5 Best Donor Organization Software to Manage Your Donor Lists

No matter the size of your nonprofit organization, your donor lists are far too important to store on Excel spreadsheets.

Data collection in spreadsheets is dependent on manual entry, leaving lots of room for human error.

This is a risk your nonprofit cannot afford, especially with your tax-exempt status on the line. Your tax-exempt nonprofit status relies on your ability to accurately store and produce financial records to the IRS each year.

Instead, you should invest in a donor organization system that catalogs and makes sense of each donation record and that includes crucial features, such as automated data entry.

I've put together a list of five donor organization tools based on our most highly rated options in the donation management software directory.

5 top-rated donor organization tools

All of the products featured here average a 5/5 star rating by Capterra reviewers. The tools in this list specifically focus on donor management and organization, and a few offer optional event management and volunteer management features. Software options that focus more on silent auctions, churches, and crowdfunding have been excluded from this list.

Software options are listed by number of reviews, from highest to lowest.

1. DONATION

DONATION's donor database (Source)

It's not pretty software—in fact, it looks very out-of-date in its presentation—but don't let appearances fool you. DONATION has all of the basic functions you could ask of a donor tracking tool.

DONATION is a no-frills donor database that tracks, organizes, and analyzes all incoming donations and that produces reports based on that information. The functions it offers are easy to use and straightforward.

Recommended for:

This option is best for small nonprofits that want donor tracking capabilities at an affordable price, without all of the extra bells and whistles.

Features:

• Contribution tracking

• Donor database

• Gift management

• Pledge management

Pricing:

• Lite (100 donor records): Free; optional support is $20 per year

• Standalone (100,000 donor records or less): $100 initial cost, $50 per year for renewals Capterra user rating: (228 reviews)

Have you used DONATION before? If so, be sure to leave a review.

2.Little Green Light

Donor information page in Little Green Light (Source)

Little Green Light is a step up from DONATION in terms of user interface and features offered, but at a higher cost.

LGL offers standard donor management features, including a donor database, donation tracking, and donation reports, but it also offers extras such as event and volunteer management.

Those additional features will help your organization round out its fundraising strategy by managing fundraising events, the volunteers needed to run those events, and the donations brought in by the events, as well as all other gifts given to your nonprofit.

Though LGL won't break the bank, it is certainly more expensive than DONATION, starting at $468 per year.

Recommended for:

This tool is best for nonprofits looking to manage multiple aspects of their fundraising operation through one system.

Features:

• Fundraising campaign management

• Donation tracking

• Donor database

• Event management

• Gift management

• Grant management

• In-kind donation tracking

• Matching donations

• Online donations

• Pledge management

• Receipts tracking and statements

• Recurring donations

• Volunteer management

Pricing:

• Up to 2,500 donor records: $39 per month

• Up to 5,000 donor records: $49 per month

• Up to 10,000 donor records: $59 per month

• Up to 20,000 donor records: $69 per month Capterra user rating: (160 reviews)

Have you used Little Green Light before? If so, be sure to leave a review.

3. Vonigo

Planning schedule in Vonigo (Source)

Vonigo has everything you need to manage and track donations, as well as a few extras, such as mobile and online donation capabilities. This tool has an easy-to-navigate user interface with everything laid out on the left side of the screen, from your donation tracking dashboard to your reports tab.

Most user reviews for Vonigo praise its ease of use and navigation, as well as its record of customer service and uptime. The one drawback is its price versus features ratio, which falls behind some of the other options in this list.

Recommended for:

Vonigo is best for nonprofits with a less tech-savvy staff that require easy-to-use software.

Features:

• Donation tracking

• Donor database

• In-kind donations

• Mobile donations

• Online donations

• Receipts tracking and statements

Pricing:

• Starter: $98 per user, per month

• Professional: $119 per user, per month

• Premium: $139 per user, per month Capterra user rating: (48 reviews)

Have you used Vonigo before? If so, be sure to leave a review.

4. EveryAction

Donor profiles in EveryAction (Source)

Like Little Green Light, EveryAction offers more than your basic donor management features, making it a perfect choice for nonprofits that want to bundle multiple functions into one package. The big difference between the two is the lack of pricing details on EveryAction's website.

EveryAction allows you not only to track and manage donation information but also to create detailed donor profiles, which is perfect for large donor research.

Recommended for:

This extensive donor profile feature and lack of published pricing information suggest that this software is best suited for large nonprofits with more income at their disposal and larger prospective donors.

Features:

• Fundraising campaign management

• Donation tracking

• Donor database

• Event management

• Gift management

• Grant management

• In-kind donation tracking

• Matching donations

• Online donations

• Pledge management

• Receipts tracking and statements

• Recurring donations

• Volunteer management

Pricing: Not published online Capterra user rating: (32 reviews)

Have you used EveryAction before? If so, be sure to leave a review.

5.Eleo

Donation and gift tracking in Eleo (Source)

Eleo offers a long and diverse list of features for donor management software. What sets it apart is its multiple pricing tiers, making it affordable for all kinds of nonprofit organizations.

The multiple pricing tiers are based on the number of donor records you plan on storing, meaning as your organization grows, your software will scale along with you for relatively low price increases.

Recommended for:

This tool is best for organizations with promising growth prospects and a need for multiple functions covered by one system.

Features:

• Fundraising campaign management

• Donation tracking

• Donor database

• Event management

• Gift management

• Grant management

• In-kind donation tracking

• Matching donations

• Online donations

• Pledge management

• Receipts tracking and statements

• Recurring donations

• Volunteer management

Pricing:

• Up to 2,500 donor records: $39 per month

• Up to 5,000 donor records: $59 per month

• Up to 10,000 donor records: $99 per month

• Up to 12,500 donor records: $139 per month

• Up to 15,000 donor records: $159 per month

• Up to 20,000 donor records: $199 per month Capterra user rating: (22 reviews)

Have you used Eleo before? If so, be sure to leave a review.