There are more than 1 million nonprofits in the USA alone. These are organizations that are created for specific purposes, often with a mission to address social, civic or environmental issues. Nonprofits are run by employees and volunteers, who manage the day-to-day operations to achieve its goals.
In this article, we’ll take a look at the top five accounting packages for nonprofits. Afterward, we’ll help you decide which is right for your organization.
Quickbooks | Best Nonprofit Software
Overview of Quickbook’s Nonprofit Software
QuickBooks is a top accounting software that provides solutions for cloud-based and on-premises accounting, payment processing, bill management, and payroll. They provide a wide variety of flexible apps that make financial management easy for your nonprofit.
This software includes features that are valuable for nonprofits, including:
- Income and Expense Tracking
- Payroll Software
- Invoice and Payment Processing
- Bill Management
- Tax Filing
- Time Tracking
- Multiple Apps
Why This Nonprofit Software Company Stands Out
QuickBooks provides the power, functionality, and flexibility that nonprofits need to keep their finances in order so they can focus on their mission.
Sigstr | Best Nonprofit Software
Overview of Sigstr’s Nonprofit Software
Sigstr is a top nonprofit software that standardizes and elevates your staff’s email signatures. Working with several email platforms and CRMs, you can transform the emails your employees send out into targeted marketing campaigns.
Of the features that Sigstr offers, these in particular stand out:
- Smart targeting that allows you to segment your audiences, schedule campaigns around your biggest events, and target by location or by key personas.
- Robust analytics that offer real-time campaign insights, click-through reports, and data sharing.
- Custom signatures that reflect your brand and organization.
Why This Nonprofit Software Company Stands Out
Sigstr will make your staff’s email signatures stand out regardless of how recipients are viewing the emails. Everything remains standardized and on-brand using this nonprofit software.
1 Bonfire | Best Nonprofit Software
Overview of Bonfire’s Nonprofit Software
Bonfire is a fundraising platform for merchandise, specializing in t-shirts and helping organizations sell online, fundraise for a cause, or order custom printed shirts directly.
Using this nonprofit software, you can:
- Set your own selling prices.
- Customize your campaign pages.
- Download a list of your supporters.
- Order in bulk or sell with no inventory, shipping directly to your buyers.
- Design eye-catching merchandise using a wide variety of available design templates.
Why This Nonprofit Software Company Stands Out
With Bonfire, you can create high-quality t-shirts and a variety of other apparel using your own design or by creating one from a library of thousands of free fonts and graphics. Make a great design in record time and raise the funds you need for your cause.
BEST FOR CHURCHES
Breeze
Breeze is an affordable, cloud-based software designed specifically for churches. The pricing structure is simple—one plan at $50 per month that includes all available features. Breeze has been on the market since 2014 and services more than 8,000 small and mid-sized churches located all over the United States and Canada. We chose Breeze as best for churches because many of its features are customized to meet the specific needs of houses of worship.
Breeze Features
- Event management
- Access to unlimited users
- Add unlimited people to the database
- Online and text giving
- Track donors and gifts
- Access your data via the mobile app
- Create member directories
- Create, email, and text groups
- Manage event attendance
Like Aplos and QuickBooks Online, Breeze can be used on any computer with an internet connection. If you need assistance, tech support is available by phone or email.
BEST FOR ENTERPRISE-LEVEL NONPROFITS
NonProfit Plus
NonProfit Plus is ideal for enterprise-level nonprofit organizations such as schools, museums, foundations, hospitals, government agencies, and food banks. It comes in three suites: nonprofit accounting, financial management, and procurement management. All three suites are cloud-based. We chose NonProfit Plus as the best for enterprise-level nonprofits because it has robust features to meet the needs of large nonprofit organizations.
Nonprofit Accounting Suite Features
- Fund accounting
- Restricted funds management
- Grant management
- Encumbrance accounting
- Budget management
- Donor management
- Board management
- Volunteer management
- Enhanced audit trail
Financial Management Suite Features
- General ledger
- Accounts receivable
- Accounts payable
- Cash management
- Currency management
- Intercompany accounting
- Recurring revenue management
- Fixed assets
- Time & expense management
Procurement Management Suite Features
- Inventory management
- Purchase orders
- Sales orders
- Requisitions
Similar to FastFund Online Nonprofit Fund Accounting, you can pick and choose the suite that best fits the needs of your nonprofit organization. NonProfit Plus does not include pricing on its website. You can schedule a free product tour to learn more about all of the robust features included in each suite plus consult with a representative who will create a custom quote based on the needs of your nonprofit.
