The Best Nonprofit Software
Nonprofit software helps nonprofit organizations with donor management, fund accounting, case management, and campaign reporting. We tested the top solutions to bring you our reviews below.
- Automatically processes recurring gifts
- Includes role-based work centers
- Integrated data appends for list maintenance
- No cap on users
- Unlimited online giving pages/forms
- Strong training and support
- All-in-one financial solution
- Customize and export timely financial reports
- Easy for newly trained volunteers to learn
Nonprofit software can automate much of an NPO’s work, from fundraising events and donor management to fund accounting and case management. We used our advanced review methodology to rank the top nonprofit management software based on features like donor tracking, fund accounting, grant and impact reporting, and more.
- Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT: Best Overall
- Bloomerang: Best for Fundraising
- Aplos Fund Accounting: Best for Faith-Based Organizations
- FastFund: Best QuickBooks Alternative
- Donorbox: Best Free Option
- Sage Intacct: Best for Multiple Entities
- InfoFlo Impact: Best for Human Services
- NetSuite: Best Financial Analytics
- Bonterra: Best Impact Reporting
- MIP Accounting: Best for Governments
Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT - Best Overall
Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT stands out as a top choice for medium to large nonprofits looking to streamline fundraising and donor management. It covers everything from pledge tracking and gift management to automated annual fund workflows. It also has an intuitive user interface, making entering and maintaining donor details easy. And it comes with built-in email and communication tools for managing both your donors and volunteer networks.
Beyond fundraising, Raiser’s Edge NXT tracks grant applications and deadlines alongside your other donor cultivation work. Its Prospect Insights tool identifies major gift candidates and donors likely to give more, and built-in AI flags shifts in giving so you can spot at-risk donors before they lapse. Generative AI features, such as drafting donor summaries, stay off until an admin turns them on. For fund accounting, Blackbaud sells a separate product, Financial Edge NXT, which keeps gift and finance data reconciled with Raiser’s Edge.
Raiser’s Edge offers numerous customizable reports and dashboards to monitor fundraising performance, donor behavior, and campaign effectiveness. However, pricing information isn’t publicly available, so you’ll need to contact the sales team for a quote. Training and support also cost extra, so budget for onboarding.
Bloomerang - Best for Fundraising
Bloomerang is purpose-built to help small to mid-sized nonprofits improve donor retention and grow recurring giving. It comes with intuitive tools to find, contact, and engage donors.
Bloomerang’s core features include a CRM, donor management, online giving, email marketing, and detailed donor reporting. The system even provides tools enabling organizations to score donors based on engagement and generosity. Other notable fundraising features include event management and a mobile app. Volunteer management is sold separately as Bloomerang Volunteer. Add-ons like auctions and peer-to-peer fundraising are purchased as a bundle with Bloomerang CRM.
Pricing for Bloomerang starts at just $40/month for basic fundraising tools. However, the full CRM suite starts at $125/month and includes additional fundraising features. Every plan includes unlimited users, but pricing is based on the number of records in your database, so cost rises as your donor list grows. Starting prices are billed annually.
Explore more Fundraising Software Systems.
Aplos Fund Accounting - Best for Faith-Based Organizations
Aplos is a fund accounting software purpose-built for churches, ministries, and other nonprofits. For faith-based organizations, the software provides dedicated tracking of tithes, offerings, and designated funds, surpassing the tools offered in basic accounting systems like QuickBooks.
Its fund accounting tools are designed for real-world church finances. Each donation can be designated to a specific purpose, whether it’s a general tithe, a mission trip, or a campaign to fix the leaky roof. And Aplos keeps the fund balances completely separate with a clear audit trail. That way, pastors and treasurers have a clear view of where every dollar goes without the need for complex reports on Excel. Higher-tier plans add accounts payable and receivable (Core) and budgeting by fund or grant (Advanced), and Aplos also includes a people and donor CRM database.
Aplos is best for small to mid-sized organizations looking for a straightforward system to manage fund accounting and church finances. Larger, multi-campus organizations that need deeper multi-entity reporting or church management capabilities may find other options a better fit. That said, pricing starts at $79/month for the Lite plan, which includes two users, with promotional discounts for new customers and a 15-day free trial.
