The Best Donor Management Software of 2024 (According to a Pastor)
10 The Best Donor Management Software List
Here's my pick of the 10 best software from the 10 tools reviewed.
If you’re a pastor or church leader, managing donations can be a headache, especially in a small or mid-size church. That’s where donor management software steps in. It helps you:
- Track Giving with Ease: No more juggling spreadsheets—automatically track donations so you know who’s giving and when.
- Organize Donor Information in One Place: Keep all your donor data—names, contact info, giving history—organized and easy to access.
- Simplify Reporting for Leadership: Quickly generate clear, detailed reports to share with your board or congregation, saving you hours of manual work.
- Engage Donors Better: Automate personalized thank-yous and updates, building stronger relationships without taking up your time.
- Free Up Time for Ministry Work: By reducing admin tasks, you can focus more on your real calling—ministering to your people.
In this article, we’ll break down the best tools, key features, and everything you need to know to choose the right software for your church. Let’s dive in!
Why Trust Our Software Reviews
My team and I, all pastors and church leaders, have been testing and reviewing donor management software since we launched The Lead Pastor in 2019. We know firsthand how tough it can be to pick the right software. It’s not easy—there are so many options, and each one has its quirks.
We dig deep into our research so we can help you make smarter choices when it comes to software. Over the years, we’ve tested more than 2,000 tools, all with a church leader's perspective in mind, and written over 1,000 honest, no-fluff reviews. Trust us, we’ve been there. We know how much this decision matters. (Learn how we stay transparent and our software review methodology.)
The 10 Best Donor Management Software Summary
| Tools | Price | |
|---|---|---|
| ChMeetings | From $12/month | Website |
| Bloomerang | From $99/month | Website |
| Kindful | From $100/month | Website |
| Little Green Light | From $39/month | Website |
| Subsplash | provides customized pricing upon request. | Website |
| Salsa Labs | No price details | Website |
| Blackbaud | Pricing upon request | Website |
| Salesforce for Nonprofits | No price details | Website |
| DonorPerfect | From $99/month for up to 1,000 records | Website |
| Servant Keeper | a one-time license fee starting at $299. | Website |
Compare Software Specs Side by Side
Use our comparison chart to review and evaluate software specs side-by-side.
Compare SoftwareHow to Choose Donor Management Software
As you work through your own unique software selection process, keep the following points in mind.
Using the Software Tool
- Simplicity: If the software is too complicated, your team won’t use it. Simple, intuitive systems save everyone time and frustration. Look for a tool that makes it easy to track donations and manage donor information without a steep learning curve.
- Integration with Other Tools: Your donor management software should connect smoothly with other tools you already use, like your accounting system or email marketing platform. Without good integration, you’ll end up spending extra time manually moving data between programs.
Managing the Software Tool
- Scalability: As your church or ministry grows, so will your donor base. You need a software solution that can grow with you. Choose a tool that can handle an increasing number of donors and donations without slowing down or becoming too expensive.
- Reporting and Analytics: Good donor management software will give you clear, actionable reports on donor engagement and giving trends so you can make better decisions.
- Support and Training: No matter how easy the software claims to be, there will be times when you or your team need help. Look for a vendor that offers solid customer support and training resources, so you’re not left in the dark when issues come up.
Overviews Of The 10 Best Donor Management Software
Here’s a brief description of each of the donor management software on my list, showing what it does best, plus screenshots to showcase some of the features.
As a donor management software, ChMeetings offers comprehensive tools to track and manage donations. It provides seamless integration with financial records, enabling accurate and transparent reporting. The software also allows churches to categorize and analyze giving trends, enhancing strategic planning and engagement with donors. With robust communication features, ChMeetings also ensures timely acknowledgments and follow-ups, fostering stronger donor relationships.
Bloomerang focuses on retention and engagement solutions. It allows fund transactions and management to be carried out efficiently and on time.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- It is affordable for all sizes of startups and non-profits
- Great customer support
- Great user interface
Cons:
- QuickBooks integration isn't smooth
- Report customization is limited
- Difficult to use when tracking grants from foundations
Kindful
Best donor management software for donor relationship building
Kindful is donor management software that focuses on building relationships with donors. It offers fundraising, donor management, and communication tools. The software also comes with tracking and reporting tools.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Supports unlimited donation pages per account with numerous page designs and customization
- Scalable and focuses on helping non-profits grow
- Excellent and timely customer service
Cons:
- Report design options are limited and lack customization
- Pricey for small non-profits with inconsistent income
- Takes a while to learn and get around
Little Green Light describes itself as “your natural next step to simplify your donor management.” It promises, “With our intuitive fundraising platform, you can consolidate your spreadsheets, letting you see and analyze your data more clearly than ever before.”
