Donor databases for nonprofits: How to pick the best one for your organization

It is nearly impossible to keep track of all of your donor data—activity, contributions, contact information, and more—by hand. That’s where donor databases come in.

Below, we explain exactly why you need a donor database, what it can help you accomplish, and which software might be right for your organization.

What is a donor database?

A donor database, often called a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system, is a centralized hub where you store all the information about your donors. 

Nonprofits can store anything from contact details and donation history to communication preferences or even custom data, making managing donor relationships smooth and simple.

Why do you need a donor database?

A donor database is often found within a contact relationship management (CRM) system, or a system that houses all the contact information of your donors. Think of it as a spreadsheet on steroids, where different points of information are held in "fields" rather than cells. 

The purpose of a donor database is to keep your team organized—yet it does so much more than that. Here are just a few ways your team benefits from a donor database.

1. Share supporter notes with your colleagues 🗒

Storing notes on your most loyal supporters within a Google Doc or an Excel spreadsheet on your desktop can get messy fast. 

A nonprofit donor database system, on the other hand, keeps donor profiles in one central place, giving all your teammates easy access to those relationships.

2. Keep track of supporter history 🎁

Donor communication takes place across multiple channels. With a robust nonprofit donor database, your organization can store all those activities in one place and get insight into supporters' behavior, including:

• Giving history
• Fundraising event attendance
• Email correspondence
• Phone calls
• Social media interactions
• In-person communication

3. Plan future campaigns and outreach strategies 📣

Understanding how supporters behaved in the past allows you to plan for the future.

Whether you’re looking to launch a new email marketing campaign or direct mail campaign, a donor database software can help you strategically plan for future initiatives by tracking:

• Email marketing 📨 See which emails performed best by looking at metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and unsubscribes.
• Giving habits 💸 Personalize your appeals by understanding what a donor’s largest amount donated is, when they last made a donation, and frequency of their donations.
• Attendance record 🕺 Optimize your outreach by reviewing which events donors attended and the event formats they prefer (virtual, in-person, hybrid).

⭐ Pro tip: Use an all-in-one marketing software that uses conditional logic to create donor segments (e.g., if a donor gives to our spring fundraiser, then send them a two-part email series), so you can get the most out of your data.

4. Keep your data squeaky clean 🧼

Using Google Docs to store important donor information makes your data prone to human error.

With a nonprofit donor database, your organization can use built-in data hygiene tools that validate contact information and surface duplicate contacts, so you’re never working with faulty information.

5. Run reports 📈

Reports provide an overarching view of your supporters (demographics, behavior, and history) and ongoing campaigns—all of which help you streamline your fundraising efforts. 

Most donor database software include custom reports functionality, so you can:

• Generate individuals' giving reports directly from your dashboard
• Create reports that include all online and offline donations 
• Share reports as PDFs or via a unique link
• Customize reports with your organization's logo
• Generate year-end reports

5 must-have features in your donor database software

While the various CRM platforms may seem quite similar at first glance, small differences and missing features can impact the value you get from your platform.

Here are the five tools your donor software should offer.

1. In-depth donor profiles 👤

Donor profiles are where you’ll store all the important information about your contacts: donors, volunteers, sponsors, partners, and other supporters. This donor data is the foundation of the entire platform, so it should be easy to view, add, and customize. Here’s a window into a typical donor profile:

• Contact information 📞 Name, address, email, phone number, age, etc.
• Engagement timeline 🗓 Donations, volunteer activities, email opens and clicks,
• Giving history 📖 Date of first donation, last donation, average time between gifts, etc.
• Family units 🏠 Households and relationships to current, past, and prospective supporters
• Donor segments 🏷 Categories made via groups, lists, or tags like “prospect” or “monthly donor”
• User-defined fields ✍️ Notes and custom fields you can create and add to profiles

Donor profiles should update in real-time so you can monitor donor activity as it happens.

2. Automated reporting 📊

All the data your platform collects is only as good as your ability to see it, analyze it, and share it. So, your nonprofit database software should make pulling reports as quick as the click of a few buttons.

