I run a small arts and food charity called Nusaker. We serve kids after school. We hand out meal kits on Fridays. It’s sweet work, but keeping track of people and gifts? That part used to be a mess.
We started with a big Excel file. Then we lost a pledge in a sea of tabs. I missed a thank-you note once, and I still feel bad about it. So I tested real CRMs, with real campaigns, and I kept notes. Here’s what actually worked for us—and what bugged me.
For anyone who likes to compare options at a glance, Popdex publishes a live chart of CRM ratings that’s handy when you’re sifting through contenders. They also dive deeper in a longer piece—here's their hands-on review of the exact Nusaker CRM setup—if you want every detail of how the tools stack up.
What we really needed (and why it mattered)
- Simple donation tracking that doesn’t break when I sneeze.
- Clean email lists for donors, parents, and volunteers.
- Event sign-ups for our fall gala and our small craft nights.
- Easy thank-you letters and tax receipts.
- Good tags for folks who give through work or donor-advised funds.
- A way to see who’s drifting, so we can win them back before year-end.
Nothing fancy. Just steady, clear tools that save time when my phone is buzzing and the stew is burning.
My top pick for Nusaker: Bloomerang
We moved Nusaker into Bloomerang last spring. You know what? It felt calm. The dashboard shows who’s new, who’s lapsed, and who might give again. I didn’t have to hunt for that. For a deeper dive into the platform, there's a comprehensive review of Bloomerang CRM, detailing user experiences and features that echoes many of the points I saw firsthand.
Real example:
- For Giving Tuesday, I pulled a list of donors who gave last year but not yet this year. Took five minutes. We sent a short email. That night, four gifts came in. One was from Amy, who said, “I was waiting for the nudge.”
Another example:
- Our fall gala tickets sat slow for weeks. I used Bloomerang’s filters to find “event guests from last year” and “monthly donors who haven’t got tickets.” We sent two warm notes and a text follow-up. We hit our seat goal two days early.
Small thing I loved:
- Thank-you letters. I set up a letter with merge fields (name, amount, date, program). After each batch of gifts, I clicked once and printed. It saved my brain.
What could be better:
- Volunteer tracking is light. We had to keep shifts in a Google Sheet. Not a deal-breaker, but I wish it were built-in.
- The email builder is good, not great. If you like fancy design, you might grumble. I care more about clean and quick, so I lived with it.
One caution:
- Data import took time. Our old sheet had weird stuff (like “Mrs. & Mr.” in the first name). I had to fix that before import. It was annoying, but it also forced me to clean house, so… fair.
Bottom line for Nusaker:
- It’s friendly.
- It shows donor health right away.
- It keeps us steady during the busy season when we need steady most.
When I needed more power: Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud
I used Salesforce at a bigger org before Nusaker. It’s a beast—in a good way, and sometimes a loud way. If you want to see what that power looks like under the hood, this in-depth analysis of Salesforce.org Nonprofit Cloud breaks down its functionalities and whether it truly fits nonprofits of different sizes.
Real example:
- We tracked mentoring sessions, service hours, and case notes for teens. I built fields for program milestones. We could see if a student got a meal kit, joined a workshop, and then became a teen mentor. That was gold for grants.
Another example:
- We had “households” set up, so a gift from a donor-advised fund still showed as support from that family. Soft credits made sense there.
What I loved:
- Reporting is deep. If you can dream it, you can run it.
- Volunteer and program data can live next to donors. That helps show impact.
What I didn’t love:
- Setup needs real admin time. I spent weeks shaping objects and flows.
- It can feel heavy when you just want to send a thank-you and move on.
Who should pick it:
- If you’re mid to large, with many programs, and you need advanced reporting, it’s worth the lift.
- If you don’t have someone who likes building systems, you may get stuck.
Neon CRM: events and forms that just… work
We used Neon at Nusaker for six months during an event-heavy stretch. It’s strong with forms and sign-ups.
Real example:
- For our summer block party, Neon handled tickets, sponsor levels, and add-on donations in one page. No weird jumps, fewer calls asking, “Did my card go through?”
Another example:
- Peer-to-peer felt simple. Our teen leaders made their own pages and shared them on Snapchat. We saw small gifts stack up fast.
If you’re curious about how raw, first-person stories on Snapchat build momentum for campaigns, explore the Snap Amateur gallery at Snap amateur—it’s packed with candid, user-generated clips that can spark ideas for authentic social content to energize your next fundraiser.
What I liked:
- Registration flows are clean.
- Built-in emails are decent and quick to set.
What bugged me:
- Some reports took time to load with big date ranges.
- The email builder sometimes shifted spacing when I pasted text. Small thing, but it broke my rhythm.
DonorPerfect: old-school speed
DonorPerfect looks a bit dated, but it’s sturdy. I used it for a pledge-heavy campaign.
Real example:
- We ran a “100 families, 100 meals” pledge drive. Batch entry was fast. I could see pledge balance, schedule reminders, and print letters without fuss.
What felt meh:
- The interface feels like a time capsule. It’s not pretty. But it’s quick once you learn it.
HubSpot for Nonprofits (with a stack): marketing superpowers, donation gaps
When I needed strong email and nurture paths, I used HubSpot plus a giving tool (we tried Givebutter and Stripe forms).
Real example:
- We set a welcome flow: first gift → day 1 thank-you → day 7 story → day 21 invite to volunteer. Open rates were great. People wrote back. It felt human.
Catch:
- Gifts lived in the other tool. We synced data with a connector. It worked, but it added moving parts. If you already have a techy teammate, fine. If not, it’s extra work.
So, what’s “best”? It depends on your day
Pick this if…
- You’re a small to mid shop and want donor care that’s simple: Bloomerang.
- You have complex programs, volunteers, and deep grant asks: Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud.
- You host many events and love clean forms: Neon CRM.
- You need fast pledge tools and don’t care about a shiny look: DonorPerfect.
- You want rich email paths and can stack tools: HubSpot + a donation platform.
Popdex doesn’t just rate CRMs; they tackle finance tech too—like their rundown of Hong Kong’s top 10 independent trust companies—so you can see how the same review style applies in other sectors.
What worked for Nusaker, actually
We chose Bloomerang. It fit our size and our brains. It helped us send faster thank-yous. It showed me who needed a nudge. It didn’t eat my week.
One tiny story:
- A donor named Jorge gave once, then went quiet. Bloomerang flagged him as “at risk.” I sent a short note with a photo of our kids’ mural. He replied, “I forgot how much I love this.” He gave again. Not huge, but it warmed the room.
Little tips that saved me time
- Clean your data before moving. Fix names. Split first and last. You’ll thank yourself.
- Set one welcome email. Later, add a second. Build slow.
- Tag folks who give through work or DAFs. Say thanks to the person, not just the fund.
- Before year-end, pull lapsed donors and send a kind, simple note. It works more than you think.
- Love niche software reviews? Check out Popdex’s write-up on the best app for cataloging a fishing reel collection—it’s a fun example of how thoughtful tagging can organize anything, charity data included.
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Here’s the