Top 5 donor database software to boost fundraising

It’s nearly impossible to keep track of donor data—activity, contributions, contact information, and more—by hand. That’s where donor database software for nonprofits comes in.

Below, we’ll explain why your organization needs a donor database, what it can help you accomplish, and how to choose the right software.

What is donor database software?

Donor database software, also known as donor management software or a constituent relationship management (CRM) system, is a centralized platform nonprofits use to store, track, and analyze donor information—including donation history, communication preferences, and event attendance.

While most CRMs have the same basic functionality, advanced platforms integrate with email marketing tools, social media, and accounting software. Some even use artificial intelligence to identify trends, such as when donors are likely to give again or which campaigns resonate most with specific demographics.

Here's why this matters: Imagine you’re running a small nonprofit. One donor contributes $2,000 every December. Another donor gives a small amount, like $5, sporadically after attending your events. Without a system to track their giving history or interests, how would you remember to thank each donor in a way that acknowledges their individual, unique contributions? 

That’s where donor database software makes all the difference.

Why do you need a donor database?

A donor database keeps your team organized—and does so much more. Here are just a few ways your organization can benefit from using one.

1. Share supporter notes with your colleagues 🗒

Storing notes about your most loyal supporters in a Google Doc or an Excel spreadsheet gets messy fast. A nonprofit donor database centralizes donor profiles, giving all your teammates easy access to essential supporter information.

2. Keep track of supporter history 🎁

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

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

Dive deeper

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3. Plan future campaigns and outreach strategies 📣

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

Whether you’re looking to launch a new email marketing campaign or direct mail campaign, a donor database software can help shape your next initiatives by tracking:

• Email marketing 📨 See which emails performed best by analyzing metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and unsubscribes.
• Giving habits 💸 Personalize your appeals by understanding a donor’s largest contribution, last donation date, and giving frequency.
• Attendance record 🕺 Optimize your outreach by reviewing which events donors attended and the formats they prefer (virtual, in-person, hybrid).

⭐ Pro tip: Use an all-in-one marketing platform with 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 🧼

Storing important donor information in  Google Docs 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 identify duplicate records, so you’re never working with faulty information.

5. Run reports 📈

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

Most donor database software includes custom reporting functionality, so you can:

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

6. Scale and succeed 📈

The right CRM won’t just house donor data, it will grow with you as your nonprofit expands. 

While some platforms charge per contact, many CRMs don’t. This means that you can continue to add new donors and log all of their activity without migrating to a new system—which can be quite a lot of work and expense.

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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 five essential tools your donor software should offer.

1. In-depth donor profiles 👤

Donor profiles store all the important information about your donors, volunteers, sponsors, partners, and other supporters. This data is the foundation of the entire platform, so it should be easy to view, add, and customize. Here’s a look at 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 activity as it happens.

2. Automated reporting 📊

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

Most platforms come with built-in report templates, 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 into the insights you need.

Some platforms offer automation and workflows to save time. For instance, you can request an email with certain reports every week rather than generating them manually.

3. Robust 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 with 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 typically include email marketing, SMS text messaging, and direct mail letter creation. Create personalized messages by pulling in information for your donor database and speaking 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 standard donation forms and fundraising pages. Features like “giving potential” scores, gift predictions, and wealth intelligence help you identify who’s most likely to give—and when.

Like Bloomerang’s “Generosity Score," these tools go by many names, but each provides 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 becomes a game-changer for nonprofits that rely on individual donations rather than sponsors, grants, or government funds.

