Nonprofit Software
Get the best nonprofit software for your organization. Compare product reviews, pricing below. Read our buyer’s guide for more help.
Nonprofit software automates all areas of nonprofit organizations, from fundraising events and donor database management to general accounting and customer relationship management (CRM).
There are nonprofit solutions that offer single applications for nonprofit accounting, donations management, and membership management. There are also all-in-one, fully integrated options with a suite of functionality to manage your nonprofit inside and out.
We’ve narrowed down our top picks for various types of nonprofit software below:
DENALI FUND+Accounting is a multi-module nonprofit software for small to large organizations. Having a multi-module system allows organizations of any size to get only the functionality they really need. Modules available with DENALI FUND include accounts payable and accounts receivable, payroll, bank reconciliation, purchase orders, order entry, inventory control, donor tracking, and job costing. Some modules can be purchased standalone; however, some modules are required with others. An integrated point of sale system is also available with DENALI FUND that works with both nonprofit and for-profit organizations.
Pricing for DENALI FUND is customized based on the modules and functionality your organization needs. The system generally starts around $1,999 per user as a locally installed, one-time purchase. Training options on the system are available in-person or virtually.
Abila MIP Fund Accounting gives organizations strong capabilities including fund accounting, budgeting, human resources management, grant management, reporting, and more. With this system, government and nonprofit agencies can make informed decisions, keep organized, and be prepared for audits. MIP is also designed to scale with your organization, so you get the functionality you need as your organization grows.
Abila MIP can be purchased upfront or leased on a SaaS model, giving you the option for a locally installed or web-based solution based on your organization’s needs.
- Find More Nonprofit Accounting Software Products.
Bloomerang is a donor management system designed for small to medium-sized organizations. The software helps organizations find, contact, and retain advocates. Primary features of Bloomerang include CRM, online giving, email marketing, engagement meters, generosity scores, and reports. This system integrates with powerful peer-to-peer, wealth screening, and funding accounting apps, in addition to your website CMS.
Bloomerang’s free version is available for start-ups and small nonprofits which only manage up to 250 records and up to $100,000 in annual revenue. The paid version starts at $99 per month for organizations managing up to 1,000 records.
- Find More Fundraising Software Products
MemberClicks is a membership management tool that includes membership databases, custom websites, member communities, and event registration functionality. Organizations find this solution to have easy website building tools, a user-friendly interface, and a strong reporting system.
MemberClicks starts at $275 per month (when billed annually), and has a one-time setup fee starting at $1,495. There are additional levels of membership which include extra functionality. There are also custom plans for professional associations, trade associations, and Chambers of Commerce.
Donorbox gives nonprofit organizations a fundraising platform for collection donations, managing donors, and marketing your campaign. Donorbox can be seamlessly embedded to your organization’s existing website or as a standalone widget. Payment processing is available from a variety of methods including ACH and SEPA bank transfers, Google Pay and Apple Pay, credit cards, PayPal, and Stripe.
Donorbox is free for organizations that raise less than $1,000/month. However, payment processing with Stripe and PayPal will incur a charge. PayPal payments incur 2.2% + 30 cents per transaction, and Stripe payments incur 2.9% + 30 cents per transaction. Donorbox costs $45/month for organizations that raise between $1,000 - $3,000 per month, and $150/month for organizations that raise up to $10,000/month.
Nonprofit Software Buyer’s Guide
What Is Nonprofit Software?
Nonprofit software consists of applications intended to help automate day to day administrative processes in a nonprofit setting, such as advocacy groups or charitable institutions. These all-in-one solutions include tasks such as accounting, donor management and fundraising, volunteer management, and membership management.
For NPOs, using an industry-specific solution to account for donors and donations, fundraising operations, gifts, membership and other sources of funding is crucial to staying organized. It also lets you keep track of any and all personnel involved with your organization, whether it be members, volunteers, donors, or your own employees.
Key Features of Nonprofit Software
- Communication tools: Use email marketing, text messages, or traditional direct mail to perform nonprofit outreach.
- Fundraising: Raise money, keep track of donations, connect with donors, and use automation to maximize outreach and marketing campaigns.
- Campaign management : Execute highly targeted digital marketing plans. Enables the creation of custom campaigns to link together online donations and physical donations in a single system.
- Campaign reporting: Put together custom reports to account for donations, grants, pledges and other sources of funding. Includes data-driven analysis to measure fundraising performance, donor retention, and historical fundraising campaign success.
- Donation management: Tracks 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.
