Soapbox Engage Blog

To start fundraising online and operating as a new nonprofit organization, you'll need the right tools on your side!

With the ever-growing necessity of online fundraising and donor engagement, having the right technology to support your strategies is critical. From donate buttons to donation processing software and email marketing tools, software is essential for organizations of all sizes. Inexpensive and free fundraising software has made it easier than ever for growing organizations to start securing support.

But how do you know where to start your search? We've got you covered.

 We'll walk through a few top picks for the best free nonprofit software and fundraising tools, broken down into these categories:

• Top All-in-One Nonprofit Software
• Free Fundraising Software
• Free Nonprofit Software for Marketing and Management
• Other Nonprofit Tools to Explore

Plus, we'll cover a few bonus tips for picking the right fundraising software for your organization as you grow. Ready to get started? Let's dive in.

Top All-in-One Nonprofit Software | Soapbox Engage

The Soapbox Engage suite of fundraising software is the perfect way to get up and running with nonprofit tech quickly. Our apps can handle any aspect of online engagement that a growing organization might need, including:

• Donation buttons, forms, and payment processing
• Event and class registration pages
• Custom forms and directories for your site
• Online petitions and advocacy actions
• eCommerce functions to create an online shop

While not free (learn more about the risks of 100% free software below), the Soapbox suite of fundraising and engagement software is an affordable long-term choice for growing organizations. As standalone apps that work seamlessly with one another, the Soapbox tools are a customizable, professional-grade choice that grows alongside your organization.

Many smaller nonprofits struggle to find the right technology that fits between free (but inflexible tools) and expensive, enterprise-level platforms. Starting at $49/month per app that you add to your toolkit, the Soapbox Engage suite fills this gap and empowers growing organizations to customize their toolkits in ways that truly fit their needs. 

Explore these success stories to learn more about how organizations use Soapbox Engage apps to fundraise online like pros without breaking the bank.

Free Fundraising Software | Great Picks

Fundly: Free Fundraising Software for Crowdfunding

Overview of this Free Fundraising Software

Fundly is a leading crowdfunding platform for nonprofits and individuals raising money for specific projects. With the ability to launch campaigns, promote them on social media, and highlight your cause with compelling photos and videos, Fundly has everything you need to start raising crowdfunding. Plus, unlike other platforms, there are no minimum fundraising requirements in order to keep your funds.

Why It Stands Out

While crowdfunding has been a popular online fundraising method for many years, not all platforms are designed with nonprofits in mind. Fundly includes features designed to generate more value for organizations, like a Facebook OpenGraph integration, contact importation, and mobile-optimized campaign pages. With these features and a solid crowdfunding strategy in place, your growing organization can start expanding its online footprint on Fundly.

Bonfire: Free Fundraising Software for Merchandise

Overview of this Free Fundraising Software

Bonfire is a merchandising platform for nonprofits and individuals who are looking to sell custom t-shirts to supporters. Merchandise is a reliable fundraising technique for organizations of all sizes because it gives supporters a tangible reminder of your cause, which directly deepens your relationships. Plus, branded apparel serves as a great marketing technique! Bonfire makes it easier than ever to design and sell your branded merch online.

Why It Stands Out

Bonfire's merchandise design and sales tools stand out because they offer flexibility that many comparable platforms don't. With Bonfire, you can place bulk orders of your merchandise or sell and ship directly to supporters through their website. Plus, nonprofits benefit from reduced processing fees and a completely risk-free process. 

Double the Donation: Great Fundraising Software for Corporate Philanthropy

Overview of this Nonprofit Fundraising Software

Double the Donation helps nonprofits of all sizes tap into an underutilized funding source, corporate matching gifts. These corporate philanthropy programs allow eligible employees to claim financial matches, paid by their employers, to double the impact of their donations to nonprofits. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies have bolstered their matching gift programs, making this an increasingly valuable resource for organizations.

