Merchant service providers around the globe specialize in different industries, most of which focus on goods or service-based business models. However, some work with charitable organizations, like DonorPerfect. DonorPerfect was started in 1985, and is headquartered in Pennsylvania. Since its inception, it has provided fundraising organizations a platform for growth through its nonprofit CRM software. In this review we will discuss how the provider is different from others in the market and whether or not it is better.
DonorPerfect is a comprehensive platform built to enable fundraising organizations to generate funds and it encourages donors with its ease of use. The processor has several features that can aid fundraising – such as managing donations, reporting, generating receipts, and managing events. Most, if not all of your fundraising needs can be addressed through a single platform.
To understand how DonorPerfect manages payment processing and what it has to offer, read on for a detailed review.
What is a Nonprofit CRM Software?
To better understand the offerings of DonorPerfect, it is important to review what nonprofit CRM software is. CRM has been designed with consideration for the relationship between nonprofits and their related parties, like the organization’s members, volunteers, and donors.
Nonprofit CRM software allows these organizations to regulate and monitor members supporting the organization whether it be financially or through volunteer work. It also allows different employees within the nonprofit to utilize the software for different needs. For example, it helps mid-management and field-based employees to conduct outreach, marketing, fundraising, and PR activities. At the same time, upper management can use the software to track the efficiency of the organization and the marketing efforts of their members.
Services by Donor Perfect
DonorPerfect processes cards from all major credit card organizations, but their services cannot be used for the sales of goods and services – only organizations that plan on receiving donations and charities. The primary offering of the provider is specialized software that makes sending and receiving donations easier. The software allows nonprofits to accept donations over the phone or through their website, and offers additional services such as data reporting, auction management tools, and various other integrated partner solutions.
The provider offers its Insta-Charge payment gateway to merchants, which utilizes the services of TransFirst to process transactions. Unlike other popular payment gateways, TransFirst’s payment gateway has a lot of difficulties connecting with third-party providers. Transfirst was taken over by TSYS in 2016, and ultimately became the exclusive brand known as TSYS Merchant Solutions – so it’s possible that the real backend processor of DonorPerfect is TSYS.
Pricing of Donor Perfect
DonorPerfect gives its clients a choice between four pricing tiers, ranging from $99 to $499 monthly. They also have a free trial for clients who want to test their services before signing up for a plan. Here is a review of each tier and its offerings:
Lite Tier
The light tier is the cheapest tier that DonorPerfect offers. Organizations get unlimited users, integrated online events, donation management, and mobile app support at the lite tier. Also, integral features such as fundraising management and live chat support to possible donors are available to users in this tier. However, this tier is limited to 1000 records only. Organizations can get more records on additional fees.
Express Tier
With the express tier, organizations get all the features of the lite tier and tack on their constant contact email account. It integrates seamlessly with the existing DonorPerfect software. It allows advanced contact management such as donation and pledge tracking, direct mail, and filtering features. The donor reporting is much more detailed compared to the lite tier. This tier increases the record limit to 2500 and costs $279 per month.
Essentials Tier
This tier costs $299 per month and has all the features of the last two levels and adds QuickBooks integration to them. This also extends the number of records to 7500 and has support for automated workflows and auction management. This tier consists of the essentials a full-fledged nonprofit organization needs.
Premier Tier
This has all the features you get with the essentials tier and adds their crowdfunding and advanced moves management. This tier extends the first records limit to 25,000, with the option to add additional records. It allows its users to have unlimited training webinars, just like the essentials tier. It is the complete solution for a nonprofit organization.
Downsides of DonorPerfect
If DonorPerfect was the ultimate solution for all nonprofits, there would not be another rival in the market. In reality, there are a lot of things the provider can improve on, and below is a review of them:
Software Glitches
A merchant review claims a massive string of software glitches, and while all of them cannot be discussed, the most major one was adding a donor. If someone was added to the crowdfunding thermometer, it could only be done anonymously. If a donor wanted their name to be shown, the only solution was to add their name to a gift card. This seems like an organization that does not acknowledge its donors, which can impact the company in a severely negative light.
Sub-Par Customer Support
Another merchant complaint alleges that their customer support is almost restricted from offering any real help. They usually answer in generic ways that do not specifically target the problem. The merchant blames the incompetence of the development team for the errors, and customer support cannot help with development problems.
No Conversion Support
When organizations switch from another provider, they have to bring a plethora of data. While most providers make the switch easy, there is no guidance to transfer essential data to DonorPerfect. This ultimately causes organizations to come to a halt while they understand the workings of DonorPerfect, and how it affects productivity.
Conclusion
DonorPerfect has a meager online complaint total and an excellent online reputation. While most of their clients are satisfied with their services, it can sometimes get sloppy and confusing, as you found out in this DonorPerfect review.
It comes with the best nonprofit software solutions and provides a good merchant account with minimal interaction with TSYS. There are certainly better and more user-friendly options in the market!
