Nonprofit Software: 17 Intuitive Tools You Need
From hosting engaging fundraisers to stewarding strong supporter relationships, there's a lot that goes into managing a nonprofit. Luckily, there's nonprofit software for every need you could possibly have.
Whether you need assistance with accounting or donor management, there's a solution ready to pick up the administrative load, so you can focus on more important matters. Just remember, each nonprofit has a unique set of needs, and the software you invest in should reflect yours. Whether you need assistance with accounting or donor management, there's a solution ready to pick up the administrative load, so you can focus on more important matters. Just remember, each nonprofit has a unique set of needs, and the software you invest in should reflect yours.
As you begin building out your technology toolkit, keep these industry-leading nonprofit software suggestions in mind:
1. Donately | Best-in-Class Online Fundraising Software
2. Double the Donation | Best Nonprofit Software for Matching Gifts
3. DonorSearch | Top Nonprofit Fundraising Software for Prospect Research
4. MailChimp | Top Nonprofit Software for Email Marketing
5. HubSpot | Top Software for Nonprofit Marketing
6. Stripe | Top Nonprofit Fundraising Software for Donation Processing
7. Slack | Best Nonprofit Software for Team Communication
8. Wix | Top Software for Nonprofit Web Design
9. QuickBooks Online | Best Software for Managing Nonprofit Finances
10. Salesforce | Best CRM Software for Large Nonprofits
11. FreshBooks | Top Cloud-Based Accounting Software for Nonprofits
12. Boardable | Best Software for Nonprofit Board Management
13. Google Analytics | Top Nonprofit Software for Data-Driven Fundraising
14. Capsule CRM | Best Affordable Nonprofit CRM Software
15. Insightly | Best Nonprofit Software for Project Management
16. Shopify | Best Software for Nonprofit Product Fundraising
17. SureImpact | Best Nonprofit Software for Impact Measurement
If you’re curious about specific platforms, feel free to use the links above to jump to those sections. Otherwise, follow along from the top to learn about the best nonprofit software.
Ready to gain stronger insight into the best nonprofit software available to organizations like yours? Let's dive in!
1. Donately | Best-in-Class Online Fundraising Software
Overview of this Nonprofit Software
Here at Donately, we offer the online fundraising tools you need to improve your donor experience and boost online revenue. Whether you're a seasoned fundraising professional or you're offering an online giving experience for the first time, our nonprofit software makes it easy for you to share your cause and secure donations.
Why this Nonprofit Fundraising Software Stands Out
When you partner with Donately, you can rest assured that all your online fundraising needs will be covered from responsive donation forms to text message outreach. Here's just a brief overview of the extensive features that come with this nonprofit software:
- Mobile-Responsive Donation Forms. Customize your online donation forms to suit your exact needs. Collect donor information, set suggested donation amounts, encourage recurring donations, pass processing fees to your donors, and more. Best of all, our donation forms and pages are mobile-responsive, so donors have the added convenience of donating on their favorite devices!
- Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Tools. Effortlessly expand your donor network and reach new fundraising heights by enabling peer-to-peer fundraising. Our peer-to-peer fundraising pages are designed so that your organization can tell its story while your volunteer fundraisers add their personal connections.
- Text Messaging Capabilities. Meet your donors where they are with text messaging tools. With Donately, you can drive more donations by sharing a customized link to your donation page, direct recipients to your peer-to-peer sign-up page, and disseminate important information.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Even if Donately doesn't cover all your needs, we offer a number of integrations, several of which you'll learn more about throughout this article. This way, you can connect all your nonprofit software with ease and streamline your processes across the board.
Sign up for your free account and see how Donately can improve your online fundraising!
2. Double the Donation | Best Nonprofit Software for Matching Gifts
Overview of this Nonprofit Software
Double the Donation is a nonprofit software platform that helps nonprofits take full advantage of matching gift opportunities. Matching gifts, a specific type of corporate giving program, are a major fundraising opportunity and have the potential to multiply the donations you're already receiving. Double the Donation offers a matching gift database that allows supporters to check their eligibility for their employers' programs.
