Choosing the best CRM donor database is a critical decision for nonprofits. Having one system to store every detail about supporters and constituents requires a lot of trust and validation that data will always be accurate, compliant, and accessible at a moment’s notice.
So, how do you make a decision you can rely on as your organization scales? Below, we’ll outline the top 8 donor databases for nonprofits to kickstart your first-time search or enhance your transition to something new.
What is a donor database?
A donor database is a system, platform, or software that provides nonprofits and charitable organizations with everything they need to manage donors. At its most basic level, donor database software for nonprofits includes an organized list of donor information, such as names, emails, and phone numbers.
Donor databases have only grown more sophisticated as AI and other tech advancements are introduced year after year. Today, most options will help nonprofits engage donors at the precise right time, automate tasks to build relationships and identify giving history to inform strong strategies.
Can I use spreadsheets to track my donors?
The quick answer is yes. A spreadsheet can technically track donor data, especially for organizations just getting started, but it often takes time and can’t always guarantee accuracy.
Nonprofits may track the following information in a spreadsheet:
- Donor contact information such as name, address, phone number, and email.
- Donation history, including amounts, dates, and types of donations (one-time, recurring).
- Communication records and notes on interactions, thank-you notes, and follow-ups.
- Donor segments are based on giving levels, interests, or engagement.
A donor or fundraising database makes it simpler for organizations to track this information automatically and in sync with fundraising software. That way, as a donation or transaction occurs, information is immediately stored in an accessible hub to filter and sort later.
How does a donor database benefit nonprofits?
A nonprofit donor database is a centralized place where all interactions that happen over time with various individuals through many campaigns and support types come together in a single view. That oversight can fuel teams with everything they need to focus efforts and see more results from their donor relationships.
- Organized donor information: Donor data is available at any moment to avoid sorting manually for crucial information or specific results.
- Strong donor relationships: It’s much easier to engage donors regularly when you see how they interact and what they respond well to.
- Targeted fundraising: Personalization can be a breeze with access to crucial donor information for emails, donation pages, and other appeals.
- Automation and time savings: Ditching manual work can make even the leanest teams available to donors 24/7 through automated emails and tasks.
- Donor retention: Donors stay when they feel valued and updated, making donor management a pivotal tool for flagging re-engagement opportunities or boosting loyalty.
- Compliant reporting: Analytics are secure and accurate, giving you peace of mind regarding annual reporting and finances.
- Nonprofit scalability: Data-driven decisions support growth paths for the future and point to the best areas to focus fundraising efforts.
<H2>What features should I look for in a donor database?
It’s helpful to know whether you are looking for a more straightforward solution with essential features or need specific features to meet the criteria of your unique organization. Beyond that, it’s even more important to think about features you may need in the future as you grow and goals shift.
This way, you can evaluate donor database systems to choose something that you won’t have to change once you put in the time to train your team and move all of your data over.
Some top features of a donor database systems include:
- Donor management
- Donation tracking and processing
- Reporting and analytics
- Communication and engagement
- Task automation
- Event management
- Integrations with other fundraising tools
- Workflow management
- Data security and compliance
- Integrations with other fundraising tools
What are the top CRM database options for nonprofits, for donors, and recipients?
Zeffy
Zeffy is an online fundraising platform featuring a free donor database solution to securely store and organize donor and member data in one trusted place. Zefffy is a true all-in-one solution offering everything a nonprofit needs to host creative campaigns and straightforward donation pages while tracking everything seamlessly in a single donor database.
Donor database overview
With Zeffy’s free donor management software, nonprofits can reach the right supporters, engage them with tailored messaging, and automate communication to capture donors at the right moment. Whenever a supporter interacts with a Zeffy fundraising campaign or donation page, their information is stored to access, filter, search, and segment later.
Top features
- Import options to bring in donor contacts and past transactions to Zeffy
- Automatic contact list updates after a donation or purchase
- Filtering and simple export of contact lists
- Donor files with notes, tags, and segmentation support
- A clear view of all emails and donation history for each supporter
- Contact preferences and payment details
- Automatic email communications and tax receipts
- Email statistics like open rate, clicks, and unsubscribes
- Pre-filled fundraising forms personalized by donor history or campaign goals
Pricing
Zeffy is 100% free, without hidden costs or transaction fees.