Why It Stands Out

While not free, Double the Donation's comprehensive corporate philanthropy database and search tool can help you raise more than ever with very little added effort. By promoting matching gifts to your online donors and directing them to an easy search tool, you can unlock new levels of funding to support your missions' long-term growth.

Snowball: Free Fundraising Software for Text-to-Give

Overview of this Free Fundraising Software

Snowball is an online fundraising software provider that specializes in text-to-give. With this tool, your donors can easily text their donation to your cause, making it an effective choice for virtual and in-person fundraising alike. Snowball's tools are ideal for very new organizations looking to reach wider audiences online.

Why It Stands Out

Like the Soapbox Engage suite of fundraising apps, Snowball's text-to-give tool is designed to help smaller nonprofits get started with professional-grade fundraising software. Plus, it provides a lightning-fast donation experience for donors, keeping them engaged and securing more support over the long-run. Snowball's starter pack of fundraising features is free to use, with advanced text-to-give available in the next tiered package.

GoFundMe Charity: Free Fundraising Software for Social Fundraising

Overview of this Free Fundraising Software

GoFundMe has long been a leader in the individual crowdfunding space, but GoFundMe Charity, their larger package of nonprofit-specific fundraising software, is a great choice for growing organizations, too. With social fundraising tools, complete data reporting options, and customization features to ensure cohesive branding, this platform can help you grow your reach online.

Why It Stands Out

As the largest social fundraising platform, GoFundMe gives your nonprofit access to an established and wide-reaching network of passionate users looking for causes to support. Tapping into that resource with intuitive fundraising software and technology is a win-win for nonprofits looking to take their crowdfunding to the next level.

Free Nonprofit Software | Marketing and Management Tools

Salesforce Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP): Best Free Nonprofit Software for Data Management

Overview of this Free Fundraising Software

The Salesforce Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP) is a free offering from the leading cloud-based CRM platform designed just for nonprofits. It consists of a set of pre-configured settings and tools for organizations to get started building out their own customized database solution. While the implementation and customization processes do require an investment of time and resources, nonprofits that follow through with the NPSP can see major benefits over time.

Why It Stands Out

The Salesforce NPSP is a game-changer for organizations that effectively adopt it. With complete access to your data and control over how you manage and analyze it, you can continually refine your strategies and strengthen relationships with donors. Plus, the Salesforce ecosystem is full of intuitive software (like our own apps!) designed to plug seamlessly into your CRM system, providing more integrated functionality and streamlined data flow.

CiviCRM: Best Free Nonprofit Software for Open Source Data Management

Overview of this Free Fundraising Software

CiviCRM is an open-source CRM platform for nonprofits, providing a high level of flexibility and customization for free. For growing organizations, smarter data management can unlock new levels of growth over time. Like the Salesforce NPSP, the free base CRM from CiviCRM can be an effective long-term investment in your own growth.

Why It Stands Out

Your organization can customize nearly every aspect of CiviCRM to create the perfect solution tailored specifically for your needs. Although this might be easier for tech-savvy organizations, CiviCRM's extensive network of partners, consultants, and sponsors ensures you won't be on your own!

Hootsuite: Top Nonprofit Software for Social Media Marketing

Overview of this Inexpensive Fundraising Software

Hootsuite is a leading platform for social media marketing, helping you to centralize your organization's social profiles for easier, more effective management. With robust scheduling, collaboration, design, and communication features, Hootsuite makes it easy to manage your nonprofit's Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and more all from one place.

Why It Stands Out

While not free (starting at $29/month), Hootsuite's features fill a crucial gap for many organizations. While social media is more important than ever for fundraising and donor engagement, it can be very difficult for small teams to effectively manage each channel. With centralized, professional-grade features, you can easily stay on track and keep up with each of these critical outlets. 

Wild Apricot: Best Free Nonprofit Software for Memberships

Overview of this Great Fundraising Software

Wild Apricot is a membership management solution for nonprofit organizations, associations, and clubs. Free for small programs with affordable tiered plans as you grow, this solution is an effective pick for growing nonprofits that want dedicated member management tools without paying for an enterprise-level solution.

