10 of the Most Effective Fundraising Tools You Need to Try

As a fundraiser, you know that there are many different approaches to raising money for your cause. You’re constantly reassessing your strategies, contemplating which tools are best for your organization, and searching for ways to streamline your efforts for maximum efficiency.

Staying up to date with modern fundraising tools is essential for effectively managing your operations, communicating with donors, and increasing awareness for your cause. The introduction of new technologies has revolutionized the world of fundraising, and this guide will help you explore the different types of fundraising tech and some of the top providers. First, let’s explore some fundraising tool basics.

4 Fundraising Software FAQs

What are fundraising tools?

Fundraising tools are any type of software or other platform designed to make an aspect of fundraising easier and more efficient. Fundraising tools typically increase revenue by reaching broader audiences, providing better donor experiences, automating repetitive tasks, improving marketing efforts, and more.

You may need more than one fundraising tool to support your nonprofit’s entire fundraising process. For example, your organization could use a graphic design tool to create fundraising appeals for social media, a marketing calendar to schedule posts, and a donation tool to host your donation form and accept contributions.

What are the different types of fundraising tools?

As mentioned, most organizations need multiple tools to keep everything running smoothly. Here are some of the most common types of fundraising platforms:

• Online donation platforms: These platforms are a non-negotiable for any online fundraiser. They allow your nonprofit to accept donations from supporters in a convenient, secure way. Make sure you have a trustworthy, reliable donation tool that offers customizable donation forms.
• Fundraising CRMs: These tools help with campaign marketing, converting prospective donors, and nurturing donor relationships. Execute standard campaign management tasks like reviewing data, conducting surveys, and creating “thank you” packages. Customize your CRM to fit your workflows and maximize ease and efficiency.
• Crowdfunding and peer-to-peer platforms: Crowdfunding campaigns allow organizations to collect many small donations from a large number of people, typically online, to support a specific cause or project. Peer-to-peer platforms are similar, but they allow your supporters to launch digital fundraising campaigns on your behalf.
• Donor research platforms: Prospect research tools help you understand your audience and attract more donors. These fundraising tools give you a clear look at who cares about your cause, translating insights into efficient fundraising and marketing efforts. For example, you might create an ideal donor persona by collecting information like age, occupation, and social media presence.
• Text-to-donate tools: Did you know that 46% of people spend five to six hours a day looking at their smartphones? By making it convenient for these prospective donors to contribute to your organization, you could secure a lot of previously unclaimed revenue. With text-to-donate fundraising solutions, your donors can contribute to your cause in seconds.
• Fundraising event software: Fundraising events are highly engaging, but they require a lot of time and resources to organize. Fundraising event software can take several of the more stressful parts of event planning and management, like handling ticket sales and registrations, off your plate.
• Matching gift tools: Some companies offer to match their employees’ donations to nonprofit organizations. For example, they might match a $50 donation at a 1:1 ratio, turning it into a $100 gift. Using special software can help you identify and secure more of these opportunities, increasing your fundraising revenue at no added cost to donors.

What features should nonprofits look for in fundraising software?

The features you need will be unique to your organization. Meet with staff and stakeholders to discuss how you plan to use each platform, what features are must-haves, and what tools would be nice but not necessary.

While we can’t tell you the exact features you’ll need, you can ask these questions as you browse fundraising solutions to gauge how well they’ll meet your needs:

• Can I customize donation forms? Customizable forms allow you to add your branding and tailor the questions and fields to your organization’s priorities. For example, you might promote your monthly giving program or add tailored suggested donation amounts.
  • Why is this important? A concise, well-designed, and branded donation form enhances donor trust and engagement, which can boost conversions.
• Can we launch and oversee peer-to-peer campaigns? Peer-to-peer fundraising tools allow supporters to create their own donation pages and fundraise on behalf of your organization. This gives them more personal responsibility and transforms them into active participants in your mission.
  • Why is this important? Peer-to-peer campaigns significantly expand your fundraising reach by allowing you to tap into your supporters’ personal networks.
• Can I easily facilitate and track recurring gifts? Recurring or monthly giving capabilities allow donors to set up automated, scheduled donations. Your fundraising software should allow donors to opt in, pause, or cancel their recurring gifts and track relevant data.
  • Why is this important? Recurring donations provide a regular, reliable stream of revenue, which makes it easier to plan and sustain long-term programs.
• What will donor experiences be like on the platform? Donor experiences encompass the entire journey, from discovering your campaign to clicking “Submit” on your donation form. Look for mobile-friendly solutions and features that make it easy to personalize and automate follow-up communications.
  • Why is this important? Positive experiences foster trust and loyalty, increasing the likelihood of the donor contributing to your future campaigns.
• Can we launch and customize SMS campaigns? SMS campaign features allow you to send text message appeals, updates, and thank-you notes. Some tools even allow donors to contribute directly via text message.
  • Why is this important? These campaigns offer a fast, direct way to connect with donors and solicit donations. Plus, they provide another convenient way for donors to give!

How much do fundraising tools cost?

