Donor Fundraising Software

Donor fundraising software is a tool to capture and handle donor data. The right software will help your fundraising and save you time and effort.

Chances are you are already tracking your donors, but a specialized software can save you a lot of time and make your fundraising efforts much more efficient. As a dedicated software, it is a safe way to store and manage data and can open options and functionalities – such as data analysis – you never even considered, as tackling them manually would be too time consuming or even impossible.

If you are habituated to customer relations management (CRM) systems, a donor fundraising software can feel remarkably familiar. Their functions are similar, as they help you capture and manage donor’s data, but it can also incorporate marketing functions. These include sending targeted emails, and analytics such as donation statements or tax reports. If you have never considered using a donor fundraising software, here’s all you need to know to get started.

Who Uses Donor Fundraising Software?

Any organization that takes part in raising funds can use this specialized software, as it is customizable to your specific organization, as opposed to those who run for-profit activities. Therefore, NGOs, charitable foundations, environmental groups, and political campaign teams are the kind of organizations that use donor fundraising software.

What Can You Do With This Type of Software?

When you go from a basic or even manual system to using a dedicated software, you may find its functionalities endless, but they can easily be grouped into five categories:

  1. Data base: Useful as they are, spreadsheets are not data bases. Having a software that can safely store your donors’ data is priceless.

  2. Analysis: Using your newly created database, your software can provide valuable insight about your donors, your process, and results.

  3. Marketing: Thanks to the analysis tools, you can design marketing campaigns and prepare automated messages to be sent through the software, saving you valuable time.

  4. Operations: You can also use the software for internal communications, track interactions, set up reminders and so forth.

  5. Donations: Of course, the most important part of a donor fundraising software if giving your donors the option to make a donation.

What Are Your Options?

There are different options depending on how simple or elaborate you want your software to be. It is important for you to find the right software that provides a solution for your needs, but regardless of these, which only you know, there are some extra features you must inquire about:

  • Mobile interface.

  • Email and SMS campaign tools.

  • SMS donations.

As people become more and more reliant on mobile devices, you have to make it easy for your donors and your team to donate and work from mobile phones and tablets. In 2018, mobile donations were more than double those from 2017. Imagine the impact this could have on your organization.

One-stop Software

Here are some donor fundraising software providers for your consideration if you have a small to medium organization. These providers offer really good platforms for those who are starting, or do not need to process a lot of data.

Tithe.ly

Tithe.ly offers a fantastic app, with all inclusive features and an extremely user-friendly interface.

Cost: $99 per month + $149 one-off set up fee

Perks: Free “Giving Platform” and tailoring options. If you are not yet ready to get all the features yet and pay full price, Tithe.ly offers a free solution for your organization to receive donations. When you want to upgrade, you can still go step by step and include features as you need them, starting from as little as $5 per month.

Network for Good

As a non-profit-owned for-profit organization, Network for Good has probably the best insight on what a donor fundraising software has to offer.

Cost: $200 - $400 per month

Perks: They import your data for free and provide an onboarding specialist at no extra cost. Impressive resource library with hundreds of free guides and webinars.

CauseVox

Over ten years ago, a couple of friends decided to build fundraising tools for non-profits. They are passionate about supporting the digitalization of these organizations, helping over 1,500 of them in the last decade, including Amnesty International and the Girl Scouts, among others.

Cost: $139 - $285 per month

Perks: 14-day free trial on their Standard and Plus packages. They also offer a Basic platform, free of charge.

More Powerful Tools

If your organization is larger or if data analysis is crucial for you, these more powerful tools, capable of managing big data, are a better fit:

DonorSearch

DonorSearch offers an outstanding tool to find donors. Thanks to their extensive databases, 360-degree profiling and insights, you can target the right donors, refining your prospects and ultimately creating a highly efficient and successful strategy.

Salsa

With a strong emphasis on profiling and reporting, Salsa wants all non-profits to be able to access their tool, helping them understand their donors and operations. As the world becomes more connected and audio-visual, it can be hard for non-profits to grasp the attention of donors, hence why a targeted approach is crucial for success.

Salesforce NPSP

Salesforce built the Non-Profit Success Pack (NPSP) especially for this kind of organizations, building on their extensive CRM knowledge. On top of their very sensible pricing – $36-$72 per user per month – they also offer the first 10 subscriptions free of charge. So not only can you try their platform before committing to it, if you are a small organization, you get to use an enormously powerful tool for free. It allows you to get a 360-view of your donors, their profile and journey with you.

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