There are more than 1.8 million nonprofit organizations in the USA. They serve an important mission - to address a wide range of issues, from healthcare and nature conservation to culture and medical research.
Source: Finance Online
However, nonprofits frequently face challenges that prevent them from effective fundraising. One of the biggest issues of non-business entities is donor acquisition, retention, and communication.
Source: Statista
A nonprofit CRM can become a handy tool for nonprofits. It's simple to use and helps organizations achieve their goals faster and easier through improving communication with their donors.
So, today we will show you how customer relationship management software for nonprofits will make a difference in obtaining funds for achieving the organization's goals. We'll also review some of the best software solutions, so you can pick the one that fits the needs of your nonprofit.
Table of Contents
What Is Nonprofit CRM Software?
CRM, customer relationship management, is a tool for streamlining the communication with leads and helping companies better organize and access customer data.
In the nonprofit sector, nonprofit client management software is a platform that enables organizations to drive and retain more donors by improving communication with them. These apps serve as a database for storing donor contact information, communication history, and more. They also might feature tools for analyzing the target audience or generating metrics about donations, the level of donor engagement, and more.
Benefits of CRM for Nonprofits
CRM tools are widespread in the for-profit business world for a good reason. They help automate the workflows connected with lead communication and acquisition, increase raisings by improving relationships with leads, and analyze the company's engagement with their customers.
Nonprofits heavily rely on donors who contribute to the organizations. CRM nonprofit software allows nonprofits to capture a detailed profile of their supporters and streamline their engagement goals with related activities.
But that's not all.
Key benefits of Nonprofit CRM solutions:
- Track and manage a database of donors - so you know how many donors are in your database, the level of their engagement, and more;
- Improve interaction with existing or new contributors - learn what can motivate the constituents to donate based on previous experience;
- Set data-driven communication - keep your contributors informed about the organization's activities to boost loyalty and lifetime value;
- Improve the staff's productivity - automate workflows so that employees can spend more time building relationships with donors rather than performing monotonous tasks;
- Give your employees what they need - ensure 24/7 access to data from any place and device so that every team member can carry out communication with donors whenever they get a chance;
- Manage workflows more efficiently - set tasks for every group or employee, track the progress of the task;
- Nurture potential donors faster - cut the journey from the first interaction with the organization to the first donation by building the relationship the right way;
- Enhance the marketing outreach - reach targeted groups easier by managing marketing campaigns and checking their effectiveness through a centralized CRM platform;
- Sync several communication channels (phone, emails, social media, messengers, etc.) - ensure omnichannel communication experience with donors, so they can reach you in a convenient manner;
- Streamline data reporting process - get insights on their generosity and other critical metrics from one dashboard.
Reasons to Implement CRM in NonProfit Organizations
All nonprofit organizations that do not use a CRM have the same problem. Their staff finds it difficult to access donor data. The information is either dispersed across different files or requires reaching multiple people to gain access to the right documentation. Obviously, this lack of critical data about donors can decrease fundraising results. Naturally, you want different. You would like to engage with more people who may support the organization's mission.
- So, the first reason to implement CRM systems for nonprofits is to create a centralized database of existing and potential donors. The staff will access the data they need to reach people willing to do good. More advanced CRMs use artificial intelligence to track the supporters' behavior, so you know how to convince them to donate a meaningful amount of money. Staff will be about to take advantage of communication and donation history as well as the details that would help them build a relevant communication strategy. What's more, the data would be available from any device and any place (assuming an Internet connection).
- Nonprofit relationship management systems also enable you to do more with less. With automated reporting, reminders, and even email outreach, you'll finally have enough time to focus on value-added activities.
- There are also fundraising CRM systems with in-built marketing tools for increasing your donor base. They allow running marketing campaigns on Facebook or Google Ads, building the website, or managing social media accounts. These tools are convenient as you will be doing everything from a single hub.
- With a customer relationship management nonprofit organizations tool, you'll get actionable analytics and reporting for more knowledgeable decisions. You'll be able to visualize the critical data like a donor pyramid or donor lifecycle to understand better how things are going in the organization. By getting insights into the performance, you'll adjust your strategies for attracting and retaining contributors.
