Donor Management Software: 4 Crucial Questions Before Buying

An effective donor management system is an essential piece of software for any nonprofit organization. Big or small, it’s absolutely crucial that your nonprofit accurately record and track its donor data!

Since most nonprofits operate on very tight budgets, investing in your ability to record and use data is among the smartest decisions you can make.

Fully understanding your donor base is the only way to make informed fundraising decisions and guide your nonprofit to continued stability. To help you, there are plenty of donor management software systems on the market. The options can even become overwhelming, especially for smaller nonprofits with less experience with similar systems.

Not all donor management systems or CRMs are created equal, though. When shopping for software, you owe it to your nonprofit to ask a few essential questions. Here are the four most important:

1. Can this donor management software track data over time?
2. Does the management software integrate with the other tools I use?
3. Can I export my donor data quickly and easily?
4. Does the donor management software include additional tools?

For each question, we’ll identify some key features to look for in an ideal donor management software system.

As with any important purchase that will have a major impact on your operations, don’t go into it unprepared! Knowing what features to expect before even considering different software options will go a long way to ensure your nonprofit ends up making the best possible choice.

Let’s get started!

1. Can this management software track data over time?

Smaller nonprofits often fall prey to this issue since they might not realize that a donor database isn’t the same as a more integrated data tracking system. Or they might underestimate the time and effort it takes to manually search databases and spreadsheets to identify one specific trend.

While any donor management software or nonprofit CRM provides the ability to record data in an organized way, each offers a different level of intuitive filter, search and tracking tools.

Being able to identify any historic or sustained trends in your data is the key to smart decision-making, especially when it comes to refining your strategy to prepare for an ambitious fundraising project, like a capital campaign or annual fund drive.

Plus, the ability to view any historic metric and analyze trends at both the general and individual level means that your engagement and prospect development strategies will be more personalized and effective than ever, providing a major boost to donor retention!

Donor management software features to look for:

To make the most of your data, you need to be sure your CRM or other software includes a number of features that focus on the user’s ability to search, view and manage a comprehensive database of information:

• Full, customizable donor profiles. You will need to collect all sorts of data, so make sure your software allows you to create new fields and then track them later.
• Customizable dashboard views. An intuitive overview of your data is perfect for making quick decisions and noticing major trends as they develop.
• De-duplication settings. An effective donor management software will let you set protocols to prevent the entry of duplicate data, keeping your database clean and useful.

These are just some basic features that a donor management system should include. The big idea, however, is that any top pick you consider must prioritize the user’s ability to search and use their data.

Without these kinds of features, your management software might as well be a simple spreadsheet!

2. Does the management software integrate with the other tools I use?

Today, nonprofit organizations use a huge variety of data and fundraising tools to make decisions and engage their donors in new ways. Some of the top online fundraising tools, for instance, can become invaluable parts of how your nonprofit raises money.

If your organization relies on one or more digital tools to help you boost donations or identify key areas for growth, losing those abilities would be a serious problem.

When adopting a new donor management software or CRM system, you run the risk of unexpectedly complicating processes and tools that are integral to how your nonprofit operates!

Integrations are an essential part of any useful nonprofit software today. Not only do they streamline your operations, they’ll save your organization time and resources, too.

Plus, having all your data and tools in one place is what leads to breakthrough insights for your fundraising strategy!

Donor management software features to look for:

Here are some integrations to look for in your next donor management system or CRM software. These are among the most common and important to nonprofit operations, so they’re a good gauge for the integration capabilities of the software overall:

• Prospect research databases. If your organization uses a prospect research service or database, being able to combine that information with your own donor data is extremely important for identifying key areas to target and prospects to cultivate.
• Matching gift search tools. If your donor base includes many employees of major corporations, matching gift and volunteer grant eligible donors should be automatically identified and notified through your integrated software.
• Analytics reporting systems. Most every nonprofit uses analytics tools to streamline their data analysis process. Using tools that fully integrate with your donor management software eliminates the need to complete manual exporting tasks every day.

If a software solution features these three integrations and more, it’s likely a good choice. Useful integrations indicate that a CRM or management system has been designed with the user’s needs in mind and can be a valuable asset to your nonprofit’s toolkit.

3. Can I export my donor data quickly and easily?

Being able to physically make use of all the data in your donor management software is important for a number of reasons.

Not all staff members or high-level volunteers need access to the entire system for every project, for instance, but they still need access to relevant data to make informed decisions.

Plus, sharing data is simply a best practice of successful organizations. Using effective technology will increase fundraising results in the long run by reducing internal friction and helping your team to learn faster.

Unless your donor management software includes intuitive export features, creating a spreadsheet with relevant data to share with your board can become a time-consuming hassle.

Sharing information, importing data to an analytics tool and creating a mailing list for your next campaign should be easy, not inconvenient.

Donor management software features to look for:

Think of all the ways you use your nonprofit’s data to make decisions. Sometimes this involves simply looking up information within the system, but often it involves exporting that data to use it elsewhere. Top management software should include these kinds of export features:

• Mailing list generation. Use your management software or CRM to identify a segment of donors, export their contact information and create a single direct mail or email list in one step. Make all-year mail engagement simpler and easier.
• Document sharing tools. Select specific sectors, metrics or trends in your donor database to export and automatically populate a new spreadsheet or document that your team can easily share and annotate.
• Automated custom reporting. Look for features that let you define custom automatic reports. Your data system can regularly export this data into a single report, helping you conduct quick weekly reviews of any trends you’re following.

Export features like these are another indicator that a donor management software solution prioritizes user experience.

Especially if your smaller nonprofit has less experience with comprehensive systems, your technology should make it simple to gather, share, and use your data in new ways without forcing your team to deal with a steep learning curve.

4. Does the donor management software include additional tools?

The fact that integrations and export functions are so important to any kind of management or database software today is part of a broader trend; organizations and businesses are no longer satisfied with needing to purchase multiple tools when a single tool should offer comprehensive solutions.

Comprehensive software packages have become the industry standard for a number of reasons, mainly because nonprofits can’t ignore the importance of data to every aspect of their operations.

From marketing to fundraising to advocacy, data should inform every decision your nonprofit makes.

While researching new donor management software, you might be focused only on finding a tool with the best data features, but remember to take a look at what additional features are included. The value they provide can make a huge difference to your nonprofit’s bottom line.

Donor management software features to look for:

Here are some common additional tools that are often included with donor management software solutions or packages. Read through and consider how they might fit into or improve your nonprofit’s current strategies:

• Digital marketing automation. Sending emails at specific stages in the engagement process, compiling your social media engagements, and giving you a comprehensive strategy overview are essential marketing functions your CRM can help streamline.
• Online fundraising options. Donor management packages typically include tools like donation form software, event registration platforms and payment processing. Best of all, the data generated by these tools reports directly into your database.
• Advocacy tools. If your nonprofit focuses on social and political causes, find donor management software with features that make managing social media campaigns and hosting online petitions a breeze.
• Peer-to-peer fundraising capabilities. These fundraisers have become a staple for nonprofits of all sizes. Your software should support custom campaign pages, mobile apps and detailed campaign analytics.

The most comprehensive solutions usually tend to be the most cost-effective, so always consider what additional tools are included with any new software you purchase for your organization.

An effective donor management software solution is an essential asset for any nonprofit organization! The decision can feel overwhelming if your nonprofit is new to more heavy-duty software, but remember to consider your exact needs and the features that any option offers.

By asking these four key questions before making a move to buy, you’ll ensure that you’ve found the most useful, intuitive and cost-effective management software available!