Nonprofit software roundup: 7+ must-have tools

Nonprofit organizations depend on the right CRM systems, email marketing providers, accounting software, and fundraising platforms to run smoothly and engage supporters (all while staying on budget!). In fact, the right technology platforms can be the difference between hitting your goals and coming up short. 

Fortunately, there are plenty of trusted platforms that come at an affordable price point—even for a nonprofit. In this guide, we’ve brought together the best nonprofit management software and apps available today. Find out which are the most essential tools to help you run your nonprofit operations, encourage more donations, and make a bigger impact on your world. 

1. Givebutter: Best overall free software for nonprofits 

Givebutter is the all-in-one nonprofit solution that gives organizations everything they need to raise more, engage donors, and track their progress—all in one place. Discover robust donor management and CRM tools, events, fundraising pages, and more in this fully-featured fundraising management software.

💰 Cost: This donor management software and fundraising platform does not have any subscription costs or monthly fees. Instead, donors have the option to provide tips. If you choose to turn off donor tipping, a small platform fee is applied to donations made through the platform, which donors can choose to cover for you.

Like any fundraising platform, there is a processing fee charged by Givebutter's secure payment processor at a rate of 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. However, with 95% of donors choosing to cover these fees, more funds will go directly to your online giving campaign.

🔥 Standout features: 

• Online donation forms and fundraising pages
• Virtual, in-person, and hybrid fundraising events
• Event registration and ticketing
• Auctions and mobile bidding
• Donor relationship management and nonprofit CRM
• Donor information profiles
• Email and SMS marketing outreach tools
• Text-to-donate and scan-to-donate 
• Donate buttons
• Live display
• Peer-to-peer fundraising
• Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, Venmo & more
• DAF donations
• Livestreaming
• Recurring donations
• Mobile app and Tap to Pay‍

Just to name a few! 

💛 Why nonprofits love it: Givebutter features everything a nonprofit organization needs to attract, retain, and engage their donor base. From a built-in CRM system to custom donation pages and forms, Givebutter gives nonprofits a smoother way to run their donor-facing operations. 

🧈 Integrations: Givebutter integrates with more than 1,000 other tools and apps, so you can easily add this all-in-one nonprofit management platform to your existing toolset. 

2. DonorSearch: Top nonprofit software for wealth screening

DonorSearch is an AI-powered tool that gives nonprofits actionable insights into their donor base. Learn about your supporters’ giving history and habits, so you can create more effective and accurate campaigns to inspire them to give.

💰 Cost: DonorSearch’s products are priced on a per-month basis, but the exact cost isn’t available publicly. Get in touch with DonorSearch directly to book a demo or get a custom quote.

🔥 Standout features: 

• Prospect list building
• Donor engagement
• Marketing plans and lists
• Wealth screening

💛 Why nonprofits love it: DonorSearch gives nonprofit changemakers greater insights into their supporters’ ability to give, so they can create more tailored campaigns and spend their time and energy focusing on the donors most likely to give to any given fundraiser or cause.

🧈 Integrates with Givebutter? Yes! Givebutter has a DonorSearch integration that allows you to make the most of these wealth screening tools right inside your donor database. 

3. Double the Donation: Best nonprofit fundraising software for matching gifts 

Double the Donation is our top pick from nonprofit software apps that make matching gifts easy. This clever software tool simplifies the donation matching process for individual donors, so they can quickly and easily submit a matching gift request. With gift matching front and center, more donors are prompted to explore the option—meaning more matched funds for your nonprofit.

💰 Cost: Double the Donation pricing starts at $999 per year for the Small Nonprofit plan. Cost is determined by the total revenue of your nonprofit, so smaller organizations pay a smaller fee than larger ones.

🔥 Standout features: 

• Matching gift eligibility search
• Match-eligible donor finding
• Auto-submission for matching gifts
• Donor engagement
  

💛 Why nonprofits love it: Many donors know about gift matching but aren’t sure how to do it. Double the Donation makes the entire process feel easy, so your donors can see if they’re eligible and submit the necessary paperwork in one place.

🧈 Integrates with Givebutter? Absolutely! Givebutter has a native Double the Donation integration, so the ability to use this great app is already baked in. All you need is an active account with both platforms.

4. Google Analytics: Best web data management software for nonprofits

The best software for nonprofits extends beyond purpose-built apps and tools. Knowing where your website visitors come from, how they find you, and what they do on your website allows you to engage with your supporters more effectively. Google Analytics is our go-to tool for analytics and SEO for nonprofits, thanks to its ease of use and familiarity.

💰 Cost: Google Analytics is completely free. All you need to do is create an account and connect it to your nonprofit website. 

🔥 Standout features: 

• Traffic and visitor analysis
• Audience insights
• Visitor action insights
• Marketing campaign success measurement
• E-commerce tracking

💛 Why nonprofits love it: Google Analytics remains one of the best-in-class options for web analytics across every niche, including nonprofits. Nonprofits appreciate Google’s straightforward approach and ease of use.

