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Donor management software (also known as donor management platform, donor management system, or nonprofit CRM) is a must-have for any organization that wants to save time, deepen donor relationships, and raise money more effectively. It’s been reported that over 75% of Gen Z and Millennial donors prefer to give online so it’s more important than ever to have the right tools to connect with donors on their preferred channels.
What is Donor Management Software?
Donor management software is designed to help nonprofits track, measure, and nurture their relationships with small and major donors alike. A central tool to manage donors, this software allows organizations to store donor information, track giving trends, issue tax receipts, and analyze data to support their fundraising efforts by increasing the chances of future donations.
Should Small Nonprofit Organizations Use Donor Management Software?
Even small nonprofits with modest budgets and limited resources can benefit greatly from using donor management software. When considering the cost of donor management software, remember that these tools can replace the need for a part-time or full-time staff member at a fraction of the cost—often less than $150/month depending on the software.
Investing in donor management software early on is key to organizing fundraising and donor data. Small nonprofits using spreadsheets often find their data disorganized and hard to manage as they grow. This can overwhelm already stretched staff and make it harder to focus on development, leadership, and donor communication. These tools also enhance donor engagement efforts by providing insights into donor behavior and preferences, helping small nonprofits build stronger relationships with their supporters.
If you’re shopping around for a nonprofit CRM, we recommend that you choose donor management software that fits your nonprofit’s current size without committing to any long-term contracts. Some systems like Salesforce require significant customization and maintenance—resources small nonprofits may not have. Others lock you into long-term contracts which can be a burden for smaller organizations.
We recommend choosing donor management software that is simple, scalable, and powerful. The best solutions offer onboarding and training to help you transition your data smoothly and integrate with the tools you already use, such as email marketing and event management systems.
Benefits of Using Donor Management Software for Donor Engagement
Donor management software centralizes all your donor data so it’s a great alternative to spreadsheets for nonprofit organizations that want to maximize their fundraising revenue with a systematic, data-driven approach. Here are some of the benefits:
- Efficiency: Automate data entry and reduce errors, manage all donations in one place whether they come from social media, email campaigns, or events.
- Fundraising Opportunities: Use tools like wealth screening to predict which donors will give more and find connections between donors. Effective donor engagement efforts can be achieved by using communication channels and campaign management tools.
- Personalized Donor Outreach: Track past involvement and personalize your communications based on donor history, increasing the effectiveness of your outreach. Manage both recurring donors and new donors in your donor database for targeted reporting and engagement strategies.
- Fundraising Progress Reports: See your donor base and run automated reports on key metrics like donor retention and average gift amounts to monitor and adjust your strategies.
Does Donor Management Software Integrate with Other Apps?
Most donor management software solutions integrate with other tools to help your nonprofit. Here are some common integrations:
- Email marketing platforms
- Donation processing software
- Accounting software
- Event management tools
- Payment processors
- Membership management tools
- Prospect research solutions
- Auction software
Before choosing a donor management platform do a data audit to see what integrations your nonprofit needs.
Top 8 Nonprofit Fundraising Tools for 2024
Choosing the right donor management software can be daunting but we’ve made it easier for you. Effective donor relationship management and operational efficiency are key for nonprofits to manage their fundraising efforts and campaigns.
1. DonorBox
Donorbox is a cloud-based fundraising solution with a full set of donor management tools that’s free to set up, with just a 1.75% platform fee to get started.
With Donorbox you can integrate a popup donation widget on your website using built-in APIs. The platform allows you to list pre-set donation amounts with descriptions and monthly recurring donations. Donorbox accepts payments through credit cards, Apple Pay, bank transfers, and PayPal whether on your website or a dedicated Facebook page.
The platform secures donor data by encrypting interactions with industry-standard SSL and TLS encryption. Credit card details are encrypted, tokenized, and stored with Stripe payment processing. Donorbox also has a donation goal meter and supports multiple languages and currencies.
Additionally, Donorbox integrates with many third-party apps including WordPress, Weebly, Squarespace, and Salesforce Nonprofit Success Pack. The service is monthly subscription-based with support through FAQs and an online knowledge base.
2. Bloomerang
Bloomerang has a full donor database and constituent relationship management (CRM) system. The platform has a dashboard, custom reporting tools, engagement meters, email marketing, data analytics, and unlimited online giving forms and event pages that are all integrated.
Bloomerang gives nonprofits tools to manage memberships, events, major gifts, stewardship processes, grants, online fundraising, direct mail campaigns, email marketing, tribute, and memorial gifts, recurring giving programs, and pledge management. The platform is focused on donor retention with a CRM tailored to nonprofits. Pricing starts at $119/month.
3. DonorPerfect
DonorPerfect was built to help nonprofits grow and succeed. Fundraisers can manage gifts, donor relationships, communications, receipting, and more all in one place.
Designed to boost monthly giving programs DonorPerfect has dashboard analytics and reporting to help you understand what drives donations. You can send personalized email campaigns to donors and supporters through Constant Contact. Integrated online forms automatically enter gift information into the donor database and the platform supports recurring donations through digital wallets like PayPal and Venmo.
