The Best Nonprofit Software
Get the best software for your business. Compare product reviews, pricing below.
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:
Best Overall:
Denali Fund
Denali Fund is designed as a bespoke solution for non-profit organizations that are trying to stay on top of their fund accounting, such as federal grants, private grants and corporate sponsorships. This means the solution was perfectly created for nonprofits to show their true fund with complete reliability and transparency.
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. This means Denali Fund can be molded to your needs, whether it be donor management, fundraising, or accounting.
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.
Best For Accounting:
MIP Fund Accounting
MIP Fund Accounting from Community Brands is a leading provider of accounting software for nonprofits and government organizations. The solution has strong capabilities for fund accounting, budgeting, human resources management, grant management, reporting, and more.
With this system, nonprofit, education and government 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.
Reporting on financial information important to you, your board, and your supporters is one of MIP’s biggest assets. Audit trails can be accessed at any time with created multidimensional charts for expenses and revenue.
MIP Fund Accounting 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.
Best For Donations:
Bloomerang
Bloomerang is a donor management system designed for small to medium-sized organizations. The software helps organizations find, contact, and retain advocates. The 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 strong suit is its ability to dive into the data. Your constituent database can be broken down into donors, volunteers, sponsors, grantees, and more. Real-time retention and engagement metrics come standard–providing at-a-glance views of current engagement levels based on past interactions with the organization. Top prospects can be identified through philanthropic screening data.
Integrated payment processing means Bloomerang works great as a one-stop shop for collecting donations. Bloomerang Payments offers a flat fee on all EFT/ACH, debit and credit card transactions, even if it’s American Express or an international donation. There are no monthly fees or minimums to use Bloomerang Payments. If preferred, Bloomerang can also work with outside payment providers such as Stripe or Moolah.
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 $79 per month for organizations managing up to 1,000 records.
- Find More Fundraising Software Products
Best For Memberships:
MemberClicks
MemberClicks** from Personify 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.
The solution comes in one of two forms:
- MC Trade: Designed for chambers, trade associates, and association management companies (AMC).
- MC Professional: Designed for professional associations, societies, and AMC’s.
Each version includes an unlimited number of profiles for prospects and members that can be stored in one or multiple hierarchies or entities. Membership dues can be configured, automated, and tracked alongside several accounting software integration, which includes QuickBooks.
Members can also access necessary organizational data via the engagement platform, which includes classroom tools to helps members continue education and credentialing. Through a community portals, your organization can also host virtual events and conferences that members can join remotely.
MemberClicks starts at $275 per month (when billed annually), and has a one-time setup fee starting at $1,495. MemberClicks states that most products start with a minimum $3,000 investment. There are additional levels of membership which include extra functionality. There are also custom plans for professional associations, trade associations, and Chambers of Commerce.
Best Free:
Donorbox
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 focuses only on increasing donations for your organizations. This is accomplished through:
- A smart donation form that can be embedded directly onto your website.
- A donation button on your website
- A dedicated fundraising page
- Crowdfunding fundraising campaigns
- Text message donations
- Peer to peer fundraising
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.
What Is Nonprofit Software?
Nonprofit software, sometimes referred to as nonprofit technology for nonprofit apps, consists of tools that automate day to day processes in a nonprofit setting. These processes include administration, fundraising, donor management, accounting, marketing, and more.
Users of nonprofit software include advocacy groups, charitable institutions, government organizations, and faith/religious-based congregations.
For nonprofit organizations, using an industry-specific solution to account for donors and donations, fundraising operations, gifts, membership and other sources of funding is crucial to maximizing outreach, productivity, and engagement with donors.
What Are The Features of Nonprofit Software?
- Communication tools: Includes 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: 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 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 memberships such as group/family or single. Share documents to members via their updated contact information. Allow referrals for new members or allow members to sign up for events or adjust online billing preferences.
What Are The Benefits of Nonprofit Software?
Nonprofits can benefit from nonprofit software through a number of key areas, such as:
Improve Your Volunteer 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: Analyze which campaigns they give to, manage communications between them and the organization, and provide the appropriate tax forms to them at year end.
- Members: 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.
- Volunteers: Store contact info, release forms, hours worked, availability, and past experiences. Provide real-time reports to see which individuals are having the most level of success. Determine which events have drawn the most interest.
