How Do I Choose a Nonprofit CRM?

Published by Jay Cordova

What Is a Nonprofit CRM?

In the nonprofit world, CRM stands for “constituent relationship manager” systems. These software platforms help organizations track and manage relationships with the many different stakeholders who are a part of their important work. For example, a CRM can hold donor, volunteer, board, and employee information in addition to tracking donations, event money, grant allocations, and more. Many of the essential day-to-day tasks of running a nonprofit can be handled through a CRM. This technology can also help with strategic planning, with many different reporting functions that allow nonprofit leaders to make decisions based on data.

Does a Nonprofit Need a CRM?

In our opinion, yes! Now, there may be some small organizations that can get by using Excel spreadsheets. However, these methods tend to take an extraordinary amount of time and effort that even those nonprofits could benefit from implementing a CRM. These tools can help nonprofits with:

Centralizing Data and Information: Many nonprofits have institutional knowledge (like the address of your top donor or the phone number of the person who hosts your website) that is currently being stored in the brain of the board president or a spreadsheet buried deep in a folder on the Executive Director’s computer. With a CRM, all of the data is stored in one location where everyone who needs to can access it easily and quickly.

Using Time Efficiently: There are only so many hours in a day, and many vital tasks to accomplish at your nonprofit. With small-but-mighty teams, it’s important to enable your people with tools that give them the ability to multitask and that eliminate unnecessary work. CRMs have many automation tools like follow-up emails, regular reports delivered right to your inbox, or website integration to streamline data entry.

Understanding and Cultivating Relationships: Sometimes organizations can slip into “doing things how we’ve always done it” and make decisions based on habit, rather than actual data. With a CRM, you’ll have a valuable pool of data at your fingertips. This will allow you to analyze donor actions and gain insights about what they’re interested in and discover which type of engagement effort they interact with. For example, instead of sending out a blanket of 10,000 physical letters (that cost a pretty penny and might end up in the trash), you may find that a small percentage of your donors respond to mailing campaigns while others interact with emails. Having this data would allow you to send letters to the donors who are most likely to open them—and catch the rest with a targeted email campaign.

What Is the Best Nonprofit CRM Software?

The best CRM for your nonprofit is the one that fits your needs. A church may have different requirements from an arts organization, who may need a CRM that can handle both donations and ticketing for arts events. Some nonprofits may have a large volunteer base and need time-tracking functionality while others need a CRM that can help with case files or event planning. Here at Computers in Ministry (CIM), we work closely with our partners to understand your needs, choose the right tech tools, and implement them all while staying within your budget.

Here are a few paid CRM options for nonprofits that might fit your specific wishlist:

Salsa: Salsa has the ability to create donor profiles, track donations, fundraising by mail, generate reports, manage grants, and more. They also offer a number of app integrations that can streamline your tech stack. Salsa’s pricing is based on an organization’s specific uses and needs.

Breeze: Breeze is a church management CRM that helps with organizing and maintaining databases, creating groups, scheduling and sending communications, tracking donations and contributions, managing volunteer groups, and executing events. Breeze costs $50 a month for eligible nonprofits.

Another option is to use free software for nonprofits. There are some free CRMs that can be useful, although you may run into some limitations. Sometimes paying for a feature-rich CRM can end up saving your organization money in the long run due to the automation and ease of use.

Here are a few free CRM options that may work for your nonprofit:

Bitrix24 CRM: Bitrix24 is a great option for small nonprofits. The free nonprofit version offers unlimited CRM records, marketing capabilities, automation features, invoicing, and more. However, this is limited to 12 users and 5 GB of online storage.

CiviCRM CRM: CiviCRM is a free, open-source CRM. The software is free to download, implement, and host. The flexibility and features like donor management and email marketing (plus many more!) make this an attractive choice. It is important to note that without an experienced internal IT department, nonprofits may find themselves needing to pay for implementation, ongoing support, and hosting.

How Do I Choose a Nonprofit CRM?

There are a lot of options to consider! The first step is to understand your priorities and evaluate what tools will help you reach your short- and long-term goals. The second step is to estimate the number of users and contacts you’ll need to make sure the solution you choose can accommodate everyone. Next, make a list of the tools you currently use so that you can check to see if the CRM will integrate seamlessly. Finally, set a budget and look for options that don’t exceed your spending limit.

If you’re still not sure, don’t worry! CIM can help. We’re firm believers in the idea that CRMs and other tech tools should drive your mission to the next level, not the other way around. We work closely with our partners to understand their needs and find the right CRM that will help you maximize your impact each and every day. Ready to learn more? Reach out to us today. We’re looking forward to partnering with you!