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Mail and online support
- Seamless integration with third-party software
- Intuitive and easy-to-use interface
Cons:
- Advanced analytics are complicated
- Difficult to manage families
- Mobile support is lacking
Subsplash is a church software platform that offers a suite of tools and services for churches to manage their donations and donor profiles.
Subsplash makes digital giving easy—with in-app, website, and text giving and robust donor management and analytic tools. Whether your community is browsing your website, exploring your app, watching a live stream, or joining an in-person service, there are a variety of donation solicitation features you can customize and employ.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Great mobile app functionality
- User-friendly interface with modern UI
- Excellent and timely customer service
Cons:
- Limited integrations with other systems
Salsa Labs provides solutions for donor management, fundraising, advocacy, events, and marketing automation. Its primary focus is on providing intelligent insights and reports.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Relatively easy to learn and use
- Great customer support
- Unlimited capabilities
Cons:
- Easy to lose some contact names when importing contacts
- Scheduling in email setup needs improvement
Built by Microsoft Azure, Blackbaud is designed to meet the marketing and fundraising needs of non-profits. It provides excellent insight via its data intelligence.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Comprehensive in terms of features
- Great with records generation
- Mobile responsive
Cons:
- Expensive for small non-profits
- Poor customer support
- Takes a while to get accustomed to
Salesforce’s Non-Profit Cloud unites constituents and organizations. The software promises to help “build and maintain trusted and lasting relationships with supporters and beneficiaries by delivering the experiences they need in changing times.”
Salesforce for Non-Profit is designed mainly to cater to the needs of non-profits, educational institutions, and foundations that provide grants.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Customizable reports that help filter out unwanted data
- Great customer service
- Easy to use
Cons:
- Poor integration with mobile platforms
- Report generation can take a while
- Too many functionalities make it challenging to get around in the beginning
Donorperfect is a suitable fundraising solution for non-profits. It provides insight into the drivers of donations, donor segmentation, and communications via personalized emails. Event managers can use its auction management tools to manage silent, live, mobile, and online charity auctions.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Great for tracking donors
- Allows for customization
- Easy to use and intuitive
Cons:
- Too many upgrades
- Lackluster report generation
Servant Keeper is a church management solution by Servant PC Resources. It caters to churches and other faith-based organizations by helping them manage and run their business operations, including tracking member attendance, skills, donations, and pledges.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Seamless integrations with a variety of third-party software
- Great customization of reports
- Great customer and technical support
Cons:
- Lots of learning material and resources to consume
- Setting up groups is a bit taxing
- Difficult to use
case study: church drastically reduces administrative load (despite a crisis)
Hunter Street Baptist Church (Hoover, Alabama) was in crisis when, due to a technological failure, it lost the ability to write checks or pay vendors despite a looming audit.
Church administrator Michal Langston explains how BlackBaud (featured in our list above) helped them not only solve their problem but leapfrog ahead in efficiency.
“Our previous vendor threatened to turn off our software even though we had an upcoming audit, which created an urgency to be live in six weeks. We partnered with Blackbaud (and several third-party tools)and were live on Financial Edge NXT in three weeks. The entire process was a drastically better experience compared to what we had with other software vendors.”
“Today, we have 40 to 50 people submitting invoice requests to our church. Our new processes make managing that volume easy. The view-only reporting capabilities save me an entire day’s work each month. Users can securely access the reports directly, and because of how we have it set up, even nonfinancial staff can self-serve.”
Selection Criteria for Donor Management Software
When selecting donor management software, I focus on features that solve real problems for pastors and ministry leaders. The key is to find a tool that supports your ministry’s needs while cutting down the time you spend on admin tasks. I’ve personally tested and researched these tools to identify the best options that fit the specific challenges pastors face.
Core Donor Management Functionality - 25% of total weighting score:
Common features for donor management software typically include tracking donations, managing donor profiles, generating reports, automating emails, processing recurring donations, segmenting donors, integrating with accounting tools, event management, mobile access, and customizable dashboards.
To be considered for inclusion on my list of the best donor management software, the solution had to support the ability to fulfill common use cases.
