How is Zeffy free?
How is Zeffy free?
Zeffy relies entirely on optional contributions from donors. At the payment confirmation step - we ask donors to leave an optional contribution to Zeffy.
Learn more >
Nonprofit software

How to Choose Donation Management Software (& Free Options to Simplify Fundraising)

June 10, 2025

The only 100% free
fundraising platform for nonprofits

Sign up for free

Donation management software is a vital tool for organizations looking to navigate the complexities of fundraising. The right tools can streamline the donation process, strengthen donor relationships, and empower nonprofits to raise more. However, there are many donation management systems from which to choose.

Here’s how nonprofits can simplify donation management and why free, nonprofit-focused tools like Zeffy are ideal. In this blog, we'll showcase how you can simplify donation management, and showcase why free, nonprofit-focused tools like Zeffy make all the difference.

Top Donation Management Tools for Nonprofits

What is Donation Management Software, and Why It Matters

Donation management software is an online tool designed to help organizations track and oversee donors and their gifts. Most donation management software features donation tracking, donor management, payment processing, reporting, and additional fundraising tools.

This software aims to streamline the donation process, from marketing and collecting donations to acknowledging and building donor relationships. There are excellent donor management software options for nonprofit organizations of every size.

Donation management benefits

  • Improved outreach: Automated collection, recording, and tax receipts streamline the donation process and track significant donor behavior trends and information that helps you strengthen your fundraising strategy. 
  • Stronger relationships: You can collect donations and donor information in a centralized database and more easily create and send personalized communication.
  • Effective fundraising efforts: Donor management software provides insights into your donor base's most effective fundraising strategies.
  • Secure payment processing: With donation management that comes with built-in payment processing, you can securely process multiple payment methods and ensure the safety of collecting and storing donor details.
  • Proactive reporting: Donation history reports and analytics offer insight into donation patterns, donor behavior, and the effectiveness of fundraising efforts.

What is the Difference Between Donation Tracking and Donor Management?

While the terms are often used interchangeably, donation tracking and donor management are two distinct aspects of running your nonprofit.

Responsive Table
Donation tracking Donor management
Focus • When donations were made
• Amounts
• Payment methods
• Campaign supported
• Totals and averages
• Giving history
• Engagement patterns
• Communication preferences
• Personal details (e.g., birthdays, notes)
Tools to help A feature of fundraising software A donor CRM or donor management platform

6 Key Features Nonprofits Need in Donation Software

1. Zero-fee fundraising 

Many nonprofits are desperate for donor management software solutions that don’t break the bank. When choosing software, several online tools let donors cover processing fees, but only Zeffy provides 100% free donor management and fundraising software tools that never charge a transaction or platform fee.

2. Donation Tracking

‍Nonprofits can use intuitive donor management software to track the success of fundraising efforts and monitor donor engagement, including:

  • Online donations
  • Recurring donor and donation tracking
  • Offline donations
  • In-kind donations
  • Pledges 

3. Automated Processes

‍Time is of the essence when it comes to nonprofit fundraising efforts. Many donor software tools automate ways to track supporters and personalize donor communications with:

  • Tax receipts
  • Reminder emails
  • Duplicate checker 
  • Automated reports
  • Donor-controlled recurring donations

4. Customization

‍Custom donation fields and data reports help organizations fill out donor records. These can help develop relationships with donors, including the opportunity to:

  • Add notes on each donor
  • Integrate with emails and other software tools
  • Branded donation forms

5. Donor Segmenting 

The ability to segment donors based on program interests, ability to pay, and campaigns or events that have received their support will increase donor retention. Custom reports and donor analytics that group donors based on the way they interact with your organization can be essential to building relationships based on data driven decisions.

6. Easy to Use

‍Nonprofits rarely have their own IT staff, so finding an easy-to-use donation management software is necessary. Software companies that provide training increase the ability of organizations to customize and scale services to their needs.

