Donor management software can be used by nonprofits to manage their contacts and donor contributions, and it assists targeted email marketing. Nonprofits can also use the software to analyze and segment contacts so that they can engage them with targeted and relevant marketing content.
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Donor management software is offered both as a standalone solution and a part of bigger donor constituent relations management (CRM) suites. Standalone solutions offer features such as donor profiling and donor databasing. Donor management CRM systems also provide these features as well as fundraising, grant management, and fund accounting functionality to serve as a one-stop platform that fulfills the marketing needs of nonprofits. Start by checking our leader NetSuite Grant Management, and other recommended solutions in this category. Show less
To develop this ranking of best Donor Management Software we have examined 77leading solutions currently available on the market, comparing their features, ease of implementation, customer service, offered integrations with other systems and mobile device support using our unique SmartScoreTM rating algorithm. This list has been prepared by Nestor Gilbert, our software expert responsible for the Donor Management Software category.
CloudRank™ system is a unique algorithm that our research team uses to evaluate Donor Management Software solutions in a detailed and accurate way. The Winter 2022 edition of the ranking was prepared by Nestor Gilbert, our leading expert in the field of Donor Management Software, who has authored 1380+ product reviews in this category. The goal of CloudRank™ is to present an unbiased, multi-layered perspective on Donor Management Software, considering a wide range of metrics and factors, and educating potential customers about both opportunities and challenges associated with each piece of software.
In order to achieve full objectivity the position in our CloudRank™ is based on:
We’ve calculated a score for each product based on the average experience shared by our users in their product reviews and arranged the list in three tiers. You can see the methodology below on how the calculations were made.
Regardless of their tier, all products included in our CloudRank™ are popular, quality products considered top-performers by our team of experts. Make sure you read a more detailed review of each solution to find one that will work best for your specific needs and budget.
Show lessMARKET POSITION
A score between 1 and 10 based on popularity and market reach of each product.
TOTAL score
A score between 1 and 10 based on the average of our Expert Score and User Score.
Market Position
A score between 1 and 10 based on popularity and market reach of each product.
Total Score
A score between 1 and 10 based on the average of our Expert Score and User Score.
CloudRank™ tier
Based on product's total score.
Rising Star
Contender
Front Runners
Here is a list of all 25 Donor Management Software solutions evaluated with our CloudRank™ analysis. We have compared their features, user satisfaction, market presence and other key factors in an in-depth analysis you can find below:
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Our report covered 25 most popular products from the Donor Management Software category. We’ve analyzed their features, performance, integration, customer support, pricing, and several other key buying factors and combined it with feedback from user reviews to come up with the current list of best solutions:
Seizing the top spot for this year’s CloudRank for donor management software category is Optimy. This flexible, all-in-one social impact platform and donor management software is designed to help enhance organizational performance across a plethora of CSR and nonprofit activities through efficient management of processes such as project management, grant application, budgeting, reporting, and automated workflows.
Deployed by over 250 organizations across the world, Optimy is the solution of choice among community investors, grants, partnerships, sponsorship, and CSR professionals and corporate teams. It provides users with an efficient, central dashboard to view and manage all relevant donor management processes. This tool also allows the design and use of customized forms straight from one’s corporate website.
Because donor management is primarily founded on project management principles and protocols, Optimy is designed how projects can be handled efficiently. As such, nonprofits, CSR professionals, and other users get to enjoy benefits such as creating tailor-made solutions for particular activities, managing all stakeholders and contacts in a single location, and streamlining an entire cycle of processes, be it corporate gift-giving, fundraising programs, and other similar activities.
Optimy offers six robust donation management solutions covering the various facets of CSR and other philanthropic programs. It comes in three pricing plans: Corporate Sponsorship (€6500/year), Corporate Grants (€6500/year), and Corporate Volunteering (€9000/year), with a free trial option.
