Smaller and newer nonprofits often rely on spreadsheets, email lists, and accounting software to manage donor information. These tools can serve basic needs in the early stages, but they rarely provide the structure or efficiency required to support long-term growth.
Nonprofit donor management software equips organizations with the tools to manage donor records, optimize fundraising strategies, and maintain the strong relationships needed to expand their impact.
In this blog, we will explore what donor management software is, why it matters, and review the best donor management software for small nonprofits that want to move beyond spreadsheets and scale their mission more effectively.
What is a Donor Management Software?
A donor management software provides nonprofits with a structured way to oversee donor records, track giving patterns, and manage fundraising campaigns. This type of platform differs from traditional Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems by focusing less on sales revenue and more on cultivating long-term donor relationships.
Donor management software gives nonprofits the tools to keep accurate donation records, provide timely tax receipts, and evaluate how well their fundraising strategies are working, which are all crucial in establishing their long-term success.
Benefits of Using Nonprofit Donor Management Software
At their core, nonprofits thrive when they can turn one-time contributions into long-term partnerships. To achieve this, they must have systems in place that support consistent communication, effective fundraising strategies, and transparent reporting.
By leveraging the right platform, even small organizations can achieve a level of professionalism that resonates with supporters and funders alike. Below are some of the most important benefits of using donor management software:
- Centralized Donor Records: Donor management software keeps all donor information in one secure database. Contact details, giving history, and communication notes are organized in a way that eliminates the need for scattered spreadsheets or separate systems.
- Improved Donor Retention: By tracking giving patterns, the software helps nonprofits identify when donors may be disengaging. This allows teams to act quickly with personalized outreach that encourages continued support.
- Automated Acknowledgments and Tax Receipts: Thank-you letters and tax receipts are generated automatically, ensuring donors receive timely recognition while freeing staff from repetitive administrative work.
- Actionable Fundraising Insights: With built-in dashboards and reporting, nonprofits gain a clear picture of which campaigns succeed, which audiences respond, and how much revenue each initiative generates. These insights support informed, data-driven decisions.
- Personalized Donor Engagement: Effective fundraising relies on making donors feel seen and valued. Segmentation tools allow organizations to tailor messages and appeals based on donor behavior, increasing engagement and long-term commitment.
Best Donor Management Software for Small Nonprofits Looking to Scale
With countless CRM donor management software options available today, it can be challenging for nonprofits to identify which platform best fits their needs.
This list provides a focused overview of the top donor management software, with attention to features such as donor database and contact management, donation tracking and payment processing, reporting and analytics, and communications and marketing integration. While the tools listed in this list are not ranked in order, it offers a comprehensive overview of each platform so nonprofits can evaluate the solutions that best match their needs.
1. Little Green Light (LGL)
Little Green Light positions itself as an all-in-one donor management solution that consolidates donor records, event tracking, and fundraising tools in one accessible system. Currently, Little Green Light offers organizations the opportunity to explore their donor management system through a 30-day trial that includes unrestricted access to all features.
Donor Database & Contact Management
Little Green Light’s donor database and contact management features are built for small and mid-sized nonprofits that want to strengthen donor relationships. Each constituent profile provides a complete view of donor activity, including giving history, contact details, communications, and volunteer or membership involvement. Legacy data can be imported through a guided migration process that safeguards accuracy.
The platform also records multiple touchpoints, such as meetings, emails, and mailings, making it easier to coordinate outreach. With integrations to tools like QuickBooks Online, Constant Contact, and Zapier, organizations can maintain an accurate and unified record of every supporter.
Donation Tracking & Payment Processing
Little Green Light provides reliable tools for tracking donations and processing payments. Nonprofits can create donation forms that support one-time and recurring gifts, with each transaction automatically recorded in the donor database to maintain accuracy.
Payments are processed securely through Stripe or PayPal, both of which offer nonprofit-friendly rates. Organizations can embed these forms on their websites or share them through links, making it simple to collect donations across multiple channels.
Reporting & Analytics
Little Green Light makes it easy for nonprofits to understand their fundraising progress through a flexible reporting and analytics system. Organizations can choose from a selection of built-in reports or build custom versions tailored to specific needs like donor type, campaign, or gift size.
These reports can be automated and shared with staff, saving time and ensuring consistent oversight. The dashboard highlights essential metrics such as retention rates, total donations, and pledge activity, while charts display monthly results and comparisons across fiscal years to reveal long-term patterns.
Communications & Marketing Integration
Little Green Light makes it easier for nonprofits to stay in touch with their donors through built-in communication and marketing features. With LGL Email, teams can send acknowledgments, reminders, and smaller marketing updates without leaving the platform.
For larger campaigns, integrations with Mailchimp and Constant Contact ensure mailing lists remain up to date and automatically handle bounce and unsubscribe data. This integration helps nonprofits save time, maintain data accuracy, and deliver more relevant communication to supporters.
