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Your fundraising events are the breakout moments of your development strategies. They’re the pops and crescendos that inspire people to believe in your cause and nonprofit’s vision. You want to create an inspirational experience from event registration to “Thanks for joining us” emails. However, choosing the right event management software for nonprofits will make getting to that showstopping moment a dream come true or a nightmare. So choose wisely!
Lucky for you, we’ve compiled this comprehensive list of excellent nonprofit event management software and digital tools to ensure your planning, event registration, and fundraising event goes smoothly:
- Qgiv | Best event management software for nonprofits
- Bloomerang | Best event software for volunteer and donor management
- CiviCRM | Best open-source software
- SignUpGenius | Best event platform if you don’t need CRM functionality
- Cvent | Best event management software for enterprise-sized nonprofits
- EventMobi | Best event management software for large events
- Google Meet | Best event management software for small digital fundraising events
- RSVPify | Best event management software if you’re serving food at your event
- Brushfire | Best event app for ticketing
- Facebook Events | Best social platform for events
- Doubleknot | Best software for educational events
- Bizzabo | Best event platform for hybrid events
- Hopin | Best event software for virtual and live stream events
- Zoom | Best software your audience already uses
- Charity Miles | Best event app for virtual walkathons
- Planning Pod | Best for combining event management with project management
- Splash | Best marketing and event management software
- Whova | Best joint-engagement features
- Webex | Best event app customization
- SpotMe | Best WordPress plugin
- Asana | Best team collaboration software
- DonorPerfect | Best donor research
- Prismm | Best software for venue organization
- Mailchimp | Best software for multichannel marketing
- Constant Contact | Best software for email marketing
- Fun Team Events | Best software for entertainment activities
- Buffer | Best software for social media management
- Smartwaiver | Best software for event waivers
- OnceHub | Best software for event scheduling
Before getting into those gems of event software, it’s important to understand what features and functions you should look for when choosing the right event management software.
What is event management software for nonprofits?
When you’re looking for event software, there are a few key features you should look for to help you streamline your event. Probably the most important feature is an easy-to-use registration process for event participants. This is the first impression you’ll make with your donors and attendees. Furthermore, you need to decide your comfort level with software in general. You may want something more simplified with less customization or maybe you want to level up your event fundraising experience and find the higher level of software. You should also look for customizable branding to ensure your donors recognize your organization’s event page.
Fundraising tools are another key feature for nonprofit event management software to integrate your secure donation collection tools into your event page. Other important features to consider are communication tools and mobile accessibility tools. These tools help you reach your supporters no matter where they are. Keeping your event attendees up-to-date on your event helps keep them excited for the big day and increases attendance!
What are the most important features of event management software?
- End-to-end or turn-key event management platforms provide comprehensive solutions covering all aspects of event planning and execution.
- Auction event software offers dedicated tools for managing and conducting traditional and online auctions.
- Attendee List Exporting is the process of exporting the list of contacts out of the system to send follow-up emails and letters to.
- Peer-to-peer event tools allow participants to create their own event pages to raise funds for the event.
- Donor management systems offer communication solutions and help track and monitor donor data.
- Conference apps help organize virtual conference events, offering features like schedule management and attendee networking.
- Text fundraising tools add another fundraising option through text messages, making donating more accessible.
- Virtual venue management solutions help manage virtual event venues and other arrangements.
- Various other specialized tools cater to specific needs, such as event entertainment, event paperwork, and specialized event features.
The best event management software for your next fundraising event
Qgiv by Bloomerang | Best event management software for nonprofits
Qgiv’s end-to-end event management platform is designed to help nonprofits raise more money. Qgiv event management tools offer a range of features to seamlessly plan and execute events for various purposes. Customize your event pages, simplify the registration process, and manage your guests all in one place! Furthermore, Qgiv Events is a versatile online platform that streamlines event management and integrates with Qgiv’s larger fundraising tools. With a user-friendly interface and robust functionality, it caters to diverse event needs.