Most users of Donor Management Software solutions confirm that in most cases these tools allow them to reach the following business goals:
The Winter 2022 version of the report includes a total of 25 Donor Management Software products that were compared and analyzed by our team. We selected them based on the following factors:
Organizations involved in fundraising efforts often cover multiple causes and projects. The aim is noteworthy but may miss the mark as donors give significantly larger amounts for causes that resonate with them. The specificity of project-based giving helps to target donors who are more likely to give and give in larger amounts. It would also ensure that all of the money raised will go to the intended project/charity instead of just a percentage of it. Projects are time-bound having a fixed period of accomplishment and tangible results when compared to an organization. Providing information to potential donors on how donations will be used increases accountability and encourage potential donors to give and share larger amounts.
Giving USA
Adding a touch of personalization to donor marketing efforts with correct and specific personal details will make potential donors feel connected to the organization. Personalization sends a message the organization knows of them and more importantly, prompts donors to respond favorably to the relationship the organization is building with them. Another personalization trend is storytelling, giving a face and name to the cause is a powerful way to engage the emotions of donors. Beyond touching hearts, storytelling also gives a credible and descriptive answer to the question, “what does your organization do?”. When presented with a story, donors are more likely to give twice as much compared to marketing efforts presented with statistics for the cause.
Huffpost; GoFundMe
At a time when ordering food, electronics, books, entertainment, and everything else is done with a few taps and clicks, giving should be too. Create a smooth and uncomplicated giving process by eliminating unnecessary steps and forms both in the website and the mobile app. Simplify the process with text giving and adding widely accepted payment methods – Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, as well as credit card options. Alternative options that are being rolled out include Facebook Pay which can be used to accept payments on social platforms. What could be easier when there are 2.7 billion monthly active users (MAU) on Facebook alone.
Nonprofits SourceFundraising and giving on social media
Donor management software programs can help nonprofits and similar organizations boost the donations they receive from their patrons. But how do you select a suitable solution from the scores of donor management tools out there? This buyer’s guide will help you to separate the wheat from the chaff and choose the best donor management software for your specific needs.
We recommend you start by registering for the free trial or demo offered by the best donor management software providers. This will help you check out each app’s list of features at no cost and gauge whether they are suitable for your organization. You can find out whether a free trial is offered by the following popular donor management tools: Bloomerang, Raiser’s Edge, DonorPerfect, Salsa CRM, and NeonCRM. These products have been given high rankings in our donor management software reviews and you can browse them to get a comparison of their features.
The following organizations make use of donor management tools:
Our detailed comparisons show that donor management software provide the following advantages:
Focus on donor retention
Nonprofits retain only a smart percentage of new donors. So they are increasingly focusing on donor retention by investing more resources and staff in donor relations. They are using donor management software to evaluate the performance of their donor relations programming.
Crowdfunding is becoming a popular fundraising tool
Resourceful nonprofits are using crowdfunding to engage their donors. They are boosting their social media presence and enlisting donors to be their ambassadors. Savvy nonprofits are making use of the internet cleverly to boost their fundraising.
New communication tools help nonprofits to tell their story
Nonprofits are using new channels and platforms to reach new donors and engage more deeply with existing ones. They are making use of innovations in email marketing, social media tools, video clips, and poignant images for the purpose. Their staff are improving their use of technology and boosting their skills in utilizing new media.
Steep Learning Curve
Quite a few users say that donor management software is difficult to learn. So make sure you provide proper training to your employees and make use of online resources, webinars, knowledge bases, etc. for the purpose. Sign up for a free trial or demo to learn more about how difficult the product is to learn and use before you invest in a pricing package.
Lack of customization options
This is another big challenge as some donor management apps are not easy to adapt and align with a company’s existing processes. Contact customer support and engage with the vendor to get their help to customize the software to your organization’s needs and processes.
Other common challenges
Users have also pointed out other common issues such as difficulty in exporting and importing data, lack of depth in reporting features, and lack of integration with other software. Do your homework beforehand to ensure you don’t get saddled with a software that has these limitations.
While there are full-featured donor management systems, integrating the donor management software you are using with other systems bring further advantages. Two important integrations are the following:
Accounting software
Donor management requires tracking inbound cashflow and outflows, funds, and estimated budget for projects and events, not to mention keeping a detailed and organized record of the donors. While there are donor management software solutions that accommodate these steps, a dedicated accounting software system can further optimize and streamline these processes.
