10 The Best Donor Management Software List
Here's my pick of the 10 best software from the 13 tools reviewed.
There are so many different donor management tools that making a shortlist of the best can be tricky. You want to onboard new donors efficiently, store donation forms, run social media campaigns, and generally streamline your fundraising processes, but you need the right tool for the job. I've got you covered! In this post, I share leverage my personal experience having led worship teams since I was 15 and the exposure I've had to different fundraising efforts, to share my picks of the best donor management software.
What is Donor Management Software?
Donor management software is a specialized tool that centralizes and streamlines the management of donor relationships and fundraising efforts for nonprofit organizations, including churches. Through features like donor database management, donation tracking and processing, communication tools for personalized outreach, and reporting and the ability to connect to diverse payment gateways, it allows churches to implement stewardship strategies to nurture donor relationships and support the organization's mission.
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.
Realm by ACS Technologies is a cloud-based church management software platform that offers integrated tools and services for ministries, administration, and pastoral care.
I chose Realm as the donor management software after evaluating its comprehensive features tailored for churches and religious organizations. It provides a suite of tools for communication, stewardship, and pastoral care, all accessible through a user-friendly interface and convenient mobile apps, which are essential for modern church management.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Streamlines communication with members.
- Customizable forms and pages.
- Organizes member database efficiently.
Cons:
- Limited integration with other CRM systems.
- May require training to fully utilize all features.
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
Church Community Builder reinforces communications amongst church or faith-based organization members. There is a coach solution feature on the platform.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Great customer support
- Seamless integration with various third-party software
- Feature-rich software
Cons:
- Recurring events are difficult to schedule
- The learning period takes a while
- Mobile responsiveness is still catching up
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
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
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
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
The 10 Best Donor Management Software Summary
| Tools | Price | |
|---|---|---|
| Realm | Pricing upon request | 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 |
| Church Community Builder | Customized pricing according to individual needs | Website |
| Salesforce for Nonprofits | No price details | Website |
| Servant Keeper | a one-time license fee starting at $299. | Website |
| DonorPerfect | From $99/month for up to 1,000 records | Website |
| Blackbaud | Pricing is available upon request | Website |
Compare Software Specs Side by Side
Use our comparison chart to review and evaluate software specs side-by-side.
Compare SoftwareOther Donor Management Software
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- Donor Tools
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- Aplos
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Donation Management Software Comparison Criteria
To search for the best donation management software for non-profits, I use the following criteria:
- User Interface (UI) and Functionality: Is it clean and attractive? Does the software solution come with more functionality than others?
- Usability and Reliability: Is it easy to learn and master? Does the software offer good tech support, user support, tutorials, and training? Will it have mandatory upgrades to improve online fundraising processes and security?
- Integration with Other Tools: Does the software integrate with other tools, such as church management tools, non-profit management software, accounting software, and others?
- Efficiency: Does the software make teams more efficient through the consolidation of systems?
- Metrics and Analytics: Will the software assist the user in managing and analyzing donor data?
- Value for $: How appropriate is the price for the features, capabilities, and use cases? Is pricing clear, transparent, and flexible?
Donation Management Software Key Features
Below are some of the most critical features that software delivering donor management solutions should have:
Tracking Donation History
Donor management software should help teams track all volunteers, donors, and event attendees in one place. An important feature for monitoring fundraising campaigns and activities of the non-profit is the ability to provide a history of donors.
Email Marketing
In donation management, communication is vital. Therefore, it is important that you consider if the fundraising software you want will allow for automated email marketing. This can help maintain and improve the donor list and donor retention because your projects remain in the donors' minds. Also, donors want news about what their donations are being used for.
Reporting and Tracking
It is important to track all your activities to determine areas that are working and those that need improvement. Reports should tell you which campaigns are raising the most money, which campaigns lead to the most engagements, and which donors are donating to each campaign.
The ability to produce automated custom reports is also a feature that allows you to define the report you wish to have and when to get it for quick reviews of trends.
Process Automation
Process automation improves the efficiency of your organization. Some of the features you will find in the leading donation management software include creating personalized emails, receipts, and statements. All this can help to create a positive relationship with the donor community.
Online Donation Portal and Recurring Giving
Software Advice, an online resource for software buyers, carried out a study that showed that 20% of shoppers considered an online donation portal a “must-have” feature for organizations that want donations. Online donation portals allow donors to select how often they make donations and set recurring donations as well. They also allow donors to make donations as they make purchases.
Event Planning and Project Management
For most non-profit organizations, event management is an inevitable task. Therefore, the right software should allow non-profits and their teams to put their focus where it is required: attracting more donations. They can work with a greater number of donors across different fundraising campaigns and events.
The software should also allow teams to collaborate across campaigns and get an idea of what the workflow looks like. This will ensure that projects are completed within budget and planned timelines. The project management feature also allows team members to get an idea of where each campaign is in the pipeline.
Donor Management Software FAQs
Before I look at the best donor management software in our list, let’s start by looking at some of the main questions I often encounter when talking about donor management tools that can help non-profit teams run some of the best fundraising events.
Why is Donation Management Software Important for NGO Teams?
Donor management software helps non-profit organizations run their processes more efficiently in a coordinated way. It makes tasks that would have taken hours, if not days, easily accomplished in minutes, if not seconds. It reduces the workload of staff members and frees up more time to concentrate on finding more donors.
The software helps organizations to put in place systems that improve relationships between the donor and the non-profit organization by building trust through secure transactions. The donation tool makes it possible for donors to share their personal and financial information without worrying that this will compromise their security.
Analysis of the donor data acquired can be used to segment the donors. Based on their experiences, messaging and support can be personalized.
What Should Non-Profits Look for in a Donation Management Software Tool?
When you’ve decided on getting software for your non-profit, there are several elements you should consider: the capacity or member size the tool can handle, how easy the tool is to use, and the type of support you can expect from its developers or vendors.
Find out the essential features that help you know who your donors are, how much they donate, the times they are likely to donate, and whether the donors have seen your correspondence. You also need to consider whether the software will assist you in monitoring donor retention.
The best way to get a grasp of each tool’s features is to ask for a demonstration. Check how many users can have accounts, as well as their access levels.
Testimonials are essential to the selection process. Reach out to the fundraising tool’s previous and current clientele to get real, unbiased, and independent user feedback.
Other Church Finance Software Reviews
If you are looking for other financial software for churches, here are a few other but similar lists I've put together on this site.
- Church Finance Software
- Church Accounting Software
- Church Bookkeeping Software
- Church Payroll Software
- Church Giving Apps
Share Your Thoughts about Other Donor Management Software Comparison Options
If you’ve tried any of the above-listed software, please share your experiences and recommendations in the comments section. If your preferred software isn’t listed, please let us know in the comments section, as well as why you prefer it.
If you've ever wondered about how big churches run things, here's the 10 Biggest Streaming Churches And The Software They Use.
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