Why this Nonprofit Fundraising Software Stands Out
With a database that's filled with information on 20,000+ companies and subsidiaries, Double the Donation is the industry-leading matching gift tool. Here's what the matching gift process looks like with this nonprofit software by your side:
- Your nonprofit embeds the search tool on your donation page or confirmation page.
- The supporter types the name of their employer and clicks "submit."
- The donor is immediately met with all available information regarding their employer's program.
- If eligible, the donor clicks through to the form and submits their request to their employer.
It's as simple as that! Plus, Double the Donation has an upcoming integration with Donately, meaning you'll be able to connect the two nonprofit software platforms for maximum fundraising success.
If you have a substantial donor base (and therefore more data), check out Double the Donation's more robust system: 360MatchPro. This nonprofit software fully automates the process for organizations that already raise more than $25,000 in matching gift funds each year, so you don't overlook a single dollar!
3. DonorSearch | Top Nonprofit Fundraising Software for Prospect Research
Overview of this Nonprofit Software
DonorSearch offers nonprofit software that can take your prospect research to the next level. Get to know your donors personally with tools that provide accurate and actionable information, such as philanthropic and wealth-based analytics. Using the data that DonorSearch gathers, your team can identify your best major gift prospects, annual fund donors, and planned gift donors based on up-to-date insights.
Why this Nonprofit Fundraising Software Stands Out
To help you gain a strong sense of who your qualified leads are, DonorSearch offers the following features:
- Analytics and Reporting - Gather a variety of details about your prospects, including business affiliations, past giving history, and wealth data.
- Relationship Mapping - With a visual depiction of donors' personal and professional relationships, you can locate connections to new potential donors.
- Top Prospect Verification - The DonorSearch team will manually verify your top prospects to maximize accuracy.
Best of all, DonorSearch leverages the nation's largest philanthropic database of 150+ million records (with 500,000 new records added per week). Because of this, you'll gain insight that you won't find anywhere else.
4. Mailchimp | Top Nonprofit Software for Email Marketing
Overview of this Nonprofit Software
Mailchimp is an integrated email marketing platform that helps you connect with supporters through tailored outreach. When it comes to nonprofit fundraising, well-timed emails help you spread the word about your cause and ultimately secure more revenue.
Using this nonprofit software, nonprofits can craft more effective emails targeted to the right audiences. Plus, Mailchimp recognizes that nonprofits often have tight budgets, so they offer a 15% discount to all charities.
Bonus: Learn how to make the most of your email outreach with our email marketing strategy guide.
Why this Nonprofit Fundraising Software Stands Out
Mailchimp's nonprofit software makes delivering well-timed, personalized emails a breeze. Let's take a look at the features nonprofits find most useful:
- Segmentation - Organize your contact list by identifying characteristics that you want to filter your audience by, whether it's donation activity, geographic location, or email interactions. This way, you can be more intentional with your outreach.
- Automation - Easily set up automated personalized emails, including a series of welcome emails for new supporters and thank-you emails post-donation.
- Analytics - Mailchimp offers benchmarks for measuring success. Within their reporting section, track your open rate, click through rate, and number of subscribers to improve email content.
With its integration with Donately, you can subscribe your donors to email lists and add tags to your donors inside of MailChimp, streamlining your outreach even further.
5. HubSpot | Top Software for Nonprofit Marketing
Overview of This Nonprofit Software
HubSpot's nonprofit software is an all-in-one marketing platform for organizations. Whether you're working to attract first-time visitors or keep current supporters engaged, their dedicated tools can help you make the most of your marketing dollars.
Why this Nonprofit Software Stands Out
HubSpot's nonprofit software allows you to create valuable content that caters to your audience. Here's a look into their marketing tools:
- Blogging Tools - If you dabble in blogging, HubSpot will simplify the process. Publish relevant, conversion-optimized content with easy-to-use editing tools.
- A/B Testing - After launching your professional-looking landing pages, you can run A/B tests to determine what drives the most value. Adjust your strategies based on results and increase conversions over time.
