Free Nonprofit CRMs: 6 Best in 2025

Nonprofit organizations often struggle with managing relationships and communications effectively, a problem that can cause some major setbacks, like losing donors. 

In this blog, we'll cover the best free CRMs (or customer relationship management) for nonprofits so your organization can find the right tool for managing donor relationships

Plus, what platforms are really free for nonprofits? Though some platforms claim to be completely free, they charge lots of hidden fees or have limited free plans.

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Best CRMs for Donor Management in 2025 at a glance

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What makes the best nonprofit CRM?

The best nonprofit CRM solutions offer a few key essential things:

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Affordable pricing

Lots of nonprofit software platforms claim to be free, but don't offer transparent pricing, often charging organizations processing or platform fees. The best CRMs for nonprofits don't charge anything and offer unlimited contact records.

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Individual emailing and mass emailing

Donor retention plans and stewardship rely on consistent and meaningful donor communications. Choose a platform that offers the ability to send personal emails and mass emails like newsletters.

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Contact transaction history

Access all donor activity, including donations, purchases, and tax receipts. This is essential for garnering donor insights, targeting major donors, and more.

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Filtering options

Your software solution should be able to create and use custom filters to search for specific donor segments of your donor database.

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Create and assign tags

The right CRM will allow you to label donors based on campaign, giving history, etc.

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Contact importing and exporting

Some platforms charge extra for importing or exporting data. Choose a platform that allows you to manage this for free, on your own.

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Integrate with other tools

Sync your CRM with your favorite payment processor, accounting app, volunteer management tool, fundraising platform, or other existing apps via Zapier

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Attendee lists

Access attendees and donor databases for specific campaigns or events.

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Recurring donation management

Monitor regular donors and check to see which recurring donors have lapsed.

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Send custom links to donors

Send prefilled forms by email to simplify donations and transactions.‍

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Reporting capabilities

Your CRM provider should offer robust functionality around creating reports so your team can gather information, understand it, and share it easily.

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1. Zeffy: Best 100% free CRM for small and mid-sized nonprofits

When it comes to an all-in-one fundraising and free donor management platform, Zeffy is the clear winner. Unlike other competitors, Zeffy is the best CRM platform for small and medium nonprofits, offering a one-stop shop for fundraising, managing donors, running events, and so much more. Trusted by hundreds of nonprofits in North America, Zeffy helps organizations make more impact, for less.

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Is Zeffy really free? 

Zeffy is the only zero-fee fundraising and donor management platform for nonprofits. While every other platform takes a portion of donations in fees, Zeffy gives 100% of all donations directly to nonprofits. Donors can be reassured that the entirety of their gift is going straight to the cause.

While every other platform takes fees away from your mission, Zeffy delivers 100% of it to your nonprofit. With Zeffy, they give $100, you get $100. With every other platform, they give $100, you get $97 or less.

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• Import and export data

• Filter and export donor lists

• Add notes

• Use segments 

• Access receipts for all campaigns

• Record and track offline donations

• Send and track support emails for optimal donor engagement

• Send pre-filled forms

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Pros:

• Easy to use, no technical expertise needed

• Customizable 

• 100% free

• Offers a full suite of other fundraising tools

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Cons:

• Only available for registered nonprofits in the US and Canada

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Zeffy's testimonial:

“Because we are such a small nonprofit organization, when our last donor management system eliminated free accounts, we couldn't afford to continue with them. Zeffy's model is specifically for nonprofits, and they don't take a cent from any funds passing through their system. Instead, they ask each individual donor for a small donation.” — Susan W.

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2. Givebutter: Best CRM for donor communications 

With an intuitive interface and robust features, Givebutter is an online fundraising platform that offers donor management, event organization, and campaign tracking. Its social integration tools enhance community involvement, making it a dynamic solution for nonprofits aiming to maximize their impact.

The platform also offers a more advanced plan, Givebutter Plus, which offers data hygiene tools, custom workflows, and task management for stewarding donors.

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Is it really free?

Givebutter offers a popular suite of fundraising tools with no upfront costs, but it's important to understand the fees that can still apply:

Payment Processing Fees: Givebutter charges a 2.9% + $0.30 fee on every transaction (reduced to 1.9% for ACH). While donors can choose to cover this cost, it's not guaranteed, meaning a portion of donations may go toward fees instead of your mission.

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Platform Fees (If Tips Are Disabled):

‍Givebutter gives donors the option to leave a tip to cover platform costs. If you choose to turn this feature off, Givebutter charges:

• 1% for donation forms

• 3% for fundraising pages

• 5% for events and auctions

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Givebutter Plus—which offers more robust segmenting, donor follow-up task management, tagging, and more—is based on the number of contacts a nonprofit has (starting at $29/month).

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Pros:

• Contact profiles

• Unlimited contacts

• Easy contact management

• Data hygiene tools

• Custom filters and fields

• Automatic activity tracking

• Access to automated marketing and engagement

• Intuitive user interface

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Cons:

• Fees

• Relies on optional tips from donors

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Best for: 

‍Nonprofits looking to communicate with donors via text, email, or even letters. 