Qgiv’s event management software offers key features, including:
- Mobile-friendly event registration pages
- Custom registration fields for attendee data
- Flexible ticketing with multi-attendee packages
- On-site guest management with drag-and-drop table seating
- Fundraising thermometers for donation tracking
- Email and social sharing options
- Personalized receipts with thank-you messages
- Data dashboard with key event performance details
Qgiv provides a one-stop solution for your nonprofit’s event management needs, and it has amazing fundraising tools like peer-to-peer, text-to-donate, auction, and donation forms!
What you’ll love about Qgiv
With Qgiv’s event management software, you have all you need to manage your next event, as well as an entire fundraising platform to utilize. Customize your event and donation pages on one platform to create a uniform look and experience for your donors. Qgiv will help you seamlessly integrate your events into your fundraising efforts.
Pricing
Qgiv’s pricing plans start at $0 plus transaction fees for smaller nonprofits with add-ons for peer-to-peer fundraising, text fundraising, and auction software.
Bloomerang | Best event software for volunteer and donor management
Bloomerang provides comprehensive volunteer management software, enabling you to simplify the process of recruiting and communicating with your event volunteers. The array of features provided by Bloomerang’s volunteer management includes email tools, recruitment workflows, seamless integrations, engagement meters, scheduling tools, and intelligent reporting. You can even track volunteer hours with Blooomerang’s two-way profile sync.
Additionally, Bloomerang allows you to deepen your relationships with event donors and other supporters through its donor management features. Using Bloomerang, you can see every interaction donors have had with your organization, analyze their giving and engagement history, learn more about their giving capacity, segment them into relevant groups, and steward them accordingly.
What you’ll love about Bloomerang
Bloomerang’s volunteer dashboards offer a quick way for your event volunteers to fill out online applications and sign up for the opportunities that suit them. You can also personalize your volunteer outreach with email and app-based tools to thank your volunteers for their help with your event. Plus, when you combine Bloomerang’s volunteer and donor management features with Qgiv’s fundraising tools, you can host successful fundraising events and build a community of long-lasting support at the same time.
Pricing
Bloomerang’s pricing starts at $99 per month.
CiviCRM | Best open-source
CiviCRM started in 2005 as an open-source project for tech-savvy nonprofits as an alternative CRM or event management software. While you can expand CiviCRM code base for any reason, it should be noted that you’ll need to be skilled in open-source software in order to see its full potential. CiviCRM offers a wide range of functions like event management, donor management, email marketing, and reports.
What you’ll love about CiviCRM
CiviCRM is highly customizable which is great if you’re struggling to find the right software for your nonprofit. However, you’ll need to make sure you have some programming chops to really make the software work for you!
Pricing
CiviCRM is free to use, distribute, and expand.
SignUpGenius | Best event platform if you don’t want CRM functionality
SignUpGenius is software for smaller nonprofits or solo fundraisers looking to get their feet wet in the event management software pool. This easy-to-use software will have you managing attendees and tracking donations to your goal in minutes. This is perfect if you just want to manage RSVP’s and hit your short-term goals.
What you’ll love about SignUpGenius
The simple and clean sign-up themes make managing your fundraising event easy. Also, the group messaging functionality allows you to follow up on your donor’s commitments.
Pricing
SignUpGenius starts at $11.99 a month, but you’ll probably want to start at $29.99 to make sure you have all the features for your fundraising event.
Cvent | Best event management software for enterprise-sized nonprofits
Cvent is a robust event management software that nonprofits can take advantage of for bigger events. Its large offering has you covered before, during, and after your event with functions like surveys, meeting schedulers, and event diagrams. While it’s not the right size fit for small or medium-sized organizations, larger and enterprise-level nonprofits should consider Cvent for their next conference.
What you’ll love about Cvent
Cvent does so much more than just tracking RSVP’s. This is a great option if you put on your own webinars or trade shows.
Pricing
You’ll need to contact Cvent for pricing options.
EventMobi | Best event management software for large events
Constant Contact is an email marketing software featuring over 100 mobile-optimized and customizable email templates, empowering you to enhance your next event’s visibility and distinguish yourself in a crowded digital landscape. The key features of Constant Contact’s event management software include email marketing, marketing automation, eCommerce integration, Google ads, and Meta ads. Elevate your nonprofit’s email presence and cut through the junk mail with the help of this versatile marketing software.
