Donor Management Software Comparison: What’s Right for Your Nonprofit?

When you’re comparing donor management platforms, the sheer variety of software choices can be a bit overwhelming. Some platforms offer versatile, feature-rich solutions. Others are designed for simpler, more basic contact management. 

Choosing the right tool can be tough! With the right set of features, you can deepen donor relationships and engage more easily with constituents. With the wrong program, though, you can face cost creep, frustrations, and poor communication.

This donor management software comparison will go over the features of some of the most popular options so you can make the right choice for your organization. Let’s take a look.

Nonprofit Donor Management Software Comparison

A good donor management system will help you store and organize your supporters’ data, track your campaigns’ progress, and engage with your community more effectively. But how can you know which solution is the best for your own unique needs?

Comparing a few different elements—like features, pricing, and which types of people tend to use which tool—can all help. Each of the platforms listed below are trusted as some of the top donor management options among nonprofits and associations. Taking a look at their specific features will help you understand how good a fit each might be for your organization.

Neon CRM

Neon CRM is a platform designed to deepen your donor connections and improve your ability to connect with and engage your donors and other supporters. With our help, you can track donor data, personalize communications and appeals, build online donation forms, and simplify your workload.

Features for Donor Management	Benefits Reported by Users	Challenges Reported by Users
Donor tracking and insights Engagement timelines User-specific dashboards Intuitive, customizable reporting Flexible fields Automated workflow and communication tools Email management  Flexible donation pages and forms	Revenue-based billing Personalized communications Comprehensive management Automated tools	Large organization support  Initial ease of use Simultaneous live/virtual event management

Who it’s best for: We work with organizations from small grassroots movements to large multi-state associations. Our typical clients are small to midsize nonprofits who are looking for a donor management platform that will grow with them. Our revenue-based pricing model makes us a particularly desirable option for rapidly growing organizations. Since the cost associated with our different packages are based on your revenue—not the number of contacts you have in your system—you can do things like grow your email list or build a base of donors without worrying about creeping costs or having to delete valuable information.

EveryAction

EveryAction is a comprehensive platform designed for nonprofits and associations. It’s particularly noted for its Political Action Committee (PAC) compliance features, which makes it a great tool for managing political contributions.

Features for Donor Management	Benefits Reported by Users	Challenges Reported by Users
Top-tier PAC support  Payment gateways Email and mobile messaging  Event management Canvassing support Phone banking  Automated tools and predictive analytics	Ease of use in data management PAC-compliant Customizable workflows  Automated tools	Difficult to use more advanced features Integration limitations Little custom template support Complex, click-heavy system

Who it’s best for: EveryAction is a platform that’s best used by those managing a lot of records. It serves a wide range of large nonprofits and has a complex feature set that makes it a great comprehensive option. It’s also highly suitable for PACs with built-in compliance support. However, small and midsize organizations may find it a bit complex for their needs.

Kindful

Kindful is owned by nonprofit CRM provider Bloomerang, so its features are based on a lot of industry-specific expertise. It offers the basic features of a donation management platform with few bells and whistles.

Features for Donor Management	Benefits Reported by Users	Challenges Reported by Users
Email management  Donor database tools Automated donor receipts Mail merge support Workflow management  General reporting  Engagement tracking  Historical communication records	Ease of use Good basic features Strong customer service Cost-effective	Integration dependent Limited reporting Few customization options Data upload difficulties

Who it’s best for: Kindful is a great solution for small nonprofits that need a simple and cost-effective database management tool. However, its limited features may not be appropriate for rapidly growing organizations that need more support.

Network for Good

Network for Good provides both software and coaching for nonprofits. This is a comprehensive solution to donor management that has grown beyond tracking donations to support the entire organization’s activities.

Features for Donor Management	Benefits Reported by Users	Challenges Reported by Users
Donor database tools Custom forms/surveys Duplicate records management Donation tracking Donation receipts and emails Simple reporting	Strong onboarding process Comprehensive solution Multi-media support	User-friendliness Data transfer problems High costs for upgrades Limited integrations

Who it’s best for: Network for Good is a comprehensive solution that targets its services to small nonprofits that won’t need a large number of complex integrations. Since Network for Good’s pricing is based on the number of contacts in your database, your costs may escalate over time, especially if you’re a rapidly growing organization.  

DonorPerfect

DonorPerfect—a company based in Montreal, Canada—is a software provider that serves a wide range of nonprofits with a specific focus on Canadian markets. It’s another more comprehensive tool for nonprofits, with features that can be used to manage activities for your entire organization.

Features for Donor Management	Benefits Reported by Users	Challenges Reported by Users
Automated tools  Engagement tracking Donor database management  Payment processing Reporting and analytics Online donation forms and templates Integrations	Cost-effectiveness Ease of use Clear, simple user interface Fast rollout and onboarding	Limited customizability Few default reporting features Inefficient database tools Poor duplicate records support

Who it’s best for: DonorPerfect is good for small to midsize organizations that can keep a close eye on their data cleanliness, although some large organizations report challenges with data merges. It’s also favored by some Canadian nonprofits looking for a domestic company to provide support.

Oracle NetSuite Social Impact

Oracle is, of course, much more than a CRM. It’s an enterprise that provides just about anything you can find in the cloud. For those organizations that need donor management software, it offers Oracle NetSuite Social Impact.

Features for Donor Management	Benefits Reported by Users	Challenges Reported by Users
Financial management Reporting tools Relationship management tools Efficiency tracking Compliance and regulatory tools Community access and support  Integrations	No-cost options Comprehensive management Robust features Built-in compliance	Difficult to learn Focused on resource management Reporting limitations  Minimal campaign support

Who it’s best for: Oracle NetSuite Social Impact is an application-based program. Some nonprofit users may be eligible for no-cost activation and a donation of its basic-level platform. This may make it a good solution for organizations that are just getting started. The program is also an ERP (enterprise resource planning) application, meaning it is more focused on operations than donor management.

GiveSmart

GiveSmart is another platform that’s a small part of a much larger brand—Community Brands. GiveSmart is the donor management segment of its suite of products.

Features for Donor Management	Benefits Reported by Users	Challenges Reported by Users
Custom field One-click report sharing  Payment management Intuitive search technology Mobile payments  Integrations  Implementation support	User-friendly interface High customizability Virtual auction support Simple reporting	Printing problems User permission issues Few custom query options Expensive for service offered

Who it’s best for: Many users tout the benefits of this platform specifically for its auction and live event management functions. This platform’s fundraising tools are much more robust than its donor management tools, but organizations that depend largely on in-person events for donations may find the features of this platform particularly helpful.

How Neon CRM Stands Out in Donor Management

When you look at the above donor management software comparison, you’ll see tons of different features to consider as you evaluate your options. Picking the platform that best suits your organization’s needs will help you get the most out of your investment without taking on too much additional work or expense.  

Now, we are admittedly a little biased. But Neon CRM stands out in our donor management software comparison because it’s truly built with scalability in mind. We know how quickly your donor records can add up, especially if you’re concentrating on expanding your base of potential supporters. That’s why we designed our billing and our overall platform to grow with your nonprofit.

Want to learn more about how Neon CRM can help you reach your goals? Contact us to schedule a demo!