Our picks · 2027
Best CRM for Nonprofits
Three of the vendors we ranked publish nonprofit programs: free licenses or seats, or a set discount. Here's what each one offers and who qualifies.
AWBy Austin Witherow · Updated Nov 12, 2026 · 5 min read · How we review
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Quick answer
- Best overall: Salesforce Starter, small teams planning to move up to a larger platform later (from $25/user/mo)
- #2: monday CRM, teams already working in monday.com (from $12/seat/mo)
- #3: HubSpot, starting free, then growing into paid tools (from $0)
Compared
CRMs compared (USD, checked Nov 12, 2026)| CRM | Best for | Starts at | Our score | Link |
|---|
| Salesforce Starter | Small teams planning to move up to a larger platform later | $25/user/mo | 7.7 | Visit |
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| monday CRM | Teams already working in monday.com | $12/seat/mo | 8.0 | Visit |
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| HubSpot | Starting free, then growing into paid tools | $0 | 8.9 | Visit |
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Salesforce Starter
Small teams planning to move up to a larger platform later7.7/10GoodSalesforce Starter Suite is $25 per user a month, billed monthly or annually, with no user maximum. It's the way into the Salesforce platform and includes built-in sales flows and lead routing. Custom objects, sandbox and complex workflow automation need Pro Suite at $100 per user, billed annually on a contract.
$25/user/mo Starter Suite, billed monthly or annually
Pros
- Starter is $25/user/month, billed monthly or annually, with no user maximum
- 30-day free trial
- Guided onboarding included on Starter
- Grows into the full Salesforce platform and its app marketplace
Cons
- Custom objects, sandbox and complex workflow automation need Pro Suite: $100/user/month, billed annually, contract required
- Starter includes 2,000 marketing emails a month; more cost $10 per 1,000
- More to learn than tools built only for small teams
- G2 doesn't list Starter separately; the 4.4/5 rating covers all of Sales Cloud
monday CRM
Teams already working in monday.com8.0/10Very goodmonday CRM is a flexible board-style CRM. It's sold in seat buckets (3, 5, 10, 15, 20…) with a 3-seat minimum, so a solo user pays for 3 and a team of 6 pays for 10. Automations start on Standard ($17 yearly).
$12/seat/mo billed yearly, 3-seat minimum ($18 monthly)
Pros
- Very flexible boards for custom sales processes
- Standard ($17/seat/mo yearly, $25 monthly) includes 250 automations a month and 10,000 contacts and deals
- Prorated refund if you cancel a yearly plan within 30 days
- 14-day free trial, no credit card
- 4.5/5 on G2 from 1,983 reviews
Cons
- 3-seat minimum, sold in buckets: 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 100, 200+
- Basic ($12/$18) has no automations and caps you at 1,000 contacts and deals
- No free plan
- Monthly billing costs about 50% more than yearly
HubSpot
Starting free, then growing into paid tools8.9/10Very goodHubSpot has the most useful free CRM here (2 users, 1,000 contacts) and a cheap Starter plan. The catch is the jump to Professional: $90 to $100 per seat, an annual commitment and a required $1,500 onboarding fee.
$0 free for 2 users; Starter $20/seat/mo list price
Pros
- Free plan with no time limit: 2 users and 1,000 contacts
- Starter is $20/seat/month at list price, with new-customer discounts to $7 (annual) or $10 (monthly)
- Starter already includes up to 15 pipelines and 50 workflows
- Sales, marketing and service tools on one contact record
- 4.4/5 on G2 from 14,393 reviews
Cons
- Professional costs $90/seat/month billed annually, or $100 paid monthly, and both require an annual commitment
- Professional adds a required one-time onboarding fee of $1,500 (Enterprise: $3,500)
- Sequences and lead scoring are only on Professional and Enterprise
- The $7 and $10 Starter prices are new-customer discounts; list price is $20
What a nonprofit needs
Most nonprofits run on a small budget with staff and volunteers who share the work. The best deal is usually free licenses or seats, because they cover the core team at $0, followed by a flat discount on paid plans.
Three of the vendors we ranked publish a nonprofit program: Salesforce, monday CRM and HubSpot. Each one sets its own eligibility, so confirm you qualify on the vendor's page before you plan around it.
Why the picks are in this order
Why Salesforce is first
Salesforce's Power of Us program gives eligible nonprofits 10 Nonprofit Cloud licenses at no cost. That covers a team of up to 10, in a product built for nonprofits.
It also opens up the full Salesforce platform and its app marketplace. The trade-off is learning time: Salesforce has more to learn than tools built only for small teams.
For context, the small-business Starter Suite lists at $25 per user a month, and Pro Suite at $100, billed annually on a contract, per Salesforce's small business pricing.
Why monday CRM is second
monday.com's nonprofit program gives 10 free seats and 70% off extra seats. That matches Salesforce's 10 free licenses, and the discount helps if your team grows past 10.
It's second because the program page doesn't say which monday.com products or plans the free seats cover, so confirm with monday that it applies to monday CRM and which plan you'd get. monday CRM isn't a nonprofit-specific product either. Its flexible boards can be shaped to a donor or volunteer process, but you build that yourself.
For reference, list prices are $12 per seat a month on Basic and $17 on Standard, billed yearly, per monday CRM's pricing. Seats come in buckets (3, 5, 10, 15, 20 and up) with a 3-seat minimum.
Why HubSpot is third
HubSpot gives 40% off net-new Professional or Enterprise products to registered nonprofits in eligible countries that are new customers on an annual contract. Starter is excluded. That's a discount on the higher plans, not free seats, so it ranks below the two programs that cover 10 people at $0.
HubSpot's free plan is open to anyone, nonprofit or not: 2 users and 1,000 contacts with no time limit. A very small nonprofit can start there. Starter ($20 per seat a month at list price) gets no nonprofit discount; the 40% applies only if you move to Professional or Enterprise.
What to watch out for
Eligibility: each program decides who qualifies. Read the vendor's nonprofit page first.
Costs past the free seats: an 11th user on Salesforce or monday is a paid seat. monday's program takes 70% off extra seats, and its seats are sold in buckets, so check which bucket your team lands in.
Plan limits: monday CRM's Basic plan has no automations and caps you at 1,000 contacts and deals. Standard raises that to 10,000 with 250 automations a month.
HubSpot's big step: Professional is $90 per seat a month billed annually, with an annual commitment and a required $1,500 onboarding fee, per HubSpot's sales pricing. With the 40% nonprofit discount, Professional works out to $90 x 0.6 = $54 per seat a month billed annually. HubSpot's page doesn't say the discount covers the onboarding fee, so budget the $1,500 on top.
How we chose
We read each vendor's nonprofit, pricing and terms pages and its G2 reviews, checked on Nov 12, 2026. This page is research-based; we did not test these CRMs ourselves. We ranked by how many people the program covers at no cost, then by the size of the discount on paid seats.