- Social Media Tools - Expand your audience with HubSpot's dedicated social media capabilities. Monitor brand mentions, track engagements, and schedule your posts to be published at the optimal time.
- Ad Monitoring - Track the ROI of your advertising on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Google. That way, you'll know where you're overspending and can cut back.
By integrating HubSpot with Donately, you can update donor records flawlessly, create new deals for each donor, and attach a contact with a deal on each donation.
6. Stripe | Top Nonprofit Fundraising Software for Donation Processing
Overview of this Nonprofit Software
Stripe offers secure and efficient payment processing software for nonprofits. As our preferred payment processor, Stripe enables you to quickly accept online donations using its world-class security and fast payouts. Get up and running within minutes, and streamline the donation experience by letting Stripe handle the heavy lifting.
Bonus: Learn all about payment processing with our complete nonprofit donation processing guide. It's jam-packed with best practices for selecting the right tools and tips for effectively managing financial data.
Why this Nonprofit Fundraising Software Stands Out
Trusted by more than 100,000 nonprofits and companies, Stripe will enable your nonprofit to:
- Accept Recurring Donations. Recurring donations are a fantastic way to create a steady revenue stream. Through Stripe, there is currently no monthly fee associated with recurring donations.
- Protect Donation Data. All transactions are SSL protected, which is the standard security protocol for authentication, encryption and decryption of data online. Plus, Stripe is PCI Level 1 Compliant, which is the highest grade of payment processing security.
- Accept Donations on All Devices. More than half of all website traffic comes from mobile devices, so you'd be remiss if you didn't take advantage of mobile giving. Stripe allows you to accept donations from any device with your mobile-responsive donation forms.
Best of all, Stripe integrates with Donately and is a developer-friendly way to accept donations online. This way, you can rest assured that all your donation data is secure and accounted for.
7. Slack | Best Nonprofit Software for Team Communication
Overview of this Nonprofit Software
Effective team communication is a must for any organization to strive toward its mission. That's why Slack offers nonprofit software designed for accessible team collaboration. This platform allows you to centralize communication and access conversations across your favorite devices. This way, you'll spend less time emailing or sitting in meetings and can get back to fulfilling your mission.
Why this Nonprofit Fundraising Software Stands Out
Slack offers a number of features that pertain to the nonprofit sector, and with their collaboration tools, you'll receive access to:
- Unlimited Channel Creation. Create messaging feeds for all groups within your organization. Designate ones for committees, board members, specific program leads, and even sponsors.
- Voice and Video Calling. - If working face-to-face is easier, you can connect with your team through voice or video calls in just a few clicks.
- File Sharing. When you share documents within private channels or messages, you can add key details without dealing with generic folders. Plus, drag-and-drop tools make sharing files a breeze.
Through its integration with Donately, Slack allows you to set up instant notifications whenever you receive a donation or when new fundraiser pages are created.
8. Wix | Top Software for Nonprofit Web Design
Overview of this Nonprofit Software
Your nonprofit's website is its primary online marketing tool, so choosing an effective web builder should be at the top of your to-do list. Luckily, Wix is an easy-to-use website builder that comes equipped with the tools nonprofits need to develop a strong online presence. No matter your web design skill level, you'll find their tools easy to navigate, with everything from drag-and-drop tools to editing via coding.
Why this Nonprofit Fundraising Software Stands Out
While it was created for a wide variety of uses, Wix offers a number of features that can assist in nonprofit web design, such as:
- Well-designed templates - Start from scratch or get a head start by choosing from more than 500 designer-made templates. Wix offers a variety of designs for nonprofits, so you can easily develop the most engaging website possible.
- Complete customization - Design your website exactly the way you want with extensive customization features. Make your content stand out with more than 100 fonts, video backgrounds, and scroll effects.
- Affordable plans - Since nonprofits often have limited digital marketing budgets, Wix offers a free plan as well as numerous low-cost options.
