Nonprofit Event Management Software Guide + Top 10 Tools

Ensure your next fundraising event is a success with nonprofit event management software.
Ensure your next fundraising event is a success with nonprofit event management software. Learn how these top 10 providers can help your nonprofit raise more.

Events connect the great work your nonprofit does to the needs and interests of your community. At each fundraising event, you have the opportunity to teach your attendees about your nonprofit’s activities and update them on your most recent progress. Interacting with your supporters in-person inspires them to donate, and you can use nonprofit event management software to facilitate the process for them!

Planning and carrying out an event is a complex undertaking, and your fundraising team needs a way to stay on schedule to maximize giving opportunities. As you work to determine what your next event will be, one of the first steps you should take is choosing event management software that suits the specific needs of your nonprofit and the type of event you’re hosting. Before you make your selection, review the following information:


With nonprofit event management software, you’ll have a reliable method for engaging donors and securing their support. Let’s get started!

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How to Choose the Right Nonprofit Event Management Software

How to Choose the Right Nonprofit Event Management Software

Understand your nonprofit event management software needs.

Think back to your organization’s last fundraising event and evaluate how well it went. Was registration quick and easy for supporters? Did they give again after the event was over? Do you still have their information so that you can stay in contact with them?

Nonprofit event management software helps resolve the challenges of hosting fundraising events and promotes lasting connections between your organization and your donors. The first step in choosing the right event management software is recognizing your nonprofit’s unique needs. Before you make your selection, consider:

  • Your organization’s size. A larger, more established nonprofit is likely to require more features from its event management software than is an organization that’s just getting started. Before you buy, have an idea of the amount of information your software will have to manage on a regular basis (for instance, how many registrants you expect for each of your events). Just starting out? Choose software that’s capable of growing along with your organization.
  • The type of event you are hosting. Registration, donation acceptance, and thank-you receipts are just the beginning of the features that nonprofit event management software can offer. Pay particular attention to ticketing capabilities if you host events with ticketed entrance.
  • Your attendees’ preferences. Your supporters are most likely to complete their registration, which confirms their attendance and donation, if the process is as fast and easy as possible. Look for software that guides them through the process and requires that they input only essential information.

 

While understanding your nonprofit’s needs is central to choosing the right event management software, there are a few essential features every organization should be on the lookout for. Ensure your software can handle registration, ticketing, donation processing, personalized recognition, and data collection. 


2. Choose nonprofit event management software that gives you multiple ways to generate revenue.

Fundraising events allow you to reconnect with loyal supporters and introduce new donors to the valuable work your organization does in the community. Attendees from both of these groups support your organization when they register for your event, and your goal is to encourage them to maintain this support once the event has ended.

Nonprofit event management software can help your organization generate revenue by facilitating fundraising strategies that build excitement leading up to the event and continue year-round. For nonprofits that use ticketed entry for their events, ticket sales are an additional means by which your event management software can help you generate revenue.

Register your attendees and collect their entrance donations with one easy-to-use online form. To help ensure future fundraising success, ensure that their information is stored in your donor database after they register. Then, use online and mobile giving capabilities to remind your supporters that there are several ways to give before, during, and after your event.

Options like these, which make giving convenient and easy, encourage more of your supporters to contribute and to make donations more regularly. Nonprofit event management software also makes collecting donations and gathering donor information easier for your organization, making your event planning more efficient and strengthening your future fundraising strategies.

3. Partner with a platform that offers your supporters several donation channels. 

The best fundraising events introduce new donors to your organization, and it’s highly likely that these individuals will want to donate in different ways. Choose a nonprofit event management software that offers multiple ways to donate so that different groups of donors will find the process convenient and enjoyable. These features should include: 

  • Online Fundraising Pages: Online giving has emerged as one of the most popular ways to donate. It’s convenient, easy, and especially successful among younger donors accustomed to making transactions online. Choose software that allows you to customize your online donation page to your organization and offer features that make giving easy, such as preset donation amounts. 
  • Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Pages: Structured similarly to crowdfunding, peer-to-peer fundraising turns loyal supporters into fundraisers by providing them with individual pages that they can customize and share with their family, friends, and social media followers. Ensure your nonprofit event management software has the capability to provide these pages and other gamification elements, such as badges and fundraising thermometers, to encourage competition among your volunteer fundraisers and create a sense of urgency as the date of your event approaches.
  • Text-to-Give Service: With text-to-give, supporters send a keyword to your organization’s designated number and confirm their donation by clicking through to your donation page. Text-to-give is one of the most convenient forms of giving, because inspired donors can give before, during, and after your event. As with online donation, your fundraising team may wish to introduce text-to-give service in the context of an event and then continue using it as a regular donation method.

