Donation management software is a vital tool for organizations looking to navigate the complexities of fundraising.
A donor management tool must :
- Streamline the donation process
- Strengthen donor relationships
- Empower nonprofits to raise more
The following platforms provide various features, from donor tracking to personalized communication.
What is a donation management software?
Donation management software is an online tool designed to help organizations track and oversee donors and their gifts. Most donation management software features donation tracking, donor management, payment processing, reporting, and additional fundraising tools.
This software aims to streamline the donation process, starting with marketing and collecting donations to acknowledging and building donor relationships. There are excellent donor management software options for every size nonprofit organization.
The Benefits of Donation Management Software for Your Nonprofit
Streamlined Process
Donation management software streamlines the donation process with automated collection, recording, and tax receipts. These tools limit excess administrative work for nonprofits.
Manage Donors and Build Relationships
Donor management software helps nonprofits collect donations and donor information in a centralized database. The details contained in this database can make creating and sending personalized communication easier and increase your ability to raise money.
Develop Effective Fundraising Efforts
Donor management software provides insights into what fundraising strategies are most effective for your donor base.
Ensure Payment Processing is Secure
Most donor management software solutions are connected to online fundraising tools and can securely process multiple payment methods and ensure the safety of collecting and storing donor details.
Quality Analytic and Reporting Tools
Donation history reports and analytics offer insight into donation patterns, donor behavior, and the effectiveness of fundraising efforts.
Top Donation Management Software At a Glance
Zeffy - Best free donation management software for nonprofits
Zeffy is the only 100% free donation management software for nonprofits. This user-friendly platform helps organizations collect donations with recurring giving, peer-to-peer campaigns, event registration, raffle tickets and product sales, and customized donation pages. Zeffy's donor management software solutions allow nonprofits to collect donor details, take notes, and segment donors to personalize donor outreach.
Key Features:
- Zero-free fundraising platform
- Add notes to donor files
- Automatic tax-receipts
- Filter donors by transaction date, amount donated, campaign contributed to
- Set up automated reminder emails
- Pre-filled fundraising campaign forms
Best For:
Zeffy is the best choice for new and small nonprofits looking for a free way to collect and use donor details.
Testimonial:
"Zeffy is incredibly easy to use. We have a lot of operational constraints that make it difficult for us to learn new platforms, and Zeffy has proven to be very intuitive. Plus, it's free, which makes a huge difference in providing health mental health education and resources to our community."
Penaaz S.
Givebutter - Easy donation management software for donor tracking
Givebutter offers custom donation forms and fundraising pages and offers everything from peer-to-peer campaigns to event tickets, email marketing, and nonprofit auctions. Givebutter's donor management software is designed to scale with the organization's growth.
Key Features:
- Customized profiles with donor histories and tailored notes
- Donor segmenting
- Automated tax receipts
- Data validation and De-duplication tools
> Choosing the Right Donation Management Software: Zeffy vs. Givebutter for Your Nonprofit.
Best For:
Givebutter can be an excellent software solution for quickly growing nonprofit organizations seeking affordable fundraising tools.
Ratings and Testimonial:
"I love how their widgets work on our webpage, that our donors can contribute at their preferred range at their preferred frequency. Not only do they have automation like thank you letters, but also integrate with our tools like MailChimp and WordPress, which is really really helpful."
Marie G.
> Find Out If Givebutter is the Best Fit for Your Nonprofit – Read the Reviews!
Bloomerang - Powerful donor management software for starting planned giving program
Nonprofits ready to jump into major donor solicitation or planned giving can benefit from Bloomerang's automated database collection and communication tools. Bloomerang provides daily updates of donors' addresses, birth years, and wealth information to ensure nonprofits have the most up-to-date information.
Key Features:
- Nightly National Change of Address (NCOA) updates
- Nightly deceased notification - accessible obituaries
- Nightly birth year updates
- Integrates with numerous third-party software
- Automatic duplicate checker
Best For:
Bloomerang is a powerful donor management software that benefits nonprofits interested in soliciting major donors and starting a planned giving program.
Testimonial:
"Bloomerang tracks our entire donor database, approximately 6,000 constituents. We've been able to use it to successfully track all interactions we have with each donor, as well as to recapture some of our lapsed donors. The reporting functionality around interactions is second-to-none, and the system as a whole is simple enough even our least tech-savvy team members fell in love with the database. It enabled some of our more elderly employees to begin acting like their younger millenial associates in that they were able to solicit major gifts and record the interactions entirely from their mobile devices."