More Information to Guide You on Donation Management Features

Can donation management software track in-kind and offline donations?

Many platforms allow users to manually input and track in-kind (non-cash) and offline donations and let you do things like:

  • Categorize donations
  • Add donor notes
  • Assign fair market values for in-kind gifts


Can donation management software integrate with fundraising tools?

Most modern donation management software integrates seamlessly with popular fundraising tools such as email marketing platforms, event registration software, and CRM systems. These integrations help streamline donor communication, automate tasks, and provide a unified view of donor engagement across multiple channels.

Which donation software supports recurring donations?

Tools like Zeffy will account for recurring donations and track all the details you need to have thoughtful follow-up, personalized outreach, and track how donors give over time.

Why Traditional CRM Tools Fall Short for Small Nonprofits

For many nonprofits, especially small to mid-sized ones, managing donors with traditional CRM tools can feel like fitting a square peg into a round hole. These platforms are often built for sales or corporate customer relationships, not the nuanced and heart-centered work of nurturing donor support with a lean team that usually has way more on their plates than just donor management.

Tracking donations, segmenting donor lists, generating receipts, and sending timely thank-yous are important priorities, but you might find that even the fanciest of CRM tools isn’t built for nonprofits. 

You may find yourself dealing with the headache of: 

  • Custom field requirements
  • Clunky workarounds to get simple tasks done
  • Trouble reaching customer support that understands your needs
  • Add-ons that weren’t designed with fundraising in mind

Nonprofits also need to track more than dollars and transactions. The best data to improve fundraising approaches and relationship building is based on donor intent, campaign history, giving frequency, and engagement levels. 

Unfortunately, traditional CRMs like Salesforce or HubSpot can’t consistently deliver on these critical data points in the same simple way as dedicated donation management software can.

Is it Worth Paying for Donation Management Software or Using a Free Option?

As you dive into donation management software options, it's only natural that you might run into the budget conversation. Do you need to pay to get results? Does free mean a lack of features? Is there a truly free option, or will hidden fees creep in anyway?

We’re here to help clear the air.

Simplifying Donor Management & Saving You Money

A robust donation management platform might sound nice, but if it leaves you with more stress to get things set up, complicated features that aren’t user-friendly for beginners, and paying for features you don’t use, is it the best solution? 

Let’s compare :

Responsive Table
Zeffy’s free donation management solution A paid donation management solution
• No cost, fees, or price for upgrades
• Simple to use tools
• Integral features for nonprofits, without the fluff you don’t need and likely won’t use
• Customer support is on your side
• Robust features that may feel overwhelming
• Cost to use the solution, upgrades, and fees that add up over time
• Steep learning curves to use features adequately

For smaller teams or those just beginning to scale, these tools can feel overwhelming or misaligned with your actual day-to-day needs, making a solution like Zeffy a great place to start and grow with.

Zeffy: The 100% free donation management solution

Zeffy is the only 100% free donation management software for nonprofits. The user-friendly platform helps small to mid-sized organizations collect donations with recurring giving, peer-to-peer campaigns, event registration, raffle tickets, product sales, and customized donation pages. ‍

Key Donation Tracking Features

  • Zero-free fundraising platform
  • Add notes to donor files
  • Automatic tax-receipts
  • Filter donors by transaction date, amount donated, and campaign contributed to
  • Set up automated reminder emails
  • Pre-filled fundraising campaign forms

Why Nonprofits Choose Zeffy

  • 100% free (no platform or processing fees)
  • Intuitive interface with a minimal learning curve
  • Automated tax receipts and reminder emails
  • Donor segmentation and note-taking donor management features
  • Campaign customization (peer-to-peer, raffles, etc.)
  • Integrates well with websites and event tools

Pricing‍

100% free for all features, including payment processing. No hidden fees.

