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Membership management software is the core of strong relationships with loyal donors who can propel a nonprofit's mission forward.
Efficient donor management, online registration, donations, and robust reports and analytics are all crucial tools for nonprofits and membership organizations.
Membership management software options that offer these and other premium features can help nonprofit organizations organize events, manage memberships, and improve email marketing.
Check out the following seven free membership management software options to see which fits your organization's and member community's needs.
Top free membership management software at a glance
What is a nonprofit membership management software?
Nonprofit membership management software tools are designed to help nonprofit organizations effectively manage their members. Many membership management software processors include features that allow nonprofits to streamline tasks like:
- Store member information
- Renewal and registration
- Communication and member engagement
- Event registration
- Events management
- Payment processing
- Reporting and analytics
Membership-based organizations can lean on paid and free software to manage membership data and online payments in one place to remain strategic and foster donor retention.
Key features to consider when choosing a membership management software
When a membership organization is deciding on membership management software, there are several features you should consider and ensure they align with your organization's needs, including:
Member Database
Nonprofits and membership organizations should look for a robust database to manage members, securely store, and simplify the organizing and retrieval of information.
Membership Renewal and Registration
An easy and seamless renewal and registration process is another essential feature of membership management software. Membership software that includes automated renewal reminders and an intuitive signup process helps with administrative tasks, increases recurring payments, and simplifies member communication for organizations with limited staff.
Communication Tools
Communication tools like email marketing, newsletters, and social media help nonprofit organizations strategically communicate with members. These content management features allow nonprofits to send personalized messages to specific member types and individuals.
Event Management
Nonprofit event management tools help organizations plan, promote, and manage events with registration and fundraising features, like:
- Ticketing
- Attendance tracking
Payment Processing
Secure payment processing is another crucial feature of membership management software. Tools that allow nonprofit organizations to collect membership fees, donations, proceeds from event registration, and other transactions online can increase revenue and help build donor relationships.
Membership software that collects membership dues and donations must accept various payment methods and multiple currencies to raise more money. It's important to pay attention to any hidden fees, hidden costs, or a need to upgrade to paid versions for the functionality you need.
Reporting and Analytics
A centralized database that tracks member engagement, event registrations, online donations, and more can provide insights into membership trends, engagement successes, financial data, and more. Membership software that creates customizable member portals and reports, allows nonprofit organizations to tailor online fundraising strategies to best reach their supporters.
Integration and Customization
Nonprofits must ensure their membership software is compatible with other software and platforms, like CRM systems or accounting software, before purchasing. When looking at each tool, look for advanced capabilities like the ability to customize fields, forms, and workflows.
Ease of Use
Most nonprofits do not have their own IT departments, so easy user management software is a must. Look for membership software that offers training resources and documentation for onboarding and continued use. Make sure the software is accessible for members and nonprofit administration to use.
Scalability
A question that membership based businesses should ask when choosing membership management software is whether it can accommodate the growth of your membership organization.
Signs of scalability include:
- no membership limits
- no limits on administrative users
- easy expansion or addition of features
- cloud-based solutions
- Customizable
Another way to determine a membership management software's scalability is with reviews from real-world users.
Affordability
Cost is the most important feature for most nonprofits. When deciding on membership management software, you must evaluate the initial costs and transaction fees to see which tool best fits your nonprofit's budget.
Payment processing can present costly fees, but some capabilities may have a bigger price tag as well when your fundraising scales.
What type of membership software should you use?
Choosing a free web software (SaaS)
Accessibility
SaaS solutions are typically hosted and maintained by a third-party provider. Nonprofits can access this software via the Internet.
User Support
SaaS providers usually offer better customer support, including:
- Troubleshooting
- Onboarding
- Additional Resources
Security
SaaS providers may offer more security and compliance with regulations for dues management and payment processing.
Cost
Many SaaS membership software tools charge users monthly subscriptions or transaction fees, but Zeffy allows organizations to manage memberships and raise funds for free!
