Polymer Search
Need to present donor trends to your board tomorrow but don't have time to learn complex BI tools? Polymer's AI analyzes your spreadsheet the moment you upload it and auto-generates a professional, interactive dashboard in seconds—transforming your CSV exports into compelling visual stories without the weeks-long learning curve of traditional analytics platforms.
What It Does
Staring at spreadsheets full of donor data, program metrics, or fundraising results and wishing they could just explain themselves? Polymer uses AI to instantly analyze your data and create interactive dashboards automatically. Upload a CSV of your donor list, and Polymer immediately identifies trends, creates visualizations showing giving patterns, and lets you filter by donation size, campaign, or time period—all without you choosing a single chart type.
The built-in PolyAI assistant acts like a data analyst who speaks plain English. Ask "Which fundraising campaign had the highest retention rate?" or "Show me donor trends by zip code," and it generates the exact visualization that answers your question. No SQL queries, no pivot table formulas, no YouTube tutorials on how to make charts—just natural conversation with your data.
Polymer shines when you need insights fast. Board meeting in an hour? Upload your latest data export, let the AI build the dashboard, customize colors to match your brand, and present. Your Executive Director needs monthly program metrics? Set up automated data syncing from Google Sheets, and Polymer updates the dashboard every day without you touching it. It's designed for people who need answers now, not next week after they finish a training course.
Best For
Organization Size
- Small nonprofits with 1-15 staff members
- Organizations without dedicated data analysts
- Teams with limited IT/technical resources
- Budget-conscious organizations needing quick ROI
Best Use Cases
- Donor trend analysis and retention tracking
- Board presentations requiring visual impact
- Grant reporting with charts and graphs
- Campaign performance comparisons
- Quick ad-hoc data exploration
Ideal For
- Development Directors needing donor insights
- Executive Directors presenting to boards
- Marketing Managers analyzing campaign data
- Program Managers tracking participant outcomes
Key Features for Nonprofits
AI-Generated Dashboards
Zero setup, instant insights
Upload your donor spreadsheet, program data, or fundraising report, and Polymer's AI instantly analyzes it and creates a complete dashboard—with charts, graphs, and filters already configured. No choosing chart types, no configuring axes, no watching tutorials. The AI identifies what's important in your data and visualizes it automatically.
Natural Language PolyAI
Ask questions in plain English, get visual answers
Type "Show me donors who gave more than $500 last year but haven't donated this year" and PolyAI generates the exact chart that answers your question. No need to learn SQL, formulas, or BI tool syntax—just ask naturally, like you're talking to a data analyst. Great for exploring data when you're not sure what you're looking for yet.
Automated Data Syncing
Dashboards that update themselves
Connect to Google Sheets, Shopify, Facebook Ads, or other supported platforms, and Polymer automatically refreshes your dashboard daily (Starter plan), hourly (Pro/Teams), or in real-time (Enterprise). Update your donor spreadsheet, and the dashboard reflects changes automatically—no manual data uploads or refresh buttons to remember.
Drag-and-Drop Customization
Tweak AI suggestions to match your needs
The AI builds the initial dashboard, but you're not stuck with it. Drag charts around, change visualization types (bar chart to pie chart, for example), apply filters, adjust colors to match your brand—all with simple point-and-click. Get 80% of the work done by AI, customize the final 20% yourself in minutes.
Interactive Visualizations
Dashboards viewers can explore themselves
Share dashboards with board members, funders, or staff, and they can filter, drill down, and explore the data themselves without editing permissions. Board member wants to see just donations from their region? They click a filter. Funder wants year-over-year comparisons? They adjust the date range. No need to create 10 versions of the same report.
Custom Branding
Professional dashboards with your nonprofit's look
Upload your logo, set brand colors, customize fonts—make dashboards look like they came from your organization, not a generic template. Starter plan and above includes custom branding, so external stakeholders see polished, professional reports that reinforce your nonprofit's credibility.
Real-World Nonprofit Use Case
A small environmental nonprofit with a 3-person team was manually creating donor reports in Excel every month for their board meetings. The Development Director spent 6-8 hours each month exporting data from their CRM, calculating retention rates, creating pivot tables, and formatting charts. Board members received static PDF reports and frequently asked follow-up questions that required generating new charts.
After implementing Polymer, they set up a Google Sheet that their CRM automatically exports to weekly. Polymer syncs with that sheet daily and maintains an up-to-date donor dashboard showing giving trends, retention rates, campaign comparisons, and geographic distribution. The Development Director now spends 30 minutes per month reviewing the dashboard and adding brief commentary—a 90% time reduction.
Board members receive a shared link to the interactive dashboard. When they have questions during meetings, they can explore the data themselves instead of requesting custom reports. "Can we see just major donors?" becomes a 5-second filter click instead of a 2-hour data request. The Executive Director now uses PolyAI to answer ad-hoc questions: "Which zip codes have the most first-time donors this quarter?" generates the answer in seconds.
The organization saves 70+ staff hours annually while providing more timely, interactive insights. They've redirected that saved time to actual donor cultivation instead of spreadsheet maintenance. And when a major funder asked for donation trends during a site visit, they pulled up the live dashboard on their phone rather than promising to "send something later."
