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Several organizations share the Groundswell name. This page covers Groundswell at groundswell.io, the corporate giving and volunteering platform that gives each employee a donor-advised fund. For a company weighing Groundswell alternatives, the decision usually comes down to four things: platform price, what a donation costs, how fast nonprofits are paid, and grants.
Both platforms give each employee a personal giving account and run matching and volunteering on top of it. The better fit depends on your budget, how quickly nonprofits need their money, and whether you plan to make corporate grants.
Both vendors publish starting prices, so a buyer can compare like for like. All figures are annual starting prices and both vendors scale above them.
Sources: Uncommon Giving pricing and Groundswell pricing, both read on October 12, 2026.
Cost, launch, fees, payouts, and program features. Where Groundswell is ahead, the table says so.
| Criterion | Uncommon Giving | Groundswell |
|---|---|---|
| Giving, matching and volunteering | From $5,000 a year | From $12,500 a year. Giving + Matching alone from $8,500 |
| Corporate grants management | From $2,400 a year | From $25,000 a year |
| Implementation fee | Starts at $0 | Not stated on its pricing page |
| Time to launch | As quick as 48 hours for giving and volunteering. About two weeks for grants | "Days or weeks, not months" on its corporate giving fund page. No specific figure |
| Fee on employee donations | 2%, capped at $100 per disbursement | 1% domestic, waived on recurring gifts. 3% international. No cap stated |
| Fee on grant dollars | 0% of grant dollars disbursed | No distribution fee on domestic grants |
| Payout on donations | Twice monthly, on the 7th and the 21st | 24 hours on its pricing page. Processed within 48 hours per its help center |
| Payout on grants | Twice monthly, on the 7th and the 21st | 24 hours on its grants page. 3 to 5 days to reach the charity per its help center |
| Employee giving accounts | Personal donor-advised fund for each employee | Personal donor-advised fund for each employee |
| Matching | Automated matching. Listed by Double the Donation as a Certified Leader in Matching Automation | Instant matching, combination and bonus matching |
| Volunteering | Included at the $5,000 starting price | Event management and hours tracking start on the $12,500 plan |
| Stock and crypto giving | Stock, exchange-traded funds and crypto through DonateStock | Stock and other assets through DonateStock |
| Payroll connections | Paychex, Paylocity, Paycor, ADP and UKG named | Payroll giving listed. HRIS sync by scheduled file feed |
| Employee assistance fund | Not offered | Built in, quoted by sales |
| Third-party reviews | 4.9 out of 5 from 18 reviews on Capterra, October 2026 | 4.9 out of 5 from 101 reviews on G2, October 2026 |
Uncommon Giving's employee giving and matching platform starts at $5,000 a year, and that starting price includes giving accounts, payroll giving, matching, volunteering, campaigns, and CSR reporting. The fee scales with headcount above the starting price, and implementation starts at $0.
Groundswell splits the same scope across two plans. Giving + Matching starts at $8,500 a year. Volunteer event management and hours tracking arrive on the Giving + Matching + Volunteering plan, which starts at $12,500. Its pricing page also lists three add-ons priced separately: Program Strategy, a Volunteer Database through VolunteerMatch, and Custom Reporting.
For a company that wants all three programs running together, the published starting prices are $5,000 and $12,500.
Platform price is one cost. The fee taken from each donation is the other, and here the two vendors made different choices.
On Uncommon Giving, donations disbursed to nonprofits through employee giving carry a standard disbursement fee of 2%, capped at $100 per disbursement. On Groundswell, the published distribution fee is 1% on domestic donations, waived on recurring gifts, and 3% on international donations. No cap is stated.
On a $100 one-time gift, that is $2 on Uncommon Giving and $1 on Groundswell. On a $25,000 gift, it is $100 on Uncommon Giving and $250 on Groundswell. The two meet at $10,000. Below it Groundswell's percentage is lower. Above it the cap wins.
Put the two costs together. At the starting prices, Groundswell's platform costs $7,500 a year more for giving, matching, and volunteering. A one-point fee difference makes that back once a program moves about $750,000 a year in one-time domestic donations, or about $375,000 if every gift is recurring. Many small and mid-size programs sit below both figures. Both vendors' prices scale with company size, so run the numbers on your own quotes.