Choosing a free open source software for membership management
Customization
Open source can offer more flexibility and customization since users can access the source code.
Cost
Generally, open-source is free software, but additional costs for hosting, customization, support, and maintenance may exist.
User Support
Support for open source software can vary. While some may provide forums and community support, this software type may be limited. Users must ensure their own security measures and compliance.
Best 100% free membership management software for nonprofits
Zeffy’s membership management software
Zeffy is a 100% free membership management software that offers a donor database, membership renewal options, and a fundraising platform.
What makes Zeffy a great fit for your nonprofit?
- Create several membership tiers
- Manage membership renewal options (yearly, specific dates, no expiration)
- Simplify member data management across several campaign types
- Automatically send members electronic membership cards
- Offer automatic membership renewal
- Filtering based on membership status for better contact management
- Email marketing to groups or individual contacts and members from Zeffy
- Issue automatic tax receipts for membership purchases
Cons
Limits to reporting and database options. Cannot track seat numbers or separate event tickets and donations. This can make extra admin work.
Free plan limitations
None. 100% generated revenue equals $100 for your mission. With every other platform, donors give $100, and you get $97 or less.
Pricing for advanced plans
All features of Zeffy's free software come at no cost.
Testimonial
"My overall experience with Zefy is absolutely incredible. They have saved me not only money but time. This is definitely the best site to use for fundraising. Zeffy handles everything with precision. They keep track of everything for you and donations are disbursed when they are supposed to be. They take all the worry out of everything for you." - Kim R.
Best free open-source membership management software
Admidio’s membership management software
Admidio uses database software that nonprofits can use without the need for coding.
What makes Admidio a great fit for your nonprofit?
- Organizations can install the module on a new or existing homepage
- Manage memberships and track attendance across events
- Upload and manage photos in a photo gallery
- Customized forms and reports
- Create personalized welcome and thank you letters
- Android app helps organizations manage memberships from anywhere
Cons
Nonprofits cannot change the layout
Free plan limitations
There are limits to the number of features offered
Pricing for advanced plans
All Admidio features are 100% free
Testimonial
"Outstanding, the options are endless. The only criticism I have would be the ability to change the layout. Apart from that, this is exactly what I have been looking for." - SourceForge
Best automated membership management software
Wild Apricot’s membership management software
Wild Apricot is a powerful cloud software that automates and simplifies membership tasks.
What makes Wild Apricot a great fit for your nonprofit?
- Create a web-based, mobile-friendly form for membership applications
- Customize with membership levels, discount codes, automated welcome emails
- Group memberships for families, teams, and companies
- Automated member renewals
- Volunteers and members can access the database online
- Member-only web pages
- Event management
- Email and contact database
- Mobile Apps
Cons
If nonprofits don't upgrade to a paid subscription after the free trial period, their account will be deleted.
Free plan limitations
The free plan is limited to thirty days.
Pricing for advanced plans
Wild Apricot plans start at $60/month for up to 100 contacts. Prices increase with additional contacts. There are one and two-year payment plans for 10% and 15% discounts.
Testimonial
"I had a charity 5K that I volunteered to help manage and intended on tracking all of the signups manually. I really wasn't looking forward to it. One of my friends recommended Wild Apricot as an option so I checked it out with their free trial. It was tremendously simple to use and juggle all of the event information in one place. There were still a few manual offline items to keep track of, but Wild Apricot was so much better! The ability to check in folks from my Galaxy phone was a Godsend, too." - Kevin W.
Best all-in-one platform for membership management software
Member Planet’s membership management software
Member Planet is a full suite of membership management tools that simplify membership and day-to-day operations.
What makes Member Planet a great fit for your nonprofit?