Jonathan E.
DonorPerfect - Easy to use with excellent customer service
DonorPerfect is a comprehensive fundraising and donor management software that allows nonprofits to run detailed reports and create a list of donors that meet specific parameters. Nonprofits using DonorPerfect can efficiently manage donations, track donation history, and run effective campaigns with their online fundraising and donor portals.
Key Features:
- 70+ standard nonprofit reports
- Dashboard analytics
- Seamless email and letter personalization
- Task assignments and alerts
- SmartActions automated workflows
Best For:
DonorPerfect helps nonprofits manage comprehensive donor data and can help mid-size nonprofits better understand donor's needs and interests.
Ratings and Testimonial:
DonorPerfect's records management system and reporting are second-to-none. We've had nothing but exceptional customer support, from their onboarding orientations to the continuing education workshops put on weekly. User management is also highly intuitive, and can be tailored to adjust access as you see fit. Access to the payment portal is highly straightforward.
Monica S.
Funraise - Excellent donor management software solution for those working outside US and Canada
Funraise's donor management system provides an automated process that simplifies donor communication and increases donor retention. Their Donor Portal App is easy for donors to view and manage their donations. This tool gives donors control over their own donor history and enables them to send donation receipts to themselves anytime.
Key Features:
- Easy to view donation reports and dashboards
- Set individual rules, create and move tasks, and monitor response times
- Automate which team member is assigned to which donors and when tasks should be done
- Donors can email themselves a yearly donation summary with the Donor Portal app
Best For:
Funraise's donor database software is best for international nonprofits.
Ratings and Testimonial:
"I love that Funraise stays up to date on technology trends and constantly introduces new tools for users. Their customer service is extremely helpful and kind, especially when non-profit teams are typically smaller and people are filing many roles. Their interface and user experience is nice and easy to understand and they work in multiple countries (I work with clients around the world)."
Alicia C.
Blackbaud - Best donation software tool for wealth prospecting
Blackbaud's Raiser's Edge NXT offers end-to-end gift management, AI-driven suggested ask amounts, prospect insights, and custom analytics. Nonprofits can identify and engage potential major donors and use Blackbaud to cultivate donor relationships.
Key Features:
- Automatic data health tools
- Best-practice templates for email marketing
- Interaction and relationship tracking
- Proposal tracking and pipeline management
- Recurring giving and pledge management
Best For:
Blackbaud is an excellent fundraising and donor management tool for major donor prospecting.
Testimonial:
"RENXT is very accessible to everyone. Everyone in our Advancement office likes it and understands how to use it. As the DBA I still work quite a bit in the database view, but I find that I'm using the web view more and more. Most of our reports now live in the web view and we like the functionality of the dashboards and insights."
Karen S.
Key Features to Consider When Choosing a Donation Management Software
Affordable Pricing
A primary concern for many nonprofit organizations is price. Many nonprofits are desperate for affordable donor management software solutions. When choosing donor management software, several online tools let donors cover processing fees, but only Zeffy provides 100% free donor management and fundraising software tools.
Donation Tracking
Donor management tools and donation tracking benefit organizations of every size. Nonprofits can use intuitive donor management software to track the success of fundraising efforts and monitor donor engagement, including:
- Online donations
- Recurring donations
- In-kind donations
- Pledges
Automated Processes
Time is of the essence when it comes to nonprofit fundraising efforts. Many donor management software tools automate ways to track supporters and personalize donor communications with:
- Tax receipts
- Reminder emails
- Duplicate checker
- Automated reports
- Donor-controlled recurring donations
Customization
Custom donation fields and data reports help organizations fill out donor records. Other features of donor management software can help develop relationships with donors, including the opportunity to:
- Add notes on each donor
- Integrate with emails and other software tools
Donor Segmenting
A nonprofit's donor management software can collect donor details and help organizations better understand their donors. The ability to segment donors based on program interests, ability to pay, and campaigns or events that have received their support will increase donor retention.
Easy to Use
Nonprofits rarely have their own IT staff, so finding an easy-to-use donation management software is necessary. Software companies that provide training increase the ability of organizations to customize and scale services to their needs.
Get Started With Zeffy to Manage Your Donations
From its capacity to streamline operations to its role in analytics, donor management software determines how nonprofits engage with their donors and build their communities. Whether it's robust donor tracking, scalable solutions, or wealth prospecting, each software solution allows nonprofits of every size to thrive.
Visit our website to see how a 100% fundraising solution can help propel your nonprofit toward fulfilling its mission and vision.