 

Whether they reach your organization through your online donation page, a friend’s peer-to-peer fundraising page, or their own smartphone, donors want to give to an organization they value and trust. Build your online trustworthiness and encourage donations by ensuring that your event management software features attractive and engaging pages.

4. Invest in visually appealing event fundraising software.

Event fundraising software does more than facilitate giving. It also helps tell your organization’s story and encourage donors to give by making the process fun and trustworthy. The ideal fundraising software design captures your donors’ attention with branding and customization. 

Consistent branding builds familiarity with your organization and trust in its online presence, especially among supporters who are less experienced donating online. Ensure that your organization’s name and logo are on each page that your donors will visit, especially the one on which they register for your event and make their donation. If your organization has a familiar color scheme, maintain this on all of your pages.

You should also take advantage of the gamification tools included in your event fundraising software, such as fundraising thermometers, to motivate your donors and keep them focused on your event and organization. Fundraising thermometers appear on peer-to-peer fundraising pages to illustrate how close your organization is to reaching its target amount. Donors who see a fundraising thermometer that is close to reaching its target amount may be inspired to give more. 

5. Select nonprofit event management software that grows with your nonprofit.

Nonprofits that are just starting out may prioritize forming your team and securing initial funding over choosing the right nonprofit event management software, especially if your organization has not yet hosted many events! However, nonprofit event management software is a necessary component of a strong fundraising strategy, and small nonprofits can and do benefit from it.

Your nonprofit wants to choose software that suits your current stage of development, but does not require you to start over with a completely new platform as you grow and expand. That’s the benefit of a system that allows you to upgrade your plan when you need it. Small nonprofits can save money while they are starting out and upgrade to gain additional features as they grow.

Whatever the size of your organization, nonprofit event management software maximizes the benefits you’ll receive from hosting fundraising events, encouraging donations and providing your organization with the opportunity to stay in contact with your supporters.

Top 6 Nonprofit Event Management Software Providers

Top 6 Nonprofit Event Management Software Providers

Snowball - Best Online Giving Platform for All-in-One Fundraising

1. Snowball

Event Fundraising Software Overview

While we’re not strictly an event fundraising software, our fundraising solution can help your nonprofit keep your event under control and running according to plan with our easy donation process.

We know that just about all of your supporters own smartphones and carry them with them religiously, so we help your nonprofit capitalize on your donors’ favorite piece of technology at events through the donation process, using text giving or mobile donation forms! 

Plus, our software is protected with heavy security measures, like tokenization, PCI compliance, and passwordless logins.

Why We Love this Fundraising Event Software

Our fundraising platform makes it easier to receive your donations even faster and it’s even a new, popular way to connect with donors! But our favorite features include:

  • Online donation forms
  • Transaction and donor data
  • 2-step text-to-give process
  • Unlimited admin access and accounts
  • Recurring gift options

 

We revolutionize the donation process by bringing simplistic and convenient giving to your event attendees.

Double the Donation - Best Online Giving Platform for Matching Gifts

2. Double the Donation

Event Fundraising Software Overview

Double the Donation, while not strictly an event fundraising software solution, can make your events more successful with their matching gift tools. 

Set your event up for success by adding a matching gifts search tool to your events page. That way, donors can easily search for their eligible employers and grow their contributions. 

Why We Love this Fundraising Event Software

Because matching gifts programs are often forgotten about or overlooked, your biggest challenge will be promoting! Luckily, Double the Donation helps your organization promote matching gifts before, during, and after the event with features like: 

  • Matching gift automation 
  • Comprehensive eligibility data
  • Integrations with most other fundraising software

 

Plus, with fully automated emails, you can deliver matching gift forms and instructions directly to your event attendees, making it easy for them to submit matching gift requests and grow their contributions. 

Handbid

3. Handbid

Event Fundraising Software Overview

Handbid understands that nonprofit fundraising can be challenging, especially when you’re trying to reach today’s on-the-go supporters. That’s why they supply user-friendly and mobile-accessible auction software that’s built specifically for nonprofits.