Through its integration with Donately, you can easily embed mobile-responsive donation forms on your website and link from your website to your Donately campaign pages. You'll maximize your online fundraising potential in no time.
9. QuickBooks Online | Best Software for Managing Nonprofit Finances
Overview of this Nonprofit Software
Managing nonprofit finances can be rather time-consuming, but QuickBooks Online can streamline the process altogether. QuickBooks Online is the web version of the popular accounting packages known as QuickBooks. For nonprofits, they offer discounted products, so you can get professional-grade financial management tools at an affordable price.
Why this Nonprofit Fundraising Software Stands Out
With QuickBooks Online, your nonprofit will be able to:
- Accept and Track Donations. Your team can accept and record donations directly on their mobile devices and tag them to a specific program or fund for accurate bookkeeping.
- Invoicing. Create professional custom invoices complete with your logo. Plus, you can track invoice status, send payment reminders for pledged donations, and match payments to invoices automatically.
- Automated Reporting. Create any type of report you need, whether it's annual board member reports, donor reports, or grant reports. Make your reports presentation-worthy by customizing them with your logo, an introduction, and notes.
Plus, you can connect your Donately account to QuickBooks Online to automatically sync donation data with your accounting team. Free up your staff's time by shifting the administrative load to this financial management software.
10. Salesforce | Best CRM Software for Large Nonprofits
Overview of this Nonprofit Software
Salesforce offers best-in-class CRM software for large nonprofits. This nonprofit software empowers nonprofit teams to run their entire mission by building meaningful and enduring relationships within a single platform.
Why this Nonprofit Fundraising Software Stands Out
Using Salesforce's intuitive nonprofit software, you can:
- Completely Customize Your Toolkit. Through the Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP), you can build out your toolkit to ensure your CRM suits your exact needs. NPSP sits on top of the CRM and provides tools to help manage programs, donations, volunteers, and supporters all in one place.
- Accelerate Major Giving. Funnel donor data and any payments directly into your system. Then, take action on analytics by cultivating relationships with potential major donors. In no time, you'll be able to craft a cohesive and robust major gift strategy.
- Combine Direct Mail with Digital. Intertwine your existing direct mail strategy with digital tools designed for personalized communication across multiple channels. This way, you'll centralize outreach and engage with funders in meaningful ways.
You can connect to Donately with any version of Salesforce. By doing so, you can match your donation data with the exact fields you have in your Salesforce account. Plus, you can eliminate manual exports and imports with automation.
11. FreshBooks | Top Cloud-Based Accounting Software for Nonprofits
Overview of this Nonprofit Software
FreshBooks is one of the most popular online accounting that makes billing and accounting easy for nonprofits. Originally designed for small businesses, this platform has the versatility to accommodate nonprofit organizations as well. Overall, it works to simplify accounting, help reduce overhead, and free up time, so you can get back to what matters: furthering your cause.
Why this Nonprofit Fundraising Software Stands Out
FreshBooks makes accounting easy for any organization. Let's dive into a handful of their most popular features for nonprofits:
- Project Management - Automate tasks, assign team members to them, and easily track project completion. You can use this tool for your volunteers, too! In no time, you'll have a much more productive team.
- Expense reports. See how much money you're spending and where you're spending it. With a single click, you'll see all your costs conveniently grouped by categories.
- Send Customized Invoices. FreshBooks simplifies invoices for your recurring donors and pledges. Simply choose a template, enter the details, add your logo, and you're all set!
Through FreshBooks' integration with Donately, you can easily sync your Donately account to streamline accounting processes. Create client records based on donors and track all income from donations. This way, accounting will be easy to handle!
12. Boardable | Best Software for Nonprofit Board Management
Overview of this Nonprofit Software
Boardable offers nonprofit software designed specifically for centralizing board communications. Built by nonprofit professionals, this software for nonprofits accounts for many of the issues that boards commonly run into. Overall, their tools empower you to work more efficiently and communicate in an effective way, whether you're in meetings or in between them. Plus, with the mobile app, your members can provide input on time-sensitive decisions at a moment's notice.