- Tracking one-time and recurring donations
- Storing and updating donor contact information
- Segmenting donors for targeted communications
- Providing detailed reporting on donation trends
- Integrating with accounting systems
Additional Standout Features - 25% of total weighting score:
- Automated donor tracking to minimize manual work
- Real-time syncing with other tools like email marketing platforms
- Easy-to-use mobile access for managing donations on the go
- Customizable dashboards that give a clear snapshot of donation data
- Event management that links registration, donations, and communication in one place
Usability - 10% of total weighting score:
- Intuitive interface that’s easy to navigate without a steep learning curve
- Drag-and-drop functionality for managing donor segments or reports
- Mobile-responsive design so you can manage donors from any device
- Clear, easy-to-read dashboards for quick insights into donor behavior
Onboarding - 10% of total weighting score:
- Availability of quick-start guides, templates, or training videos
- Interactive product tours to help you get familiar with features
- Webinars and chat support for deeper questions
- Tools to help migrate existing donor data easily
Customer Support - 10% of total weighting score:
- 24/7 chat support with quick response times
- Detailed FAQs and knowledge bases for self-service help
- Accessible phone or email support for more complex issues
- Live chat directly in the tool to answer questions as you work
Value For Money - 10% of total weighting score:
- Competitive pricing for small and large churches
- Scalable pricing tiers so you only pay for what you need
- Clear pricing with no hidden fees
- Discounts for nonprofits and churches to make it affordable
Customer Reviews - 10% of total weighting score:
- Strong user satisfaction in key areas like usability and reliability
- Consistent feedback about ease of setup and use
- Reviews that highlight customer support and responsiveness
- Feedback about time saved on admin tasks thanks to automation
Each of these criteria ties back to what pastors and church leaders need most: a tool that helps them spend less time on operations and more time ministering to people.
Trends in Donor Management Software for 2024
In 2024, donor management software is rapidly evolving to meet the increasing demand for efficiency and automation in managing donor relationships.
By reviewing recent product updates, press releases, and release logs from popular tools, we can identify trends shaping the future of this software. The focus is on enhancing core functionality, adding innovative features, and adjusting to shifting user priorities. Below are some key trends for 2024:
Automation and AI Integration
- Automated Donor Engagement: More tools are rolling out automated workflows that trigger personalized messages or tasks based on donor behavior. This saves time on follow-ups and helps build stronger relationships.
- AI-Powered Analytics: AI is being used to analyze giving patterns and suggest the best times to engage donors, helping users make data-driven decisions faster and with less manual effort.
Mobile-First Design
- Enhanced Mobile Access: The best tools now prioritize mobile access, allowing users to manage donations, update records, and send communications right from their phones. This addresses the need for flexibility in how churches and nonprofits operate.
Data Security and Compliance
- Improved Data Protection: With the rise of privacy concerns, software providers are enhancing security features, such as encrypted donor information and GDPR compliance, to protect sensitive data.
Customization and Flexibility
- Tailored Reporting Tools: Reporting features are becoming more customizable, letting users create reports that focus on the specific data points they need, making it easier to present results to stakeholders or boards.
Features Losing Demand
- Manual Data Entry Options: As automation grows, manual data entry features are becoming less emphasized, with more users preferring tools that handle tasks automatically, reducing human error.
These trends show that donor management software is focused on making the user experience more efficient and secure, while automating processes that once took too much time. The shift to mobile and AI-driven solutions will continue to shape the landscape in the years ahead.
What is Donor Management Software?
Donor management software is a tool that helps churches and nonprofits track and manage their donations and donor relationships. It keeps all your donor info in one place—like names, addresses, giving history—so you don’t have to juggle spreadsheets or paper files. You can quickly see who gave what, send thank-you emails, and even create reports for year-end tax statements. It’s like a digital filing cabinet and assistant rolled into one, helping you stay organized and save time.
Features of Donor Management Software
When choosing donor management software to help spend less time on operations and more on ministry, it’s important to focus on key features that will lighten your administrative load. The right features will let you streamline tasks, automate processes, and keep everything organized so you can focus on the work that truly matters.
Automated Donor Profiles:
Automatically tracking donor info saves you time updating records manually, keeping everything organized without extra effort.
Customizable Reporting:
Quickly generate reports with a few clicks, making it easier to stay on top of financial updates and freeing up time for ministry.
Recurring Donations Management:
This feature simplifies tracking ongoing donations, reducing your need to follow up and allowing donors to give regularly without reminders.
Email Automation:
Send personalized thank-you messages or campaign updates automatically, helping you stay connected with donors without the manual work.
