The difference between a good year and a great one often comes down to the tools you use to power your work. While your team might have the right nonprofit management skills, they can only do so much on their own. The right tools will empower them to fulfill their roles more efficiently and better serve your community.
Your tools are the foundation of your nonprofit’s operations. They help you streamline tasks, reduce manual errors, and cut costs. Investing in the right tools allows you to make better use of your resources and build flourishing donor relationships. But how do you know what the right tools are? To help you out, we will cover six essential tools every nonprofit should have in 2025.
These tools will help position your organization as tech-savvy and forward-thinking while giving you all the necessary functionality to meet your goals.
1. A donor database
To get to know your donors better, you must actively collect donor data. The best way to store and organize this data is with a donor database or constituent relationship management (CRM) system. Depending on your database, you might have access to many other helpful features beyond data storage. For example, some databases enable you to segment donors, send targeted communications, and automatically track and report on the success of those communications.
Donation forms, event registrations, and other forms are a great source of donor data, and integrations with your forms allow this data to flow directly into your donor database.
NonProfitEasy’s donor database guide recommends looking for the following features before buying a solution:
- Custom fields help tailor donor records to capture specific data relevant to your mission.
- Detailed donor profiles provide a comprehensive view of donor history, preferences, and interactions to form deeper donor relationships.
- Donor segmentation enables you to group donors by commonalities like giving levels, interests, or geographic location to send tailored messages.
- Easy reporting generates insights on fundraising performance to make data-driven decisions and showcase impact to stakeholders.
- Software scalability ensures the database can grow alongside your organization.
- Integrations allow seamless connectivity with other tools, like email marketing platforms, for streamlined workflows and unified operations.
To find the best fit for your organization, list all your must-have features. After narrowing down suitable providers, demo the software to ensure it meets your expectations.
2. Fundraising software
Whether you are collecting one-time online donations, running a peer-to-peer fundraiser, or trying out crowdfunding, fundraising technology can streamline campaign planning and reduce costs. Plus, accepting online contributions eliminates geographical barriers and makes giving more convenient, leading to a better donor experience and higher retention rates.
Beyond streamlining campaign planning and processing payments, fundraising software can also help market your fundraisers and create analytics reports. In turn, your team can measure and compare the performance of different campaigns to determine what does and doesn’t work.
Depending on the campaigns you run, these types of fundraising tools may be helpful:
- Online donation forms: Collecting donations online is essential for today’s nonprofits. Look for online donation form builders that are customizable, mobile-responsive, secure, and capable of supporting recurring donations.
- Crowdfunding platforms: These tools empower you to fund projects by gathering contributions from a broad audience. They hinge on collective support and are driven by social media sharing. Fundly’s guide to crowdfunding sites recommends looking for a platform with low fees, quick payouts, and helpful customer support. Check that your site supports fundraising in your country, too.
- Text-to-give: This tool empowers donors to contribute to your nonprofit by sending a keyword to a designated phone number, enabling a quick donation process. Look for secure text-to-give tools that allow custom keywords and messages for specific campaigns.
Determine your specific fundraising needs and choose a system that integrates with your other tools, such as your database. Above all, your fundraising software should improve the donor experience, whether supporters are giving on your website or through an external platform.
3. Professional development tools
Providing your employees, volunteers, and board members with professional development opportunities is key to advancing your nonprofit’s mission. Motivate your employees and volunteers to stick with your organization by helping them build critical skills. Technology can help you offer training opportunities such as:
- Certification Programs: Industry-recognized certifications in nonprofit leadership, fundraising, and management equip individuals with essential expertise to enhance how they carry out their responsibilities. For example, your team can earn the Certified Nonprofit Professional (CNP) credential through online programs focusing on 10 core competencies for excelling in the nonprofit sector.
- Online platforms: Flexible, on-demand nonprofit courses are ideal for individuals seeking targeted knowledge without wanting to commit to a formal certification. Learners can explore specific areas of interest like grant writing or impact measurement, build skills incrementally, and apply insights immediately.
- Interactive Training Modules: For employees looking for experiential learning experiences, provide self-paced, scenario-based training that simulates real-world challenges in nonprofit operations.
Remote volunteers or employees, in particular, need access to digital training tools. Help them be more effective in their roles and do more for your cause with the right platforms.
4. Workplace giving database
Companies donate a considerable amount to nonprofits. While workplace giving programs generate $5 billion, nonprofits still overlook many revenue opportunities. In fact, an estimated $4-7 billion just in matching gift funds go unmatched every year.