More to explore

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5. Seamless software integrations 🔌

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

Let’s see seamless integration in action. Say a new supporter makes a $25 donation on your fundraising platform, which automatically creates a new donor profile, complete with their contact details and donation amount. Their gift is instantly recorded in your QuickBooks account, and your email software sends an automated 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 to use. 🥳 

When comparing different donor databases for nonprofits, look for 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 provide free data migration when you sign a contract, transferring donor data from a spreadsheet or other CRM system to your new software solution.
• Provides high-rated customer support 📲 To update contacts, create your first reports, or keep track of donor activities, you may need to access direct, fast support—without getting charged an arm and a leg for it.
• Doesn’t break the bank 💰 Some donor systems charge per user, while others charge based on database size. Be sure the scaling price tiers align with your organization’s growth. Better yet, consider a free nonprofit CRM.
• Delivers robust functionality 🔔 Search for a platform that offers donor segmentation, custom contact fields, filters, and table sorting.
• Is built for nonprofits 💕  Find a solution that offers features and reports related to contact management, online fundraising, peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns, donation tracking, payment processing, donor engagement, and other tools that support nonprofit success.
• Offers prospect research data 🔎 Some of the best CRMs integrate with tools like DonorSearch to reveal a donor’s giving capacity and other actionable insights.
• Integrates with marketing tools ⚒️ Look for donor software that integrates seamlessly with your marketing automation platform (Givebutter’s all-in-one platform comes complete with CRM and marketing automation built in!).
• Supports your team’s 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?
• Is mobile-ready 📱 Sign up for a demo and test the platform on mobile devices. When you’re meeting with a major donor and wondering how to connect with them, you want to be able to pull up their profile right on your phone.
• Grows with you 🚀 Look for a platform that makes it easy and affordable to add new contacts and users. Ensure you can easily set and adjust account permissions as your team grows.

5 top contenders for best nonprofit donor database software

Ready to start comparison shopping? We’ve rounded up the best donor databases for small nonprofits, as well as options for organizations of all sizes.

1. Givebutter 🧈

Givebutter brings together everything nonprofits need for successful fundraising—including free donor database software. Designed as an all-in-one fundraising solution, Givebutter makes charitable giving both fun and frictionless.

💸 Cost: All of Givebutter's core fundraising, donor management, and nonprofit marketing features are free thanks to optional donor tips. For nonprofits looking to level up their work even more through advanced automation, reporting, and engagement features, Givebutter Plus is available for a monthly or annual fee based on the number of contacts your organization has.

⭐️ 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 operations a whole lot easier for busy nonprofits.

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’s pricing varies based on the number of contact records and annual fundraising revenue. 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 into the nonprofit world. The platform's nonprofit fundraising features are vast, and organizations can access the Salesforce AppExchange—a powerful marketplace with hundreds of apps 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 comprehensive donor database system for nonprofits with a lot of functionality, so it’s best suited for larger 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 tracking software, offering advanced tools for constituent and membership management, goal tracking, custom reporting, and even direct mail communications.

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

⭐️ Our take: Little Green Light’s reviews highlight its comprehensive contact management features, but nonprofits looking for a full suite of fundraising tools—such as event management, nonprofit marketing, and team fundraising features—will need to explore other options or rely on multiple integrations.

5.  Neon CRM 🟦

Neon CRM is a cloud-based donor management and fundraising platform designed specifically for nonprofits to streamline operations and enhance donor engagement. With features like customizable forms, reporting dashboards, and integrations with popular tools, Neon CRM helps nonprofits of all sizes improve efficiency and increase fundraising impact.

💸 Cost: Neon CRM pricing is on the expensive side. Plans start at $99/month and reach $409/month for more advanced feature access like unlimited workflows and live chat and phone support.

⭐️ Our take: Neon CRM is ideal for mid-sized and large nonprofits that need an all-in-one platform to manage donor relationships, fundraising campaigns, and events—and have the budget to afford it. If your nonprofit needs extra help with onboarding and migrating data, be aware of additional costs: data and implementation run an additional $349 while training and consulting is $600 for four hours.

Honorable mentions 🏆

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

Manage your donor data for free

The right fundraising tools and technology can strengthen your fundraising efforts, boost donor retention, and improve communication within your team. 

Givebutter’s all-in-one fundraising solution comes with top-rated donor database tools and the world’s first free donor management CRM software. Specifically tailored for nonprofits, Givebutter combines donor database functionality with built-in fundraising tools, providing a unified platform for donor management and engagement.

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 seamlessly with the rest of Givebutter's all-in-one platform. With Givebutter, you can raise funds, track donation history, and manage your contacts with ease.

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