This article was written by Tom Kadota, Principal Solutions Engineer.
If you’re serious about growth in 2025, the right nonprofit CRM (constituent relationship management) isn’t optional—it’s the backbone of modern fundraising. A good platform helps you know your donors, spot trends, automate the busy work, and run smarter campaigns across email, web, events, and peer-to-peer. Below you’ll find the 10 best CRMs for nonprofits this year, who they fit best, and the key features that matter when you’re choosing.
Why a nonprofit CRM matters now
Nonprofits live on relationships: donors, members, volunteers, partners, and beneficiaries. A CRM pulls every touchpoint into one place so your team can:
- See a full history for each supporter (gifts, emails, events, pledges).
- Personalise outreach at scale (segments, journeys, dynamic content).
- Track campaigns and appeals with clean reporting and dashboards.
- Automate routine work (thank-yous, receipting, task assignment).
- Integrate online giving, forms, events, accounting, advocacy, and more.
With online giving, recurring gifts, and data privacy expectations rising, a strong CRM is how you protect data, prove impact, and keep retention high.
What to look for (and why it matters)
- Donor management & retention: Households, soft credits, pledges, LYBUNT/SYBUNT, moves management.
- Email, SMS & journeys: Segmentation, automation, A/B testing, deliverability tools.
- Online giving & events: Mobile-friendly forms, peer-to-peer fundraising, ticketing, tap-to-pay.
- Volunteer & membership: Shifts and hours, renewals, member portals.
- Reporting & analytics: Saved reports, dashboards, exports, trend analysis without SQL.
- Integrations: Accounting, email tools, payment processors, wealth screening, advocacy.
- Data model & scalability: Start small, add users and modules as you grow—without rework.
The top 10 nonprofit CRMs in 2025 (quick picks)
- Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud — Best for complex, multi-program organisations.
- Bloomerang (with Kindful capabilities) — Best for donor retention and ease of use.
- Neon CRM (Neon One) — Best all-in-one for events, memberships, and online giving.
- DonorPerfect — Best flexible “workhorse” for growing teams.
- Bonterra EveryAction — Best for fundraising plus digital advocacy.
- Bonterra Network for Good — Best guided fundraising for small teams.
- Little Green Light — Best budget-friendly donor database for small to midsize orgs.
- Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT — Best for enterprise fundraising and major gifts.
- Virtuous — Best automation and personalisation at scale.
- Kindful — Legacy option now under Bloomerang; notable for integrations and simplicity.
In-depth reviews and fit notes
1) Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud
Salesforce offers modules for fundraising, program/outcomes, and grantmaking on a highly configurable platform that scales from one department to enterprise. Expect deep integrations, strong data governance, and robust dashboards. Implementation takes planning and admin time, but the payoff is flexibility and long-term scalability.
Best for: Multi-program charities, federations, and orgs with partner or in-house admin capacity.
2) Bloomerang (Kindful capabilities included)
Bloomerang focuses on retention with clean dashboards and built-in email. After bringing Kindful under its wing, it also shines on integrations and online giving. Teams appreciate the friendly UI and practical reporting. It’s less custom than enterprise tools, but gets small and midsize teams moving fast.
Best for: Small to midsize nonprofits prioritising donor retention and quick wins.
3) Neon CRM (Neon One)
Neon bundles donor management, events, memberships, forms, email, and reporting. The ecosystem approach simplifies logins and reduces connector sprawl. Reporting is powerful once you learn it—schedule training and document key reports early.
Best for: Teams wanting breadth in one system and willing to invest in onboarding.
4) DonorPerfect
A proven platform covering donations, pledges, events, volunteers, and mailings with strong custom fields and workflows. It integrates with popular giving and communications tools and has a large user community. Plan clear data governance to keep fields and reports tidy.
Best for: Orgs that need flexibility without rebuilding their stack.
5) Bonterra EveryAction
EveryAction stands out for digital campaigns and advocacy alongside fundraising. List growth, targeted email, and online actions are core strengths. Reporting is solid, and the product continues to evolve within the broader Bonterra suite.
Best for: Advocacy-forward teams and multi-channel outreach.
6) Bonterra Network for Good
Designed for small teams, it offers guided fundraising, simple donor tools, and built-in communications. The emphasis is on approachability and coaching, so you can move from setup to action quickly.
Best for: Small nonprofits that need a friendly donor database with smart prompts.
7) Little Green Light
A budget-friendly donor database with thoughtful features for coding, moves, events, and mail merges. Add online gifts via compatible tools. Known for clean pricing and approachable docs; great as a first CRM.
Best for: First-time CRMs and lean development teams.
8) Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT
A long-time enterprise leader with deep gift processing, portfolios, analytics, and integrations across the Blackbaud ecosystem. Strong for major gifts and complex reporting. Requires disciplined implementation and training.
Best for: Established shops with structured fundraising operations.
9) Virtuous
Virtuous leans into responsive fundraising and automation. Unify email, SMS, and mail; build journeys; and use built-in insights to scale one-to-one style outreach. Pricing is bundle-based; plan features you’ll actually use.
Best for: Teams ready to automate workflows and personalise at scale.
10) Kindful
Kindful built its reputation on ease of use and integrations and now lives under Bloomerang’s umbrella. Many nonprofits still run it successfully, though future-minded buyers often choose Bloomerang directly.
Best for: Small orgs that value a straightforward donor database with clean forms.
How to choose (a simple path)
- List must-haves: e.g., recurring upgrades, pledges, memberships, volunteer shifts.
- Map integrations: Accounting, email, forms, payments, wealth, grants.
- Test reporting: Recreate three monthly reports in each finalist and time it.
- Pilot first: Import a sample, run a 30-day mini-campaign, review data hygiene.
- Plan change management: Assign a data owner, document fields, book quarterly cleanups.
FAQs
What is the best CRM for a small nonprofit?
Bloomerang and Little Green Light are favourites for small teams; Neon CRM is strong if you also need memberships and events.
Is Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud replacing NPSP?
Salesforce is guiding orgs from NPSP to the newer Nonprofit Cloud, which adds modern fundraising and outcomes features.
Which CRM has the strongest automation?
Virtuous stands out for responsive fundraising and automated journeys across email, SMS, and mail.
Final recommendation
- Enterprise flexibility: Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud or Raiser’s Edge NXT.
- Quick donor-retention wins: Bloomerang (with Kindful’s DNA).
- All-in-one with advocacy: EveryAction.
- Starting out or lean: Little Green Light or Network for Good.
- Automation at scale: Virtuous.
Choose two finalists, run a real pilot, and pick the one your team enjoys using—adoption is everything.