Nonprofit Donor Management
Top CRM Software for Nonprofit Organizations
No matter what type of business or industry, if you deal with clients and customers, chances are a CRM system can help you better manage your customer relationships. CRM can be a valuable tool to help companies nurture their relationships with both prospects and clients.
Nonprofit organizations have unique needs that demand a CRM solution that fits their requirements. Every client contact counts, helping to foster a committed donor base and raise awareness among potential volunteers; CRM for nonprofits can help optimize these processes. Below we take a look at three top CRM solutions for nonprofits.
Blackbaud: Complete CRM for Nonprofit Solutions
With over 30 years of experience, Blackbaud is a leading provider of fundraising and CRM solutions for a broad range of nonprofit organizations. Organizations such as Save the Bay, Boy Scouts of America, National Baseball Hall of Fame, and more have used Blackbaud as their CRM solution, realizing such benefits as doubled donor gifts and increased fundraising.
What makes Blackbaud a top CRM for nonprofits? Blackbaud supplies a wide range of products built for nonprofits of all sizes, from smaller groups with limited IT resources to enterprise organizations, as well as international and federated nonprofits. Features such as constituent management, multi-channel outreach, and analytics and performance ensure that nonprofit organizations have a complete view of their various programs and records to create meaningful relationships at every step of the donor lifecycle.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM: A Powerful Platform at Low-Cost
Microsoft Dynamics CRM is an established player in the CRM space. Used by companies in a broad spectrum of industries, Microsoft Dynamics CRM now also delivers its robust functionality in a version built especially for non-profits. Microsoft Dynamics CRM for nonprofits can be used right out-of-the-box—ideal for organizations without extensive IT resources.
Key features include robust constituent management, donation and pledge management, basic membership management, campaign management, basic volunteer tracking, and Excel dashboard reports. Nonprofit organizations have their own unique processes, and Microsoft Dynamics CRM for nonprofits can accommodate these by offering customization that is free of charge. Nonprofit organizations must often make do with less—less resources, less staff, less overhead. With that in mind, Microsoft Dynamics CRM for nonprofits is offered at only $9.99 per user per month for qualifying nonprofits—an accessible price that many nonprofits can take advantage of.
CiviCRM: A Robust and Integrated Platform
Web-based and open source, CiviCRM is customizable and usable right out of the box. Available in multiple languages including French, German, Russian, Chinese, and more, CiviCRM has been implemented by organizations such as the American Friends Service Committee, the Literacy Council of Frederick County, the National Institute of Agricultural Botany, the United Church of Canada, and more.
CiviCRM is built to meet the current and future needs of nonprofit organizations with features such as contract management, advocacy campaign management, reports, peer-to-peer fundraising, contributions, communications, case management, and more. CiviCRM also includes content management functionality since it is often deployed in conjunction with WordPress, Drupal, or Joomla. A single, unified solution, CiviCRM is an affordable option for nonprofits as the vendor only charges for hosting, meaning there are no licensing fees to pay for. However, installing and customizing CiviCRM does require someone with some development expertise.
Salesforce.com: On-Demand CRM for Nonprofits
Salesforce.com is one of the leading players in the CRM space. Geared towards all sizes and types of businesses and enterprises, Salesforce.com also provides a version of its cloud CRM solution built especially for nonprofits through its Salesforce.com Foundation initiative. Thanks to its cloud platform, Salesforce.com for Nonprofits enables nonprofit organizations to focus on their missions, rather than on maintaining technology infrastructure.
Salesforce.com for Nonprofits is built with features such as constituent management, donation and grants management, real time analytics, program management, and more, along with team collaboration and mobile capabilities. Organizations such as Goodwill, the American Red Cross, Fair Trade USA, and others have successfully used Salesforce.com to improve donor and volunteer management, get better insight into constituent behavior, track affiliations, and more.
Salesforce.com offers two trial versions of their nonprofit CRM solution, which includes a pre-configured version geared towards donor management and a native configuration that allows organizations to customize the solution to their needs. Organizations such as 501c3 organizations, high education institutions, K-12 schools, fiscally sponsored organizations, and religious organizations can qualify for the Salesforce.com for Nonprofit CRM package.
StratusLIVE: Fundraising Software with Microsoft Technology
Built with Microsoft technology, StratusLIVE is designed to help nonprofits manage and nurture donor relationships and improve fundraising efforts. Fundraising activities have evolved thanks to technological advances, with simple mailing and collection strategies no longer being sufficient.
With that in mind, StratusLIVE is built to be a comprehensive, yet user-friendly fundraising software with features such as 360-degree view of all donor data; automated transaction processing; a flexible data model to track and define constituents; multi-channel marketing tools; customizable dashboards and reporting tools; and more
A key differentiator of StratusLIVE is that you can use the system right from within Outlook. This integration means that tasks, emails, and calendars can be easily integrated with contact information, and all this data accessible with a single click.
DonorPerfect: Comprehensive Donor Management Software
A complete fundraising and donor management suite, DonorPerfect is packed with features to help organizations better run their fundraising campaigns. These include donation processing, online fundraising, reporting and analysis, fundraising activity management, and others. All constituent data is stored in a centralized database for easy access and tracking.
DonorPerfect is available in two versions: an installed and a browser-based version, giving organizations the flexibility to choose the deployment model best suited to their needs. Organizations such as the Asheville Humane Society, HCR Manor Care, The Salvation Army, and more have leveraged DonorPerfect to improve their donor management and fundraising campaigns.
Little Green Light: Easy Yet Powerful Donor Management CRM
Built to answer the donor management and fundraising needs of non-profit organizations and educational institutions, Little Green Light is a simple and affordable donor management and constituent management solution. Delivered as a web-based service, Little Green Light includes dashboards, constituent records, fundraising activities and tracking, and document management. Organizations can extend the functionality of their solution with integrations with Wufoo, PayPal, and MailChimp.
Organizations that have used Little Green Light to improve their fundraising methods include Cornell University Hillel, Prospect House Museum, The Hansen Foundation, North Valley Arts Council, and more. Little Green Light is ideal for organizations who want to enhance fundraising without having to manage a complicated database.
NEON CRM: All-in-One Constituent Management & Fundraising
Nonprofit organizations often have to track different processes associated with the transactions and people they are involved with. Instead of multiple databases and software programs, NEON CRM provides these organizations with a unified database to easily keep track of members, donors, constituents, and prospects, as well as communications, events, purchases, donations and more.
Delivered on a cloud-based platform, NEON CRM is compatible with any device, including smartphones and tablets, and can be accessed through any web browser. The system is customizable and additional modules can be added as needed. Organizations using NEON CRM include those operating in Arts & Culture, Education & Youth, Health & Human Services, Environment & Animal Welfare, and more.
Which CRM for Nonprofits Solution is Right for Your Organization?
The right CRM for your nonprofit organization will depend on your needs and the way your organization is run. It should also be tailored to your processes, not the other way around. Ultimately, the best CRM for nonprofits should enable the organization to improve relationships with their constituents, expand their donor networks, and spread their message.
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- Consultant
Darlene Lin
Expert in CRM, Social, ITSM/IT Help Desk, and ERP
