CharityEngine vs. Salesforce vs. Blackbaud

		(Nonprofit Success Pack)
Best CRM For	Small, Midsize, and Enterprise-Level Nonprofits that want a robust all-in-one CRM that also integrates seamlessly with third-party systems	Tech-savvy nonprofits or those with a large IT team	Enterprise-Level Nonprofits
Pricing	$$ to $$$	$ to $$$$	$$$ to $$$$
Differentiators	All-in-one nonprofit CRM with native functionality enabling essential fundraising functions, including donor management, moves management, major gifts, membership, advocacy, event coordination, and volunteer management	Nonprofit technology built on the world's #1 CRM	The world's most robust fundraising software
Support for Nonprofit Products	Yes, dedicated	Community support only	Yes
Email Configuration Options	Shared Pool or Dedicated IPs	Shared Pool	Shared Pool
PCI and SOC II Status	PCI-certified and SOC-II-certified	PCI and SOC II Compliant	PCI and SOC II Compliant
In-House Payment Processing and Billing System	Yes	No	No
Key Features
Email Automation	Yes	Yes	Yes
Payment Processing	Yes	No	Yes
Events	Yes	No	Yes
Auctions	Yes	No	Yes
Text-to-Give	Yes	No	Yes
Advocacy	Yes	No	No
Online Donation Forms	Yes	Limited	Yes
Reporting and Dashboards	Yes	Yes	Yes, but customized reporting is limited
Out-of-the-box Fundraising Reports	Yes (90+ reports)	Limited (10 reports)	Yes
Sustainer/ Recurring Billing	Yes	No	Yes
Peer-to-Peer	Yes	No	Yes
CRM	Yes	Yes	Yes
CMS	Yes	No	Yes, built on WordPress
Grants Management	Yes	No	Yes
Volunteer Management	Yes	No	Yes
Customers Say*
Pros	“CharityEngine is user-friendly, comes with full support, and allows all your business needs to be maintained and tracked in one location. It is truly a one-stop shop and more than just a management program.”	"We manage all of our donors, event attendees, volunteers, and any other human that's connected with our organization through Salesforce. We spend a lot of time cleaning up the database, and we devote a lot of staff time to Salesforce management in general, but we consider it essential."	"Good for a non-profit organization with many donors."
Cons	“Customer support is great but can sometimes take a while to get a resolution. While they have extensive documentation in their help center, it’s a little cumbersome to navigate if you’re trying to find something very specific, and I’m sure it’s hard for them to keep it up-to-date due to new features.”	"It can do anything...if you can afford to pay someone a lot of money to set it up for you."	"Working with Blackbaud is a very unpleasant experience. Trying to get answers to anything is impossible."

*Customer quotes from Capterra

Two notes from very reliable sources: With Salesforce, the entry point is affordable. However, as soon as you add necessary features, the costs escalate quickly. And it's important to note that Blackbaud outsources support to India. To become robust, they've acquired companies and cobbled them together, so support is needed.

What if the features you're looking for are in several systems? We recommend that you start with an agnostic guide - our Guide to Selecting a Nonprofit CRM is free and has downloadable workbooks you can use to help you shop - and discern what features are the most critical for your nonprofit's success. These tools will point you in the right direction!

We always like to remind software shoppers that the cost isn't the only consideration when buying new software. That's an eye-opening article for some nonprofits!

If you've read through these features and CharityEngine has piqued your curiosity, give us a call. Are we the right fit for you? Maybe not. But we'll never know unless we chat!