Whether you’re looking for your first system or hoping to replace the one you’re currently using, you’ve got a number of options from which to choose. As you start to consider them, think through the high-level options before delving into the detail of features. Donor Management vs. CRM vs. Fundraising Platform Past editions of this guide focused on donor management systems—software built specifically to track donors, and in some cases, do little else. Some offered little functionality to support event attendees, volunteers, members, or other constituents. But many vendors have broadened their offerings to keep pace with the growing desire of nonprofits to deepen engagement with all their constituents, and many donor management systems evolved into Constituent Relationship Management systems, or CRMs. Originally developed to provide sophisticated data collection and analysis tools for corporate sales and marketing purposes, CRMs are increasingly popular with nonprofits. In addition to functionality to track donors and other constituents, fundraising platforms also let you conduct online fundraising campaigns and collect online donations. As online fundraising continues to grow year over year, both in terms of total dollars raised and as a percentage of all fundraising, nonprofits are more interested in software that allows them to…