- Contact and donor management: Keep records on past donors to streamline communication and potentially increase retention rates.
- Event planning: Organize and host charitable events, such as in-person fundraisers or awareness campaigns.
Additional Capabilities of Fundraising Software
- Donor database
- Membership and subscription management
- Direct mail and email marketing campaign coordination
- Contributions management demographic analytics
- Pledge and grant management
- Support for recurring giving
- Matching gift/donation management
- Peer-to-peer fundraising tools
- Fundraising event management
- Donation forms and templates
Best Nonprofit Software Pricing Options
Nonprofit organizations are always trying to reduce or eliminate as many traditional business expenses as possible in order to spend more of their limited funds on the mission itself. As a result, it’s no surprise most NPOs prefer free software options.
Realistically, you’ll be hard pressed to find a free nonprofit software solution capable of proper donation tracking or membership/volunteer management without downsides. Most “free” options are just trials or basic versions of paid options, meant to bring customers in. However, a combination of these tools could let a nonprofit decide which are worth their paid counterparts. Fortunately, many solutions are relatively inexpensive, depending on exactly what features your organization requires.
Additional Nonprofit Software Integrations
There are many other software solutions designed to assist nonprofit organizations. Some include:
Nonprofit Accounting Software
Accounting software used in a nonprofit primarily manages the funds and grants received by tracking how much money has been donated or spent. It can also be used to better allocate donations received from fundraising campaigns.
Most nonprofit accounting software is created with the purpose of being easy to use, as many nonprofits may not have a full-time accounting department on hand. Most don’t have the time or the luxury to be trained in a very complex system, instead using Excel or similar programs for manually tracking money. Fund accounting software options exist with the purpose of furthering your organization’s mission by properly using available funds.
Nonprofit Donation and Fundraising Software
Fundraising software tracks the acquisition of donor contributions, manages donor relationships, and can be used for facilitating related communication and data management tasks. The goal is to maximize outreach through online marketing trends or in-person charitable events to increase funding as much as possible with minimal expenses.
Donation management software is similar, in that it tracks monetary and other gifts from donors. However, it also processes recurring donations made through bank accounts or credit card payments.
Nonprofit Fundraising Technology Trends
Technology has revolutionized nonprofit operations in a variety of ways. For starters, communication tools and customizable email templates allow nonprofits to reach out to more donors than ever before in an instant. And online donation pages allow donors to set recurring donations whenever they want, instead of waiting for annual pledge drives or in-person fundraising events.
In 2014, our Fundraising Technology Trends Survey found 4 in 5 nonprofits know technology is the key to success yet only 1 in 3 had the tools needed to be effective. Today, Gen Z makes up over a quarter of the population and now accounts for 40% of all consumers. This generation prefers to consume online activity almost exclusively on mobile devices. Grabbing their attention will require engaging content through the social media channels they are already using, such as Instagram. Your organization should also ensure you have an appropriate mobile platform for crowdfunding donations.
Nonprofit Volunteer, Member, and Donor Databases
Anything that helps your organization stay organized when it comes to people-to-people relationships will fall under a nonprofit database and membership software. One could think of these solutions as being nonprofit CRMs since nonprofits are primarily looking to track metrics on 3 distinct types of people:
- Donors
- Members
- Volunteers
Donor profiles will need to be tracked in a database to analyze which campaigns they give to, manage communications between them and the organization, and provide the appropriate tax forms to them at year end.
Member databases act as a way to grow your membership programs. Similar to 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 account. Fees can be managed in a straight-forward manner and members can sign up for in-demand volunteer spots or help organize fundraising campaigns.
Volunteer databases should store information such as contact info, release forms, hours worked, availability, and past experiences. The goal of storing all this needed information will be to provide real-time reports to see which individuals are having the most level of success, or perhaps look at which events have drawn the most interest from volunteers, donors, or members.
Online and Cloud-based Nonprofit Software
A recent survey of nonprofit organizations in the market for software found the following bits of information pertaining to deployment preferences:
- 21 percent of buyers are seeking better features, including mobile and online fundraising capabilities such as crowdfunding. Modern nonprofit accounting software can help build custom fundraising campaigns similar to ecommerce sites that can account for all online giving by managing digital and mobile donations, which can’t be easily integrated with many legacy systems.
- 23 percent of NPOs would like to move to a cloud-based software solution. Cloud software enables organizations to keep all of their online and accessible through any web browser while reducing costs. Because cloud solutions are offered on a subscription basis, the software allows for lower upfront pricing and a predictable ongoing cost structure that enables better long-term budgeting.