Choosing the best contact management software for nonprofits

Let's be honest - some charities are still working with systems that feel like they were designed in a different era, or they’re working from scattered spreadsheets. You know the type: clunky databases that don't talk to your email platform, constant manual updates and that sinking feeling when you realise you've not been reminded to follow up on something important. 

Here's a scenario that might sounds familiar: A major donor makes their first £500 gift after attending your charity gala. Without proper contact management software for nonprofits, this supporter might receive the same generic thank-you email as a £10 online donor. Their preferences, interests and potential for increased giving remain unexplored. Six months later, when you finally get around to a personal follow-up call, they've already committed their next major gift elsewhere. 

Effective nonprofit contact management prevents these missed opportunities by: 

• Tracking donor journeys:

Helping you understand how your supporters discovered your cause, their giving history, and their communication preferences.

• Enabling smart segmentation:

You can group donors by giving level interests, engagement levels, or anything else that's important to you! This helps you deliver targeted and relevant communications. For example, here's what segmentation "tags" look like on a contact profile in Donorfy:

• Automating stewardship

How does automated, timely and personalised thank-you messages and updates sound? The best contact management software for nonprofits takes tasks like these off your plate.

• Measuring campaign effectiveness

You can track which campaigns generate the best response rates from different supporter segments.

While specific retention improvement figures vary by organisation, charities consistently report better donor engagement and fewer missed opportunities when they upgrade from basic databases to proper contact management systems. The impact on fundraising results can be transformative - it's the difference between reactive donor management and proactive relationship building. 

The best contact management software for nonprofits isn't just about having lots of features, it's about having the right features. The ones that make sense for how charities work. 

Essential features checklist

Donor-centric design: Your software should understand that donors aren't customers. Look for gift processing workflows, donor journey tracking, pledge management and major donor prospect tools that speak charity language, not business sales speak.

Fundraising-specific functionality: Campaign tracking that goes beyond basic metrics, event management that connects to your donor database, volunteer coordination tools, and grant reporting features that are formatted in a way you can understand. 

Practical considerations: Here's what really matters day-to-day: an interface your team can actually use without extensive training, reporting that gives you insights (not just data), integration with the tools you already love, pricing that won't break your budget as you grow, and rock-solid data security that keeps your supporters' information safe. 

Commercial vs. contact management software for nonprofits

General CRMs (like Salesforce or HubSpot) can work for charities, but they're a bit like using a sledgehammer to hang a picture. Sure, they're incredibly powerful, but they're designed for sales teams trying to close deals, not fundraisers building long-term relationships. You'll likely spend months (and probably thousands of pounds) customising them to track donor relationships, process gifts and manage campaigns the way you need to. 

Purpose-built contact management software gets it from day one. They're designed around donor lifecycles, not sales funnels. Gift acknowledgments, supporter tracking and automated workflows come built-in, rather than as expensive add-ons you'll need to figure out later. 

Many charities start with the "let's adapt a business CRM" approach, thinking they'll save money. I worked for a small charity that did exactly this and – spoiler – we ultimately regretted it! More often than not, after months of workarounds and growing frustration, it’s clear that a nonprofit-specific solution would have been faster, cheaper, and infinitely less stressful.  

Real-world results

Birmingham Dog's Home switched to Donorfy in 2020, moving them away from a system not intended for fundraising, and giving them a CRM that was fit for purpose and the future. Fi Harrison, Head of Fundraising, said: 

“You name any aspect of fundraising, and there’s been a huge improvement in each one. Things that weren’t possible with the limited system we had before are possible now. We’ve gone from zero to 100 in terms of functionality.” 

Read their story

Purpose-built solutions, like Donorfy, work so well because they're designed around how charities actually operate, not how businesses. 

• Donor journey mapping

Map out your current donor journey from first contact to major gift. Where do supporters currently fall through the gaps? What features do you absolutely need versus what would be nice to have? And importantly, what's your team's comfort level with new technology?

Explore donor management

• Smart automation

This is where things get really helpful. Automated stewardship sequences mean no supporter falls through the cracks. Someone makes their first gift? They automatically get a proper welcome series. Major donors get different touchpoints than regular supporters, but everyone feels valued and remembered.

Explore automation tools

• Integrated fundraising tools

Everything talks to everything else. The platforms that you already use, like JustGiving, Enthuse, MailChimp, Gift Aid and Stripe, can connect effortlessly with your CRM. All that useful data can flow from A to B and give you a complete picture of your supporters' activity, in one place.

• Meaningful reporting

You get insights that actually matter to fundraisers. Donor retention rates, campaign performance, and income analysis, rather than generic sales reports that don't quite fit what you do.

Explore reporting and analytics

Darren Mooten, Director of Operation Smile UK, recently told us:

"What really stands out is how Donorfy allows us to squeeze every last drop of value from our data." 

Here's some practical advice that could save you some headaches: 

• Start with your needs assessment

Map out your current donor journey from first contact to major gift. Where do supporters currently fall through the gaps? What features do you absolutely need versus what would be nice to have? And importantly, what's your team's comfort level with new technology?

• Do your own research (don't just follow recommendations)

Honestly! You should definitely do an exercise to understand how all your teams need to use the software before choosing the one that everyone says is brilliant. You don't necessarily know how those people are using it - their fundraising approach, team structure or donor base might be completely different from yours. What works for a large university with a dedicated alumni-relations team might be less suited for a small grass-roots charity, where everyone wears multiple hats. Do your research and test systems based on your specific needs, not just the latest recommendations.

• Involve your entire team

Your database administrator might get excited about complex features, but if your fundraising manager can't easily find supporter information when they need it, your system won't work. Get input from everyone - fundraisers, administrators, finance team members, and so on, during the selection process.

• Test real-world scenarios

The best contact management software for nonprofits should work for how you'll use it. So, don't just sit through generic demos, ask in advance what you’d like to see the system do. What means the most to you? Seeing a sample donation, how to send a segmented email campaign, or generate a board report using their system? Most suppliers also offer a free trial, which is a great way to play in your own time. You can try Donorfy for free here.

The charity sector moves fast these days. Supporters expect personalised, timely communication across multiple channels, and the charities that thrive are those with systems that make meaningful relationship-building possible at scale. 

The best contact management software for nonprofits isn't necessarily the one with the most bells and whistles or the lowest price tag - it's the one that helps your team focus on what matters most: advancing your mission through strong supporter relationships. 

Whether you're a small local charity managing hundreds of supporters or a national organisation with tens of thousands of donors, the right nonprofit contact management software will transform how you engage with your community.  

Still not sure which direction is right for your charity? Our team includes former fundraisers who've been exactly where you are now. Get in touch for a chat, we'd love to help you find the right fit.