Elevate lets small online sellers add high-impact charitable donations at checkout — in minutes, with no financial liability and zero transaction fees.
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When Amazon killed AmazonSmile in 2023, they shut down a program that generated $400 million in donations — proof that customers will give at checkout if you make it easy. But that infrastructure was built for Amazon alone.
For independent sellers, setting up compliant, tax-deductible charitable donations means legal agreements, charity vetting, fund disbursement, and ongoing compliance. Most merchants who'd love to give simply can't afford the overhead.
Elevate is the shared infrastructure that solves this. Free, open-source, and backed by a student-run 501(c)(3) — so you never touch the money, and the system runs itself.
Run npm install && npm run dev. Your Elevate server is live at localhost:3000 in under a minute.
Open the dashboard, fill in your store details, pick a charity and donation model. You'll get an API key and embed code instantly.
Paste 3 lines of HTML into your checkout page. The widget shows up, handles opt-in/out, and records donations automatically.
Your merchant dashboard tracks donations in real time — totals, by charity, and every individual transaction. We handle tax receipts and disbursement.
Every business has different margins. Elevate gives merchants complete control over how donations are funded.
Cart rounds up to the nearest dollar. The spare change goes to charity — customers barely notice, but the impact adds up fast.
You donate a set percentage of every sale. Great for brand storytelling — "we donate 1% of every order to fight malaria."
Customer rounds up, you match it. Doubles the impact and shows customers you're genuinely committed to giving.
Most donation platforms treat all charities as equal. They aren't. Every charity on Elevate is rigorously vetted for cost-effectiveness by GiveWell, the gold standard in evidence-based charity evaluation.
If a customer doesn't choose, donations go to GiveWell's fund — which allocates to whichever top charity can do the most good per dollar at that moment. The most efficient way to turn small donations into real-world impact.
Elevate is a student-led 501(c)(3) nonprofit, funded by grants from university programs and effective altruism foundations. We don't charge SaaS fees because every dollar in fees is a dollar not going to charity. The code is open source — inspect every line.
Free forever. Not a trial.
We don't take a cut of donations.
Inspect every line of code.
Deploy to any of these platforms in minutes — all have generous free tiers and automatic HTTPS.
One-click deploy from GitHub. Automatic HTTPS and custom domains.
Free tierDeploy a Node.js web service. Auto-scales and zero config needed.
Free tierGlobal edge deployment. Fast response times anywhere in the world.
Free tierYour server is already running. Register your store and start collecting donations in under a minute.