Frequently asked questions

Opening a Givmo account is free, and there are no annual membership fees. There are also no account minimums and no grant minimums — you can give any amount, and grants are never held back waiting for a threshold. Each contribution carries a payment-processing fee of $0.25 plus 2.95%, charged by the payment processors that move the money; none of it is paid to Givmo, and you can opt to cover the processing fee at checkout. Any fee increase or new fee is announced in advance and applies prospectively only. The Terms of Service are authoritative on all fees.

Givmo Charitable Fund pays its technology operator, Givfi, Inc., for licensing the Givmo software and administering the Fund's donor-advised-fund operations — up to 1% of monthly grants processed, paid at month-end. Business accounts that use Givmo's automated employer-donation-matching service pay a fee equal to 3% of monthly grants processed. Givmo keeps no part of payment-processing fees. And where funds are held briefly before being sent, any interest earned accrues to Givmo Charitable Fund, not to individual fund balances.

They may be. When your contribution irrevocably clears to Givmo Charitable Fund, you may be eligible to claim a charitable income-tax deduction for that year, depending on your individual tax situation and subject to the substantiation requirements and income-based limits that apply to you. You must itemize to claim it — contributions to a donor-advised fund aren't eligible for any non-itemizer ("above-the-line") charitable deduction. Givmo does not provide tax advice; please consult your own tax advisor.

No. Contributions to Givmo are unconditional and irrevocable charitable gifts. Once a contribution clears, Givmo Charitable Fund holds exclusive legal control over it, and it can't be returned, refunded, or withdrawn — the rules governing donor-advised funds require that, and it's part of why a contribution may be deductible. A payment rejected before it's accepted is returned. You can cancel a grant recommendation that hasn't been approved yet; once a grant is issued, it can't be cancelled.

Givmo currently accepts cash-equivalent contributions by Apple Pay, Google Pay, credit or debit card, and bank transfer.

Givmo confirms every transaction in the app and by email, and emails you a consolidated annual summary of your giving at year-end. You can also request current or prior-year reports at any time from the app.

You recommend; the Fund grants. Recommendations are advisory: Givmo Charitable Fund reviews each one — confirming the recipient's tax-exempt status and that the funds will be used for charitable purposes — and holds final approval over every grant. If a recommendation can't be approved, you'll generally be notified within 30 days.

Grants go to verified U.S. nonprofits that the IRS lists as 501(c)(3) public charities (IRS Publication 78) — over a million organizations — with additional screening that excludes identified hate groups. Grants can't go to individuals, organizations outside the U.S., private non-operating foundations, or supporting organizations (a specific IRS category) — even when an organization appears in search.

Promptly. Givmo works to send each approved grant as soon as it's able, on a rolling basis as funds settle and the charity's payment details are confirmed — there's no minimum amount and no batching threshold. Grants generally go out within 30 days after the end of the month when the charity has consented to receive funds from Givmo, and within 45 days when it hasn't. If a recommended charity turns out not to be eligible to receive the funds, you'll be notified and can recommend an alternative — the Terms of Service describe that process and are authoritative on grant timing. Grants are sent as cash: electronic transfer where possible, otherwise a check.

Yes — it's a choice you can make on each donation. When you donate anonymously, you aren't identified to the recipient charity. Givmo reserves the right to limit anonymity in certain circumstances.

If your employer runs its matching program on Givmo, verify your work email in the app to link your employer. From then on, you can request a match automatically whenever you donate, and see the match policy, your budget used and remaining, and your full match history in the app.

If your account is linked to an employer for matching, Givmo may share engagement information with that employer for the purpose of making matching donations — such as the number and frequency of your contributions or donations, your total amount donated in a period, and the dollar amounts of specific donations. This applies only to accounts linked to an employer.

Companies run matching from a self-service admin portal: set an annual match budget per employee and an optional company-wide cap, review and approve requests individually or in grouped batches, fund matches by saved card or company wallet, and follow it all on a live dashboard with an annual company giving report. Employers may match employee contributions or donations. Pricing is 3% of monthly grants processed.

U.S. citizens who are 18 or older — as well as U.S. corporations and trusts — can open a Givmo account.

Yes. If you have a donor-advised fund with another sponsor, you can transfer that balance into your Givmo fund. Open the Givmo app to get started — it walks you through the steps.

Money in a Givmo fund never gets stranded — it always ends up at a charity. If you make no grant recommendations for 12 months, your fund is considered inactive: after attempts to reach you, Givmo makes a $25 donation on the fund's behalf. If the fund stays inactive for another 12 months, your Legacy Plan (or a distribution to the Fund's general fund) is carried out and the fund is closed.

Yes. You can notify Givmo of a successor advisor or a charitable beneficiary for your fund — your Legacy Plan. Direct notification to Givmo is required; instructions left in a will aren't accepted.

Recommend a final grant for your remaining balance. Your fund's money always goes to charity — the only question is which one.

No. Givmo does not sell your personal information. The Givmo app has no advertising identifiers (such as the iOS IDFA), no advertising-network or data-broker software, no third-party ads, and no advertising cookies or tracking pixels. Card details are collected through the payment processor's PCI-compliant forms, so they never touch Givmo's database.

In ways you can check, not just trust. Every contribution is facilitated by U.S.-based, U.S.-regulated financial partners, whose programs cover required know-your-customer, anti-money-laundering, and sanctions screening. And the Fund publishes a public, tamper-evident audit trail of its accounting ledger that anyone can verify.