OneCause | Best Nonprofit Software
Overview of OneCause’s Nonprofit Software
OneCause is a top nonprofit software solution that allows your organization to manage multiple fundraising events and campaigns. The platform offers intuitive, reliable, and affordable solutions, including:
- Mobile bidding and auction software. This mobile bidding and auction software streamlines all elements of your live and silent auction and helps manage your procurement process, sell tickets, create online auctions, and more.
- Events and ticketing. Manage your events by selling tickets online, managing table assignments, tracking donations, and easily communicating.
- Peer-to-peer fundraising pages. Run your next peer-to-peer fundraising campaign with features like social integration, motivation and rewards, and flexible branding and registration.
- Ambassador Fundraising. Ambassador Fundraising is a new form of peer-to-peer fundraising where nonprofits recruit their most ardent supporters to fundraise leading up to an event. Streamline this process with social fundraising platforms from OneCause.
- Online giving. Set up your online giving pages with easy customization options, gamification and social media tools, and robust reporting capabilities.
- Text-to-give. Set up a text-to-give campaign that drives participation and revenue using an intuitive platform with a unique keyword.
- Payment processing. Easily collect payments and process check-ins and check-outs for events. Streamline your registration process and take advantage of robust reporting and analytics.
- Reporting and analytics. Use thousands of data points collected from your campaign to enhance your mission. Take advantage of more than 120 real-time reports that will help you analyze your donors.
Why This Nonprofit Software Company Stands Out
With comprehensive mobile bidding and auction software, OneCause allows you to easily manage your charity auction event. Encourage more active bidding by allowing guests to bid directly from their phones, even if they’re not present at the event. Capture guest information, check guests in on their mobile devices, swipe credit cards for express checkout, and eliminate long lines, leading to a positive guest experience.
Beyond auction events, you can make use of the peer-to-peer fundraising platform, with tools to empower your participants and keep everyone motivated. Mobile donations are another standout feature, with text-to-give offering an easy way for donors to give and for your nonprofit to manage your progress. With robust reporting and analytics, OneCause allows you to easily track every aspect of your campaign.
Winspire | Best Nonprofit Software
Overview of Winspire’s Nonprofit Software
Winspire is a nonprofit software company that provides popular, unique, and highly sought-after experiences that can be used in charity auctions or fundraisers. By using their tool, you can put exclusive travel packages up for auction, choosing from a variety of experiences like:
- Award shows
- Major sporting events
- VIP access
- Family vacations
- International trips
- Cruises
- And more!
Consultants will help you reserve the most appropriate packages for your charity auction. From there, you can use their nonprofit software to simply select your experience, offer the experience at your event, note to Winspire what you sold, and allow the winners to redeem them.
Why This Nonprofit Software Company Stands Out
Winspire allows you to choose these exclusive packages risk-free, as you only purchase what you sell. This makes it a great resource for finding excellent experiences that can help you raise the money you need for your cause (without any upfront costs).
Financial Edge by Blackbaud
For large organizations that want enterprise-level accounting, Financial Edge is the clear choice. It integrates with Raiser’s Edge, a program of choice for donor and constituent management, and allows you to track expenses and budget across fiscal years.Pros
- Cloud-based software that can be managed remotely
- Integrates with Raiser’s Edge donor management software
Cons
- Lack of pricing transparency on the site
Financial Edge is a product released by Blackbaud, a leading software company that caters to nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, and healthcare facilities. It serves millions of users in over a hundred countries worldwide.
For large nonprofit organizations that have significant accounting needs as well as employees and a large donor-base, Financial Edge can be an excellent fit and it’s our top choice for large organizations.
Financial Edge is a cloud-based program, so you can use it from any laptop. You can use Financial Edge to create budgets, track expenses, manage cash flow, and handle the general ledger. It has expanded budgeting capabilities, so you can forecast different scenarios and budget across fiscal years.
