24 Questions to Ask During Your Nonprofit Software Evaluation

Selecting the right technology to unleash the full potential of your work, your staff, and your mission is a big decision. We’re here to help you ask the right questions to inform your choice based on your nonprofit’s unique goals.

Finding the best tools for your organization comes down to knowing what to ask a potential vendor. You may want to use nonprofit software for the first time or reevaluate whether your current provider can support your organization’s specific needs. 

Either way, this list is a great place to start the conversation.

24 Questions to Ask During Your Nonprofit Software Evaluation

The questions below are in two categories to help you gather the most valuable information as you decide which fundraising solution is a good fit for your organization. You’ll want to navigate and cover both categories to make sure you find a true partner in your online fundraising vendor:

• Technical questions determine the features, functionality, services, and customer support a potential fundraising platform can offer your organization on a product level.
• Holistic questions offer a preview of the partnership you would enter into so you can move forward confidently, knowing a potential fundraising platform’s values are a good fit for yours.

14 Technical Questions to Ask a Potential Nonprofit Technology Vendor

1. What types of organizations are most successful when using your solution?

What to listen for:

A comprehensive list of organizations and ROI proof points.

Listen for the potential value you could see with the platform’s tools and technologies, including specific details about:

• The number and variety of organizations currently using the solution
• The history of growth across each organization’s donor base and donation volume
• The total donation volume the solution brings in year over year
• The average size of a successful organization using the solution

2. Is there a limit to how many campaigns I can create?

What to listen for:

The potential to create unlimited campaigns and campaign types using the online fundraising solution.

Understand what functionality is available to support campaign management as your organization scales. This can include aspects such as:

• Campaign templates that make it easier to create multiple campaigns
• A design studio to streamline the design process across various professional-looking and conversion-focused campaigns
• Strong integrations with donor management systems and email marketing software solutions to organize donor engagement across all campaign interactions

3. How quickly can I spin up a quality campaign to respond to current events or unexpected needs?

What to listen for:

Tangible examples of campaigns launched quickly.

Ask about organizations that launched campaigns in response to recent world events or other timely emergencies. Some specific examples to ask about would be:

• Campaigns built to respond to news events, such as the war in Ukraine
• Proven successes with timely fundraising and rapid response campaigns, like Baby2Baby’s Maui wildfire response 

4. Which payment options do you offer?

What to listen for:

A clear understanding and investment in the payment options that people prefer.

Ask about how each payment option works on mobile, what the most popular options are, and how nonprofit organizations have seen success. Specifically, ask about the solution’s nonprofit payment processing. Determine if it supports the following options donors may ask you about in addition to traditional credit or debit card payments:

• Digital wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay, and more)
• PayPal
• Venmo
• Cryptocurrency
• ACH

5. Is everything built to operate seamlessly on a mobile device?

What to listen for:

A solution optimized for mobile at every stage of the donation process, including:

• One-click mobile payment options with digital wallets
• Mobile-optimized campaign pages
• Mobile-optimized donation forms
• Embedded checkout experiences 
• Simple social media campaign sharing
• Fundraising event software with a mobile app to check in event attendees
• Nonprofit auction software with mobile bidding

6. How do you use machine learning to support fundraising efforts?

What to listen for:

Machine learning and AI components that enhance your decision-making and enable a more strategic fundraising roadmap. Personalization is a nonnegotiable way to connect with modern donors, and fundraising intelligence can help you make the right ask at the right time.

Examples of intelligence to inquire about include:

• Donor behavior predictions that inform an appeal suggestion
• Insights about when and how to nurture relationships with donors
• Personalized ask amounts on donation forms based on the donor
• Intelligent data security that puts donors in control of their information 

Be sure to also ask about the quality, security, and breadth of data collection within the fundraising platform and associated tools.

7. What is the typical process and timeline for fully adopting your solution if we decide to purchase?

What to listen for:

The expected time commitment required and level of support offered to your team through training and development.

Understand if there is dedicated support staff to guide you through specific focus areas during implementation. Here are a few areas of support to ask specifically about:

• Customization of campaigns and fundraising workflows

• Donor data migration
• Post-implementation support to continue learning how to maximize the platform
• Ongoing education through specific trainings, free blogs, resources, and industry reports that introduce innovative approaches to use the solution
• Opportunities to influence product development and network with like-minded professionals across the social sector at industry events

It’s also critical to understand how long it typically takes organizations to see results on their platform. By choosing Classy, you’re choosing fast results. 

We know that learning new software can take time, but that doesn’t mean you should have to wait to see value. That’s why we’ve created a simple, streamlined action plan to help you launch within your first week.

8. Is the software easy to use cross-functionally, and how do various roles within fundraising teams benefit from it?

What to listen for:

A clear answer to how many users can access the solution at once.