4. Little Green Light
Little Green Light helps small to medium-sized nonprofits manage their fundraising and development. The platform has tools for event planning, activity tracking, mail merges, and queries so it’s a great solution for many types of nonprofits including faith-based ministries, arts and cultural groups, environmental organizations, and more.
Little Green Light streamlines workflows by allowing nonprofits to easily enter and retrieve donor information, track donations, record event attendance, and create targeted mail campaigns. The platform also has robust search capabilities to make data management easy.
As a donor management and fundraising platform Little Green Light can be customized to fit any nonprofit. It integrates with many software so you can scale easily. Current integrations include Zapier, QuickBooks Online, Constant Contact, MailChimp, Mandrill, Wufoo, Formstack, Stripe, PayPal, ProPay, Wealth Engine, DonorSearch, Fundraising Report Card and SmartyStreets. Little Green Light is great for nonprofits moving from spreadsheets with integrations like MailChimp and WordPress. Pricing starts at $486/year.
5. Keela
Keela has intelligent tools to give fundraisers the insights to make data-driven decisions. With a centralized contact database, detailed contact profiles, streamlined communication, donation management, and robust email marketing capabilities Keela has everything you need to move your organization forward.
Keela is simple and transparent with no add-ons or hidden fees. The platform has unlimited email support and online training so it’s a great solution for the not-so-tech-savvy fundraiser. Pricing is based on the number of contacts in your database so Keela is a solution for nonprofits of all sizes. Pricing starts at $125/month.
6. Virtuous
Virtuous has a full and unified nonprofit fundraising platform that integrates marketing automation, events, online giving, portfolio management, and volunteer management. Virtuous helps nonprofits turn donor insights into meaningful engagement through responsive marketing automation. You can dynamically segment donors and personally engage each one with perfectly timed emails, texts, letters, or calls. create the personalized experiences your donors expect. Pricing starts at $400/month.
7. Givebutter
Givebutter has online giving, peer-to-peer and multi-team fundraising campaigns, event ticketing and registration with fundraising capabilities, chapter fundraising, chapter management, and basic donor and membership management.
With Givebutter you can collect online donations, create custom fundraising pages, and sell tickets to fundraising events. The platform has unlimited teams, chapters, and members within a single campaign so you can track and attribute funds raised and tickets sold to specific teams and members.
Givebutter accepts payments via Venmo, PayPal, and credit/debit cards with no additional setup. You can withdraw funds instantly through bank deposit or check and manage all fundraising activity through a centralized dashboard included with every product. Givebutter requires no setup fee, they charge a 2.9% + $0.30 per donation, so you have nothing to risk, though these fees do add up once you start ramping up donations.
8. Neon CRM
Neon CRM was built for nonprofits and membership associations to manage their constituents and members better. With a relationship-focused approach, Neon CRM gives you a comprehensive view of your supporters and members to engage more and raise more. You can manage fundraising campaigns, events, communications, and more while getting valuable insights through customizable reporting and administrative tools.
Neon CRM has unlimited forms and templates, accepts popular payment methods, and allows personalized email campaigns to create a donor experience. You can automate email marketing, workflows, volunteer management, and payment processing and save time without losing the personal touch. Neon CRM simplifies your organization’s donor management processes so you can focus on building stronger relationships with your constituents, members, and supporters. Pricing starts at $99/month.
Features to Look For in a Donor CRM Software
When choosing donor management software to fundraise consider:
- Fundraising Tools: Recurring giving, donation pages, peer-to-peer fundraising, event registration, etc.
- Donor Communications: Email marketing, communication history, donor segmentation, etc.
- Donor Management: Pledge tracking, donor accounts, household tracking, etc.
- Tracking and Reporting: Custom reports, donor analytics, scheduled reports, etc.
- Apps and Integrations: Email marketing, accounting, payment processing, etc.
Donor engagement efforts are key to measuring donor loyalty and your initiatives.
Choosing the Right Donor Management Software
Follow these steps to pick the best one for your nonprofit:
- List out the must-have features that solve your nonprofit’s problems.
- Get demos of your top choices and see how they’ll work for your organization.
- Consider your budget and look for pricing that scales.
- Think about your future goals and choose a solution that will grow with your nonprofit.
- Get input from your team members who will be using the system daily.
- Prioritize implementation and training so you can get up and running smoothly.
Final Thoughts
Donor management software is a must-have for nonprofits of all sizes to organize and analyze data, manage relationships, and raise money more effectively. With online and mobile giving on the rise, having the right donor management system is key to engaging with supporters on their preferred platforms and reaching your fundraising goals.
Whether you’re a small nonprofit looking for a simple solution or a larger organization needing more advanced features, choosing the right donor management software can simplify your operations, increase donor engagement, and move your mission forward. The providers above offer a range of features and pricing to fit your needs, so it’s never been easier to find a solution that’s right for your organization.