Create End Of Year Donation Statements and Donor Contribution Summary Reports
All nonprofit organizations that receive contributions totalling $250 or more, OR provide goods and services to donors to make contributions of more than $75, must send donation receipt letters for tax purposes. The government regulates end-of-year donation letters to any business with legal nonprofit status. These forms allow your donors to deduct donations from their taxes.
These donation statements are simply proof that a donor has contributed to your organization–something the donor can keep as proof in the event the government starts to look into their claimed tax deductions further. By easily providing these to donors, you’ll be able to build trust and a level of comfort that will encourage repeat donations.
A donor contribution summary report track’s each donor’s contribution total as needed. They include your organization’s name, the donor’s name, the dates of contributions, the amounts of contributions, and a statement explaining whether or not your organization provided any goods or services in exchange for these gifts.
Donor contribution summary reports can be sent to donors via direct mail or email. Most nonprofit software will allow the inclusion of a cover letter of sorts–acting as a great tool to keep your donors up to date on what’s happening with the organization, before listing each donation for the calendar year.
Create Form 990
All tax-exempt organizations in the US must file an annual information return with the IRS, which includes Form 990. This form allows the IRS to gather information about the organiation and also educates organizations about tax law requirements and compliance. Tax Form 990 can also help educate the public on programs offered by the nonprofit organization.
While nonprofit organizations do not have to pay federal, state, or local income tax, they do still have to pay payroll tax, sales tax, and use tax. Most tax exempt organizations are required to file an annual informational return with the IRS–which includes Form 990. Nonprofit software can provide step-by-step instructions for preparing and filing Form 990, including receipt of confirmation that it was accepted.
Is QuickBooks a Nonprofit Software?
Certain QuickBooks products from Intuit can be successfully used by a nonprofit organization. The solution can support tracking budgets by programs or funds, donor management, grant management, financial reporting, bank reconciliations, and more.
QuickBooks offers two desktop solutions that are built with nonprofits in mind:
- QuickBooks Premier Nonprofit Edition
- QuickBooks Enterprise Nonprofit
QuickBooks Premier offers various editions that you can choose from, depending on your industry. The Nonprofit Edition provides custom features to:
- Create a chart of accounts the way IRS Form 990 requires
- Draft reports to view money contributed and spent by donor or grant
- Plan budgets based on fundraising allocations
- Organize tax forms for donors, vendors, and employees
This version of QuickBooks is limited to a maximum of 5 users.
QuickBooks Enterprise Nonprofit includes similar features as it’s Premier counterpart above, but includes access for up to 30 users. Key reports include budget by programs, statements of financial income and expense, statement of functional expenses, donors and grant statements, large donor statements, and statement of financial position.
Will QuickBooks Online Work For Nonprofits?
QuickBooks Online can be used in a nonprofit setting, but you’ll want to make sure your staff can put up with the “for-profit language” of the program. The dashboard has mentions of profit and loss, sales, and other terms not commonly used in nonprofit environments. At this time, there is not a nonprofit edition for QuickBooks Online.
Current versions of Quickbooks must instead be customized to enable nonprofit-specific functionality. For organizations, this requires savvy Quickbooks experts who are capable of customizing the software to meet their organization’s particular need. Many NPOs instead look to adopt new nonprofit accounting software solutions that work out of the box.
For organizations set on sticking with QuickBooks Online, Intuit has been recommending QuickBooks Online as the accounting system to have for nonprofits. The solution has one of the lowest cost of entry points starting at $15/month for the self-employed version or $40/month for their Plus version.
How Much Does Nonprofit Software Cost?
The starting price for nonprofit software will range from $25/month to $120/month depending on what the software offers. A software that is only used for donor management might come in at the lower end of that spectrum, while a complete nonprofit accounting software with fundraising campaigns and fund accounting may range towards the higher end.
Most systems will incur a per-user-per-month charge, and require a minimum amount of users required. Software with local installations (desktop software) will usually have a one-time fee involved with purchasing a software outright, and will then offer optional yearly fees for support and updates.
Are There Any Free Nonprofit Software Solutions?
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.
Review some of the best free NPO software products available.
