1. Identify the best CRM software for nonprofits

Gather a group of internal stakeholders to develop a list of must-have CRM features in your charity customer relationship management tool. Set a timeline and process for testing out CRM tools and compiling feedback. Seek feedback from donors and members about their communication preferences. Read reviews, attend webinars and ask for advice from others in the nonprofit industry to find out what fundraising platform has worked well for them.

2. Import and filter your member and donor data

Setting up Pipedrive is easy thanks to its simple data import and export features. Upload your constituent data from a spreadsheet and drag-and-drop to match data fields. Pipedrive will identify any errors, and you decide whether to merge data or create multiple records if duplicates are found. Create custom fields for groups like volunteers, donors and members. Attribute each contact manually or use automations to segment them based on behavior or donation activity.

3. Set up new fundraising and donor nurture campaigns

To nurture members into repeat donors, you must be able to send personalized messaging based on their interests. This means aligning your campaigns and fundraising priorities with causes your members care about. Use your segments to create marketing campaigns and nurture workflows that send the right message to the right contacts. Share transparent updates with donors on how you allocate funds to encourage additional donations.

4. Integrate forms and other touchpoints into your nonprofit CRM

Entering donor data and manually updating contact information can take a lot of time. Record every online and offline touchpoint to help reduce the load. Integrate contact and donation forms and communications with your CRM to store every interaction with your members in one place.

5. Create dashboards to monitor the health of your nonprofit finances

Create custom dashboards for every stakeholder and role with Pipedrive’s versatile insights and reporting features. Keep chairpeople informed of fundraising activities or create personalized data-driven dashboards for member-facing teams with metrics reports for every scenario.

The best CRM for nonprofits

Fundraising tools like a nonprofit CRM (customer relationship management) can support your nonprofit’s needs and nurture relationships with leads.

The right tool helps you attract more donors, nurture long-term supporters and share their impact on your cause.

Pipedrive’s CRM solution for nonprofits lets you manage donors, members and volunteers from an all-in-one software solution.

14-day trial. Zero cost. Full access. No credit card required.

What is a CRM for nonprofits?

Nonprofits need an all-in-one membership management and fundraising platform to nurture relationships, track team activities and measure performance. A CRM tool does just that.

Pipedrive’s CRM for nonprofits allows you to streamline your operations by keeping track of donor activity, events and volunteers.

Multiple workflows and automations let you track the efficiency of your marketing, estimate fundraising potential and nurture long-term supporters for your nonprofit organization.

What to look for in a nonprofit CRM solution

Nonprofits have unique needs when it comes to contact and program management. It’s important to find a charity CRM with the functionality you need at a price that works for your budget.

Here are the key features to look for in donor management software for small nonprofits:

Donor segmentation. The best nonprofit CRM allows you to create custom fields to segment your donors by different variables.

Marketing automation. Helpful charity CRM software tracks your online and offline fundraising strategies and their effectiveness.
Accurate reporting. The best CRM for small nonprofit organizations offers data-driven donation forecasts, tracks campaign donations and provides visual insights.

CRM for nonprofit features

Nurture leads with marketing automation

Follow up with new donors and personalize your messaging based on previous activity. Turn one-time supporters into long-term members with targeted email communications.

Manage volunteers with a customizable CRM

Keep a database of current and former volunteers with custom fields to track events and store important volunteer data

Add value with email marketing

Use smart segmentation to send personalized communications, keeping your members in the loop while encouraging repeat donations

Streamline your workflows and operations

Automate tasks, assign them to the right coordinators and create rules to help your donor or member services team provide next-level customer support

Create event management workflows at fundraisers

Capture sign-ups from new donors and log every touchpoint at your events. Oversee who communicates with individual constituents and how.

Make data-backed decisions with custom reports

Create customized dashboards for every stakeholder across your nonprofit organization. Monitor your financial health and create custom reports based on upcoming donor activity.

Build lifetime advocates with a CRM system for nonprofits

If you only reach out to donors once a year to ask for a major gift, your chances of success are low.

Take time to educate, nurture and thank donors with many touch points throughout the year.

Build trust, momentum and a sustainable donor base using personalized and consistent communication from within Pipedrive.

Learn more about Pipedrive’s communication features

Keep donor management all on one platform

Using different donor database spreadsheets and systems across departments can create logistical nightmares.

Centralize constituent relationship management with nonprofit CRM software. Keep a detailed record of communications and donations to improve advocates’ experiences.

Using Pipedrive as your charity customer relationship management tool lets you track communications and donations.

Find out how Pipedrive helps you manage donors and leads

Streamline your workflows and finances

Your team shouldn’t waste hours on daily admin work like updating records, organizing donations and tracking fundraising activity.