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Testimonial:

‍“Givebutter was an easy choice when we were looking to switch donor management platforms. It is intuitive and pretty easy to learn. I appreciate that the platform allows for donation campaigns, events, sending our donor base communications and tracking donations.”  — Sara B.

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3. Funraise: Best CRM for automation

From donor relationship management to campaign optimization, Funraise simplifies complex tasks. The platform's analytics and reporting tools provide valuable insights, enabling nonprofits to make data-driven decisions and cultivate lasting supporter relationships.

Is it really free? 

Fundraise has a limited free plan and does not publicly list any of its paid plan prices. However, there is a 0% platform fee, and processing fees of up to 2.9% + $0.30.

Funraise does not publicly list its paid plan prices, free plan has limitations.

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Pros:

• Automated tasks for team management or other stakeholders

• Automated emails and marketing automation

• Donor portal app for optimizing donor engagement efforts

• Texting tools

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Cons:

• Limited free plan

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Best for:

‍Nonprofits looking to automate workflows and tasks as part of their core CRM features.

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Testimonial:

“Funraise allows us to track donations better and analyze donor data while finding ways to improve fundraising mechanisms and techniques. To a great extent, implementing these has allowed us to increase our organization's performance and effectiveness.” – Carmel D.

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4. DonorDock: Best CRM for task management 

DonorDock is a nonprofit CRM platform designed to amplify donor relationship management. With a focus on simplicity, this platform helps customers organize, understand, and engage with their supporters effectively. DonorDock's user-friendly interface and customizable features make it an ideal choice for a nonprofit CRM software.

Is it really free?

DonorDock offers a limited free plan. Access to other online fundraising tools costs $99 - $299/month (but you can save 20% by subscribing to an annual plan). Additionally, donors are asked to cover 5% + $0.30 of their transaction.

Pros:

• Task management

• Custom reminders

• Activity tracking

• Integrations

• Tags

• Security 

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Cons:

• Limited free plan

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Best for:

‍Nonprofits looking for automatic reminders and task management tools.

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Testimonial:

"Managing donors is our primary utilization of the software, and it does that very well. It allows us to easily communicate with donors from sending receipts to emailing and notifying them about campaigns. It also allows us to easily tag and track our donors so we can target communication when appropriate.” — Isaac C.

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5. Giving Fuel: Best CRM for basic donor management features

GivingFuel serves as a simple CRM platform. Its user-friendly design facilitates seamless donor interactions, while the platform's features cover everything from donation tracking to campaign analytics. GivingFuel empowers nonprofits to effortlessly manage their fundraising initiatives and build lasting connections with supporters.

Is it really free? 

GivingFuel offers a limited free plan and charges $59-$349 /month for access to premium features, as well as up to 4.99% + $0.25 in processing fees. 

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Pros:

• Data exporting

• Integrations

• Create tasks

• Activity tracking

• Custom profiles

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Cons:

• Limited free plan

• Only offers basic functionality 

• Fees for additional features and support

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Best for: 

‍Nonprofits that need a simple, easy-to-use CRM with basic features for managing donors.

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Testimonial:

“It is really easy to take donations, register for events, & manage recurring donors. Our donors can easily access their giving and update their information.” — Cassie F.

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6. RallyUp: Best CRM for flexible payment methods

With diverse campaign options and customization tools, the RallyUp platform offers nonprofits the ability to tailor their fundraising strategies to any of their needs. Real-time analytics and integrated social sharing make it a go-to platform for organizations looking to create engaging and successful fundraising campaigns.

Is it really free?

Funraise is free with donor tipping — without, nonprofits must pay a 7.5% per-transaction platform fee. Nonprofits also must pay for premium features such as "Donation Pages" or "Donor Profiles" — paid plans start at $99/month.

Pros:

• Detailed profiles

• Activity tracking

• Custom donor communications

• Security

• Integrations

• Flexible payment methods

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Cons:

• Limited free plan

• Only basic CRM functions

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Best for:

‍Nonprofits that want to give their donors multiple ways to give.

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Testimonial:

‍“Using RallyUp these past couple of years to facilitate our fundraising events has been an absolute breeze! With all of the current amazing features and all of the new features that keep evolving- It was almost as if this software was made and tailored specifically to what we needed!” ‍—Stephanie B. 

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Manage your donors for free — with Zeffy

Choosing the right nonprofit CRM for your organization is essential to make the most impact as possible. From sending custom email marketing campaigns to automating tasks and creating detailed contact profiles, the right platform can help you build connections that last.

With Zeffy, nonprofits can take advantage of all of the best CRM and donor management tools available in the industry, without paying a cent. With easy filtering and segmenting, data import and export, plus a whole suite of other fundraising tools available right on the platform, Zeffy helps nonprofits do more for less.

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Frequently asked questions about free CRMs for nonprofits

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