2. Bloomerang
Bloomerang helps nonprofits address the fundraising and engagement challenges they face every day. The platform offers solutions for donor retention, online giving, reporting, peer-to-peer campaigns, and volunteer coordination. Trusted by more than 82,000 nonprofits and credited with supporting over $5 billion in fundraising, this fundraising donor management software has become a widely recognized partner for mission-driven organizations.
Donor Database & Contact Management
For nonprofits that need organized and reliable contact management, Bloomerang’s donor database delivers precision and insight. Supporter profiles include donation records, touchpoints, and engagement markers such as volunteering or event participation.
By automatically updating addresses each night and removing duplicates or deceased records, Bloomerang helps nonprofits keep their data fresh. Staff can update multiple profiles at once and create donor groups that segment supporters by giving history, frequency, or level of engagement.
Donation Tracking & Payment Processing
Bloomerang makes donation tracking and payment processing simpler and more reliable for nonprofits of all sizes. The platform supports credit, debit, and electronic funds transfers, as well as digital wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, and Venmo.
Donors can give via credit or debit card, electronic funds transfer, or popular digital wallets. Recurring gifts are managed without interruption thanks to automatic card updates. Recurring donations are fully supported, and cards that expire are updated automatically to avoid failed transactions. The system also handles refunds and gives donors the option to cover transaction fees.
With mobile-ready donation forms, digital wallet options, and built-in card update services, Bloomerang makes it easy for donors to give consistently without lapses.
Reporting & Analytics
Bloomerang makes it easier for nonprofits to understand the impact of their fundraising. The Donor Retention Wheel provides a daily snapshot of how many donors continue their support year over year, with options to exclude inactive or deceased donors for greater accuracy.
Dashboards bring together metrics on giving trends, constituent engagement, and revenue. Built-in reports and templates can be adapted to specific needs and set to run automatically, ensuring staff and board members always have the latest information.
Communications & Marketing Integration
By linking Bloomerang to email marketing platforms, nonprofits can keep engagement data and supporter preferences current and unified. The enhanced Mailchimp integration pushes filtered Bloomerang constituents into application tags, and email interactions sync back into Bloomerang’s timeline for each donor.
Constant Contact users benefit from a similar arrangement: donor communication metrics are automatically imported into Bloomerang profiles, enabling segmentation based on both message behaviour and donation behaviour. As a result, nonprofits can deploy more focused campaigns that resonate with their audience rather than relying on generic outreach.
3. Blackbaud (Raiser’s Edge NXT, etc.)
Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT offers a comprehensive suite of donor management, fundraising, and analytics tools aimed at helping nonprofits deepen donor engagement and increase giving. It includes capabilities to accept gifts (including recurring and pledged donors), manage constituent data, run targeted campaigns, and track results using detailed dashboards.
This donor and volunteer management software also offers enhancements like data enrichment, predictive insights, and mobile accessibility to support fundraising work from anywhere.
Donor Database & Contact Management
With Raiser’s Edge NXT, nonprofits gain access to one of the most feature-rich donor databases in the sector. Organizations can create detailed constituent profiles for donors, prospects, and volunteers, including contact info, giving and interaction history, and custom fields tailored to their mission. The platform offers automatic duplicate detection through constituent matching so that new contributions or registrations are appended correctly rather than creating extra records.
Profiles include tools to flag upcoming solicitations or stewardship needs and highlight the fundraiser assigned, giving organizations a structured way to coordinate outreach and maintain accountability.
Donation Tracking & Payment Processing
Raiser’s Edge NXT makes it easier for nonprofits to collect and track donations through versatile payment options and streamlined tracking. Through its Merchant Services integration, donations made via credit or direct debit, digital wallets, and PayPal are processed and stored securely. Donation forms can be configured to upsell donors to recurring gifts, allow supporters or the organization to cover processing fees, and display payment methods dynamically.
Donations are grouped into organized batches, and if a recurring payment fails, the system automatically retries it based on configured settings to maintain consistent revenue.
Reporting & Analytics
Raiser’s Edge NXT gives nonprofit leaders the tools to evaluate and refine fundraising strategies through advanced reporting. The Retention and Lifecycle dashboards track donor loyalty over time, measure the performance of new supporters, and identify gaps where lapsed donors could be re-engaged. Users can apply filters by campaign, appeal, or donor group to tailor insights to their needs.
For organizations ready to take a step further, predictive models such as ProspectPoint or Affluence Insight can surface the donors most likely to respond to targeted outreach, though these enhancements may require separate licensing.
Communications & Marketing Integration
Raiser’s Edge NXT helps nonprofits maintain consistent, multi-channel communication by integrating with Constant Contact and allowing email content to be crafted directly within the platform. Organizations can sync constituent lists to Constant Contact, then segment audiences using donor data for more personalized messaging.
In addition, the platform includes built-in tools for message design, which support responsive layout choices to ensure e-mails render well across devices.
4. Eleo
Eleo is an online donor management and fundraising platform built for small and medium nonprofits looking for affordable but full-featured software. It combines donor database and contact management, event tracking, pledge and donation tracking, and communications tools in one web-based tool.
Eleo charges start at US $39/month for organizations managing up to 2,500 donor records, with higher tiers based on contact count.