Financial Edge also integrates with Blackbaud’s Raiser’s Edge, the gold-standard program for donor management and fundraising, so you can make sure your organization’s efforts are cohesive.
The pricing for Financial Edge was not readily available on the website, but Financial Edge has a 4.2-star rating on Capterra.4
BEST FOR DONATION TRACKINGSumac by Silent Partner
For nonprofit organizations that need customizable donation tracking and donor management tools, Sumac is our top choice in our review. With affordable pricing, free training sessions, and built-in email marketing, Sumac is a powerful fundraising tool.Pros
- Affordable pricing and different packages available
- Staff and volunteers can access databases simultaneously from anywhere
- Customizable donor profiles
Cons
- Does not include general accounting capabilities
- Implementation services and data migration may be an additional cost
- Additional training costs $150 per hour
Many small and midsize nonprofit organizations have excellent accounting software and keep their financials in good order, but need help when it comes to donor management and donation tracking. If you’re relying on multiple spreadsheets or outdated databases, Sumac can be an affordable upgrade that can streamline how you work with your constituents.
Sumac was launched in 2003 and supports thousands of nonprofit professionals around the world. In 2018, Sumac became part of Silent Partner Software Inc and is offered alongside other products like PartnerHR.
With Sumac’s fundraising program, staff can access critical data from anywhere, and they can view databases at the same time, so they always have the most up-to-date information. The program allows you to create customizable donor profiles so you can adjust fields to meet your organization’s needs.
Within Sumac, you can see each donor’s history with your organization, including past donations and communications. You can also create reminders to follow up with key donors.
Donation details can be converted into ledger entries and reports for your bookkeeper or accountant, and you can craft summarized annual giving reports.
The price for Sumac ranges from $35 per month to $250 and up per month, depending on your organization’s needs and number of records. Other services, like online donation acceptance, website management, and course registration require additional fees. With your fee, you get free training. If you need additional training, you’ll have to pay $150 per hour.
Sumac has a 4.3-star rating on Capterra.5
BEST CLOUD-BASED SOLUTIONAraize FastFund Accounting
For organizations that want total remote access, Araize FastFund Accounting is our pick for the best cloud-based solution. It offers comprehensive accounting, fundraising, and payroll services and can be accessed from anywhere in the world.Pros
- You can choose one service or bundle all three
- Monthly training webinars and online video training included
- Can cancel anytime
Cons
- One-on-one training costs extra
- May not be intuitive if you don’t have an accounting background
- Reports not as customizable as they are on other programs
Araize has over 30 years of experience delivering software solutions to nonprofit organizations. With Araize FastFund Accounting, you can get access to a complete cloud-based system. Because FastFund Accounting runs on the cloud, you can access it from any web browser on any device, including Mac, PC, or tablets. You can get your software up and running within a day, and multiple users can use the software at once, making it an ideal cloud-based program.
With the FastFund Accounting platform, you can handle bank reconciliations, generate accounting reports, create budgets for each department and grant, and generate all the data you need to complete the IRS Form 990. The FastFund Accounting program is available for as little as $42 per month, and there is no setup fee. Also, you don’t have to commit to a contract; you can cancel at any time.
Araize offers two other programs you can purchase separately or bundle with the accounting program. With FastFund Fundraising, you can create detailed donor profiles, track cash, pledges, and in-kind gifts, and create customized donor receipts. When bundled with FastFund Accounting, FastFund Fundraising is available for as little as $20 per month, or $42 per month as a standalone product.
With FastFund Payroll, you can also manage your organization’s payroll. You can pay employees through direct deposit or check, allocate money for taxes, and file quarterly payroll taxes. FastFund Payroll starts at $66 per month.
While your fee includes monthly training webinars and online video training, one-on-one training sessions are an additional cost.
In reviews of Araize, many people say the program is robust and powerful. However, if you’re used to pricier programs like Financial Edge, you may find that the reports aren’t as customizable.
Conclusion
No matter how much you know about QuickBooks Online, the software suite is significant especially if you are thinking about using it as a nonprofit. In case Quickbooks is your major accounting tool, you must embrace the nuances of the system. The best way to learn these things is by going through a step-by-step process that will have you up and running in no time.