Groundswell's help center also lists Stripe processing fees on card and electronic payments, and a 1.5% DonateStock fee on stock, crypto, and account-to-account transfers. Ask both vendors to model total fees against your expected giving volume.
Groundswell wins on payout speed. Its pricing page lists a 24-hour distribution timeline for donations and matches on every plan. Its help center adds the practical detail: donations are processed within 48 hours, and nonprofits that have not claimed electronic payment are sent a mailed check with a two to three week processing delay.
Uncommon Giving pays nonprofits twice a month, on the 7th and the 21st. Grants pay out on the same schedule.
On grants, Groundswell's own numbers differ. Its grants page lists 24-hour distribution timelines, while its help center guide to creating a grant payment says funds take 3 to 5 days to reach the charity once a grant is created. That is still quicker than a twice-monthly cycle, but on grants the gap is days, not hours, and a grant awarded at the end of a review cycle rarely turns on a few days. Ask which timeline applies to your program.
Twice a month covers most workplace giving, because most of it follows the payroll calendar. Deductions build each pay period, matches are processed against them, and nonprofits receiving recurring gifts get regular deposits. Speed carries more weight when a gift depends on timing, such as a disaster-relief campaign where a nonprofit needs cash within days. Companies that run those campaigns often are better served by Groundswell.
Both platforms sell grants management separately from their giving plans, and both run it alongside giving and volunteering so a nonprofit's grants, matched gifts, and volunteer hours can be reported together.
Uncommon Giving's grants management software starts at $2,400 a year, with implementation from $0. Uncommon Giving takes 0% of grant dollars disbursed, so 100% of every grant reaches the grantee. The workflow covers applications, reviewer scoring, budgets, awards, and payout. Our guide to grant management for corporate giving teams walks through the full cycle.
Groundswell Grants Management starts at $25,000 a year, with custom pricing above that. Its pricing page lists unlimited programs, cycles, and admins, AI-assisted scoring, post-award reporting, and fee-free domestic grant disbursement.
On fees the two are level on domestic grants. Uncommon Giving takes 0% of grant dollars disbursed, and Groundswell's grants page says domestic grant payments carry no distribution fees. On timing, Uncommon Giving pays grants on the 7th and the 21st, and Groundswell lists 24 hours on its grants page and 3 to 5 days in its help center. The difference a first-time or mid-size grantmaker will feel is the starting price.
Giving and volunteering on Uncommon Giving can launch in as quick as 48 hours once your program is set up. The platform is self-serve, so an admin sets up matching rules, campaigns, and reporting without a professional services engagement. Payroll and HRIS connections are published for Paychex, Paylocity, Paycor, ADP, and UKG, and our guide to payroll giving explains how deductions reach an employee's giving account.
Matching is where programs quietly lose money. Double the Donation reports that 78% of match-eligible donors do not know their company offers a matching gift program, and estimates that $4 billion to $7 billion in matching funds goes unclaimed each year. Uncommon Giving is listed by Double the Donation as a Certified Leader in Matching Automation, a credential worth checking for in any vendor you evaluate.
Groundswell describes its own implementation as days or weeks, not months, without a specific figure, and its help center describes employee data sync as a scheduled file feed. A buyer comparing the two should ask Groundswell for a dated implementation plan and for the list of payroll systems it connects to.
Four things, stated plainly. Groundswell pays nonprofits faster. It sells an Employee Assistance Fund for staff facing financial hardship, and Uncommon Giving does not. Its Enterprise Impact tier adds multi-brand support, employee communities, and a designated account manager for large organizations. And its 1% domestic fee is lower than ours on a gift below our cap.
It also has the larger independent review base. Groundswell holds 4.9 out of 5 from 101 reviews on G2. Uncommon Giving holds 4.9 out of 5 from 18 reviews on Capterra. Both scores are strong and they come from different sites, so read the reviews themselves, and ask each vendor for references from program administrators at companies your size.