Donor Database & Contact Management
Eleo gives nonprofits a reliable contact management system designed to strengthen donor relationships and maintain accurate records. Each profile captures details such as gifts, pledges, communications, volunteer or membership activity, and personal preferences. Teams can segment contacts by giving history, engagement type, or behavior to target outreach more effectively.
With custom fields and mailing history logs, organizations can personalize communication at scale. Existing donor and contribution data can also be imported, allowing nonprofits to transition smoothly without the hassle of starting over.
Donation Tracking & Payment Processing
Eleo supports comprehensive donation tracking and payment processing to help nonprofits manage gifts smoothly and efficiently. Users can enter or import all types of donations—one-time, recurring, and pledged—by credit card, check, cash, or PayPal. Once online donation pages are set up, donor information and gifts sync automatically into the Eleo database, including giving history, pledge status, and acknowledgments.
Businesses or nonprofits can build branded donation forms and embed them in their websites or share them via email and social media. Receipts and thank-you messages are also conveniently automated, helping nonprofits maintain donor trust and reduce administrative work.
Reporting & Analytics
With Eleo, nonprofits gain access to reporting and analytics designed to provide clarity on donor activity and fundraising outcomes. The platform’s dashboard tracks indicators such as donor retention, new acquisitions, and lapsed supporters, and it enables side-by-side comparisons of campaigns or funds.
Custom reports can be generated using flexible filters, then exported into widely used formats for easy sharing. Frequently used reports can also be saved to the dashboard, giving teams instant access to the data that drives decisions.
Communications & Marketing Integration
Eleo integrates with leading email marketing platforms such as Constant Contact and Mailchimp, enabling nonprofits to sync donor and constituent data seamlessly. This makes it easier to launch branded email campaigns, send newsletters or appeals, and track engagement without manual list exports.
The system also supports built-in mailing history logs and allows templates for letters, receipts, and thank-you messages that can be personalized using supporter data. These integrations reduce administrative workload and help nonprofits maintain consistent communication with supporters.
5. CiviCRM
CiviCRM is an open-source constituent relationship management system that serves more than 11,000 nonprofits, NGOs, and advocacy groups globally. It enables organizations to centralize donor, membership, and contact management while integrating smoothly with platforms such as WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, and Backdrop.
Users may host the software themselves or work through expert partners for hosted setups. Its flexibility in deployment and community-supported development make it a strong choice for organizations seeking a tailored CRM without licensing fees.
Donor Database & Contact Management
CiviCRM organizes its contact management around a “single record” model in which each contact—whether individual, organization, or household—has a unified profile. Profiles include names, multiple address/email/phone fields, communication preferences, activity history, and membership or volunteer involvement when components like CiviMember or CiviEvent are enabled.
Users can also define custom fields and subtypes to tailor contact records to the organization’s specific needs. Bulk import/export tools ease migration from spreadsheets or other systems, and workflow features like groups, tags, relationships, and activities help track interactions over time.
Donation Tracking & Payment Processing
Donation tracking in CiviCRM is built on contribution forms that nonprofits can configure to collect one-time or recurring gifts, pledge payments, and membership fees. These contribution pages tie payments to contact profiles, so giving histories, pledge statuses, and donor information are kept up to date. The system supports multiple payment gateways, both core and extended, via community modules.
Recurring donations are managed depending on the capabilities of the selected payment processor. Offline gifts, in-kind donations, and pledges are also supported and can be tracked alongside online giving.
Reporting & Analytics
The reporting and analytics features in CiviCRM are built to give nonprofit teams the insight they need to optimize fundraising and outreach efforts. Dozens of report templates are included by default, covering contributions, event participation, membership levels, and contact engagement.
Advanced filtering lets users narrow data by campaign, donor category, or period. Scheduled reports and dashboard widgets make it possible to receive regular updates without repeatedly running reports manually. These features allow leadership to stay informed and respond quickly to emerging trends.
Communications & Marketing Integration
CiviCRM enables nonprofits to build stronger supporter relationships through integrated email and campaign management. Using CiviMail, organizations can design targeted newsletters, manage mailing lists, and track performance metrics such as open and click-through rates. The Campaign module connects emails with events and donations, allowing teams to measure how outreach efforts influence engagement across multiple activities.
The Best Donor Management Software for Small Nonprofits Is Just the First Step
Choosing the right donor management software for your nonprofit requires evaluating how each platform supports donor engagement, relationship tracking, and long-term retention. By focusing on features such as automation, integrations, and reporting, you can identify a solution that addresses your immediate needs while scaling with your mission.
When combined with strong fundraising strategies, the right system turns information into actionable insights that position your organization for sustainable growth.
At Charity Marketing™, our goal is to help nonprofits move beyond managing data to building stronger connections with donors. By combining effective digital marketing with the right donor management software, we help organizations strengthen engagement, improve retention, and scale their fundraising efforts. Schedule a nonprofit marketing consultation today and take the next step toward building lasting donor engagement and scaling your organization’s impact.
You May Also Like