Pricing varies. Fundraising software can be free or cost thousands of dollars for customized, enterprise-level solutions. Often, software providers offer tiered pricing so they can serve a wide range of nonprofits. This variability in pricing is why you should determine your budget and must-have features before shopping.

In most cases, software costs are divided into two categories:

• Platform fees: Paid either annually or monthly to access the software.
• Transaction fees: Paid each time donors use a credit card to donate, typically 1.5% to 3.5% of the transaction amount.

Additionally, do your research if you’re considering a “free” solution. Most of these solutions charge transaction fees and may take a certain percentage of your fundraising revenue. These providers may also have less of an incentive to continuously improve and maintain the software, leading to lackluster customer support and an increased risk of security threats.

Which fundraising tool providers are the most effective?

1. Allyra (formerly WeDidIt)

Fundraising Tool Overview: Allyra is an online donation tool designed to simplify starting your next campaign, reach more donors, and provide positive supporter experiences. With this fundraising tool, your organization can gather valuable insights while making donating easy and convenient for donors.

• Donation forms that are optimized to provide the best giving experience possible. Forms are multistep, mobile-responsive, and fully customizable.
• Peer-to-peer fundraising tools that make it easy for your supporters to fundraise on your behalf. Quickly launch optimized peer-to-peer donation forms and capture key peer donor data.
• Text-to-donate features that allow your organization to easily build custom SMS fundraising campaigns, making giving more convenient than ever for your supporters. Add text-to-donate codes to your direct mail and use the tool to promote other ways to get involved.
• Analytics dashboards that support data-driven fundraising by revealing how your forms are performing, where current and new donors are coming from, how much they give, and how close you are to your goals.
• Consulting services that offer expert advice and strategies from AGP, helping you create brand- and mission-aligned copy, graphics, and designs.

• Best For: Nonprofit organizations looking for a fundraising tool that extends their reach, works with a variety of fundraising methods, and offers support to all areas of their fundraising strategy.
• Favorite Feature: Allyra’s optimized donation forms prioritize donor stewardship by offering a customizable post-donation experience, such as a “thank you” video, that donors see right after making a donation.
• Features like these help you win second donations from first-time donors, retain existing donors, and make your supporter base feel like valuable agents of change.
• Pricing: Reach out to Allyra today for a quote.

2. Soapbox Engage

Fundraising Tool Overview: Soapbox Engage is an online donation processor that specializes in Salesforce apps. Its apps are focused on categories like donations, events, forms, and petitions. They’re designed to help nonprofits reach ambitious fundraising goals and effectively plan events. The platform seamlessly integrates with Salesforce, optimizing the flow of data between apps.

• Best For: Organizations that already use Salesforce and are looking for more specialized apps.
• Favorite Feature: Soapbox Engage allows for complete customization on any device to strengthen brand identity. Design donation forms with branded headers and logos, customize appeals with branding, and even create custom domains and URLs.
• Pricing: Prices start at $59 per month per app. Unlimited plans start at $199 per month.
  

3. Double the Donation

Fundraising Tool Overview: Double the Donation Matching helps nonprofits capture their portion of the millions of dollars in matching gift revenue that go unclaimed each year. To combat this loss in valuable funding, Double the Donation provides a search tool that can be embedded on key pages like your donation form, enabling supporters to search for their employer’s matching gift program.

The software supports the matching gift journey by sending automatic reminder emails to match-eligible donors, leveraging its dozens of platform integrations, and using autosubmission. Another great tool from this vendor is Double the Donation Volunteering, which helps nonprofits identify volunteer grant and volunteer time off (VTO) opportunities to enhance their volunteer programs.

• Best For: Any nonprofit organization or university without an effective tool or strategy for securing matching gift revenue.
• Favorite Feature: Double the Donation’s auto-submission tool is on the cutting edge of matching gift technology, allowing donors to submit their matching gift request in a single click from the nonprofit’s online donation process.
• Pricing: Pricing for Double the Donation starts at $300 per year and scales based on usage and annual revenue. If your organization is larger, reach out for a custom quote.

4. 99Pledges

Fundraising Tool Overview: 99Pledges offers specialized fundraising software designed for team or group fundraising. This online tool makes it easy for organizations to set up peer-to-peer fundraisers. 99Pledges’ team will set up team-wide and individual fundraising pages, give advice from fundraising coaches, and offer technical support. The software handles donation processing and tracking, data collection, donation receipts, and thank-you messages for you.

• Best For: Nonprofits, schools, and other organizations that serve youth.
• Favorite Feature: 99Pledges offers built-in, specialized features tailored to popular fundraising ideas. If a school organizes a read-a-thon, for example, 99Pledges has a reading log participants can use to track their time.
• Pricing: 99Pledges is free! All you need to cover is the standard credit card fees of 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction.
  

5. GoFundMe

Fundraising Tool Overview: GoFundMe is one of the most well-known fundraising platforms. This crowdfunding tool is used to raise money from friends, family, peers, and supporters online. Individuals who are not associated with a nonprofit organization often use GoFundMe to raise support for personal medical bills, disasters, and other personal projects. However, the platform has features designed to make nonprofit organizations stand out.