What you’ll love about EventMobi
EventMobi is an interactive experience-based software for nonprofit events. While targeted at larger events, this platform includes customizable apps, registration and ticketing, live polling, surveys, and analytics. This software supports in-person, virtual, and hybrid event formats and provides analytics tools to gather insights into attendee behavior and preferences.
Pricing
EventMobi pricing starts at $2,500 per event.
Google Meet | Best event management software for small digital fundraising events
You probably know Google Meet as your backup for Zoom. However, it’s grown in popularity and features over the years. If you have 100 or fewer participants, Google Meet is a great free option for a small fundraising event.
What you’ll love about Google Meet
The best thing about Google Meet is how easily it plugs into Google’s suite of professional products like Google Docs and Google Calendar.
Pricing
If you have a Google account, then you have Google Meet! It’s free to use!
RSVPify | Best event management software if you’re serving food at your event
This event software has functionality for a wide variety of fundraising events and even weddings! Because of that, they have some features that other software doesn’t–like meal preferences and menu options. Furthermore, their approachable pricing means nonprofits of all sizes can take advantage of their attendee tracking software.
What you’ll love about RSVPify
We love that RSVPify has some features that others don’t, such as meal preferences and selling tickets. If you have more bespoke needs for your event, RSVPify might fit the bill!
Pricing
RSVPify pricing starts at $19/month.
Brushfire | Best event app for ticketing
Brushfire is great for ticketed events. Reserving your ticket for your fundraiser should be a breeze, and Brushfire makes it simple. This app clearly shows what attendees need to do to sign up. You never want to lose potential donors to a confusing registration process. This is also one of the only offerings listed with Attendee Support Services for customers!
What you’ll love about Brushfire
Seating charts can be tricky, and you don’t want your event management software to wrestle with your guests. Brushfire has done a great job controlling assigned seat ticketing for your nonprofit event. Furthermore, their Auto-Social Distanced seats are a standout feature.
Brushfire offers a pricing structure that scales with your event. Sometimes it can be intimidating to see the software’s price tags, and it’s nice to know this one won’t break the bank.
Pricing
Brushfire has a pay-as-you-go pricing model with a $1.50 + 1% per paid attendee or flat $1 per free attendee.
Facebook Events | Best social platform for events
Creating a Facebook event for your fundraiser has become the best practice for all nonprofits. It allows you to start getting the word out through social media while still responding to questions and attendees on a one-on-one basis. This could be the right solution for you if your fundraiser is smaller and located in person. Facebook Event Pages are great places to tell people when and where to go!
What you’ll love about Facebook Events
Take your fundraiser to where people already are! Facebook Events gives you a frictionless way to invite your community and start to spread the word about your fundraiser event.
Pricing
Facebook Events are free! You can build them on your nonprofit’s profile for brand continuity–as well as saving some dollars for paid marketing on Facebook’s platform to get the word out!
Doubleknot | Best software for educational events
Doubleknot is an event registration software that provides easy registration and admission solutions for educational events. This platform offers ticketing, reservations, event management, membership management, and fundraising tools. Doubleknot’s platform focuses on zoos, aquariums, museums, nature centers, and other educational event options. By centralizing various functions, this software provides the tools to manage event operations and enhance attendees’ experiences.
What you’ll love about Doubleknot
Your event may have some unique educational features that Doubleknot could help you tackle.
Pricing
Contact Doubleknot for pricing details.
Bizzabo | Best event software for hybrid events
Bizzabo is a high-tech solution to event software. While not directly geared towards nonprofits, it does have features you may be interested in, like Klik SmartBadges and Hybrid Production Kits that will show you a template of how to produce your Hybrid Event.
What you’ll love about Bizzabo
More and more, fundraisers have to provide in-person and hybrid offerings for their fundraisers to reach audiences that can’t all gather in one place. Bizzabois was built with this in mind.
Pricing
Bizzabo is billed annually and priced at $499 per month per user.