Why this Nonprofit Fundraising Software Stands Out
With Boardable's nonprofit software, your board will be able to collaborate with ease using these key features:
- Video Conferencing. Whenever a board member is unable to attend, they can simply phone into your meeting. Even better, the video feature allows for that much needed face-to-face element necessary for effective communication.
- Document Center. Safely store all your documents in one convenient location, so your board and committee members can access all documents without having to search high and low.
- Meetings Center. Automate your meeting scheduling with intuitive tools that help you select the best possible time for all attendees. Plus, you can attach your agenda and any relevant documents to each meeting for even more convenience.
Giving your board accessible tools allows them to collaborate and push your work forward. Boardable's nonprofit software is an effective choice that will free up time, so you can focus on leading, not just managing.
13. Google Analytics | Top Nonprofit Software for Data-Driven Fundraising
Overview of this Nonprofit Software
Google Analytics is a free analytics tool for analyzing web traffic. Built for a range of purposes, it can help nonprofits optimize their website to turn traffic into donations, event registrations, or volunteer applications. With the data it tracks, you can measure your return on investment, identify your strongest online strategies, and determine what content performs the best.
Why this Nonprofit Fundraising Software Stands Out
By leveraging Google Analytics, you'll collect data that informs your decision-making and enables you to take action based on accurate information. Here's a handful of the metrics you can track through this nonprofit software:
- Bounce rates - High bounce rates indicate that visitors are leaving one web page without clicking through to any others. When this occurs, experiment with adjusting the page content, formatting, wording, and visuals to lower it.
- Average Session Duration - Visitor engagement is one of the most important components of effective web development. Average session duration tells you how long visitors stay on your site, making it a good opportunity to determine which content yields the best results.
- Donation Tracking - Gain insights into valuable donation metrics, such as sources driving the most transactions and time elapsed between the first site visit and a donation. You can also find out which cities, regions, and countries are where most of your donations come from, so you can tailor outreach to your audience.
Using its native integration with Donately, you can easily manage your donation forms and pages. You'll see a range of website and conversion data from your Donately assets and will be able to track donation sources to know which channels convert the best.
14. Capsule CRM | Best Affordable Nonprofit CRM Software
Overview of this Nonprofit Software
Nonprofits often have limited budgets, making it difficult to find affordable nonprofit software for cultivating relationships. Capsule CRM recognizes this and offers affordable CRM software for nonprofits. Capsule CRM is a hosted CRM for tracking donors and donations online. Their nonprofit software empowers you to develop long-lasting relationships and push more donations through your pipeline in less time than ever before.
Why this Nonprofit Software Stands Out
Capsule CRM has put time into developing an inexpensive yet powerful platform. Let's dive into a few of their core constituent management features:
- Note Capabilities - Get a holistic view of your donors, volunteers, sponsors, and any other constituents by adding customized notes. Add information on important conversations, store emails, and attach relevant documents to each constituent.
- Task Management - Add tasks that need to be done for each contact. This way, your relationships don't fall by the wayside, and you can ensure every supporter is receiving sufficient attention.
- Simplified Segmentation - Create custom tags. Then, filter your contacts based on criteria such as which city they're in, when they were added, or any custom field you create. Using categorizations, you'll be able to send each group tailored outreach.
By integrating Capsule CRM with Donately, you can easily manage your contact list, create tailored opportunities based on giving history, and create customized tags to segment your donors.
15. Insightly | Best Nonprofit Software for Project Management
Overview of this Nonprofit Software
Between capturing support and sustaining operations, nonprofits have a lot on their plates. Oftentimes, they need extra help pushing projects forward and juggling various tasks. That's why Insightly CRM offers a solution for effective project management.
With this nonprofit software, you can easily streamline your projects instead of worrying about the tiny details. You'll receive enterprise-grade tools needed for efficient work and push donors through the pipeline at an affordable cost.
Why this Nonprofit Software Stands Out
Let's explore how Insightly simplifies project management:
- Manage Processes. Track milestones and stay up-to-date on next steps to drive projects to completion. Customize workflows for a completely tailored work experience.