FastFund - Best QuickBooks Alternative
FastFund Accounting is designed for nonprofits that need a FASB-compliant fund accounting system. It helps you track every dollar with true fund accounting, offering a customizable chart of accounts to monitor funds, programs, departments, and donors. This ensures transparency and compliance with nonprofit reporting requirements without the extra hassle.
FastFund includes core accounting capabilities such as automated recurring transactions, budget management, expense and revenue allocation, and direct bank integration. It also streamlines IRS Form 990 reporting, helping you tackle year-end tax reports. Plus, you can expand its capabilities with separate fundraising and payroll products that post directly to FastFund Accounting, making it a flexible solution for nonprofits looking to centralize their financials and donor-related operations in a single system.
Pricing for FastFund starts at $50/month for the standard plan, which includes core accounting features, budgeting, and bank integration. Adding fundraising for donor management brings the total to $75/month, and an accounting, payroll, and fundraising bundle starts at $130/month. There are no long-term contracts, and prepaying for a year includes one month free.
Donorbox - Best Free Option
Donorbox is great for new nonprofits with a free plan for organizations with small teams and minimal giving. It provides a good starting point for NPOs that need to collect donations online and start tracking donors without breaking the bank. Every plan, including the free Standard plan, lets you segment donors into lists and see their total giving, lifetime value, and giving patterns. Donorbox also offers a separate CRM that works with all three plans.
One huge benefit of Donorbox is that it’s easy to integrate with your organization’s existing website and even lets your supporters set up their own fundraising campaigns to raise money for you. Payment processing is also available through many methods, including ACH and SEPA bank transfers, Google Pay and Apple Pay, credit cards, PayPal, and Venmo.
The Standard plan has no monthly fee, but Donorbox charges a 2.95% platform fee on most donations (3.95% on event tickets and memberships), plus payment processing. PayPal payments incur 1.99% + 49 cents per transaction, and Stripe card payments incur 2.2% + 30 cents per transaction. And if you have more than 5 team members or need advanced form customizations, DonorBox paid plans start at $150/month, with a lower 1.75% platform fee on most donations.
Sage Intacct - Best for Multiple Entities
Sage Intacct isn’t built exclusively for nonprofits but still remains a popular choice among NPOs. This is due to its strength in granular financial tracking, automated revenue recognition, and detailed reporting. For nonprofits specifically, Sage includes the ability to manage funds, grants, and donations from multiple sources, from which you can then run reports and create separate closes for each revenue source.
The platform automates revenue recognition in line with ASC 606 and ASU 2018-08, ensuring compliance with nonprofit accounting regulations. It also streamlines the allocation of funds across various special programs or locations. Additionally, Sage Intacct generates essential financial reports, including the Statements of Activities, Financial Position, Cash Flow, and Form 990 reports. With push-button consolidations, the system provides visibility into your entire NPO’s financials, including all entities and multiple currencies.
Although not solely built for nonprofits, Sage Intacct’s multidimensional architecture supports the complex financial needs of growing organizations, including multi-entity, multi-currency, and global consolidations. However, its pricing may be a barrier for smaller nonprofits. As exact pricing details are not publicly available, you must set up a consultation call for a quote.
InfoFlo Impact - Best for Human Services
InfoFlo Impact is a case management software built for client care, not a fundraising-first tool like most of the others on this list. Its 360-degree client view pulls case notes, goals, referrals, documents, and service history onto a single dashboard, so caseworkers can see a participant’s full history without clicking through separate screens.
The core of the platform is its intake-to-reporting workflow. Staff build custom intake forms with conditional logic that can be adapted to each client’s circumstances, then automated rules and alerts advance cases and flag deadlines so work doesn’t stall between handoffs. The system is also HIPAA-compliant, with role-based permissions that limit sensitive client records to only the staff authorized to view them. It also includes shelter management tools for room assignments and bed availability, which is critical for organizations running residential and emergency housing programs.
Unlike Bonterra, which quotes every plan, InfoFlo Impact publishes its pricing. Essentials costs $36/user/month, and Pro costs $48/user/month when billed annually. Organizations with more than 25 users require a custom quote. InfoFlo also offers nonprofit CRM capabilities for organizations looking to manage both fundraising and human services through a single vendor.
Explore our roundup on the best non-profit case management software.