Hopin | Best event software for virtual and live stream events
Hopin is industry-leading at streaming live events and hosting webinars. It excels in creating engaging virtual and hybrid experiences, however, you’ll need a separate fundraising platform like Qgiv for donation forms. Its focus on creating a curated branded digital experience makes it a valuable tool for organizations seeking to connect with their donors remotely. While there is a slight learning curve, the benefits generally outweigh the drawbacks. Furthermore, their StreamYard selection has great recording functionality for video-on-demand later.
What you’ll love about Hopin
Streaming multiple presenters from a variety of locations can come off as clunky, but Hopin has a great viewer and user experience to ensure your digital event looks professional and well-produced.
Pricing
Hopin’s streaming platform is called StreamYard and pricing starts free, but you’ll need to inquire about your own pricing.
Zoom | Best software your audience already uses
Zoom is a popular video conferencing and communication platform that can be used for both your event planning and your fundraising event itself. With its widespread accessibility, Zoom offers you the ability to connect remotely with your team and your donors! The platform provides high-quality video and audio, screen sharing, and interactive features to foster effective communication and collaboration. Zoom can even accommodate large audiences and offers breakout rooms for focused activities during your fundraising event.
What you’ll love about Zoom Events
Zoom’s security features ensure protected and private meetings while also providing the option to record your Zoom sessions if you want to revisit an event planning meeting or share parts of your virtual event. This software has become a go-to solution for connecting people globally and bridging distances through reliable virtual communication, making it perfect for your online fundraising events.
Pricing
Zoom’s pricing plans start with their free basic plan, but the platform offers other plans for additional features.
Charity Miles | Best event app for virtual walkathons
While it’s not necessarily an event management software for nonprofits, if your fundraiser includes a walk-a-thon be sure to look at Charity Miles. Charity Miles is a fitness app that encourages users to turn their physical activities into charitable contributions. The platform operates by having users select a charity from a list and then engage in activities like walking, running, or biking which earns money for their chosen cause based on the distance covered. Participants can seamlessly track their activities through the app, which calculates and converts their efforts into charitable donations from corporate sponsors. This app is great for virtual walkathons, as participants can share their step counts with their friends for donations.
What you’ll love about Charity Miles
Charity Miles provides a unique way for people to make a positive impact while pursuing their fitness goals. The app fosters a sense of community engagement and wellness, connecting users globally in a shared mission to support charitable organizations through their everyday activities.
Pricing
Charity Miles is free for users and generates revenue through sponsorships.
Planning Pod | Best for combining event management with project management
Planning Pod is a venue, event, and floor plan app that is great for people looking to have fancy setups and highly detailed experiences. Fundraising galas almost always include seating charts and venue logistics and with Planning Pod it can all be in one convenient place.
What you’ll love about Planning Pod
When looking specifically at Planning Pod’s event management product, it’s clear how easy it is to track things like budgets and checklists. If your event is a one-time fundraiser or changing venues, this app would be a great tool to manage your event while still keeping track of the little details.
Pricing
Planning Pod pricing starts at $59 a month billed annually, and prices increase depending on the number of events you want to manage.
Splash | Best built-in marketing
For those looking to have marketing and event management all in one place, Splash offers the combo as one convenient package. Splash will walk you through your pre-event planning and ticketing, on-site event management, and post-event follow-up. While Splash serves a variety of organizations, they do have experience helping nonprofits pull off incredible events.
What you’ll love about Splash
Splash offers beautiful templates that give a professional-looking event page without a line of code. It can go a long way to creating a great first impression with your donors.
Pricing
Pricing is free for individuals, but you’ll need to book a demo to see their paid offerings.
Whova | Best joint-engagement features
Considering the growing importance of hybrid events, Whova puts a little extra attention to joint engagement features like polling, surveys, and Q&A. For those looking to create a memorable experience with their event management software for nonprofits, Whova has features to make everyone at home feel included.
What you’ll love about Whova
In addition to what you’d come to expect from event management software, Whova has an automatically generated agenda web page! This feature is a great time-saver when you’re busy planning your fundraiser!
Pricing
For pricing, head over to Whova’s price request page.
Webex | Best event app customization
Formerly Socio, Webex events puts every audience on one platform. Webex is an all-in-one event management software that is a solid choice for fundraising events like galas. With landing pages and customization in the app, Webex is a great choice for larger fundraisers.
