understand.

CONS

A/B testing can be a bit tricky for the platform to process at times. It can be quite difficult to obtain the desired conversation rates based on the organization's or campaign's pixel and objective. While the software's customer service is no doubt friendly and supportive to clients' and users troubleshooting issues, the response time does take a while and is slow to respond, especially during key digital fundraising moments (i.e. Giving Tuesday, Election Day) and rapid response actions (i.e. matching donations, events).

Robert

Verified reviewer

Information Technology and Services, 1,001-5,000 employees

Used more than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra
This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered

OVERALL RATING:

4

EASE OF USE

5

FUNCTIONALITY

4

Reviewed March 2019

Easy to use, easy to stop using. A fine way to donate to candidate(s) you support.

Very positive. A convenient way to donate to Democratic candidates. Really the only downside is an increase in email from other candidates, which is easily dealt with (by unsubscribing once from each such candidate.)

PROS

I'm scratching my head over the negative reviews here. (I can't help wondering if they are legit, or if they are intended to inhibit fundraising for Democrats.) I've used ActBlue upteen times. Never had a problem cancelling a recurring donation (which I have done). Never had a problem with a donation becoming recurring when I had designated it as one-time (I've made both kind of donations). Never had a problem opting out of future emails from candidates (yes, you do get them; you're on the "will donate to Democrats" list. I unsubscribe once from each candidate and that's it - silence.)

CONS

It does make me feel guilty that it asks for a contribution to defray ActBlue's expenses (ActBlue is a non-profit that doesn't charge candidates up-front; the ActBlue FAQ says the charge a ~4% processing fee on donations.)

Sue

Accounting, 1 employee

Used less than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra
This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered

OVERALL RATING:

1

EASE OF USE

5

VALUE FOR MONEY

1

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

1

FUNCTIONALITY

2

Reviewed June 2019

You cannot trust these people.

I would NEVER donate money to a candidate via this organization.

PROS

Ease of you in doing donations. That is pretty much it.

CONS

My experience has been that ACTBLUE is unethical in their practice of getting on-line donations for candidates. My husband was very ill and not thinking clearly. He wanted to donate money to a candidate during last years elections. Because he was not clearly I was checking our credit card charges routinely and noticed repeated charges by ACTBLUE in ever increasing amounts. I talked to my husband who was not clear on things but was adamant that he did not do donations as frequently and as in large amounts as were being charged against our card. I reached out to ACTBLUE via email and phone in an effort to explain the situation going on with my husband and ask them to delete him from their mailing list. They repeatedly promised to do so and for a few months we would be fine. Then again I would see more and more charges in higher and higher amounts. At that point my husband was so ill he was hardly out of bed much less approving these amounts. I finally had to send ACTBLUE a threatening letter which included the me having power of attorney over my husband's affairs. I also told them that if they did this one more time I would go to Senator Lindsay Grahams office (I live in SC) and explain that ACTBLUE was actively abusing the elderly and disabled, and that I imagined Senator's Graham's office might find that interesting. That I am a lifelong democrat but my primarily was to protect my family. That did seem to stop it.

User Profile

Noelle

Verified reviewer

Civic & Social Organization, 2-10 employees

Used daily for less than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.

OVERALL RATING:

4

EASE OF USE

4

VALUE FOR MONEY

4

FUNCTIONALITY

4

Reviewed June 2021

Easy-to-use donation platform

Donors are familiar with ActBlue and comfortable using it for their contributions. Recurring donation options make it easy to get the most from donor visits to your campaign page and provide a sustainable income base for your campaign.

PROS

Easy set-up and the customized campaign capabilities make it easy to track returns on specific fundraising drives. Their large existing database of donor information makes it easy for donors to send a quick contribution especially with the ActBlue Express feature. Their reporting options make it easy to keep your campaign compliant with FEC regulations.

CONS

It's mind-boggling that disbursements are only available as hard copy checks sent through snail mail. An electronic option is long overdue!

Anonymous

Used more than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra
This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered

OVERALL RATING:

1

EASE OF USE

5

VALUE FOR MONEY

1

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

1

FUNCTIONALITY

5

Reviewed January 2018

Act Blue profiled me as an easy mark

Initially I thought it eased my ability to contribute thoughtfully. Then, it became apparent that I was being targeted for support of specific campaigns that were outside my comfort zone. At that point, its drawbacks exceeded its utility.

PROS

Extremely simple for the recipient to process a contribution to a politician or a donation to a cause.

CONS

Once the software captures your identification and some contribution history, it plies the 'mark' with email upon email, ostensibly from candidates, soliciting money to be dispensed to Act Blue's account for further distribution. My attempts to be removed from their email lists have been fruitless. Thank goodness for spam blocking services. I am a loyal Democrat. The use of this type of software has soured me on the Democratic Party because it is so transparently manipulative. I will never contribute to a candidate or a cause that has Act Blue's fingerprints on it.