The recent U.S. inflation measures indicate that high prices are in, leading to an affordability crisis. For non-profits, it has become a sector under pressure. They are under pressure to deliver services to struggling families, individuals, and communities. The economic reality has resulted in reduced funding and higher operating costs.
At the end of last year, 2024, nonprofits faced program cuts, closures, declining donations, and other forces that hit budgets. From January 20 to June 30, the nonprofit sector lost at least 22,757 full-time jobs. Moreover, donor giving has started to decline as families prioritize essentials over philanthropy.
This article emphasizes:
- The need for more donations
- The operational and technological challenges
- The difference between fundraising and finance software
- The importance of non-profit transactions
- Evaluation of the solution needs
- Understand the power of a unified system like Donorbox
What do nonprofits need to do?
They need to:
- Maintain stability in the financial flow
- Make the donor experience more attractive
- Modernize operations with technology
- Diversify funding resources
What is the solution?
To emerge stronger, they should streamline their operations and finances. Traditional funding and operational models may not work. Making strategic investments in technology is one way to diversify their revenue streams.
Investment in technology to streamline operations, enhance donor engagement, and diversify revenue streams. Platforms like Donorbox already meet this challenge. It facilitates nonprofits in unifying fundraising and financial management in a single customizable system.
Recent headlines also support this, indicating a growing trend.
In the news:
- Givebutter has recently added financial management tools to unite fundraising, finances, and donor management on a single platform. (September 25, 2025, PRNEWSWIRE)
- Aplos, Raisely and Keela (the umbrella organization) launched Velora, which combines fundraising, donor management, and accounting into one connected platform.
- Raisely is a digital fundraising tool.
- Keela provides donor management features and
- Aplos deals with fund accounting and reporting. (August 20, 2025, THENONPROFITTIMES)
This shift clearly indicates that nonprofits need tools to raise funds, manage finances, and increase revenue. Though we have technology tools, fundraising and finance require entirely different technology solutions.
Fundraising CRM systems are essential for:
- Prospecting donors
- Soliciting gifts
- Setting up fundraising campaigns
- Tracking campaign response
- Building donor profiles
- Segmenting donors
- Managing the donation lifecycle
Finance software is essential for accounting:
- Pledge payments
- Event tickets
- Service fees
- Product sales
- Grants
- In-kind gifts
- memberships
Both fundraisers and financers focus on revenue, but their approach and accounting are entirely different from one another. However, both systems must track the type of gift and donor intent. These mutual integration points should be clearly defined.
An illustration:
Consider a year-end giving campaign that raised $100,000.
- As usual, the fundraising team tracked donor engagement, campaign performance, and gift frequency.
- The finance team reported restricted funds, unrestricted funds, reconciling pledge payments, and prepared tax summaries.
As there was no unified system, a mismatch in the classification of donor intent (restricted and unrestricted) led to delayed receipts and misalignment of financial reports.
Eventually, the donors were dissatisfied. So,
- How to integrate fundraising and accounting systems?
- How to save time and effort?
- How to avoid duplicate entries?
Wouldn’t it be easier to use an “all-in-one” system that can handle fundraising and finance?
Possibly. Can Donorbox be that system?
Yes, as mentioned earlier, Donorbox can handle finance and fundraising operations, with customisation.
Donorbox solution for Nonprofits
A few of them are highlighted below:
Unified Donor and Transaction Tracking
Automatically records every donation, event ticket, and recurring gift in one system. This makes reconciliation and financial reporting smoother. It helps them adhere to state taxation and compliance.
Integrations with Accounting Tools
Donorbox integrates with tools like QuickBooks (via Zapier or direct). This helps nonprofits sync donation data directly into their accounting software. It reduces manual data entry and errors in financial records.
Recurring and Campaign-Specific Reporting
Donorbox CRM’s dashboards give nonprofits real-time insight into recurring revenue, donor retention, and campaign performance.
Donation Management and Segmentation
Nonprofits can segment donors by giving frequency, amount, or campaign. This helps them prioritize and plan budgets accordingly.
Automate Receipts and Tax Summaries
Donorbox automates receipts with full tax-deductible details, reducing administrative work. This makes the year-end reporting easier.
Pledge and Instalment Tracking
This helps bridge the gap between raising funds, accounting and improves cash flow management.
To conclude:
Donor expectations are growing…
Challenges in receiving donations are increasing…
…Nonprofits must rethink how to operate and engage to grow!
Donors are not passive contributors. They need information. They aspire to be valued and expect transparency and to be digital too. A strong technological footing can support real-time data, workflow, and engagement with donors strategically.
A strong, unified system in place can foster resilience. It helps nonprofits to adapt, grow, and diversify. Nonprofits need to position themselves as competent by embracing technology. Exploring platforms like Donorbox can meet donor expectations, streamline fundraising, finance operations, and unlock new revenue growth opportunities.
Ready to explore the unified system? Click here
FAQs:
Why should nonprofits unify their fundraising and finance platforms?
It reduces complexity. Moreover, it removes manual errors, saves time, and provides visibility.
How does a unified system make fundraising easier?
It eliminates the resistance between financial tracking and donor engagement.
Suppose a nonprofit decides to switch to a unified system? Is it difficult?
No, onboarding is easier than you imagine. Donorbox provides onboarding support and integrates with existing software.
Pallavi Singal is the Vice President of Content at ztudium, where she leads innovative content strategies and oversees the development of high-impact editorial initiatives. With a strong background in digital media and a passion for storytelling, Pallavi plays a pivotal role in scaling the content operations for ztudium’s platforms, including Businessabc, Citiesabc, and IntelligentHQ, Wisdomia.ai, MStores, and many others. Her expertise spans content creation, SEO, and digital marketing, driving engagement and growth across multiple channels. Pallavi’s work is characterised by a keen insight into emerging trends in business, technologies like AI, blockchain, metaverse and others, and society, making her a trusted voice in the industry.