Bloomerang
Bloomerang is a fundraising solution built by professionals to manage large communities of constituents. Its donor database can track interactions and engagement with supporters, volunteers, sponsors, and grant givers.
Donor database overview
The Bloomerang donor database helps nonprofits retain donors, send the right message, identify more fundraising potential, and use data to inform decision-making. The tool is robust and is great for larger organizations looking to manage a wide array of constituents in one simple system.
Top features
Bloomerang’s donor database offer nonprofits:
- An interactive dashboard to monitor donor retention, campaign progress, and new donations
- A consistent timeline that displays the history and visually represents interactions
- Wealth screening data to see a donor’s giving history and publicly available wealth data
- An engagement meter that provides an individual’s current engagement at a glance, encompassing a score based on past interactions, giving, volunteer work, and response to marketing efforts
Pricing
Plans begin at $99 a month, billed annually. Features like fundraising, volunteer management, and membership management come at additional monthly fees.
Givebutter
Givebutter is an affordable nonprofit software with contact relationship management (CRM) that helps with tracking and understanding donation patterns for donor stewardship. Personalized contact profiles gather contact information and engagement timelines to assist data-driven outreach.
Donor database overview
Givebutter’s CRM donor database nurtures relationships based on how individuals engage with an organization. The solution is a great alternative to spreadsheets and manual processes, offering more intuitive ways to search through and organize a donor database.
Top features
Givebutter helps nonprofits with:
- Contact management and donor segmentation
- Easy reporting and exporting
- Quick view of donation data at a glance
- Filtering and sorting
- Monitored payment status
- Transaction control center for resending donation receipts and ticket purchase records
Pricing
Gibebutter is inexpensive but does come with a platform fee between 1% and 5%, depending on the fundraising tools used. This fee may be waived if the organization enables optional tips from donors. An additional 2.9% + 30¢ processing fee per transaction comes out of each donation or purchase total, which donors also have the option to cover.
Little Green Light
Little Green Light is an all-in-one donor management software with user-friendly features. Organizations can build online donation forms and customized forms for campaigns to accept one-time or recurring donations, funneling them back into a donor database to nurture into the future.
Donor database overview
Little Green Light’s donor management software is an affordable option that helps nonprofits track donations, manage events, and report on success as they fine-tune their fundraising strategies. The essential donor management features are a great place to begin tailoring engagement and communication.
Top features
Little Green Light gives nonprofits the ability to:
- Create custom reports or use templates to see data
- Track monetary, in-kind, memorial, honorary, and matching gifts
- Set up tasks and reminders to monitor progress toward goals
- Access constituent profiles with a history of the relationship
- Manage active and lapsed donors with membership renewal dates
- Manage volunteer hours and generate statements
Pricing
Plans begin at $45 per month based on the number of constituents the organization wants to manage. Monthly rates do not include transaction fees of 2.2% + $0.30.
DonorPerfect
DonorPerfect is a fundraising software with an online donor management database to support communications, automated workflows, and insights that inform a strategic fundraising approach. DonorPerfect comes at a higher price point, known for its rich integrations to build a large-scale system that pulls donor data from any nonprofit organization's specialty tool.
Donor database overview
DonorPerfect’s donor management software gives a deep view into how a supporter moves through the donor lifecycle to pinpoint key interactions and strengthen relationship-building strategies. The platform has many features for complex or niche fundraising needs.
Top features
DonorPerfect offers nonprofits:
- A quick way to sort, select, and access donor data
- Real-time information updates for team collaboration
- Automatic refresh of donor addresses
- Targeted messaging per donor segment
- A single history of financial transactions and contacts
- Instant duplicate data checking
Pricing
Plans begin at $99 per month and increase to add more features with a more expensive Plus and Pro option.
Neon One CRM
Neon One offers a revenue-based pricing model to support charities as they grow. The software has CRM features that integrate with various third-party applications such as accounting, email marketing, and event management, making it an excellent choice for organizations with a robust fundraising process.