Handbid’s core mission is to help nonprofits of all sizes to adopt powerful yet easy-to-use fundraising tools. That’s why they’re able to meet the needs of organizations ranging from small teams with limited resources to enterprise-level nonprofits that are already pulling in hundreds of millions in revenue.

From check-in to check-out, your team can virtually handle your entire event without wasting any time (or breaking the bank). Handbid allows you to set up your auction, process invoices, generate insightful reports, and much more — all within a matter of minutes.

Why We Love this Fundraising Event Software

Handbid has you covered from the initial planning stages to payment processing, so you can maximize supporter engagement with ease. Reach your donors anywhere with outstanding features like:

  • Real-time push notifications
  • Registration management
  • Invoicing and payment processing
  • Insightful reports

 

Beyond online auctions, you can expand your digital engagement opportunities with intuitive crowdfunding, peer-to-peer, and text-to-give tools to maximize donations.

Fundly - Best Online Giving Platform for Crowdfunding

4. Fundly CRM

Event Fundraising Software Overview

Fundly CRM strives to understand your nonprofit’s mission from front to back and side to side. They’ll help you improve fundraising and communication with compelling storytelling.

Fundly CRM lets you simplify event planning with effective project management! Plus, you’ll be able to configure custom registration forms and sell other items with your registration sign ups.

Their event management tools even go as in depth as scheduling the venue, recording the directions, and managing the host’s details. You’ll be able to customize different tickets and email all receipts!

Why We Love this Fundraising Event Software

Fundly CRM offers nonprofits a comprehensive software solution that includes features like:

  • Cross-event dashboard
  • Online event registration donations
  • Registration fees
  • Custom registration forms
  • Event expenses log

 

There are plenty of fundraisers that pair well with these tools including: product sales, classes, walkathons, themed nights, and auctions.

Fonteva

5. Fonteva

Event Fundraising Software Overview

Fonteva Events is the perfect solution for nonprofits already using Salesforce. Because it was built in Salesforce, Fonteva Events seamlessly integrates with your CRM. However, it can only be used in conjunction with Salesforce.

Fonteva Events can handle any type of event from multi-day, multi-session events to a simple, 2-hour event. They offer nonprofits easy event set up with registration flows and speaker, sponsor, vendor, and venue management, too!

Plus, with Fonteva Events, there’s no software to install and you get three free upgrades a year.

Why We Love this Fundraising Event Software

Fonteva offers incredible event fundraising features, like the following:

  • Attendee management
  • Advanced registration
  • Event marketing
  • eCommerce
  • Reports and dashboards
hootsuite

6. HootSuite

Event Fundraising Software Overview

HootSuite helps with social media management in order to enhance your events! Their software helps you reach more supporters with a smarter and quicker strategy.

Their solution offers one central dashboard that you can manage all of your social media accounts from! You’ll be able to load in and schedule content to meet your marketing needs.

Why We Love this Fundraising Event Software

HootSuite allows you to brand your organization on your social media platforms quickly and with ease. They offer you the following features to get your social media profiles on top of their game:

  • Scheduling
  • Analytics
  • Content Curation
  • Monitoring
  • Contests


With HootSuite’s reporting, you’ll be able to track your return on investments. Their up-to-date analytics let you find trends and implement new strategies to improve your social media presence.

Wrapping Up: Make the Most of Your Nonprofit Event Management Software

Wrapping Up: Make the Most of Your Nonprofit Event Management Software

Once you’ve found the right product and are ready to make it official, there’s one last hurdle to jump through: getting the thumbs-up from your organization’s stakeholders. 

Before you sign any contracts or submit any payments, double-check that your entire team is on board with the purchase. Software is a major investment, so take the time to go over the new product with your staff and board.

Let them know that with the right nonprofit event management software, your organization is sure to succeed in attracting new donors and refreshing relationships with past supporters before, during, and after your next big event. 

For more helpful information, check out the following additional resources:

 

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Ensure your fundraising events are a success with Snowball.

Our nonprofit event management tools will see to your every need.

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Get in touch with us to take a tour of the Snowball platform and find the right fundraising solutions for your nonprofit.

Get in touch with us to take a tour of the Snowball platform and find the right fundraising solutions for your nonprofit.