What you’ll love about Webex
We love the Social Wall in the app for the day of the event. It allows people to post pictures and comments as one group and is a great way to build momentum for auctions and donations.
Pricing
For pricing, head over to WebexEvents.
SpotMe | Best WordPress plugin
SpotMe is an event management software that helps you organize all types of events with ease. It is an all-in-one platform that can be used for in-person, hybrid, virtual, and webinar events. Also, it’s no-code event builder integrates into your stack of software like WordPress. So for the more tech-savvy fundraisers, it’s a great option for your events.
What you’ll love about SpotMe
SpotMe has a training and certification program for fundraisers who are serious about their event management software. If you’re hungry to learn, take a look at SpotMe Academy!
Pricing
You’ll need to contact SpotMe for pricing options.
Top digital tools to run your nonprofit event smoothly
So you selected the right Event Management Software, now what? With larger events and teams, you’ll need some additional help coordinating the particulars of your event. With busy volunteers, donors, and fundraisers all trying to collaborate at once, these tools will help ensure all the plates keep spinning leading up to your event. Here’s a list of some of the best tools that ensure you’re not only tracking your event well, but also communicating, advertising, and collaborating like a pro!
Asana | Best team collaboration software
Asana is a flexible and customizable project management software that will keep your entire team focused and deadline-oriented. Whether you just need it for personal use or to collaborate with 50 people, it will organize conversions, tasks, and projects.
What you’ll love about Asana
Asana has great integrations into Google Drive that make it easy to link documents to projects and tasks.
Pricing
Asana is free to try for individuals or smaller teams. Their paid offerings start at $10.99/ month to unlock more features.
DonorSearch | Best donor research
DonorSearch gives actionable insights into donors’ behaviors and potential donation opportunities. You should always research donors in your database to see who is ready to step up their giving. Furthermore, seeing donation trends industry-wide can give you a glimpse into the context your fundraising event will be stepping into.
What you’ll love about DonorSearch
DonorSearch integrates directly with Bloomerang, so if you’re already a customer, you can ask about how to utilize DonorSearch at your next fundraiser!
Pricing
You will have to inquire about DonorSearch standalone pricing.
Prismm | Best software for venue organization
Prismm is an event planning and coordination platform to help you manage and organize your fundraising events. Prismm enables collaboration among your event planning team, your event venue, and any vendors you have for the day. This software provides a suite of tools including 3D event rendering, floorplan design, guest list management, and virtual reality (VR) experiences. These tools help your nonprofit streamline your event planning process by allowing your team to create accurate floor plans, arrange seating, and visualize event spaces online.
What you’ll love about Prismm
Prismm helps your team effectively coordinate with each other throughout your event planning process. No matter the type of fundraising event you host, this platform’s tools can help you efficiently create memorable and well-coordinated experiences for your supporters.
Pricing
Contact Prismm to learn about pricing.
Mailchimp | Best software for multichannel marketing
Mailchimp is a marketing platform designed to assist you in establishing your nonprofit’s brand and connecting with your supporters. This versatile software helps you consolidate donor data, centralize assets, enable the creation of integrated campaigns across various channels, and provide analytics on donor engagement. This allows you to refine your marketing strategies for your fundraising event, targeting supporters who are most likely to express interest in attending your event and ensuring they receive the necessary information.
What you’ll love about Mailchimp
Mailchimp excels in collecting donor data and transforming insights into actionable strategies. The software allows you to understand your audience’s preferences, which helps foster meaningful conversations, all within a unified platform. With Mailchimp, you can promote your fundraising event through email, social media, landing pages, postcards, and more. Mailchimp’s behavior-based automations also help increase conversion rates and deepen user engagement.
Pricing
Mailchimp offers multiple monthly plans based on specific features and contact quantities, including a free beginner plan.
Constant Contact | Best software for email marketing
Constant Contact is an email marketing software featuring over 100 mobile-optimized and customizable email templates, empowering you to enhance your next event’s visibility and distinguish yourself in a crowded digital landscape. The key features of Constant Contact’s event management software include email marketing, marketing automation, eCommerce integration, Google ads, and Meta ads. Elevate your nonprofit’s email presence and cut through the junk mail with the help of this versatile marketing software.