Crucial Aspects to Consider When Choosing a Nonprofit Customer Relationship Management Tool
The market is flooded with CRM solutions these days. Some target specific nonprofit needs and others have a more general use. So, different tools prioritize various features, and you have to be sure the software you pick has the capabilities to move your organization forward.
With that in mind, we recommend you revise workflows in your nonprofit organization, so you know for sure what tools you may need to tackle daily tasks efficiently.
In this section, you will get a hint of what features to look for in the fundraising CRM tool. We'll cover the most common features that would be handy in the nonprofit sector. But if you feel that your organization needs some more, you can always create your own must-have list to be certain the app entirely covers your needs.
|
DONOR MANAGEMENT |
ENGAGEMENT METER |
CUSTOMIZED REPORTS |
| Contain information about donors: name, contact info, communication, donation history, and anything required for building relationships. | Shows whether supporters are engaged in the interaction with the organization, allowing you to spot prospective recurring donors and the ones who require additional attention. | Provide you with analytical information based on your specific needs. You can create templates to track critical information to make more educated decisions. |
|
CUSTOM DASHBOARD |
INTEGRATIONS |
MARKETING TOOLS |
| Brings an overview of the metrics essential for reaching the organization's goals. | Build a software ecosystem for covering all nonprofit processes by easily integrating all tools from your tech stack. | Allow driving more donors through managed marketing campaigns. You can also send personalized emails or manage social media accounts. |
|
ONLINE DONATION PAGES |
GENEROSITY SCORE |
SUPPORTER TIMELINES |
| Create online donation pages to increase your online presence. Improve the fundraising by letting contributors donate online and capture information about them for further interactions. | Figure out the giving potential of every particular donor. The app will analyze the publicly available financial data, so you can get a better idea about major and mid-tier contributors. | See the highlights of the donor engagement displayed in chronological order. Check when the contributor donated, volunteered, took part in the events, or interacted with the organization in any other way. |
Donor Management
All the donor-related information is stored in donor profiles. So, either when you import data from spreadsheets or add a new contributor to the fundraising CRM software, you'll be dealing with profiles.
To add a new donor profile, you've got to fill in the form, including a wide range of information like the name, birthdate, contact information, workplace, interests, communication history, and anything relevant to your nonprofit organization. You can use this data to have more meaningful communications or sort donors based on different criteria.
Engagement Meter
Be always in the know on how donors interact with your nonprofit organization. You'll see who is fully engaged in communication with you and who might require additional follow-ups.
Different nonprofit fundraising CRM apps have various algorithms for measuring engagement levels. The most common criteria include the frequency of donations, donated sums, years of involvement, inbound interactions, and volunteer hours. Based on these factors, contributors can be defined as cold, warm, or hot.
Customized Reports
Many CRMs have in-built report-generating modules that collect and analyze data represented by the app. You may see how much money the organization managed to raise within a specified period, how many new donors have been added to the system, and the conversion rate.
However, the best CRM systems for nonprofits allow you to customize the reports to meet your specific goals. In this way, you will get a better idea of certain nonprofit processes. This will enable you to optimize your interaction strategies for better performance.
Custom Dashboard
A customizable dashboard gives you the ability to see the essential metrics in the most appealing way. For instance, you'll get a high-level overview of your progress in obtaining a fundraising goal, the number of active and passive donators, or whatever is essential for you at a particular stage in the organization's growth.
Integrations
Manually moving data from one app to another can be daunting. That's where CRM integration with other apps is especially handy. The best CRM for nonprofit organizations should integrate the tools your staff uses. This would streamline workflows so that there is no need to share or update data in multiple apps manually.
Marketing Tools
Integrated marketing tools will enable your nonprofit staff to bring and retain donors from one CRM platform. The best CRM for nonprofits comes with direct mailing or newsletter tools, social media management tools, marketing campaigns automation, and more. With the in-built marketing features, you'll be able to create email templates, send emails, manage social media accounts, or run marketing campaigns to drive more donors to your nonprofit project.
Online Donation Pages
Raise more funds by allowing donors to contribute to your nonprofit mission online via a donation page. With the best CRM software for nonprofits, you can create a page to enable supporters to get familiar with the mission and make a donation.
Additionally, the online page is a great means for collecting data about contributors. When you build the donation page using a CRM service, the platform automatically creates the donor profile once the contribution happens. Thus, you'll be able to further your relationships with supporters by sending emails or making calls.