Before you leave, check your renewal date and notice period, let open match requests and pending distributions clear, and decide how you will explain existing balances to employees. Groundswell describes each employee's account as staying with them.
We map your current matching rules, campaigns, and payroll setup, and confirm what needs a new home. An employee assistance fund is the one program that will.
An admin sets up matching rules, campaigns, and reporting, then connects payroll or imports a CSV file of employees.
Giving and volunteering can go live in as quick as 48 hours. A grants program follows in about two weeks.
"Uncommon Giving makes corporate giving a breeze."
"We rolled out Uncommon Giving to our entire company, and I love how easy it is to empower generosity."
"Employee-driven generosity is just one way we live our values every day."
Groundswell gives each employee a donor-advised fund, a personal charitable account the employee pays into and gives from. The employer can add donation credits and matches to that account. Employees fund it by bank transfer, payroll, card, or stock, then recommend gifts to nonprofits. Volunteering tools start on Groundswell's second plan. Uncommon Giving uses the same account model and includes volunteering in its starting plan.
Groundswell's pricing page, checked on October 12, 2026, lists Giving + Matching from $8,500 a year, Giving + Matching + Volunteering from $12,500 a year, and Grants Management from $25,000 a year. Enterprise Impact and the Employee Assistance Fund are quoted by sales. A 1% distribution fee applies to domestic donations and 3% to international donations, and Program Strategy, Volunteer Database, and Custom Reporting are listed as add-ons.
Employee giving, matching, and volunteering start at $5,000 a year, and the fee scales with headcount above that starting price. Corporate grants management is sold separately and starts at $2,400 a year. Implementation starts at $0. Full detail is on the pricing page.
On Uncommon Giving, donations disbursed to nonprofits through employee giving carry a standard disbursement fee of 2%, capped at $100 per disbursement. On Groundswell, the published distribution fee is 1% on domestic donations, waived on recurring gifts, and 3% on international donations, with no cap stated. Groundswell is cheaper on a small one-time gift. Uncommon Giving is cheaper once a single disbursement passes $10,000, because the cap holds the fee at $100. On grants, Uncommon Giving takes 0% of grant dollars disbursed, and Groundswell lists no distribution fee on domestic grants.
Groundswell is faster. Its pricing page lists a 24-hour distribution timeline, and its help center describes donations as processed within 48 hours, with mailed checks taking longer for nonprofits that have not claimed electronic payment. For grants, its grants page lists 24-hour distribution and its help center says funds take 3 to 5 days to reach the charity. Uncommon Giving pays nonprofits twice a month, on the 7th and the 21st, for donations and grants alike. That schedule suits payroll giving and annual matching. A company that runs frequent disaster-response campaigns should weigh Groundswell's speed.
Yes, both do. Uncommon Giving's grants management starts at $2,400 a year and takes 0% of grant dollars disbursed. Groundswell Grants Management starts at $25,000 a year and lists fee-free domestic grant disbursement. Both run grants on the same platform as giving and volunteering, so the practical difference for a first-time or mid-size grantmaker is the starting price.
Groundswell sells to both, with plans that run from Giving + Matching up to a quoted Enterprise Impact tier that adds multi-brand support, employee communities, and a designated account manager. A smaller company should compare scope before price. Volunteering starts on Groundswell's $12,500 plan, so a team that wants giving, matching, and volunteering together should compare that plan against Uncommon Giving's $5,000 starting price.
Groundswell alternatives fall into three broad groups: enterprise CSR suites built for global programs, grantmaking-first platforms, and lighter tools for small teams. Uncommon Giving publishes side-by-side pages on several of them, including YourCause, Millie, Bonterra, and Benevity vs YourCause. The comparison hub lists them all.
Employee giving and volunteering can launch in as quick as 48 hours once your program is set up, and a grants program takes about two weeks because criteria, scoring, and budgets need configuring first. Before you move, check your Groundswell renewal date and notice period, and let open match requests and pending distributions clear so no money is in flight.
If platform price and launch time count for more in your program than next-day payouts, the quickest way to judge the difference is to price the same scope on both. Bring your current plan and your annual giving volume.
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