I totally get the frustration with those big box registry sites. They are basically built by companies that get a kickback from selling you physical products, so when you try to pivot to charity, they make it an absolute nightmare with hidden fees or clunky layouts. My cousin dealt with this exact thing for her wedding back in 2021. She and her husband had lived together for years and really just wanted to support a local animal shelter and some reforestation projects, but Zola kept trying to force them to add a starter kit of plates or some expensive blender they didnt want. After digging around for her, I recommended checking out SoKind. It is a registry platform specifically designed for people who want to give back or request experiences rather than stuff. The cool thing about it is that it doesnt take a cut of the donations because it doesnt actually process the payment directly for the non-profits. Instead, you list the charity as an item, and it provides the link or instructions for your guests to donate directly to the organization. Then the guest just marks it as purchased on your list so others can see. It feels way more transparent because the money never touches a middleman. Tbh the UI is pretty clean and straightforward. It avoids that cluttered corporate look and doesnt bury your choices at the bottom of the page like Joy does. It might take a minute longer to set up since you are inputting the info manually, but it keeps the focus exactly where you want it.

> service fees are way too high Ugh, feel that. SoKind has low fees but dated UI. The Good Beginning is better but unfortunately charges flat fees. Both are kinda disappointing, good luck tho.

^ This. Also, I am stuck in the exact same loop for my wedding this fall and its been incredibly frustrating. We've been trying to find a secure way to do this for months now but every platform seems to have some massive catch that makes it feel unprofessional. My main concerns right now are:

• High transaction fees that take away from the actual cause
• Sites that look like they havent been updated since the early 2000s
• Lack of clear data protection for guests I was considering using this wishlist extension to try and organize things better but I am still worried about the security and how reliable the payout process actually is. Quick question for you tho... are you looking for a platform that processes the payments itself, or are you okay with something that just redirects guests to the charitys own site? Knowing that might help narrow down the safer options.