A relationship management software for nonprofits can help streamline processes, automate tasks and keep finances in order.

Pipedrive offers a library of customizable templates to save time on emails and proposals, as well as online donation payment processing through powerful accounting integrations.

Discover how Pipedrive automates your workflow

Advance your fundraising efforts

Whether you’re pursuing a first-time contribution from a potential donor or a gift from a major donor, nonprofit fundraising can be tough work.

With a CRM for nonprofits, you can track donors in a pipeline, empower your development team to keep conversations moving and focus their efforts where they matter most.

Reach your fundraising goals faster by tracking campaign results to find and replicate your best appeals.

Find out more about Pipedrive campaign management

How does a CRM for nonprofits work?

A CRM in nonprofit organizations is a donor management tool designed to save you time and boost and measure engagement. With the right nonprofit CRM platform, you can log communications from anywhere and track all the metrics that matter.

Attract new supporters and convert them into volunteers or donors

Track the effectiveness of all email campaigns and social media activity

Record donors, volunteers, event attendees and fundraisers with custom fields and other customization features

Create automated accounting and payment workflows with our Marketplace integrations

Send personalized messaging to activate donors for fundraising campaigns

Capture new donor information at events or “in the field”
Build pipelines for all your workflows, communications and advocacy efforts

Over 500+ integrations

Expand the capabilities of Pipedrive with hundreds of apps and integrations

See all apps and extensions

How to implement CRM software for nonprofits

Look for a CRM that’s user-friendly, visual and offers award-winning support for seamless setup. Pipedrive has been rated the easiest sales tool to implement by G2Crowd and easiest to use CRM by Motley Fool.

Gather a group of internal stakeholders to develop a list of must-have CRM features in your charity customer relationship management tool. Set a timeline and process for testing out CRM tools and compiling feedback.

Seek feedback from donors and members about their communication preferences. Read reviews, attend webinars and ask for advice from others in the nonprofit industry to find out what fundraising platform has worked well for them.
Setting up Pipedrive is easy thanks to its simple data import and export features. Upload your constituent data from a spreadsheet and drag-and-drop to match data fields. Pipedrive will identify any errors, and you decide whether to merge data or create multiple records if duplicates are found.

Create custom fields for groups like volunteers, donors and members. Attribute each contact manually or use automations to segment them based on behavior or donation activity.
To nurture members into repeat donors, you must be able to send personalized messaging based on their interests. This means aligning your campaigns and fundraising priorities with causes your members care about.

Use your segments to create marketing campaigns and nurture workflows that send the right message to the right contacts. Share transparent updates with donors on how you allocate funds to encourage additional donations.

How Let’s Do It World uses Pipedrive to organize one of the biggest environmental movements in the world

Let’s Do It World, the NGO behind the World Cleanup Day campaign, needed a way to manage ongoing relationships with global leaders and organizations.

With Pipedrive’s centralized, up-to-date communication records and marketing app integrations, Let’s Do It World reduces repetitive admin tasks and minimizes communication errors while maintaining scalability. Increased efficiency allows the NGO to focus more of its efforts on saving the environment.

“Pipedrive is a tremendous help in organizing such a large movement as Let’s Do It World. We have the information in one place and there’s no confusion.”

Read the case study

How Pipedrive is helping one grassroots charity

Pipedrive is a total gamechanger for our charity. It’s given us structure, it’s given us continuity. It just takes all the stuff that’s always happening and puts it in a manageable kind of process.

Shanna WhanCEO / Sober in the Country (SITC)

CRM for Nonprofits FAQs

A CRM helps nonprofits manage donors, volunteers and beneficiaries more efficiently by centralizing data and automating processes. CRMs track donations, organize campaigns and help personalize donor communications to streamline fundraising and donor information collection.

Organizations also gain valuable insights through reporting, measuring impact, optimizing fundraising efforts and ensuring regulatory compliance.
A nonprofit CRM is a cloud-based, all-in-one CRM software that can support donor engagement. You can use it to
- Nurture donor relationships through email marketing
- Centralize volunteer management and allow you to easily find and contact volunteers
- Segment volunteers and donors to send the right communication to the right people
- Streamline operations with workflows and automations
- Create data-driven custom reports to improve forecasting and decision-making
The right CRM for your nonprofit should also offer scalability so that as your charity grows, so can your CRM solution.

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Carolyn PearsonFounder, Maiden Voyage

One of the favorite features within Pipedrive is the email integration. It pulls all of the clients details in, so that we don’t have to think about it.

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As a business owner, my favorite feature in Pipedrive is the statistics and being able to look at the dashboard and use those metrics to help each individual on the team.

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