CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management, which is a strategy or process that businesses use to manage and optimize their relationships with their current and potential customers. CRM helps businesses understand their customers’ needs, preferences, and behaviors, and deliver value to them through personalized interactions and services. CRM also helps businesses improve their sales, marketing, customer service, and loyalty programs by using data analysis and automation tools.

What is a Customer Relationship Management System?

CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management, which is a strategy or process that businesses use to manage and optimize their relationships with their current and potential customers. 

CRM helps businesses understand their customers’ needs, preferences, and behaviors, and deliver value to them through personalized interactions and services. 

CRM also helps businesses improve their sales, marketing, customer service, and loyalty programs by using data analysis and automation tools.

We've witnessed nonprofits use CRMs to maintain their list of donors, clients, and even pets they support.

Five of the best CRMs for nonprofits

We've scoured the internet and discussion groups, and these are the five that stand out. 

Bitrix24

This is a free CRM that offers features such as contact management, email marketing, task management, and fundraising tools. It also has integrations with popular platforms such as Mailchimp, Zapier, and Google Drive. Bitrix24 is suitable for small to medium-sized nonprofits that need a basic CRM solution.

Bloomerang

This is a free CRM for up to 250 contacts that provides features such as donor management, online giving, email marketing, and reporting. It also has native integrations with Quickbooks and Mailchimp, as well as other third-party apps. Bloomerang is great for nonprofits that want a simple and user-friendly CRM system2.

CiviCRM

This is a customizable CRM that allows nonprofits to tailor it to their specific needs and preferences. It offers features such as donor management, event management, membership management, and reporting. It also has a large community of users and developers who provide support and extensions. CiviCRM is ideal for nonprofits that want a flexible and open-source CRM platform.

HubSpot CRM

This is a free CRM that provides features such as contact management, email tracking, pipeline management, and analytics. It also has integrations with HubSpot’s other products such as Marketing Hub and Service Hub, which offer additional functionality for nonprofits. HubSpot CRM is great for nonprofits that want a simple and user-friendly CRM system.

Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud

This is a powerful CRM that leverages the Salesforce platform to help nonprofits manage their donors, volunteers, programs, and campaigns. It offers features such as donor engagement, fundraising automation, grant management, and impact measurement. It also has a library of more than 2,500 integrations with other apps and services. Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud is best for nonprofits that want a robust and scalable CRM solution. You likely need to spend time learning this platform as it's not straight-forward.