Feb 16, 2018 4. Donor Manager. Donor Manager’s organization partner dashboard. While Donor Manager was built as church-specific donation management software, you can easily convert it for general nonprofit use in a pinch. All of the included features are applicable to non-religious fundraising, such as donation databases, pledge tracking, mail-merge,. Key Considerations for Donor Management and Fundraising Software. Here are some more points to keep in mind as you evaluate donor management and fundraising software products: Assess your requirements beforehand. Before buying any donor management and fundraising software, thoroughly evaluate your requirements. Our software is conveniently responsive and works well with any desktop, tablet or smart phone. Access your account from any device at any time. Syncs With Your Systems. DonorElf works harmoniously with your existing accounting software, Mailchimp list, and more. Like a first time donor or a regular donor that stopped giving.
Whether your nonprofit has a donor base of 100 or 10,000, part of your responsibility is to track your supporters’ information accurately. But instead of relying on spreadsheets and document tables, many nonprofits choose a formal donor management system.
There are many donor management systems available for nonprofits. Companies like DonorPro, eTapestry, and Blackbaud help nonprofits throughout Canada efficiently organize and track all that essential donor data you’ll need for receipts and future reporting.
But which donor management system is right for you? The first thing to consider when you’re ready to choose a donor management system is how you plan to use it. If you anticipate tracking each donor touchpoint and not just each donation, then you may need to invest in a robust system. Aside from the basic functions of a donor management system, such as individual donor profiles and the ability to mine the data, most full-service systems can integrate with other nonprofit tracking systems you frequently use, such as your email contact lists.
On the other hand, some online fundraising platforms already have basic donor management features. So, if you operate a smaller nonprofit, then these smaller systems may do the trick. The biggest benefit to using a donor management system that’s integrated into your online fundraising platform is that the cost is often much lower than a larger management system. Plus, you don’t necessarily have to input much information on your own, since it’s captured during the donation process.
At the end of the day, if your nonprofit has a deep donor base, multiple employees, and a multichannel marketing plan, then focus on the full-service donor management systems. However, if your fundraising team is small and your donor base is manageable, your online fundraising platform may already be equipped to handle your donor management.
When deciding on a donor management system, weigh the functions and capacity you need against the cost to find the right tool for you.
Relying on the kindness of others is a difficult business model, but it’s the model that fuels all nonprofits.
These organizations pay their staff, pay for the roof over their heads, and make a difference in the world using money donated by people not expecting anything tangible in return.
Spending money to raise money is one of the great struggles of nonprofits the world over. If you’re running a new or small nonprofit, it often doesn’t make sense (or isn’t possible) to spend money on fundraising software.
Paid software isn’t your only option, though. There’s a host of free and open source fundraising software options to choose from, and we’ve rounded up six to get you started.
Software options listed in alphabetical order.
1. CiviCRM
Donor Management Software For Mac Computer
CiviCRM’s donation report dashboard
CiviCRM acts as a fundraising database and one-stop shop for managing event registration, content creation, and membership. It is one of the few customer relationship management programs tailored for the nonprofit/charity sector, letting you raise funds, record donors, and correspond with donors through a single system.
With CiviCRM, there is no disconnect between your front-end fundraising efforts and your data collection. It integrates with popular website hosts, such as Joomla, Drupal, and WordPress.
Have you used CiviCRM? Be sure to leave a review!
2. DonorBox
DonorBox’s campaign management page
DonorBox is fundraising software focused on attracting donors, processing donations, and recording donor information. The online system offers customizable donation pages, multi-currency processing, and donor data exports to MailChimp and Salesforce.
DonorBox’s biggest downside is the $1,000 monthly donation threshold. Once you exceed $1,000 per month in donations, DonorBox charges a 0.89% fee on your monthly donation total.
Have you used DonorBox? Be sure to leave a review!
3. DONATION Lite
DONATION Lite’s donor data entry screen
If you’re looking for a temporary fundraising software solution to hold your organization over until you can afford a paid system, DONATION offers a free version of its software. DONATION Lite incorporates the basic functionality of the full version, such as donor information storage, and an upgrade option for up to 100,000 donor records.
There are limits on the Lite version to be aware of, such as a storage limit of 100 donors per year (which can hinder your fundraising goals) and a lack of email integration.
DONATION Lite is best suited for early-stage nonprofits looking to try out various systems before committing to a paid version.
Have you used DONATION Lite? Be sure to leave a review!
Donor Management Software Reviews
4. Donor Manager
Donor Manager’s organization partner dashboard
While Donor Manager was built as church-specific donation management software, you can easily convert it for general nonprofit use in a pinch. All of the included features are applicable to non-religious fundraising, such as donation databases, pledge tracking, mail-merge, and Excel integration.
The program is compatible with all versions of Windows up through Windows 8 and can run on Mac and Linux through Windows emulation software.
As long as you don’t mind the program referring to your organization as a ministry on your own screen, it’s an entirely capable stand-in for traditional fundraising software.
Have you used Donor Manager? Be sure to leave a review!
5. ProcessDonation
ProcessDonation’s fundraising event detail
ProcessDonation is a relatively recent entrant into the online donation management software sphere and offers free and paid options for nonprofits.
Mac Management Software
The free option includes such features as custom donation pages, fundraising event management, social media connectivity, peer-to-peer fundraising, and even a mobile app. The catch? You’re limited to one campaign at a time, and only one administrator is allowed access.
ProcessDonation touts this option as best for smaller nonprofits that aren’t running multiple campaigns at once.
Have you used Process Donation? Be sure to leave a review!
Other free nonprofit tools
If you’re looking to move on from free or open source fundraising software to a paid option, be sure to check Capterra’s fundraising software database!
Capterra’s nonprofit technology blog offers plenty of lists to peruse if you enjoyed this piece and are seeking other free software options:
Looking for Fundraising software? Check out Capterra's list of the best Fundraising software solutions.