Why It Stands Out

Membership programs represent a valuable opportunity for nonprofits to deepen relationships with supporters and raise additional funding through dues. However, without tools designed specifically for managing and communicating with those members, the logistics can quickly become overwhelming. An easy-to-use solution like Wild Apricot is a great way to streamline the membership management process for smaller organizations.

Mailchimp: Best Free Nonprofit Software for Email Marketing

Overview of this Free Fundraising Software

Mailchimp is an all-in-one email marketing platform for organizations of all shapes and sizes. Their intuitive email creation, scheduling, and audience segmentation features make it easy to launch your own email marketing campaign. Plus, built-in audience CRM tools and reporting let you track performance over time and refine your campaigns as needed to effectively reach more supporters.

Why It Stands Out

Digital marketing can be an overwhelming undertaking for brand new organizations and small teams. Creating email campaigns, tracking engagement, and expanding to social media advertising might feel out of reach, but platforms like Mailchimp make it easier than ever to get started. Plus, Mailchimp offers a complete, free package with everything you'll need to begin marketing like a pro.

Asana: Best Free Nonprofit Software for Project Management

Overview of this Free Fundraising Software

Asana is an online platform that helps teams manage and track their projects from start to finish. Especially as working remotely becomes the new norm for many organizations, effective project management is critical for planning, executing, and driving campaign results while keeping everyone on the same page.

Why It Stands Out

Asana stands out as an online project management platform because it offers an expansive range of features and intuitive workflows that comparable software can't match. Plus, it's free for small teams up to 15 people! Ideal for small nonprofit teams, stronger project management support can help ensure all of your efforts stay on track, ultimately driving more value for your mission.

Other Tools for Nonprofits | Free & Inexpensive Options

Mobilize: Great Nonprofit Software for Volunteer Recruitment

Overview of this Top Fundraising Software

Mobilize is a leading platform for nonprofits, advocacy organizations, and political campaigns for recruiting and managing volunteers. Ideal for in-person and virtual events, this platform can drive more engagement for your organization, deepening your relationships and expanding your reach to new supporters in the process.

Why It Stands Out

With a rapidly growing network of over 2 million dedicated volunteers looking for new opportunities, the Mobilize platform and its built-in volunteer tracking, communication, and follow-up tools can be a game-changer for your staffed events and virtual programs. Organizations using Mobilize have seen increases of up to 30% in attendance through online signups!

Fundraising Report Card: Leading Free Nonprofit Software for Data Analysis

Overview of this Free Fundraising Software

Fundraising Report Card is a simple, highly accessible tool for nonprofits to analyze their fundraising performance. With pre-set dashboards for reviewing a wide range of fundraising and engagement metrics, Fundraising Report Card can help even the smallest nonprofits track and analyze their data like long-time data experts.

Why It Stands Out

As a completely free resource, Fundraising Report Card is invaluable for nonprofits of all sizes. However, for growing organizations, learning as much as possible from campaign data is often a major blind spot. With easy-to-use analytics tools and report export functions, you can fill that gap in your strategy and stay on top of any new opportunities to strengthen your fundraising approach.

DonorSearch: Great Free Nonprofit Software for Prospect Research

Overview of this Free Fundraising Software

DonorSearch is a philanthropic database and software provider for nonprofit prospect research. For nonprofits that are ready to begin identifying and soliciting major gifts, the ability to quickly screen your donor database for individuals with both the proven ability and desire to make larger gifts can be invaluable.

Why It Stands Out

While the complete set of prospecting tools from DonorSearch isn't free, they do offer a free resource that can help any nonprofit - the DSGiving search tool. Use this tool to search the names of your prominent donors to discover new opportunities to deepen your relationships and steward their long-term support.

File990: Leading Nonprofit Software for Tax Filing

Overview of this Inexpensive Fundraising Software

File990 is a software provider focused solely on helping nonprofits more easily handle their annual Form 990. As a certified e-filer, this tool's automated reminders and EIN importation features take the guesswork and stress out of tackling this annual task. It's especially useful for larger organizations with multiple chapters and departments, but smaller nonprofits can benefit from its features, as well.