What you’ll love about Constant Contact
Constant Contact provides a large selection of well-crafted email templates tailored for nonprofit use. Each template is easy to edit and customize, offering flexibility for diverse content needs. These templates are also mobile responsive to allow you to reach your event attendees from anywhere!
Pricing
Constant Contact offers plans starting at $12 per month.
Fun Team Events | Best software for entertainment activities
Fun Team Events blends entertainment and philanthropy by offering a distinctive and enjoyable avenue for your donors to support your cause. The platform provides a range of customizable virtual activities, including trivia nights, game shows, and interactive challenges to foster team spirit and stimulate active event participation. This software leverages technology to help you build a connection with your virtual event attendees and create an immersive event experience.
What you’ll love about Fun Team Events
Fun Team Events helps build communities by strengthening relationships through interactive virtual activities. Its user-friendly interface empowers your team to set up and manage games that encourage participation, ensuring a smooth and enjoyable experience. Gamify your online fundraising event with this software.
Pricing
Reach out to Fun Team Events for pricing details.
Buffer | Best software for social media management
Buffer is an integrated social media management system that helps you streamline the process of drafting posts, team collaboration, and strategic planning for your social media marketing campaigns, all within a unified platform. Utilize this software solution to enhance the promotion of your fundraising event by effortlessly scheduling content, managing access to various social accounts, and cultivating your nonprofit’s social media presence. With Buffer, you can drive traffic to your event registration through strategic social media campaigns.
What you’ll love about Buffer
This platform is highly collaborative, allowing your marketing team to collectively refine your event marketing plans before posting. This approach ensures your posts meet the highest quality standards and align with your mission before being published on a pre-set schedule.
Pricing
Buffer offers plans starting from a free plan and scaling up to $120 per month.
Smartwaiver | Best software for event waivers
Smartwaiver is a solution for digital waiver management, revolutionizing the traditional waiver and release process for fundraising events. This software offers a user-friendly interface for creating customizable digital waivers that allow participants to conveniently sign waivers electronically before your event starts. Smartwaiver’s key features include conditional logic for personalized waivers, photo capture for enhanced identification, and reporting tools for efficient data management.
What we love about Smartwaiver
With an offline mode, Smartwaiver provides flexibility in collecting waivers, even if you don’t have an internet connection at your event. Adopting Smartwaiver offers an efficient and secure digital waiver solution that streamlines administrative processes and provides a comprehensive approach to waiver management.
Pricing
Smartwaiver’s pricing plans start at $19 per month.
OnceHub | Best software for event scheduling
OnceHub is a scheduling and appointment booking software designed to simplify the process of coordinating meetings and appointments while planning your fundraising event. This platform offers a suite of tools to make scheduling more efficient, including personalized appointment pages, group scheduling, and automated reminders. OnceHub can integrate with different calendars and communication tools to help you synchronize and update scheduling across your platforms. Your organization can customize appointment booking workflows to suit your needs while planning your event.
What we love about OnceHub
OnceHub’s comprehensive analytics provide insights into your scheduling metrics. This software offers versatility in scheduling, making it a great solution for optimizing your scheduling process no matter the size of the fundraising event you’re hosting.
Pricing
OnceHub’s pricing plans start with a free beginner plan to get started.
Final thoughts
Your nonprofit is always one great fundraiser event away from breaking through to meaningful support. However, they are challenging and complex to pull off. When executed well these mountain-peak moments leave rich stories and impressions in your most valuable donor’s minds. If you choose the right event management software for your nonprofits, it will go a long way to making your fundraising event a success.
If you’ve chosen the right software and are ready for the next step, take a look at some of our additional resources below.
Additional resources
- Nonprofit Event Planning: The Ultimate Guide. Check out this guide to successfully plan your next fundraising event.
- 5 Fundraising Event Planning Tips [With Template]. Use this template to organize your event planning!
- 100+ Fundraising Event Ideas to Try in 2024 and Beyond. Look at this list to find your next event idea.
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