E-signatures for nonprofits
Nonprofits sign a lot and budget for little. Volunteer agreements, photo releases, grant paperwork and board consents all need real signatures, and per-seat pricing built for corporate legal teams is a poor fit for an organisation running on donations.
FairSign is $12 a month for unlimited signature requests, with no per-seat charge. Business is $24 for three seats, which covers most small charities entirely.
Self-signing is free, local & private, never uploaded. Sending for signature needs a free account (just your email).
What nonprofits send for signature
- Volunteer agreements: including the conduct and confidentiality terms that funders increasingly ask about.
- Photo and video releases: essential before a supporter's face appears in a campaign, and needed separately for minors.
- Board resolutions and written consents: signed remotely between meetings, with a timestamped record for the minute book.
- Grant agreements and funder reporting: where the deadline is fixed and a missing signature is the usual cause of a late submission.
- Contractor and facilitator agreements: for sessional staff and trainers.
- Data protection agreements: where volunteers or partners handle beneficiary data.
- Safeguarding acknowledgements: a signed, dated confirmation that policy was read, which is what an audit asks for.
Where nonprofit paperwork fails an audit
- Policy acknowledgements collected by email reply. An auditor wants a signed, dated document, not a thread.
- Photo releases missing for beneficiaries and minors. A parent or guardian must sign for a child, and consent to photograph is not consent to advertise.
- Board consents with no record of when each director signed. The date each signature was given is often the point in question.
- Paying per seat for signing software when the number of people who send documents changes with every funding round.
Common questions
Is there a nonprofit discount?
There is no separate nonprofit tier because the standard price is already low: $12 a month for unlimited sends, or $24 for three seats. There is also a free plan with 3 sends a month and no card required, which covers some smaller organisations outright.
Do volunteers need accounts?
No. They open an emailed link and sign in their browser. For volunteers who are not confident with technology, that difference matters more than any feature.
Can we handle sensitive beneficiary information?
For documents only your own staff sign, use self-sign mode: the file never leaves the device it is opened on, so nothing sensitive reaches any server. For documents that need a second signature, the file is encrypted in transit and storage and auto-deleted 30 days after completion.
This page is general information for small businesses, not legal advice. For your specific situation, talk to a licensed attorney in your state.