Generosity Score
Get to know the philanthropic giving capacity of every constituent in your CRM with the generosity score feature. General-use CRM apps might not have this functionality, but top CRM systems for nonprofits will likely include it.
The generosity score is driven by publicly available financial data about every donor in the CRM. The app then measures how much the contributor is likely to give based on the previous donation experience, expensive property, stock holdings, etc.
Supporter Timelines
The supporter timeline feature allows you to track the engagement of a particular supporter with your organization. In this way, you will see when and how much the donor contributed or any other interaction like volunteering or event attendance.
The CRM apps for nonprofits will also provide you with highlights about the interaction with the donor chronologically. It may also include data about the number of years the donor has been supporting your organization or the rate at which they have been increasing their donations.
Aims of Nonprofit CRM
Even though the key goal of CRM is to manage the relationships with clients, the best CRM for fundraising does much more than that. So, let's see how to use CRM for nonprofits.
Cultivation of Contributors
Acquiring a new donor for your nonprofit organization can be five times harder than retaining the existing one. But donor cultivation is a necessity rather than a preference. The Fundraising Effectiveness Survey Report suggests that 100 gained donors are offset by 105 donors. It means that many people give up on the idea of supporting a nonprofit after the first donation, and the organization can't compensate for the lost opportunities. That is why cultivating new donors is critical for maintaining and improving the donation rate.
A nonprofit CRM helps detect and attract potential contributors willing to support the mission. The app also creates connections with would-be sponsors and encourages them to continue the partnership.
Retention of Contributors
The Fundraising Effectiveness Project releases the results of the research of nonprofits yearly to help organizations increase their performance. One of the aspects it covers is the donor retention rate. Based on the findings, when a first-time donor contributes for the second time, the chances that they will donate for the third time increase from 19% to 60%.
Source: Bloomerang
So, retaining existing donors becomes the goal for nonprofit organizations. Luckily, CRM systems allow fundraisers to do it much more effectively. Many platforms measure and visualize the retention rate, allowing you to have a better idea of what is going on in the organization and deciding on the measures you can take to improve the results.
Taking Care of Contributors
When a donor makes the first gift to your organization, you should have a strategy for building a deeper relationship in order to retain them. This strategy should keep the contributors involved, so they come back to support your mission again.
The best CRM for charities will help you build the stewardship you need to retain your donors. It may include tools for segmenting supporters into categories (new, cold, major, potential, etc.), sending emails with reports about the organization's performance or the impact of the donor's gift, birthday greetings, and more. You can create the stewardship metrics and track the implementation of the plan.
Source: Freewill
15 Top CRM for Nonprofits
What is the best CRM for nonprofits, and how do you pick the one that meets your needs? Let's compare nonprofit CRM software, so you can make your own choice.
Salesforce
Salesforce is a general-use CRM that perfectly meets the needs of fundraising organizations.
Because Salesforce is a flexible platform, it can include as few or as many features as you need. Get the 360° view of your donors with enhanced contact management modules, track the engagement level, and control your marketing effort to ensure you carry meaningful communication with your new and major donors. Find out other ways Salesforce helps non-business entities grow in this article.
Salesforce for Nonprofits: Building a Better Future Professionally
Just because nonprofits stand for the greater good, it doesn’t mean they should shy away from empowering opportunities that modern technology provides. The mission of nonprofits is to make a social impact and engage as many people as possible in such a way that it doesn’t feel like a daunting obligation to them. Salesforce Cloud software makes that mission much easier.
Salesforce has pricing plans for everyone - starting from free ones and billed per user with the most flexible customizing opportunities, learn more here about quotes and quickstart packages here.
Unlike many CRMs on this list with a 14-day trial, Salesforce gives you 30 days for free, so you can understand whether this solution meets your needs. The basic plan will cost you only $48 per month, but it includes a noteworthy Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP). With this pack, you get exclusive fundraising and engagement features that enable you to get a unified view of fundraising and engagement data, build constituent relationships from a single platform, and generate real-time reports, helping you make more informed decisions. Create segmented communication templates and personalized content to encourage donors to support your mission. Create various engagement plans based on the donor level, and much more.
