civicrm.org

CiviCRM is an open source web-based platform that helps nonprofit organizations organize constituent information, handle donations and memberships, and engage communities. You can download and deploy the code for the system inside one of four open source web content management systems: Drupal, WordPress, Joomla, or Backdrop. It’s free to use, and the code is free to study and share.

The platform is built around the core CRM functionality, which means that contact records are the hub of all functionality. Individual, organizational, and household contact records allow you to collect and use a great deal of information about your constituents and their relationships. The system is modular and includes a variety of components and extensions that you can enable and add as desired. Components deliver major features: CiviContribute handles donations, CiviMail manages bulk email sends, CiviEvent offers registration and event management, CiviCampaign tracks progress toward goals across several component modules, and CiviVolunteer assists with volunteer tracking and scheduling. Other modules assist with grants, advocacy, and case management. Extensions enhance functionality, but more narrowly than components. For example, CiviRules provides automation capability for tasks such as record updates and triggered emails. A core team of six developers, one project manager, and a community of around 100 individual contributors builds and maintains the CiviCRM project, components, and extensions. As such, the rate of development—of the core, of components, and of extensions—varies.

The components themselves, with proper configuration, provide solid support for most donor management and fundraising efforts. You can collect and manage a variety of gift types, including pledges, recurring donations, tribute gifts, in-kind donations, and more. You can manage letter, email, and text message communications; set up and mange events and membership programs; schedule and track volunteers; and build reports that provide insight into your supporters and the performance of your fundraising programs.

While there’s no fee for the CiviCRM platform, the system does require an open source web CMS. Technical expertise—either in-house or provided by consultants—is necessary to install and configure the system properly. You will need to set up an account with one or more payment processors in order to accept credit card and ACH transactions (which are necessary for online donations). There is extensive documentation of the system and components available online, but any training and support needs to be provided by a consultant with system expertise. If you need technical assistance with the system, CiviCRM.org maintains a list of partners that provide consulting, development, or hosting services.

System Summary

• Year Launched: 2005
• Pricing, Small Nonprofit (1,000 contacts, 3 users): $0
• Pricing, Mid-size Nonprofit (20,000 contacts, 10 users): $0

System Evaluation

* Certain functionality requires use of a custom field.
** Certain functionality requires an integration with a third-party system.
*** Certain functionality is available for an additional cost.