Learn more about the value each team member can gain from working together on the solution regularly. Here are a few features to consider:

• In-depth metrics for development and fundraising roles
• Customer relationship management integrations and payment options for database owners
• Customized campaign design and branding for marketing and design roles
• Donation management and analytics for direct service roles
• Performance, security, and integrations for information technology roles
• Payment reconciliation and fraud protection for finance roles

Fraud protection is a huge area of focus for the entire organization, but especially for those in finance roles. Guaranteeing secure transactions can build trust, prevent costly charge-backs, and improve the overall donor experience, which impacts acquisition and retention rates. 

Specifically, ask about intelligence applications that can detect and prevent fraudulent payments before they happen, like Classy’s Intelligent Fraud Protection functionality.

Learn More about Classy’s Intelligent Fraud Protection

9. Does your platform currently integrate with other solutions my organization may use?

What to listen for:

Established integrations and thoughtful open APIs that make it easy for any user to manage donor information in multiple systems.

We recommend asking about some of the most used integrations:

• Marketing solutions (like email platforms) that keep donors informed
• Customer relationship management
• Analytics and reporting solutions (like Google Analytics)
• Giving-related solutions (like donation matching and Facebook fundraising)
• Event tools (like mobile apps and activity tracking) to gamify fundraisers
• Partner agencies to support rebrands or campaign design

10. What types of campaigns can I run?

What to listen for:

Examples of high-quality campaigns that support different goals.

Determine if you can maintain a consistent look and feel with your brand. You’ll want to understand how easy it is to manage donations and supporters across each campaign. Here are a few campaign types to ask about specifically:

• Website donations
• Targeted appeals to certain demographics
• Giving-day campaigns
• Crowdfunding campaigns
• Peer-to-peer fundraising
• Fundraising events and ticketing
• Virtual and hybrid events
• Recurring giving

11. What tools are available to start or grow our recurring giving program?

What to listen for:

Investment in understanding donor sentiments around recurring giving and its proven success.

See if the provider helps organizations create recurring gift programs that attract communities of loyal supporters. The following aspects are great talking points when discussing recurring gift options with a potential fundraising solution provider:

• Recurring giving frequencies offered outside of a monthly gift
• Recurring donor migration processes
• Churn prevention tools
• Recurring donation end dates
• Streamlined ways to incorporate a recurring giving option on all donation forms
• Donor data management and intelligence to identify potential recurring donors

12. Are there features that help us inspire more giving?

What to listen for:

Ways to tap into the connections among communities of passionate individuals. 

More specifically, you might ask about:

• Crowdfunding websites that help you harness the power of a high volume of smaller donations around a timely need
• Activity feeds that encourage people to play a part in the bigger campaign goal by interacting with each gift in real time
• Progress bars that drive more donations with a visual representation of meeting a larger goal
• Sponsor matching that inspires individuals to give higher amounts promptly with the opportunity to double their impact

13. How do you support in-person and virtual events?

What to listen for:

A robust fundraising event software that considers the needs of in-person, online, and hybrid event attendees, as well as the needs of your team, while scaling your events. Here are some aspects to consider:

• Day-of-event support
• Streamlined registration
• Sponsors and expo management
• Auctions and mobile bidding
• Self-checkout for auction items
• Native and third-party livestreaming, stages, and breakout rooms
• Fundraising opportunities (like fixed-priced item sales and in-event giving)
• Fundraising thermometers and digital displays
• Event messaging and reminders
• Virtual tables and rooms, speed networking, chats, polls, and Q&A sessions

14. Are there self-serve tools to empower donors to manage their gifts?

What to listen for:

A donor dashboard solution that helps donors manage how they want to get involved with your organization without needing to lean on support for simple tasks. Many solutions will allow you to brand the experience to match your nonprofit website so it feels like a natural extension.

A self-serve experience can help donors with:

• Managing recurring donations and plans by pausing, reactivating, or canceling
• Managing individual fundraising pages for a peer-to-peer campaign with an easy way to share with the community
• Updating payment methods at any time
• Accessing donation receipts and details

10 Additional Holistic Questions to Ask a Fundraising Vendor

Your mission, values, and intuition will be the best guides for the following questions. Consider adding these to your evaluation once you’ve narrowed down potential fundraising software providers.

1. What are your company’s short and long-term visions?
2. What’s ahead on your company’s roadmap and plan for future product innovation?
3. How has your company become a thought leader in the social sector space and remained on the leading edge of what will drive fundraising into the future?
4. How do you invest in your customers to ensure they’re successful?
5. What is your process for testing and implementing improvements to your platform, like ongoing conversion optimizations?
6. What, beyond the products, makes your company stand out in the market?
7. What core customer metrics matter to you as a fundraising software provider and drive your decision-making?
8. What do you envision as the future of giving, and how are you working to support organizations like mine in preparing?
9. How do you choose your leadership, and what values do your leaders hold when making decisions that impact your customers?
10. How is your organization implementing customer feedback?

We’re Here to Help

With the right questions in mind, you’ll come out of any future fundraising software selection conversation with the information that matters most to you. While details like pricing and plans are crucial, having the big picture of what value you can expect will guide the most informed decisions.

Copy Editor: Ayanna Julien