Email marketing software
Get the most out of your donor database by integrating your donor management system with the right email marketing software. This integration enables you to create and deploy customized content to your targeted donors, including promotional emails, acknowledgments, event invitations, and other announcements. Scheduling emails as well as keeping track of your email campaigns’ results are also made easier.
Here are some interesting statistics about fundraising you may want to know:
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Picking a suitable SaaS program from the scores of good quality systems out there can be a hard task. To assist you, we have prepared this quick primer. Find out if the SaaS vendor offers the following benefits:
Reduced Cost: Most SaaS solutions are pay as you go, and you don’t have to worry about added investments for software maintenance or IT resources, upfront licensing fees, or in-house IT staff.
Fast Set-up Time and Minimized Risk: You should be able to deploy the SaaS solution quickly and easily. Make use of the free trial to understand if the platform fits your requirements. If you choose a wrong system, you can bail out easily with minimum losses.
Customization and Integration: Choose a vendor that offers a wide choice of software packages and modules. You should be able to pay only for the tools you use to meet the current needs of your business.
Security and Control: The solution should provide robust security. Choose a provider whose databanks are more secure than those in your office to maximize the benefits.
The Infrastructure: The vendor should provide the needed infrastructure so that you need not host anything in-house or need the help of internal IT resources.
Web Access: Your staff members should be able to access data anywhere, anytime. To help them be productive on the go, choose a vendor that offers mobile apps that are compatible with popular operating systems.
Consider all the six important aspects mentioned above to pick the perfect program for your requirements.
The best donor management software is NetSuite Grant Management. It provides nonprofit organizations with a complete suite of features to effectively conduct charity missions and manage an entire organization.
Among the tools included in the platform are keeping track of terms and conditions, time and expense monitoring automation, spend management, and built-in analytics.
NetSuite Grant Management is also a product of NetSuite, a subsidiary of Oracle Corporation, which attests to its support and reliability.
Using donor management software offer the following benefits:
Establish good relationships with donors. Donor management solutions provide communication channels through which you can keep in touch with your donors.
Integrated marketing. Utilize the email and newsletter features to keep your donors engaged and to let them know about ongoing fundraising.
Robust automation. Automation not only accelerates the different processes involved in fundraising, but it also helps reduce expenses.
Donor management. Keeping track of donors, their donations and gifts, and other activities related to your organization is easier.
Not all donor management software have the same set of tools, but below are some of the core features a donor management solution must possess:
Industry-specific solutions: There are different types of nonprofit organizations (healthcare, faith-based, education, etc.) and it is likely that they have different requirements as well. While there are donor management software that are easily customizable, there are also those that are tailored specifically to a type of nonprofit group.
Integrations: A good donor management software must have multiple integration capabilities, especially the systems you are already using in your organization.
Robust marketing tools: Marketing features play a major role in keeping your donors engaged and reducing your donor attrition rate.
Mobile access: Being able to operate your donor management software from your phone offers convenience, especially in accessing contact records from your mobile devices.
The easiest applications to use are those that offer streamlined and straightforward functionalities. Some of the user-friendly donor management software are the following:
Bloomerang. This donor management solution offers an intuitive interface to make planning and conducting fundraising events effortless. It also provides users with customizable fields for users to define according to their organization’s needs.
Network for Good. Created for small and growing nonprofit organizations, Network for Good offers a simplified approach to fundraising and donation management. Aside from donation tracking and marketing features, this software solution also offers an extensive list of learning resources to its users.
PlanningCenter. This software solution helps faith-based organizations, such as churches, to manage their members using desktop and mobile devices. PlanningCenter is also a flexible donor management software that adapts to the growing needs of an expanding church.
While the majority of donor management software come with price tags, there are also those that offer free plans, such as the following:
SignUpGenius. This software’s free plan accommodates an unlimited number of participants. Among the features included are access to 700+ designs/themes, payment collection upon signing up, email and text reminders, calendar sync, email, social media sharing, and more.
Qgiv. Its Start package has no monthly subscription fees and comes with mobile giving, recurring giving, and event registration features.
Wild Apricot. This application’s free plan accommodates one admin and a maximum of 50 contacts.
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