NetSuite - Best Financial Analytics
NetSuite is another widely used ERP system among nonprofits, despite not being a specialized nonprofit software. Its strong financial capabilities include a chart of accounts, budgeting management, tax setup, expense allocations, and bank reconciliations. These features enable nonprofits to manage and track both restricted and unrestricted funds properly.
NetSuite’s integrated CRM module provides a complete view of the donor and constituent lifecycle, covering leads, opportunities, donations, and other support offerings. It also offers analytics and reporting connecting data across the entire platform with SuiteAnalytics, giving actionable insights into metrics like program performance, donation trends, and resource utilization.
While NetSuite is not a specialized nonprofit software, its Social Impact program offers eligible nonprofits a base software donation with no-cost activation, plus discounts on additional products. To qualify, your organization’s primary purpose must be non-religious and non-political, and it can’t be a government entity or public higher education institution. The full nonprofit management capabilities are sold separately, so expect to pay for more than the donated base.
Bonterra - Best Impact Reporting
Bonterra’s Apricot case management platform is built around the reports program staff owe their funders. Caseworkers log intake, enrollments, and service notes in forms you design yourself, and Data Standards let you define the same outcome metrics across every program, so a housing program and a workforce program report results the same way. Those records feed Impact Hub, a visual dashboard tool, and funder-ready impact reports that update as staff enter data, so you aren’t rebuilding grant reports from spreadsheets each cycle.
Bonterra’s AI layer, Bonterra Que, is included in every plan. Its Data Integrity Review flags missing or inconsistent records before a report goes out.
The catch is how features are split across plans. Results Reporting and the Aggregate Report, the tools for rolling up outcomes across programs, are available only on the Enterprise plan. Bonterra doesn’t publish pricing for any of its three plans (Essentials, Pro, and Enterprise). They’re quoted per user, and if you reduce seats, the change only takes effect at the end of your contract. Confirm which plan your funder reports require before signing. Bonterra also sells fundraising tools such as EveryAction, but they’re separate products from Apricot.
MIP Accounting - Best for Governments
MIP Accounting, now from Momentive Software, is built for nonprofits and municipalities that need strict financial controls. It produces FASB- and GASB-compliant reports, and audit trails are built in, so every action is tracked. Approvals are automated as part of routine workflows, and reports include a statement of functional expenses, budget-versus-actual by fund, and grant-specific reports.
The software tracks every dollar by fund, grant, program, or project, and lets you build budgets across funds and programs, then compare them to actuals. It can also automatically allocate costs between multiple cost centers. This is especially useful for government agencies that manage complex budgets and need to ensure accurate fund distribution.
However, user feedback and online reviews indicate that the software’s interface appears outdated and not particularly user-friendly. Some reviews also highlight challenges with customizing reports, describing the process as somewhat cumbersome.
Explore other Nonprofit Accounting Software Systems
What is Nonprofit Software?
Nonprofit software, also called nonprofit management software, is software designed to help nonprofit organizations manage tasks such as donor management, fundraising, and case management. The main difference between nonprofit and for-profit software is that nonprofits answer to donors, grant-makers, and regulators rather than shareholders, so nonprofit software is designed to help raise money, account for how funds are spent, and demonstrate their impact.
In reality, nonprofit management software is not just one tool. It’s a handful of software solutions, including:
- Donor Management & CRMs: Used for tracking who gives, how much, and how engaged they are.
- Fundraising Tools: For running campaigns, special events, and online donation pages.
- Fund Accounting: Differs from normal accounting as nonprofits track money by their restricted use or purpose and have to file things like the IRS Form 990.
- Case or Program Management: Used by organizations that deliver services and need to track clients and their outcomes.
- Volunteer Management: For recruiting, scheduling, and tracking the hours of the people who donate their time rather than money.
- Membership Management: Used by membership-based nonprofits like 501©(7) clubs and professional associations. Software tracks renewals, member communications, and access to member-only benefits.
Most nonprofits don’t need all of those tools at once. A small charity might just need donor management and accounting, while a large human services agency might run case management as its core system. The right nonprofit software depends on the organization’s needs.
What Are The Features of Nonprofit Software?
- Communication tools: For managing both internal and external communication, like email marketing, text messages, or traditional direct mail for outreach. A common feature in nonprofit CRM software.
- Fundraising: Execute highly targeted marketing plans. Enable the creation of custom campaigns to link online donations and physical donations in a single system. Keep track of donations tied to specific campaigns.