Why It Stands Out

Staying on top of filing your necessary documents with the IRS is critical for maintaining your 501(c)(3) status, so any resource that helps you manage and track the process is useful. With File990, it's free to start filing your Form 990 and compiling your necessary data. 

ClickTime: Great Nonprofit Software for Time Tracking

Overview of this Inexpensive Fundraising Software

ClickTime is the easiest way to equip your organization with online time tracking tools. With a mobile app, customizable fields, and easy-to-use timesheets, ClickTime is a valuable resource for your project management toolkit. Quickly track project progress, manage employee time, and ensure complete compliance by giving staff a simple way to record their time worked.

Why It Stands Out

As more nonprofits adapt to remote work environments, keeping an entire team on the same page and your projects on track can become a challenge. Time tracking is an effective way to keep your campaigns, projects, and other internal operations on track, even from a distance. 

Join.me: Great Nonprofit Software for Remote Communication

Overview of this Inexpensive Fundraising Software

Join.me is an online conferencing platform for organizations that are looking for communication features beyond video calls alone. With comprehensive video and audio conferencing, collaborative whiteboard, and screen sharing features, Join.me offers a full set of remote communication tools to help your team stay aligned.

Why It Stands Out

Join.me's mobile apps and collaboration tools set it apart from comparable platforms. The flexibility to work together from anywhere can be a game-changer for organizations of all sizes, particularly amid the shifting nature of work in 2020 and beyond. For small teams, Join.me's tools are only $10/month per user.

Bonus Tips: Choosing the Right Free Fundraising Software

With so many inexpensive and free fundraising software solutions on the market, it can definitely be challenging to pick the right tools for your organization's unique needs. This is especially true for smaller nonprofits that don't have much experience working with professional-grade software yet.

There are a few key characteristics to look for in any software that your nonprofit adopts, regardless of price. These include:

• Nonprofit-specificity. Whenever possible and relevant, use software designed specifically for nonprofits over more general solutions made for businesses.
• Support. Dedicated support will be crucial when you invest time and resources into building your toolkit. Make sure you can get the help you need the moment you need it.
• Customization. Being able to customize your solutions to some degree to better fit your needs is invaluable. Your database or CRM is a great example. For donor-facing software, like donation tools, make sure you can customize the appearance of your forms and pages. This will ensure a smoother, more consistent donor experience.
• Data reporting. Any software that generates data should provide you with handy reports that detail your organization's performance. For the next level of efficiency, look for tools that integrate with one another, especially with your CRM.
• Scalability as you grow. Needing to constantly upgrade your toolkit as your organization grows becomes expensive and logistically challenging over time. 

This last characteristic, scalability, is particularly important. It's also why completely free fundraising software isn't always the best move for every organization. While free nonprofit software is helpful when your organization is very small, it can start to hold you back as you outgrow them.

For instance, free donation software that processes donations but doesn't offer robust data reporting won't do much to help you refine your strategies for raising more support. Additionally, a donation page that can't be fully customized to match your organization's brand will ultimately generate less engagement as donors might be unsure of the page's security or relation to your nonprofit.

Whenever possible, proactively plan for your growth by investing in more scalable, customizable, and flexible software. Investing in suites of integrated apps can be a smart choice that enables you to expand your toolkit as needed without having to start from scratch with brand new systems. 

Learn More about Online Fundraising

To keep learning about online fundraising and the world of nonprofit software, check out a few additional resources from the Soapbox Engage blog:

• Tips for Virtual Peer-to-Peer Fundraising. Peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns are a great way for smaller organizations to reach larger audiences online. Learn the basics with this guide.
• 3 Soft Skills Every Fundraiser Needs. Fundraising isn't just about tech! Make sure your team has the communication and management skills needed to succeed, too.
• Write a Fundraising Plan That Converts More Donors. A complete strategy will always perform better than a patchwork approach. Develop your fundraising plan with these pro tips.