Donor database overview
Neon One’s CRM supports teams that do it all, from managing donors and members to sending emails and hosting fundraising campaigns. The platform focuses on relationship building and provides more ways to interact with donors based on strong data.
Top features
Neon One provides features like:
- Donor tracking and management
- A user-centric dashboard
- An engagement timeline to personalize experiences
- Reporting with 40+ pre-built reports or custom report options
- Membership portal
- Volunteer management
- Workflow automation
Pricing
Pricing begins at $99 monthly for essentials, and the cost increases from there to more robust plans that unlock more features.
Funraise
Funraise is a nonprofit solution for fundraising and donor database management. The platform utilizes machine learning and AI to enable intelligent fundraising decisions across donation forms and omnichannel giving.
Donor database overview
Funraise’s donor management tool creates a simple view of donor information to help nonprofits navigate easily. Automation and intelligence fuel smart fundraising strategies that maximize donor data for long-term relationships, acquisition, and retention efforts.
Top features
Funraise gives nonprofits the tools to:
- View individual gifts in detail
- Report on simple or complex donation database reports with filters
- Assign a gift to team members using automated rules
- Allocate how donations should be used
- Tag donations to track performance and flag processing roadblocks
- Handle refunds quickly and seamlessly
- Manage donation pledge records
- Track specific landing pages and URLs
Pricing
With three tiered plans available ranging in functionality, organizations can request a quote to determine pricing.
Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT
Blackbaud Raiser Edge is the best option for large-scale organizations looking for specific donor management features and analytics that integrate with Blackbaud’s fundraising platform. All tools are built for fundraisers with robust intelligence and end-to-end gift management that still offers organizations the flexibility to create.
Donor database overview
Blackbaud Raiser Edge NXT CRM maximizes a team’s potential and simplifies complex workflows into a focused stewardship strategy. Organizations that manage many donors and have intricate donor journeys may find this solution the most valuable.
Top features
Raiser Edge NXT can help nonprofits with the following:
- Streamlined donor stewardship and comprehensive donor profiles
- Secure access to reports and updates on giving history
- A central place for donors to view the financial performance of funds
- Enhanced communication with online portals and bulletin boards
- Tailored annual report delivery
- Personalized outreach and thank you messages
Pricing
Blackbaud requires personalized quotes per organization.
Case study: Over $47K raised with a strong donor database
Community Music School of Santa Cruz knew their donor management system was due for an upgrade when the free version they relied on started charging. The organization was left scrambling until they found a sound solution that was actually 100% free: Zeffy.
Zeffy’s free database software for nonprofits has helped CMS of Santa Cruz raise $47,664 and save an additional $2,383 in transaction fees. What started as a way to track donations turned into a cost-saving fundraising strategy for donation pages, event ticket sales, and any future campaigns the organization wants to host, guaranteeing that all money goes to the cause.
"I love the ability to quickly email people who’ve attended any one of our past events—it’s simple and the “from” line in the customer’s email is our name, so there’s no confusion. I also appreciate the ability to embed the donation form or ticketing form into our website—it gives us a professional look. Finally, I couldn’t ask for better customer service. My questions are always responded to promptly, and the team always seems to welcome suggestion for future improvements." -Susan Willats, The Community Music School of Santa Cruz
What is the best database for charities?
The best donor database for nonprofits differs by an organization’s specific needs, size, and goals. While the options above are helpful to begin your evaluation process, it’s essential to reflect on what features are the most important to you and what will give you the most value for your budget.
Use this quick checklist to choose the best option
- What are our specific needs and goals? Look at your organization’s requirements, such as tracking each gift, managing donor relationships, generating reports, or integrating with other systems to determine what’s essential and what’s just nice to have.
- How user-friendly is the system? Check out how intuitive the database will be for your team, from ease of use, learning curve, and availability of training resources or support.
- What are the costs involved? Look into the total costs, including small fees to get started, ongoing subscriptions, and anything else that may come up if you need access to more features.
- Is the database secure? Be sure to ask questions about data security and what the tool does to protect your donor’s sensitive information so that you can maintain compliance.
- Can It Scale with Our Growth? Consider whether the database can handle increasing data and more complex needs as your organization grows. Look for scalability options and flexibility in terms of upgrades and additional features.