- Campaign reporting: Create custom reports to account for donations, grants, pledges, and other funding sources. This includes data-driven analysis to measure fundraising performance, donor retention, and historical fundraising campaign success.
- Donation management: Track donations and pledges made by donors through fundraising campaigns. Anticipate inbound donations; process recurring donations with ACH or credit card payments; organize corporate donations, matched gifts, and any other source of contributions.
- Fund accounting: Track money by fund, grant, or program so restricted and unrestricted funds stay separate. Generate nonprofit financial statements like the statement of activities and statement of functional expenses.
- Case management: Record client intake, services, and case notes in one place, then report program outcomes to funders.
- Contact management: Keep records on past donors to streamline communication of donation pleas, marketing materials, and invites for various events.
- Event planning: Organize and host charitable events, such as in-person fundraisers or awareness campaigns.
- Membership management: Track different levels of membership, such as group/family or individual. Keep member contact information current so renewals, documents, and updates reach the right people. Allow referrals for new members, let members sign up for events, and update online billing preferences.
What Are The Benefits of Nonprofit Software?
Nonprofits can benefit from software in some key areas, such as:
Improve Your Volunteer and Donor Databases
Donor, member, and volunteer records sit at the center of most nonprofit databases. You can think of these tools as nonprofit CRMs, since nonprofits mainly track three types of people:
- Donors: Analyze which campaigns they give to, manage communications between them and the organization, and provide them with the appropriate tax forms at year-end.
- Members: Databases act as a way to grow your membership programs. Like how memberships are managed in a professional association, membership databases provide constituent relationship management and track member information, communication efforts with members, help keep members engaged, and give members access to their accounts. Fees can be managed in a straightforward manner, and members can sign up for in-demand volunteer spots or help organize fundraising campaigns.
- Volunteers: Store contact info, release forms, hours worked, availability, and past experiences. Run real-time reports to see which volunteers contribute the most hours and which events draw the most interest.
Create End-of-Year Donation Statements and Donor Contribution Summary Reports
The IRS sets two thresholds that affect how nonprofits acknowledge gifts:
- Gifts of $250 or more: A donor can only deduct a single contribution of $250 or more if they have a written acknowledgment from your organization. Separate gifts under $250 aren’t added together, so a donor giving $50 a month doesn’t reach the threshold. The donor is technically responsible for getting the acknowledgment, but nonprofit software can send one automatically so donors don’t have to ask.
- Gifts over $75 with something in return: If a donor gives more than $75 and receives goods or services in exchange, such as a gala dinner, you must give them a written disclosure with a good-faith estimate of what those goods or services were worth. The IRS can charge $10 per contribution, up to $5,000 per event or mailing, for missing disclosures.
One annual statement can cover several qualifying gifts, which is where a donor contribution summary report helps. It pulls each donor’s gifts for the year into one statement with the details the IRS asks for: your organization’s name, the amount of each cash gift, a description of any donated property, and whether you provided anything in return.
Most nonprofit software can send these summaries by mail or email, and many include a cover letter so you can share organizational updates alongside the gift list. Sending statements promptly gives donors the records they need at tax time, which can make them more likely to give again.
Create Form 990
Most tax-exempt organizations must file an annual information return with the IRS. Which version you file depends on your size:
- Form 990-N (e-Postcard): Gross receipts normally $50,000 or less
- Form 990-EZ: Gross receipts under $200,000 and total assets under $500,000
- Form 990: Organizations above those limits
Churches, certain church-affiliated organizations, and government units aren’t required to file, and private foundations file Form 990-PF instead. The return is due by the 15th day of the fifth month after your fiscal year ends, which is May 15 for a calendar-year organization. An organization that misses three years in a row automatically loses its tax-exempt status.
Where nonprofit software helps is the financial data the 990 asks for. Fund accounting tools like FastFund include 990 reporting, which pulls expenses into the three categories the form requires: program services, management and general, and fundraising. Tracking that split in your books all year saves you from rebuilding it at filing time.
Is There a Version of QuickBooks for Nonprofits?
QuickBooks Online doesn’t have a separate nonprofit version, but many small and mid-sized nonprofits set it up for their accounting. QuickBooks Enterprise, Intuit’s desktop software for larger organizations, does come in a Nonprofit edition.
