The 7 best Blackbaud alternatives for nonprofits

Blackbaud is an important tool for nonprofits. It’s the leading fundraising and donor management software for nonprofit organizations, serving users in over 100 countries. Three of the most popular Blackbaud software products are

• Raiser’s Edge NXT for fundraising and donor management
• Luminate Online for online fundraising and marketing
• TeamRaiser for peer-to-peer fundraising

While Blackbaud has solutions for nearly every use case, it’s not always the right fit for every nonprofit.

First, Blackbaud is loaded with features, which often means it requires a lot of customization and can involve a steep learning curve. Second, Blackbaud offers no free trial, and its pricing may be too expensive for small nonprofits. For example, Blackbaud’s Raiser’s Edge product bundle starts at $5,000 for a single user, and pricing for individual features starts at $119 per feature per month.

If Blackbaud doesn’t seem like the right fit for your organization, then keep reading. In this article, we’ll identify some of the best alternatives to the various Blackbaud software products.

Blackbaud alternatives for nonprofits

1. Bloomerang

Bloomerang is a cloud-based donor management application and a great alternative to Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge.

Bloomerang’s features include a customer relationship management (CRM) system, an online donations system, email marketing, and reporting. And it offers an interactive dashboard, constituent timeline, and giving summary. Bloomerang also measures constituent engagement levels and provides donor generosity scores.

Bloomerang integrates natively with Mailchimp and QuickBooks and can integrate with other tools via Zapier. Pricing starts at $19 per month for 500 contacts. Bloomerang also offers a free version for up to 250 contacts that includes an unlimited number of users. 

2. DonorPerfect

DonorPerfect is online fundraising software that allows nonprofits to track and manage annual appeals, crowdfunding, gifts, online donations, volunteers, and more. 

DonorPerfect is scalable and suitable for nonprofits of all sizes, from local to large international organizations. It includes a mobile app, customizable dashboards, and automated workflows. DonorPerfect pricing starts at $99 per month for 1,000 contacts. 

3. Jotform

Jotform is a versatile form builder that you can use to manage various nonprofit activities. It’s the easiest way to start managing your records — without the learning curve of a full-featured tool. 

Jotform allows you to create visually appealing forms to collect data or receive donations online. Some of the popular templates for nonprofits include volunteer registration forms, donation forms, and event management forms. 

Jotform pricing starts at $39 per month (or $34 per month when billed annually). A 50 percent discount is available for nonprofits. 

4. NeonCRM

NeonCRM is cloud-based nonprofit CRM software that helps you manage donors, plan events, and track volunteers. The software has built-in event and volunteer management functionality, online store capabilities, donor communication, one-click reporting, and automated receipts, making it a great alternative to Blackbaud’s Raiser’s Edge. 

Neon prices start at $99 per month. All plans allow for an unlimited number of users.

5. Kindful

In addition to fundraising and donor management features, one of the selling points of Kindful is that it integrates with a lot of the tools your organization may already use, such as QuickBooks, Mailchimp, Eventbrite, Constant Contact, and Square, which makes it easier to import data from and export data to these tools.

Kindful pricing starts at $100 per month for 1,000 contacts, unlimited users, and unlimited donation and crowdfunding pages.

6. OneCause

OneCause is mobile bidding and auction software that’s an alternative to Blackbaud’s TeamRaiser. The software is built for auctions, peer-to-peer fundraising, virtual fundraising, and event management for nonprofit organizations of all sizes. OneCause has a Text2Give function that makes it easier to collect mobile donations anywhere.

OneCause offers three basic plans for five software products, from Auction and Events to Text2Give. The Text2Give standard package starts at $495 per year and includes unlimited campaigns and custom branding.

7. Salesforce

Salesforce needs no introduction as a for-profit CRM. However, Salesforce.org’s Nonprofit Cloud is specifically adapted for nonprofits and includes fundraising, program management, and marketing modules. 

Salesforce.org Nonprofit Cloud is suitable for nonprofits of all sizes. Salesforce offers a free trial of its Nonprofit Success Pack, which is a fully customized version of Nonprofit Cloud that focuses on constituent engagement and fundraising. 

Choosing the right software

Choosing the right tool for your nonprofit depends on your organization’s unique needs. While Blackbaud is undoubtedly a powerful tool for nonprofits, other alternatives may be cheaper and easier to work with, depending on the needs of your organization. 

Many of the Blackbaud alternatives suggested above offer similar functionality and are designed to work out of the box. Many also offer a free trial or demo, so you can test out the software before committing.