Most platforms come with report templates built in, such as fundraising dollars by week or new donors added in the past month. But you’ll also want the ability to create custom reports and drill down to the insights that you need.

Some platforms let you use automation to save time. For instance, you can request an email with certain reports every week rather than generating them yourself.

3. Ample donor communication tools 👋

One of the main reasons organizations start using donor software is to improve donor cultivation and retention. Donor engagement, done at the right time, on the right channel, and using the right language, is key. That’s why you should look for a database for nonprofit organizations that has built-in donor messaging tools, helpful templates, and rich marketing analytics.

Standard features include email marketing, SMS text messaging, and direct mail letter creation. Create personalized messages by pulling in information for your donor database and speak directly to each unique supporter segment. On some platforms, you can also assign communication tasks, like responding to a question on Facebook or making a thank-you call.

4. Donor giving insights 💡

The best donor database software includes fundraising tools that go beyond your standard donation forms and fundraising pages. Features like “giving potential” scores, gift predictions, and wealth intelligence can help you learn who’s most likely to give and when.

Like Bloomerang’s “Generosity Score," these tools go by many names, but each offers a more complete picture of your donor base, identifying people who are most likely to become major donors or estimating the dollar amount of a donor’s next gift.

Work this information into your fundraising plan, and it’s a game-changer for nonprofits that rely on individual donations rather than sponsors, grants, and government funds.

5. Helpful software integrations 🔌

Finally, every donation database system should let you connect the software tools you already use and streamline your overall organization. Integrations make it possible to sync up all your go-to platforms and websites—like accounting software or your email marketing platform—with your donor software without skipping a beat.

Let’s see seamless integration in action. Say a new supporter makes a $25 donation on your fundraising platform, which immediately creates a new donor profile, complete with their contact details and donation amount. Their gift is automatically recorded in your QuickBooks account, and your email software automatically sends them a donation receipt with a personalized thank-you note.

How to choose the best donor database for your nonprofit

If you expect to scale your organization, a donor database is non-negotiable. Fortunately, most software companies offer discounts for nonprofit organizations, making it a worthy—and affordable—investment. And some, (like Givebutter!) are completely free. 🥳 

When comparing different donor databases for nonprofits, you'll want one that:

• Integrates with other platforms 🔒 To get the most from your database, it needs to integrate with your accounting, email marketing, and fundraising software (at a minimum).
• Offers free migration 🔄 Many nonprofit donor databases offer free migration when you sign a contract, moving donor data from a spreadsheet or other CRM system to your new software solution.
• Is known for customer support 📲 To update contacts, create your first reports, or keep track of donor activities, you may need direct and fast support (and not get charged an arm and a leg for it).
• Is affordable 💰 Some donor systems charge per user while others charge by the size of your database. Be sure the scaling price tiers work for your organization down the road. Better yet, use a free nonprofit CRM.
• Comes with robust functionality 🔔 Search for a platform that offers donor segmentation, custom contact fields, filters, and table sorting.
• Is built for nonprofits 💕  Look for a solution that offers features and/or reports related to contact management, online fundraising, peer-to-peer fundraising campiagns, donation tracking, payment processing, donor engagement, and other tools related to nonprofit success.
• Offers prospect research data 🔎 Some of the best CRMs integrate with tools like DonorSearch to help you reveal a donor’s giving capacity and other actionable insights.
• Integrates with marketing tools ⚒️ Find donor software that integrates seamlessly with your marketing automation platform (Givebutter’s all-in-one platform comes complete with CRM and marketing automation already built in!).
• Everyone needs 🙋 Before you start weighing options, collect feedback from team members who will use your donor database software. What challenges do they run into with your current system? What are their software must-haves and nice-to-haves? What technical skills would they like to develop?
• Is mobile-ready 📱 Sign up for a demo of the platform and see how well it works on mobile devices. When you’re out to meet with a major donor and wondering how to connect with them, you want to be able to pull up their donor profile on your phone.
• Grows with you 🚀 Growth and turnover are a reality for every organization. Look for a platform that makes it easy and affordable to add new contacts and users. Also, make sure you can set and adjust account permissions for a staff member with ease.