User Feedback

‍"Zeffy is incredibly easy to use. We have a lot of operational constraints that make it difficult for us to learn new platforms, and Zeffy has proven to be very intuitive. Plus, it's free, which makes a huge difference in providing health mental health education and resources to our community." - Penaaz S.

Other Popular Donation Management Tools

Donation Management Software Best for Standout Feature Pricing G2 Ratings

Zeffy

New and small nonprofits looking for free way to collect and use donation details

zero-free fundraising

100% free

4.9/5

DonorPerfect

Mid-size nonprofits looking to better understand donor's needs and interests

Task assignments and alerts

Packages start at $99/month

4.4/5

Bloomerang

Nonprofits interested in soliciting major donors and starting a planned giving program

Daily NCOA updates

Membership management starts at $25/month, CRM begins at $125/month

4.7/5

Funraise

International nonprofits

Automated team member assignments

Free package includes a 2.99% + $0.30 per transaction

4.4/5

Blackbaud

Nonprofits interested in major donor prospecting

Interaction and relationship tracking

Custom pricing

3.5/5

FAQ: Donation Management Software for Nonprofits

Nonprofits track donations using donor management or donation tracking software. These platforms typically offer:

  • Automated donation recording
  • Donor databases that collect details like giving history and engagement
  • Tax receipt generation
  • Analytics and reporting to track trends and performance
  • Donor segmentation for personalized communication
  • Top tools like Zeffy offer features such as recurring donation tracking, donor profiles, campaign performance monitoring, and automated email follow-ups.

    The best donation platform depends on your fundraising needs:

  • Zeffy is the best all-around free donation platform, that is 100% free with no platform or processing fees.
  • Funraise offers a modern, mobile-friendly donation experience and international support.
  • If your priority is saving on fees, Zeffy is unmatched.

    Yes, Zeffy is entirely free for nonprofits. It covers all platform and transaction fees, including credit card processing, so your organization receives 100% of each donation. Zeffy operates on a unique model where donors can leave a voluntary tip to support the platform, but this is optional. This approach allows Zeffy to serve over 50,000 nonprofits without charging them fees.

    Yes, Zeffy enables you to manage and track donations across multiple fundraising campaigns. You can create various campaign types, including donation forms, peer-to-peer campaigns, raffles, and auctions.

    Each campaign has its customizable donation form and dashboard, allowing you to monitor real-time progress, donor activity, and fundraising goals. Additionally, Zeffy provides tools like fundraising thermometers and detailed reporting to help you analyze and compare the performance of different campaigns.

    Get started to experience data-driven fundraising.

    Zeffy offers a free CRM and donation management tool built specifically for nonprofits to organize donor data. It includes:

  • Donor tracking
  • Campaign management
  • Recurring donation tools
  • Tax receipt automation
  • Donor segmentation
  • Zeffy is 100% free, including payment processing, making it ideal for nonprofits with limited budgets or those just starting.

    Keep reading :

    Nonprofit software
    Best Donation Apps for Nonprofits in 2025 (Free & Mobile-Friendly)

    Explore 11 top donation apps with free options. Check out our 2025 guide to pick the right one for your nonprofit, as an individual, or for your business.

    Read more
    Nonprofit guides
    The Ultimate Guide to Nonprofit Donation Receipts

    Discover the essential guide to nonprofit donation receipts. Learn IRS requirements, formats, and how to create free, compliant receipts with Zeffy.

    Read more

    Raise funds with Zeffy. 100% free, forever.

    Sign up for free
    Thank you! Your submission has been received!
    Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

    More fundraising tips, straight to your inbox!

    Join 250K+ fundraising leaders receiving exclusive tips

    Get weekly fundraising tips from nonprofits experts

    Thank you! Your submission has been received!
    Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

    Zeffy is the only 100% free fundraising platform for nonprofits.

    Get tailored fundraising ideas—free AI tool!

    Find your ideal grant among thousands—free AI tool!

    Start your nonprofit in 3 days—for free.