Charity CRM Databases (Customer Relationship Management) is possibly one of the most abused terms in the IT industry and has been used to describe so much software. The first thing to note is that CRM software is not CRM itself - CRM is a policy and a practise and a whole culture; and in many ways, charities practising good donor management are already doing CRM! CRM management software will not automatically implement CRM at your organisation.

For the purposes of this site, CRM Software is designated as systems/providers which provide more 'generic' database solutions which could be configured for the NFP sector, but would also sit just as easily in a commercial environment - as opposed to solutions more specifically aimed at the NFP sector such as Fundraising or Membership databases with their associated functionality. And if fundraising/membership software is what you want then although CRM systems may be able to provide this, there are many dedicated packages already doing so, so you should be considering both. CRM software can also be a good solution if you want an 'organisation-wide' database, but bear in mind that even some of the Fundraising or Membership software packages might also be an option depending on your precise needs.

When it comes to software there are hundreds of software packages and suppliers who purport to provide CRM. For the purposes of this web site, we have included two sections below on CRM: Packages which are generally recognised as offering solutions for the NFP industry, and Companies who do the same.

See also: Fundraising software, Membership software.