4 top contenders for best nonprofit donor database software

Ready to start comparison shopping? We’ve rounded up the best-in-class donor database software for small nonprofits as well as mid-sized and large organizations.

1. Givebutter 🧈

Givebutter brings together everything nonprofits need for successful fundraising, and that includes free donor database software. Designed to be an all-in-one fundraising solution, Givebutter makes charitable giving as fun and frictionless as possible.

💸 Cost: Givebutter is free. With a 100% transparent tip-or-fee pricing model, the platform has no subscriptions, tiered access, or add-on costs.

⭐️ Our take:  From modern, custom donation forms and fundraising pages to peer-to-peer campaigns, event ticketing, email marketing, and nonprofit auctions, Givebutter's integrated suite of features makes life a whole lot easier for busy nonprofits. Plus, the platform's modern donor database tools are designed to scale with you—and you'll never have to pay more as you grow.

2. Bloomerang 🌷  

Bloomerang is a user-friendly donor database platform designed to help nonprofits retain donors and boost fundraising revenue. With an interactive dashboard and comprehensive profile histories, this platform equips nonprofits to manage supporters and partners with ease.

💸 Cost: Bloomerang pricing depends on how many contact records you have and how much you raise in a year. Plans start at $125/month (billed annually).

⭐️ Our take: We love Bloomerang's thoughtful tools like the Ahern Audit, which lets you paste the text of your marketing messages (emails, direct mail letters, etc.) to see if they pass the “you” test. From robust email marketing to "listening features" that enable you to monitor mentions of your brand on social media, Bloomerang has much to offer.

3. Salesforce 💪

One of the most well-known names in the for-profit sector, Salesforce has expanded its reach into the nonprofit world, too. The platform's nonprofit fundraising features are expansive, and organizations can access the Salesforce AppExchange, a powerful business marketplace with hundreds of apps you can use to build your ideal nonprofit donor database.

💸 Cost: Certain tax-exempt nonprofit organizations are eligible for free software with the Nonprofit Success Pack; other nonprofits can find a pricing plan that fits their budget.

⭐️ Our take: The Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud is a complex donor database system for nonprofits with a lot of functionality, so it’s mostly recommended for large organizations. Users note there is a steep learning curve, but it’s a top pick if you have a high volume of contacts and interactions.

4. Little Green Light 🟢

Little Green Light is first and foremost donor database software, so you know you're getting advanced tools for constituent and membership management, goal tracking, custom reporting, and even direct mail communications.

💸 Cost: Like Bloomerang, Little Green Light pricing is based on the number of contact records in your donor database. Plans start at $45/month, and LGL offers a discount for annual billing.

⭐️ Our take: Little Green Light reviews speak to the platform's comprehensive contact management features, but nonprofits looking for a full suite of fundraising tools, like event management, nonprofit marketing, and team fundraising features, will need to look elsewhere—or rely on a number of integrations.

Honorable mentions

Looking for even more options? We recommend checking out DonorPerfect, Neon CRM, Virtuous, and Guided Fundraising.

Manage your donor data for free

The right fundraising tools and technology strengthen your fundraising efforts, increase donor retention, and improve communication among your team. 

Givebutter’s all-in-one fundraising solutions come with top-rated donor database tools and the world’s first free nonprofit CRM software. With Givebutter’s built-in donor database software, you get:

• Unlimited data entry
• Automatic donor activity tracking 
• Giving history summaries and timelines
• Preset and custom donor segments
• Self-serve importing and migration

Givebutter's donor database for nonprofits is completely free to use and integrates with the rest of Givebutter's all-in-one nonprofit solution. With Givebutter, you can seamlessly raise funds, track donation history, and keep tabs on your contacts, all in one place and all for free.

To see how the entire Givebutter platform can help you reach your fundraising goals, create your own free Givebutter account today.