Why it's for you
The fully customizable Salesforce CRM will help you effectively automate the manual administrative processes and manage your donor interactions.
Salesforce Nonprofit Implementation For Education Company
Check out the case study of building cloud-based CRM:
Custom CRM solution was built for a client's educational company in order to connect educators and professionals and automate internal processes and external events. Case study in details >>
DonorPerfect
DonorPerfect is a CRM built specifically for nonprofits. It has the essential instruments to raise donations by 20% within the first year of the app use.
This CRM allows for managing donations and donor profiles, engaging donors via popular communication channels, getting metrics about the fundraising performance, and more. Connect other tools for email marketing, accounting, actions and events, and online fundraising. You can even set up an eCommerce shop to support your cause. There is also an option of custom reports, but you may feel the lack of customization if you use various strategies for different groups of donors.
There are different plan tiers, starting with $99 per month for a 1,000 constituent database and basic CRM features. Advanced plans include more functions for helping your organization succeed.
Why it's for you
This is a great cloud-based CRM for nonprofits that provide fundraisers with rich functionality from a user-friendly interface.
Bloomerang
Bloomerang is one of the most prominent CRM systems for nonprofit entities.
This app is the best CRM for small nonprofit organizations. It enables nonprofits to deliver a better giving experience for donors through forging closer relationships. You get the tools to acquire, retain, and engage constituents (donors, volunteers, grant givers, etc.). Automatically generated daily reports will show you the opportunities for deeper connections with donors. Refer to the generosity score to see the giving capacity of your donors and keep track of the engagement meter.
*pricing source is G2; the price may change depending on features included
Five pricing levels determine the number of contacts and features you get. You can upgrade the app with add-ons at an extra cost.
Why it's for you
If you need a CRM that will scale with your nonprofit organization and provide you with essential tools, the Bloomerang is a wise choice for you.
GiveGab
The GiveGab CRM supports year-round fundraising for community foundations, education institutions, and other non-business establishments.
This is a great CRM software for small nonprofits to maximize the awareness around the organization's mission, retain donors, and increase engagement. It is flexible and easy to use. You can customize the pages and donor profiles to include only relevant information. Moreover, you get assistance from the GiveGab team member from the set-up stage until t you are satisfied with the configured settings.
Why it's for you
Due to their incredible support, the GiveGab app is a great solution for nonprofits who are getting familiar with CRMs and would like to figure out how to maximize the use of the technology for increasing their contributions.
Neon CRM
Neon CRM fits the bill of small nonprofit entities that would like to build lasting relationships with their donors.
With this CRM, you can easily manage donors, campaigns, events, or any activity from a centralized database. Powerful reporting tools with the option of custom reporting will give you the freedom to access vital metrics at any time. The app is easy to use, and it doesn't require much training to get familiar with all the tool's perks, which is a real boon for nonprofits with limited resources.
Being specially designed for small and mid-size organizations, Neon CRM offers affordable plans within a reasonable range.
Why it's for you
If you are looking for the best CRM software for small nonprofits, the Neon CRM should be on your list due to its rich functionality.
NationBuilder
The NationBuilder platform supports nonprofits, movements, and other campaigns with robust donor management instruments to foster growth.
This CRM has all you need to successfully communicate with contributors and attract new donors to your project. From ready-made website templates to the easy-to-manage supporter database, email marketing tools, and payment processing instruments, you will easily inspire mission advocates to act and contribute. All the features are stunning, but you might require additional support to use the app to its fullest.
There are three pricing plans for you to choose from. The fee for the most affordable one is only $29 per month (if billed annually), making the NationBuilder CRM tool the best CRM for small nonprofit organizations.
Why it's for you
The NationBuilder CRM should be included in the tech stack of your nonprofit organization if you appreciate rich functionality at an affordable price.
Kindful
Keep your nonprofit data organized and communicate with donors effortlessly from a centralized Kindful CRM system.
This CRM platform includes fundraising, donor communication, donor management, tracking, and reporting tools to help your non-business organization take control over communication with contributors and fundraising management. You'll be delighted that this app integrates with numerous tools to create a seamless ecosystem for dealing with day-to-day tasks.
The minimal monthly fee for the Kindful app is $100. The final price will depend on the number of contacts you would like to manage.