- Process payments from anywhere
- Customize event websites to sell tickets and collect RSVPs
- Create a branded, mobile-optimized membership platform with widgets and API integrations
- Create branded and professional-looking invoices
- Collect recurring payments
- Members can control and manage data, payments, privacy settings, and membership information
- Solicit feedback with surveys
- Create customizable reports
Cons
Can be complicated to add members and update online forms.
Free plan limitations
Member Planet's Essentials Plan is $50 monthly with a 2% platform fee and an additional 3% + $0.30 transaction fee per payment.
Pricing for advanced plans
The Premium package is $175 a month plus a 1% platform fee and 3% + $0.30 processing fee.
Testimonial
"Memberplanet enabled our nonprofit to go from having completely manual member management to automated member management overnight. Regardless of the complesities our member structure, no other member solution has come close to helping to keep up-to-date with our membership as has Memberplanet." - Gregg B.
Best open source membership management software for a complex membership-based organization
Tendenci’s membership management software
Tendenci is an open source association management software built for complex, multi-chapter national and international organizations.
What makes Tendenci a great fit for your nonprofit?
- Manage member sign-ups, renewals, member types and groups, member directors, and custom-tiered permissions
- Create new events directly from Tendenci website, track payments, send reminders, and print rosters
- Showcase sponsors and preferred partners on your website with paid or promotional listings.
Cons
Can be too pricey for many nonprofits
Free plan limitations
No free plans available
Pricing for advanced plans
The Gold Plan includes 50,000+ active members, individual and corporate membership, unlimited contacts, and more processing speed and file sharing for $499/month.
Testimonial
"It provides an easy to use platform where one can access all information about each and every member. The security features are very effective in keeping data safe and restricting access to only authorized personel. The event management function makes it possible to ensure events success and allows easy tracking of tickets by buyers and tracking of sales by the sales team, and also to manage events by controlling the number of speakers for the events. It gives a clear location of where events are to be held for convenient transportation. It is easy to create feedback survey forms to collect opinions and feedbacks. It allows easy update of website content to keel everyone updated." - Maxwell T.
Best open source membership management software that offers a user-friendly interface
Raklet’s membership management software
Raklet offers an easy-to-use and affordable all-in-one solution for nonprofits.
What makes Raklet a great fit for your nonprofit?
- Automated reminders and renewals
- Digital membership cards
- Membership engagement reports
- Nonprofits can filter, tag, segment, and export donor data
- Organizations can publish members-only content
Cons
Cannot try additional features without signing up for higher priced plans
Free plan limitations
Raklet's free plan is limited to 100 contacts, one admin, 1,250 emails a month, and one custom field.
Pricing for advanced plans
Additional plans start at $49 a month to $399 a month
Testimonial
"Support team is really helpful. We can easily get in touch with them over phone/video calls. Engineering team delivers new features and improvements all the time. It's really easy to import members, assign dues and collect payments online. We use it for membership management at Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion." - Garrett J.
Best open source membership management software for Linux users
Zenbership’s membership management software
Zenbership is a 100% free open source membership CRM platform that helps organizations acquire, monetize, and retain members.
What makes Zenbership a great fit for your nonprofit?
- Custom membership levels
- Automated registrations
- Connect your own payment gateway
- Opt-in email campaigns
- Social media integration
- Source tracking
- Custom report building
Cons
Zenbership is a membership management system optimized for Linux servers and has not been tested on Windows.
Free plan limitations
This software is entirely 100% free, but updates have been suspended since 2018. There are no plans to continue development.
Pricing for advanced plans
There are no advanced plans
Testimonial
No user reviews available
Advancing your mission with a membership management system
Free membership software for nonprofits offers a diverse landscape of tools, each catering to different organizations' needs. Whether you're looking for cloud based software to help with donor management, managing membership, or collecting online payments, it's vital to consider the limitations and cost of each software before determining which software best fits your needs.
If you've decided Zeffy's 100% free fundraising solution is the leading membership management software for you, we welcome you to sign up for free today!