Often, donors are unsure if their company offers these programs, whether they qualify, or how to find the correct forms. To help your busy donors, find charitable companies to request donations from by leveraging a workplace giving database. These platforms consolidate guidelines and processes for individual companies’ programs, like:
- Matching gifts: Companies match their employees’ charitable donations, effectively doubling or tripling the impact of each gift. Different programs have different match ratios, minimum donation requirements, restrictions on causes, and other stipulations.
- Volunteer grants: Companies donate to nonprofits where their employees volunteer, providing financial support based on hours served. These programs may have minimum hour requirements and varying grant amounts.
- Volunteer time off (VTO): Some companies allow employees to take paid time off to volunteer. They might only allow VTO for approved organizations, cap the number of VTO hours, or have specific verification requirements.
These programs help cultivate stronger volunteer and donor relationships by expanding their impact. Ensure your system allows donors and volunteers to search for their employers’ requirements and forms. You might add your searchable database to your donation form, volunteer page, or “Ways to Give” page. Baking the research process into the online giving experience makes it much easier for supporters to submit a matching gift, volunteer grant, or VTO request!
5. Event management software
Virtual events require a different set of best practices to ensure they are just as engaging as in-person ones. Hybrid events, which leverage elements of both virtual and in-person ones, have a slightly more complicated event management process.
Investing in a versatile event management platform ensures your organization has the capabilities to engage all guests and ensure attendee comfort. Consider these features:
- Live streaming capabilities to broadcast sessions in real time and provide on-demand access
- A mobile app for all attendees to access event schedules, updates, and interactive features
- Live polls, Q&A functionality, and chat rooms to engage virtual and in-person attendees simultaneously
- Mobile bidding and text-to-give to make donating easy for all attendees, regardless of location
You can even invest in specific types of event software to access tailored features. For example, online auction software provides an auction catalog and mobile bidding tools that you won’t get with other event technology.
6. Content management system (CMS)
You likely already use a CMS to run your website. However, you may not be using it to its full potential. A nonprofit blog allows you to position yourself as a thought leader while providing important information and resources to users. Start a blog or, if you already have one, consider how you could improve your content, post more consistently, and boost your page views.
Here’s how to create a strong blog for your nonprofit:
- Create an aesthetically pleasing blog that reflects your branding. Ensure your blog aligns with your website’s color scheme, typography, and overall style. If your website already has a blog feature, use it to maintain consistency. If not, platforms like WordPress or Squarespace can help you design a professional blog. Either way, prioritize clean layouts, compelling imagery, and easy navigation.
- Plan out educational and industry-related content. Write blog posts that provide value to your audience. Start by brainstorming a list of useful and interesting topics to pull from. If you are struggling with ideas, look at upcoming events and holidays to think of relevant and timely content.
- Publish content regularly. Using your list of ideas, create a reasonable posting schedule. If your team is small, publishing twice a week may be ambitious. Establish a doable cadence for your organization to avoid overworking your team.
- Share your blog posts in newsletters and on social media. Most supporters won’t know to check your new blog. Boost your latest posts by sharing links to them in your newsletters and on your social media pages.
These tips will prepare you to debut your new (or improved) blog with top-notch content. Remember to regularly revisit your content’s performance to improve your content strategy going forward.
Your nonprofit’s tools can greatly increase your capabilities or hold you back from your full potential. Taking the time to assess your current solutions and determine where you might be due for an upgrade is essential for keeping up with industry standards and trends. With the right tech, you can better serve your beneficiaries, cultivate supporter relationships, and reduce overhead costs. Build a toolkit that propels your nonprofit toward its goals!
Did you enjoy this story?
Get nonprofit tips and tools delivered right to your inbox by joining The Nonprofit Leadership Alliance Newsletter. Our bimonthly newsletter will make sure you know what’s happening with our network of social sector leaders.
Guided Feasibility Study: A Fresh Take on Campaign Readiness
Before embarking on a capital campaign, you should feel confident in your organization’s campaign plan. Knowing that your campaign goal is achievable and that you have the support of leading donors and other key stakeholders
Fundraising Event Ideas for Capital Campaign Public Phases
A capital campaign is a targeted fundraising effort designed to raise a significant amount of money for a nonprofit within a set timeframe. These intensive campaigns enable your nonprofit to grow sustainably over time and
The Future of Fundraising: 3 Tips to Leverage Nonprofit AI
While artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming more prevalent across society, its use growing especially quickly in the nonprofit sector. As of April 2024, 58% of 501(c)(3) organizations have incorporated AI into their digital communications, and