Both can handle fund tracking, budgeting, and donation tracking once configured. But QuickBooks wasn’t built for fund accounting, so funds are tracked with classes rather than true fund balances, and QuickBooks Online needs the Plus or Advanced plan for classes and budgets.
QuickBooks Online vs. Enterprise for Nonprofits
QuickBooks Online fits small to mid-sized nonprofits that want remote access and integrations with donor tools like Donorbox or Bloomerang. The features nonprofits rely on most, including class tracking and budgets by fund or program, are only in the Plus and Advanced plans.
Intuit says those plans also cover donor and grant tracking within budgets, but donor records usually come in from a separate donor tool. Those plans list at $140/month and $340/month before promotions. Intuit says QuickBooks Online supports a statement of financial activities, but you’ll still need to set up your chart of accounts and classes so restricted and unrestricted funds report correctly.
QuickBooks Enterprise comes in Gold, Platinum, and Diamond plans. Diamond supports up to 40 users with custom permissions, and Gold and Platinum go up to 30. The Nonprofit edition includes a nonprofit chart of accounts, nonprofit report bundles, and customizable donation receipts. Pricing depends on the plan and the number of users. Cloud hosting for remote access is available for an added fee. Enterprise suits larger organizations that need tighter internal controls, but it costs more than QuickBooks Online.
If you’re managing several restricted grants or need audit-ready fund reports, dedicated accounting software for nonprofits such as Aplos tends to be a better fit than a configured QuickBooks file.
Pricing Guide
Nonprofit software can cost nothing for a small charity using a free donation tool, or several thousand dollars per month for a large organization running a full platform. Price depends on your headcount, the size of your donor database, and whether you buy one specialized tool or an all-in-one system.
| Tier | Organization Size | Typical Cost | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free & Starter | All-volunteer or very small | $0–$100/month | Donorbox, FastFund, Aplos |
| Small Nonprofits | 1–25 staff | $100–$300/month | Bloomerang, InfoFlo Impact |
| Mid-Sized | 26–100 staff | $300–$1,500/month, usually quote-based | Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT, Sage Intacct |
| Large or Enterprise | 100+ staff | $1,500+/month, custom quote | NetSuite, Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud, Bonterra |
The products at the higher tiers generally don’t publish pricing, so treat these ranges as rough estimates rather than quotes.
Beyond the base subscription, a few factors can change what you pay:
- Per-user pricing and minimums: InfoFlo Impact charges per user, with team sizes starting at 3 users. Salesforce gives eligible nonprofits 10 free Nonprofit Cloud licenses, then charges $70/user/month for its Core edition.
- Per-contact pricing: Bloomerang includes unlimited users but prices by the number of records in your database, so cost rises as your donor list grows.
- Modules: A donor management tool on its own costs less than a full suite with accounting, events, and case management.
- Payment processing fees: Online giving tools often charge per donation. Donorbox’s free Standard plan charges a 2.95% platform fee on most donations, plus separate card processing fees.
- Contract terms: Some vendors lock in seat counts for the full term. Bonterra, for example, only applies seat reductions at the end of your contract.
- Implementation and training: Data migration, setup, and training can carry one-time fees, especially for mid-sized and enterprise systems.
Are There Free Nonprofit Software Options?
Yes, but most free options are limited plans, charge per donation instead of per month, or require you to host the software yourself. Combining a few free tools can work for a small or all-volunteer organization, and it shows you which features are worth paying for later. Our list of free nonprofit tools and software covers more options.
Is there a free CRM for nonprofits? Salesforce gives eligible nonprofits 10 free Nonprofit Cloud licenses. Setup and customization aren’t included, so budget for implementation help. CiviCRM is open-source and free to download, but you’ll need to pay for hosting or host it yourself.
Is Microsoft Office free for nonprofits? Partly. Microsoft gives eligible nonprofits up to 300 free Microsoft 365 Business Basic licenses, which include the web and mobile versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, plus Teams. For the desktop apps, nonprofits pay a discounted $3.50/user/month for Business Standard or $5.50/user/month for Business Premium, billed annually. Google Workspace for Nonprofits is free for eligible organizations, starting at 300 users and expandable to 2,000 on request.
Free donation tools: Donorbox’s Standard plan has no monthly fee. Instead, it charges a 2.95% platform fee on most donations, plus card processing fees.