- Data management. With business intelligence built directly into this nonprofit software, you can create engaging data visualizations (such as donations made within a specific time period) to discover insights and chart fundraising progress.
- Mobile usability. Manage work on the go with intuitive apps for Android and iOS. Get rid of the drudgery of inputting data by scanning prospect info directly from business cards. Then, update tasks, milestones, and deliverables in real-time.
Through Insightly's integration with Donately, small and mid-sized organizations can easily manage donors, track relationships, monitor donations, and organize projects across all devices.
16. Shopify | Best Software for Nonprofit Product Fundraising
Overview of this Nonprofit Software
With Shopify's eCommerce platform, you can create a virtual storefront with customized merchandise and donation capabilities. Plus, they make it easy to set up your store with several customizable themes.
Best of all, Shopify offers affordable nonprofit rates and exceptional customer service. As a powerful marketing opportunity, donors around the world will enjoy supporting your mission and sporting your cause through branded apparel and other products.
Why this Nonprofit Software Stands Out
Shopify offers a number of opportunities to improve fundraising tactics. This powerful nonprofit fundraising software enables your team to:
- Expand your audience. Connect with supporters around the world with international shipping. Plus, your online Shopify store will include a built-in mobile commerce shopping cart. This way, visitors can browse and buy from your store across their favorite devices.
- Review important metrics. Gain insight into your progress with helpful reporting capabilities. Take a look at your sales, orders, and products to improve your strategies. You can even see how your visitors found your online store.
- Streamline the shipping process. Buy postage for each order directly in Shopify. Then, print shipping labels from your home or office, eliminating the need for third-party interference.
Available on all Team & Enterprise plans, Shopify's integration with Donately allows you to embed a donation form directly into your Shopify store. In no time, you'll maximize your fundraising potential.
17. SureImpact | Best Nonprofit Software for Impact Measurement
Overview of this Nonprofit Software
SureImpact offers nonprofits the opportunity to easily assess the outcomes of their work. Moving beyond measuring outputs, SureImpact’s tools support organizations in evaluating how their programs and services are positively impacting the communities they serve. SureImpact offers comprehensive case management and impact management, enabling staff to track and measure activities and outcomes for their clients, while providing leadership with powerful insights into program and organization performance and social impact.
Why this Nonprofit Fundraising Software Stands Out
SureImpact makes impact data accessible to nonprofit staff and stakeholders. Here are some of their key features:
- Customizable Insights: Set short- and long-term outcome measures for your organization. SureImpact allows you to track impact at the individual and organizational level, measuring outcomes for clients and your nonprofit’s overall work.
- Data Collection: By automating the data collection process, SureImpact reduces the time nonprofits spend on data entry and improves data accuracy.
- Equity Analysis: SureImpact enables organizations to study the impact of their work in different populations. Performing an equity analysis can ensure that your outcomes are equal across varying communities.
Using this nonprofit software, staff and funders glean valuable insights into how effectively they’re accomplishing their mission. With actionable data from SureImpact, nonprofits can improve their offerings and maximize their impact.
The search for nonprofit software doesn't have to be challenging. Use the above as a solid starting point and continue to compare platforms. Each of these providers has extensive experience in their respective fields, so you'll receive the best possible results.
In any case, choose the tools based on your unique needs to ensure you're optimizing your strategies to the fullest extent. Soon enough, you'll be well on your way to developing the best possible toolkit.
If you enjoyed this article, check out our additional resources below, where you can learn more about selecting the right tools and optimizing your fundraising strategies:
- 9 Online Donation Tools: Key Software to Help You Raise More. Learn about the best online donation platforms available to nonprofits like yours.
- 20+ Top Fundraising Consultants | Standout Firms for 2020. If you need a bit of guidance to navigate your tools, a consultant may be the way to go. Check out this list of top consultants from Grants Plus.
- Online Fundraising: 9 Innovative Ideas (with Examples!). Make the most of your nonprofit software and optimize your fundraising strategies using these innovative suggestions.