Mobile Access:
Being able to manage donor info from anywhere lets you handle tasks on the go, so you're not stuck at the office dealing with administrative tasks.
Integrations with Accounting Tools:
Seamlessly connecting with accounting software keeps your financial records accurate without needing extra data entry, which lowers the risk of errors.
Donor Segmentation:
Grouping donors by giving levels or interests allows you to target communication more effectively, saving time while improving relationships.
Customizable Dashboards:
A clear, simple dashboard helps you see donor activity and trends at a glance, so you can make quick decisions without digging through reports.
Event Management:
Organize fundraising events from within the software, combining registration, communication, and donation tracking in one place, which cuts down on the need for extra systems.
Strong Customer Support:
When something goes wrong, quick access to support keeps you moving without major interruptions.
Each of these features helps reduce the time spent on operations, giving you more space to focus on ministry. Finding the right tool that balances these features will lighten the load and allow you to dedicate more energy to what truly matters.
Benefits of Donor Management Software
When it comes to managing donor relationships, donor management software offers a wide range of benefits for churches and nonprofits. These tools help streamline processes, improve communication with donors, and make tracking donations much simpler. Below are five key benefits of using donor management software:
- Automated Donor Tracking: Automatically organizing and updating donor information saves time and reduces the risk of errors, allowing users to focus on building stronger relationships with supporters.
- Centralized Data: All donor information is stored in one place, making it easy to access and manage donation records, communication history, and engagement data without juggling multiple systems.
- Improved Reporting: The ability to quickly generate detailed reports on donation trends and donor engagement helps organizations make informed decisions and present clear data to stakeholders or boards.
- Efficient Communication: Built-in email and messaging features allow users to send personalized messages or updates to donors, improving engagement while saving time on manual outreach.
- Recurring Donation Management: Automated systems for managing recurring donations ensure consistent giving without the need for constant follow-up, increasing donor retention and reducing administrative burden.
By using donor management software, churches and nonprofits can better organize their donor information, streamline communications, and focus more on their mission. These tools help organizations operate efficiently, improve donor relationships, and maximize their impact.
Costs & Pricing for Donor Management Software
Donor management software typically offers different pricing options to fit the needs and budgets of various organizations. For those with little experience, it’s important to understand that each plan generally includes different levels of features, with more advanced options costing more. Below is an overview of the most common plan types, pricing, and the features you can expect with each.
| Plan Type | Average Price | Common Features | Best For.. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free Plan | $0/month | Basic donor tracking, limited reporting, email support | Small organizations or startups |
| Basic Plan | $30/month | Donor profiles, automated emails, simple reporting | Growing churches, basic needs |
| Standard Plan | $70/month | Custom reports, event management, recurring donation tracking | Medium-sized churches, more advanced needs |
| Premium Plan | $150/month | Advanced integrations, detailed analytics, priority support | Large organizations, full features |
| Enterprise Plan | $300+/month | Fully customizable features, dedicated account manager, unlimited users | Large nonprofits or organizations with complex needs |
When choosing a plan, consider your organization’s size, budget, and the features you need to manage your donor relationships effectively. Start with a free or basic plan if you're just getting started, and upgrade as your needs grow.
Donor Management Software Frequently Asked Questions
How can donor management software help me stay compliant with tax regulations for church donations?
Most donor management software includes tools to generate tax-compliant donation receipts and reports.
These features help ensure that records are accurate and meet legal requirements, especially for year-end giving statements, making it easier for you to stay on top of regulations without extra manual work.
Does this software allow me to manage donations from multiple campuses or church locations?
Yes, many donor management systems offer multi-campus functionality, letting you track donations from various locations under one account. This makes it simple to manage donor records across multiple church sites, keeping everything organized and accessible in one place.
How do I transfer all my existing donor information into the software without losing any data?
Most platforms provide data migration tools or services that help you transfer existing donor data into the system. Some even offer support for importing spreadsheets or integrating with previous software, ensuring that all your data remains intact during the transition.
Can this software help me track volunteer involvement alongside donations?
Yes, some donor management tools also include features for tracking volunteer engagement. This lets you maintain a complete record of your congregation’s contributions, both financial and in terms of time, helping you recognize and thank your volunteers as well as your donors.
How can I use this software to better engage major donors and increase larger gifts?
Many donor management systems provide tools to segment your donor base, making it easier to identify and engage major donors. You can create targeted campaigns or communication strategies specifically for larger donors, track their giving history, and automate personalized follow-ups to encourage continued support.
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