• Best For: Nonprofit organizations that need a cost-effective way to quickly fundraise through crowdfunding activities.
• Favorite Feature: Nonprofits can register with GoFundMe to join their searchable list, helping donors find trustworthy ways to donate.
• Pricing: GoFundMe is free. Your organization only has to pay standard transaction fees.
  

6. Fundraise Up

Fundraising Tool Overview: Fundraise Up strives to encourage more generosity through your nonprofit’s website. The tool includes features like optimized donation pages designed to boost conversions, quick and easy checkout processes, UI website elements geared towards conversions, and machine learning technology. Additionally, Fundraise Up prioritizes data security and fraud protection to mitigate any risks to supporters or nonprofits.

• Best For: Nonprofits that want to make online giving more efficient and increase conversion rates through their websites.
• Favorite Feature: Fundraise Up offers AI fundraising capabilities that maximize efficiency and success rates by personalizing ask amounts, strategically “upselling” donors, and catching fraudulent behavior—all through machine learning.
• Pricing: Fundraise Up offers two plans: one tailored to nonprofits that raise less than $300,000 online per year and an enterprise option for those that raise more.
  
  

7. Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud

Fundraising Tool Overview: Salesforce is a customer relationship management (CRM) system provider, and Nonprofit Cloud (NPC) is its dedicated solution for nonprofits. NPC offers a unified platform for managing nonprofit data, fundraising campaigns, donor relationships, programs, and more. For nonprofits that already have a dedicated CRM and are just looking for fundraising tools, NPC may be more comprehensive than necessary.

• Best For: Nonprofits that already use Salesforce apps or Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP) to manage data, or those looking for a comprehensive tool to manage their data.
• Favorite Feature: NPC is compatible with other Salesforce Industry Clouds, like Financial Cloud, and Salesforce apps, making it easy for nonprofits to scale up the system as they grow.
• Pricing: NPC starts at $60 per user per month.
  

8. Bonfire

Fundraising Tool Overview: Bonfire allows organizations and individuals to fundraise by creating and selling custom merchandise. Bonfire offers various items like t-shirts, notebooks, and tote bags. Organizations can add their unique, branded designs to their preferred items.

Because Bonfire is a print-on-demand company, they’ll only print the merchandise after they receive orders. This way, organizations won’t have to pay upfront costs or risk ordering more merchandise than they can sell.

• Best For: Nonprofits, schools, churches, and other mission-driven organizations that are seeking a cost-effective, low-risk way to boost brand awareness while raising funds.
• Favorite Feature: Bonfire offers an extensive library of templates for all kinds of themes and occasions, making it easy to create designs without any experience required.
• Pricing: Bonfire is free, but users must cover processing fees. For verified nonprofits, fees are reduced from 8% to 3.5%.
  

9. Handbid

Fundraising Tool Overview: Handbid is an auction management platform that helps nonprofits organize charity auctions. Its comprehensive set of tools and features allows organizations to run the entire event from a single platform, meaning nonprofits won’t have to struggle to connect multiple apps and systems. Handbid effectively manages ticket sales and registration, event check-in, payment information collection, and mobile bidding on auction items.

• Best For: Nonprofits looking for a streamlined, efficient way to facilitate charity auctions.
• Favorite Feature: Handbid offers features designed specifically for hybrid auctions, allowing nonprofits to deliver exceptional experiences to both in-person and virtual attendees.
• Pricing: Handbid offers packages for nonprofits starting at $1,396.
  

10. eCardWidget

Fundraising Tool Overview: eCardWidget is a unique tool that helps nonprofits reach their fundraising, donor engagement, and retention goals. This platform allows organizations to sell and send digital greeting cards, either to raise funds or thank donors.

To fundraise, sell custom eCards to your supporters that they can share with friends and family. By purchasing a digital birthday card for a friend, for instance, they’ll make a donation on behalf of the recipient, and the friend will receive the card. Additionally, nonprofits can create and share custom eCards to thank donors for their contributions.

• Best For: Organizations that want to enhance their donor recognition and retention efforts.
• Favorite Feature: eCardWidget offers a drag-and-drop editor that makes customizing cards with branded elements a breeze. Or, organizations can upload cards created in other design tools like Adobe or Canva.
• Pricing: eCardWidget offers a free plan as well as paid plans starting at $30 per month.
  

Wrapping Up

Your fundraising team doesn’t have to do it all—instead, find the fundraising tools that streamline your efforts to attract more donors, improve stewardship efforts, optimize supporter experiences, and help make the most of your data.

To learn about more ways your nonprofit can level up its fundraising and marketing campaigns, check out these resources:

• Unlock the Secrets of Digital Marketing for Nonprofits. When you harness the power of digital marketing, the sky is the limit for your fundraising efforts. Get the top strategies in this guide.
• How to Grow Your Impact with Nonprofit Omni-channel Marketing. Do your current campaigns offer optimized, integrated experiences for donors? Discover how omni-channel marketing can drive better results for your nonprofit.