Why it's for you
The Kindful is an all-inclusive and modern CRM for nonprofits that would definitely satisfy your needs if you've been looking for an easy-to-use solution for arranging communication with your donors and controlling other facets of the organization.
Network for Good
The Network for Good is a feature-rich CRM for non-business entities that contains all you need to organize and manage the fundraising activities from a single platform.
With the donor management module, you'll be able to effortlessly organize the contributor database and update it when needed. Their communication tools allow you to arrange meaningful and value-added communications with a personalized touch. Measure and track the performance of your nonprofit organization and the results you reached.
Pricing at Network for Good is personalized. You've got to answer some questions (about the number of donors donated to your organization and what tools you previously used) to find out your recommended package and pricing.
Why it's for you
The Network for Good is a stunning solution for nonprofits striving to raise more funds and build closer relationships with donors tailored specifically to your organization's needs.
Giveffect
Giveeffect is a modern nonprofit CRM software that includes ten powerful tools to move your non-business organization forward.
This fully automated CRM allows you to manage fundraising operations, events, online donations, volunteer activities, and more. You can build a comprehensive database of potential and existing contributors and get a full view of their activities and giving potential. Manage offline gift tracking and grants management pipeline, all with the Giveffect CRM. The reporting might take longer than you expect, and you may not get enough customization for this r app. But these are minor downsides that may not be critical for your staff.
You can choose between two-tier pricing plans ($399 and $899 per month) or get the Ultimate package for the enterprise-level organization.
Why it's for you
The Giveffect CRM for nonprofits is mainly designed for organizations with sufficient resources to invest in the spread of their mission and bring more donors to their non-profit.
Little Green Light
Little Green Light is comprehensive fundraising and donor management CRM that advances nonprofits with the automated tools that allow them to succeed.
Compared to other CRMs, this one is quite affordable.
Why it's for you
The Little Green Light is a user-friendly platform that helps non-profits reach their fundraising goals. It can especially be handy for school foundations.
CauseVox
The CauseVox is a peer-to-peer fundraising platform that allows you to manage donations and support through a single app easily.
With the CauseVox, you'll be able to acquire new donors via attractive web pages or managed marketing campaigns, track supporters and manage their contributions, create smart donation forms for covering more supporters, and more. Sell tickets to fundraising events and take installment donations automatically, all from one place.
The versatility of this CRM is not its only perk. CauseVox is also a free CRM for nonprofits enabling you to create unlimited donation forms, peer-to-peer pages, and crowdfunding.
Why it's for you
If you are looking for more than just a donor relationship management system, the CauseVox platform is one you should consider.
Keela
Keela is a smart software for nonprofits that helps you keep on track with your fundraising goals.
This app allows you to create stronger bonds with your donors with AI-driven tools. It provides a customizable dashboard for getting powerful insights into your performance, managing the communication with donors and tracking their engagement, and setting up follow-up reminders. Keela empowers you with tools for fundraising and email marketing management as well.
A pricing calculator lets you check how much it will cost you to use the app based on your needs. The lowest fee for 1,000 contacts is$90 per month (billed annually).
Why it's for you
Keela is a smart CRM for non-business entities that scales with you. If you are starting with a modest number of donors but plan to scale, Keela will support you at every stage.
Virtuous
With the Virtuous nonprofit CRM software, you will grow the impact of your organization by building better donor relationships.
The Virtuous CRM supports omnichannel communication by letting your staff interact with donors through many convenient channels. You'll discover unknown connections between supporters and get a unified view of every donor in your database. With this CRM, you can generate holistic donor reports, and automate tasks and calls.
The Starter pack will cost you $400 per month and enable up to 5 users to manage 1,000 supporter records.
Why it's for you
Virtuous is not just a CRM, it's a full-fledged fundraising management platform that can save you substantial time while increasing your fundraising results.
Afterwards
CRM tools for nonprofits are an essential piece of software for acquiring, retaining, stewarding, and managing donors in your organization. However, many modern tools do much more than that. They have developed into all-in-one fundraising management software covering nearly every aspect of the non-profit activity.
If you are still unsure about what CRM to choose for your nonprofit or don't know how to make it fit into your existing digital ecosystem, the Ergonized team is always at your service. We'll help you select a CRM according to your specific needs and configure it at your request.
