CRM Integration for Nonprofits and Schools: Helping Organizations Save time and Eliminate Errors

Is your nonprofit or school getting the most from its fundraising CRM? Many organizations use CRMs to track donor information, but most are missing out on the benefits that come from integrating them with their other software. When you link your existing tools with your CRM, it becomes more than just a place to store data. It helps you better understand your donors, keep them engaged, and work more efficiently with your finance, marketing, programs, and leadership teams.

If your CRM isn’t connected seamlessly with your other tools, your employees are not just doing extra work, they’re also missing chances to make a bigger impact.

How Nonprofits and Schools Can Use CRM Integration

When your CRM is integrated with the other tools your organization uses, information flows automatically between them and can facilitate more automation and more concise, rapid reporting. Here’s what that means:

• Working together: Link your CRM to the tools you use every day, such as your email system, social media tools, fund accounting software, and event registration platforms. Once connected, information can update automatically everywhere, which means less re-keying or importing/exporting—and fewer mistakes.
• Rapid reporting, better insights: Stop pulling reports from different systems to compile them in time-intensive processes. See campaign performance, donor and gift details, and fundraising event performance in your CRM. It can be your single source of truth for easier reporting and to respond more quickly to performance insights.
• Automating tasks from a central location: Once you have data from separate systems consolidated, you can let your CRM handle routine work like sending thank-you emails after donations or event attendance, as well as reminding you about upcoming renewals. This way, you can always get the big picture of your relationship with every donor; and you won’t accidentally ask a major donor for a $25 gift.

Here are some examples of CRM integration:

When you connect Eventbrite to Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT®, the industry-leading fundraising CRM, managing events becomes much simpler. Once someone signs up for your event, their information appears in your CRM. You can then easily follow up with them afterward, include them in email campaigns, or see how your events are helping your fundraising efforts.

Schools using Blackbaud’s Total School Solution see similar benefits. Once a student is accepted in Blackbaud Enrollment Management System™, the admissions CRM, the system automatically provisions accounts in Blackbaud  Tuition Management™. That integrates with Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT® the general ledger, which also connects to Raiser’s Edge NXT.  This empowers K–12 schools to see  individual family accounts, donor information, and school-wide financials all in one place.

Why Connected Systems Matter

Think about how much time your team spends copying information from one system to another. Now imagine if that all happened automatically.

Here’s a common problem: Your fundraising team has to download donor information from your online giving platform, then re-key it all into your CRM by hand. This takes hours and it’s easy to make mistakes.

But when your systems are connected, this information moves automatically. What used to take hours now takes minutes or happens without a single keystroke from your staff.

Your whole team benefits, too. When someone in marketing updates a donor’s preferences in the CRM, the fundraising and event teams see these changes right away. Everyone has the latest information, meaning better campaigns and happier donors.

Most important, when your systems work together, your team can spend less time on paperwork and more time on what really matters—getting to know your donors and families, creating great programs, and furthering your mission.

The Most Helpful Tools to Integrate With Your CRM

 Want to know what CRM integrations can do for your nonprofit or school? Here are the tools that can make the biggest difference:

• Payment management platform integrations: These tools process and track donations and help ensure compliance. When connected to your CRM, they automatically record payments, send thank-you messages, and keep donor payment information secure.
• Email marketing and communication tools: Connect these to your CRM and your contact lists update automatically. You can see who opens your emails, track how campaigns are doing, and send personalized messages without switching between systems.
• Event management software: When someone signs up for your event, their information goes straight into your CRM. This makes it easy to see who’s attending your programs and to follow up after events.
• Financial and accounting systems: Link your financial management software to your fundraising CRM so donation records flow right into your accounting system. Integrating finance and fundraising makes reconciliation easier and helps improve donor stewardship.
• Volunteer management platforms: Keep all your volunteer information in one place. See who’s available, track how often they help, and coordinate activities more easily when these systems connect to your CRM.
• Educational software platforms: For schools and educational nonprofits, these connections put everything in one place—student records, grades, parent communications, and tuition payments. Staff can find what they need quickly, and families get a clearer picture of their children’s progress. By integrating with your fundraising CRM, you can create consistent, dependable processes for soliciting donations and tracking the full relationship with families and graduates.

Basic Integration Methods

Connecting your tools to your CRM might sound complicated, but there are several straightforward ways to do it. Here are the three main approaches:

Native Integrations

These are connections built into a CRM. Think of them as puzzle pieces that already fit together perfectly.

You don’t need to be a technical expert to use these; they’re ready to go right out of the box. They work especially well when you’re using tools from the same company as your CRM. For example, Financial Edge NXT and Raiser’s Edge NXT integrate seamlessly. They’re both Blackbaud products, purpose-built to serve the needs of nonprofits and schools. The pairing allows you to serve two critical functions on a single platform.

Many CRMs come with built-in ways to connect with popular third-party tools, too!

Third-party Connectors and Integration Platforms

Third-party connectors are like universal adapters. They help your CRM talk to other software tools. They’re easy to use and can grow with your organization. While you might need some tech help to set these up, many are low-code or no-code and they’re great for creating exactly the connections you need.

Custom Built Integrations using APIs

APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) give you more options for connecting systems. Think of them as a set of rules that let different programs share information. For instance, an API can copy donor information from your CRM to your event software, or send email results back to your CRM.

Have someone tech-savvy on your team? They might be able to build connections that are  customized for your organization. While this takes more work, it gives you complete control over how your systems share information. If your nonprofit has unique needs that other solutions don’t quite meet, building your own connections might be the way to go. Here is an example of how one school leader with very little technical background did it.

Common Integration Challenges

Technical Hurdles

Connecting systems isn’t always easy. You might run into problems with older software that doesn’t play well with new tools, or data that doesn’t match up between systems.

To avoid these headaches:

• Make sure your CRM can grow with you
• Keep your data organized and consistent
• Use ready-made connection tools when you can
• Bring in IT help for trickier setups

Getting Your Team On Board

Even the best system won’t help if your team isn’t comfortable using it. Some staff members might find new tools overwhelming, especially if they’re not very tech-savvy. Here’s what helps:

• Show your team exactly how to use the new tools
• Offer plenty of hands-on practice
• Create simple how-to guides
• Keep supporting your team as they learn
• Point out how the new system makes their jobs easier
• Take advantage of courses and training from your vendors

Planning Your Budget

Be ready for costs you might not expect:

• Building custom connections
• Buying extra tools
• Taking more time than planned for setup

To stay on budget:

• Plan ahead for unexpected expenses
• Look for fundraising CRMs that offer affordable ways to connect with other tools
• Choose options that can grow with your organization without breaking the bank

Ready to Get Started With CRM Integration?

Before diving into integration, take stock of your  organization’s needs. Start by looking at where your team spends the most time on manual data entry or switching between systems. Talk to your staff about which tasks slow them down the most. Then review your current tools. Which ones do you use daily? Which contain important donor or program information?

Once you understand your needs, reach out to your CRM provider. Ask them about built-in integrations for your most-used tools, what kind of support they (or partners) offer during setup, and whether they have experience helping similar organizations connect their systems. Remember, you don’t have to integrate everything at once. Start with the connection that will save your team the most time or have the biggest impact on your mission.