🧈 Integrates with Givebutter? Yes! While it’s not a one-click integration, it’s still easy and useful to integrate Google Analytics with Givebutter. 

5. Canva: Best nonprofit software solution for graphics

Canva is one of our favorite tools as it makes great design accessible to all, thanks to its intuitive interface and non-technical approach. Nonprofits can use Canva to create or customize templates to make engaging graphics for email campaigns, social media posts, digital ads, and more. 

💰 Cost: Canva operates on a freemium model, so you can get access to the platform’s basic features for free. Beyond that, most users need to pay a premium every month for access to the best features. Not nonprofits, though—eligible nonprofits can enjoy access to Canva’s premium features for free. 

🔥 Standout features: 

• Content creation
• Built-in templates and graphic elements
• Document creation
• Presentations and whiteboards
• Photo editor
• Video editor
• AI image generator
• Brand and asset management

💛 Why nonprofits love it: Canva is one of the best design tools available, and what’s even better is that it’s free.

🧈 Integrates with Givebutter? Of course! With Givebutter’s native Canva integration, you can create impressive graphics for your campaigns and emails without even leaving Givebutter. 

6. monday.com: Best productivity and project management software for nonprofits 

Running fundraising campaigns and staying on top of all your tasks and to-do lists can get overwhelming. If you’re looking for a better way to organize your fundraising efforts and stay productive, monday.com is our top pick for nonprofits. This cloud-based project management software helps streamline processes, increase productivity, automate tasks, and introduce much-needed functionality for teams.

💰 Cost: Like most software tools, monday.com offers a generous discount for nonprofits. Eligible organizations can use 10 seats for free, with any further seats enjoying a 70% discount on the standard plan price.

🔥 Standout features: 

• Donation pipelines
• Automated emails and texts
• Donor profiles
• Volunteer management
• Volunteer recruitment forms
• Grant management
• Task management
• End-to-end project management
  

💛 Why nonprofits love it: monday.com makes it easy to plan, track, and analyze your fundraising campaigns with a user-friendly approach to project and event management.

🧈 Integrates with Givebutter? Yes! You can use the monday.com fundraising integration to sync donor and campaign data between your Givebutter dashboard and monday’s project boards. This means less time spend on manual task management and more time for actions that make a difference. 

7. Slack: Best nonprofit management tool for internal communication

Every nonprofit team needs an effective way to communicate; otherwise, it’s easy to miss messages, opportunities, and roadblocks. Slack is our recommended tool for nonprofit team members who want a straightforward way to stay in touch, wherever they are and whatever they need to talk about.

💰 Cost: Normally, businesses have to pay a monthly fee for Slack’s Pro subscription. Eligible nonprofits can request a Slack for Charities discount that offers a free Pro upgrade for the first 350 workspace members and an 85% discount for workspaces above that size.

🔥 Standout features: 

• Asynchronous and real-time team communication
• Open and private communication channels
• User profiles
• Tags and comment threads
• Direct messages

💛 Why nonprofits love it: Slack is the go-to for team communication for in-person, hybrid, and remote teams thanks to how easy it is to use. Nonprofits appreciate Slack’s user-friendly interface and generous Pro upgrade discount.

🧈 Integrates with Givebutter? Yes! You can use Zapier to connect Givebutter with Slack and enjoy benefits like automated Slack channel messages for new transactions and tickets in Givebutter.

BONUS: Even more nonprofit management software tools to consider

The tools above will give you a strong start, but there are a few more top nonprofit management platforms we want to make sure you know about. 

• 💰 Accounting software: Quickbooks, Xero, and Sage are all popular nonprofit accounting software options.
• 💻 Website builders: Wix, WordPress, and Squarespace are easy to use and customize—and all support Givebutter’s donate buttons and other widgets!  
• 👏 Livestreaming apps: Twitch, YouTube, and Zoom all work well for livestreaming—plus you can add fundraising capability with Givebutter’s livestreaming feature.
• 👍 Social media apps: You know the big platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn that connect you and your supporters. Social media management tools like Hootsuite can help keep you organized and save you time. 
• 📳 Communication tools: ​​​​Respect your and your team’s mental health, privacy, and boundaries with OpenPhone, a built-in phone app that gives users a separate number for work, keeping their personal number private. 
• 🤝 Collaboration: Loom enables your team to quickly record their screens, which increases collaboration while cutting down on meetings. Plus, it’s a great tool for learning and exchanging ideas. 

Empower your team with Givebutter, the best nonprofit management software

Savvy changemakers use fundraising tools and nonprofit software solutions to make organizing donor data and running campaigns easy. Use this guide to help you find the perfect match for your needs, so you can enjoy a better way to work.

If you’re ready to streamline your workflows and create a more engaging experience for not only you but your donors, too, make the switch to Givebutter. Our all-in-one free software for nonprofit organizations has everything you need, with the option to connect to your other favorite apps through 1,000+ integrations. 

‍Sign up today and see why Givebutter is a fan-favorite fundraising software for thousands of nonprofits.