Pricing
Monthly Plans
| Plan | Price | Editors | AI Responses | Data Sync |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $10/month | 1 Editor | 0 (no AI chat) | Manual only |
| Starter | $50/month | 1 Editor | 10/month | Daily automatic |
| Pro | $100/month | 1 Editor | 20/month | Hourly automatic |
| Teams | $250/month | 3 Editors | 30/month | Hourly automatic |
| Enterprise | Custom pricing | Unlimited | Unlimited | Real-time |
Key Pricing Details
- Annual billing saves 50%: Starter becomes $25/month, Pro becomes $50/month, Teams becomes $125/month when paid yearly
- Free trial: 7 days for most plans, 14 days for Pro plan—no credit card required
- Data connectors: Basic limited to file uploads and Google Sheets; Starter and above get all connectors (Shopify, Salesforce, Facebook Ads, etc.)
- Shopify stores: Additional $3/month per store beyond the first
- Custom branding: Available on Starter plan and above
Note: Pricing information is subject to change. Please verify current pricing directly with Polymer at polymersearch.com/pricing.
Nonprofit Pricing
No Specific Nonprofit Discount Available
Based on current information, Polymer does not offer a dedicated nonprofit discount program like some competitors (e.g., Microsoft Power BI's 70% nonprofit discount). However, there are ways nonprofits can reduce costs:
1. Choose Annual Billing (50% Savings)
Pay yearly instead of monthly to cut costs in half:
- • Starter: $25/month (instead of $50/month)
- • Pro: $50/month (instead of $100/month)
- • Teams: $125/month (instead of $250/month)
2. Education Discount
Students and educators can use Polymer for free. If your nonprofit has educational programs or partnerships with schools, explore whether you qualify under this program. Contact Polymer support for details.
3. Start Small, Scale Later
Begin with the Basic plan ($10/month or $5/month annually) for simple dashboard needs, then upgrade only if you need AI chat features or automated syncing.
Recommendation: Contact Polymer's sales team directly to inquire about nonprofit pricing. Many SaaS companies offer nonprofit discounts even if not publicly advertised. Mention your 501(c)(3) status and ask if they have special pricing for registered nonprofits.
Learning Curve
Beginner-Friendly (Zero Learning Curve)
Designed specifically for non-technical users
Time to First Value:
- Upload data and see initial dashboard: 2-5 minutes (literally the time it takes to upload a file)
- Customize and share: 15-30 minutes (adjust colors, add filters, finalize for presentation)
- Proficiency: 1-2 hours (understand all features and customization options)
Technical Requirements:
- Can you upload a file? You can use Polymer. That's the entire technical bar.
- No understanding of databases, SQL, or business intelligence required
- Helpful but not required: Basic spreadsheet familiarity (knowing what rows/columns are)
- No coding, no formulas, no chart-type selection needed—AI handles it all
Support & Learning Resources:
- AI auto-generates dashboards—no tutorials needed for basic use
- Blog with guides and use case examples at polymersearch.com/blog
- Email support (all plans); chat support (Pro and above); dedicated support (Enterprise)
- Free trial lets you test before committing
Quick Win: Your First 15 Minutes
Want to see if Polymer works for your nonprofit? Try this simple test:
- Export your donor list to CSV from your CRM (5 minutes)
- Sign up for Polymer's free trial and upload the CSV (2 minutes)
- Watch the AI auto-generate a complete donor dashboard (happens instantly)
- Ask PolyAI "Which month had the highest donations?" (5 seconds for the answer)
- Share the dashboard link with a colleague to get their reaction (1 minute)
Total time invested: 15 minutes
What you'll learn: Whether Polymer's AI can turn your messy data into actionable insights without the learning curve of traditional BI tools.
Integration & Compatibility
Connects With
Direct Data Connectors (Starter plan and above):
- • CRM: Salesforce (including Nonprofit Cloud)
- • E-commerce: Shopify (additional $3/month per store)
- • Advertising: Facebook Ads, Google Ads
- • Analytics: Google Analytics
- • Spreadsheets: Google Sheets, CSV uploads, Excel uploads
Third-Party ETL Integration:
- • Windsor.ai, Dataddo, and similar ETL platforms
- • Use these to connect CRMs/platforms not natively supported (e.g., Bloomerang, DonorPerfect)
API Access:
- • Available in Enterprise plan for custom integrations
- • Embedded analytics capabilities for adding dashboards to your website/app
Platform Availability
- Web-based: Works in Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge—no software installation required
- Mobile-friendly: View dashboards on smartphones/tablets (mobile creation has limited features)
- No desktop app: Entirely cloud-based, access from anywhere with internet
Data Portability
- Source data remains in original location (Google Sheets, etc.)—Polymer syncs but doesn't lock your data
- Dashboard export options available (formats may vary by plan)
- Custom dashboard configurations not easily portable to other BI tools (vendor lock-in consideration)
Important Integration Limitation
Nonprofit CRM Compatibility: Polymer does not have native connectors for most nonprofit-specific CRMs like Bloomerang, DonorPerfect, Little Green Light, or Kindful.
Workarounds:
- • Option 1: Export CRM data to Google Sheets (most nonprofit CRMs support this), then connect Polymer to the sheet
- • Option 2: Use a third-party ETL tool like Windsor.ai or Zapier to sync your CRM to Google Sheets or another supported platform
- • Option 3: If your CRM exports to CSV, upload files manually (Basic plan) or set up automated uploads
If seamless CRM integration is critical and you don't want workarounds, consider Power BI (100+ native connectors including most nonprofit CRMs) or Tableau (extensive connector library).
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Genuinely zero learning curve: Non-technical staff create dashboards in minutes without training—AI handles complexity automatically
- Extremely fast time-to-value: Upload data, get insights in seconds vs. hours/days with traditional BI tools
- Affordable for small nonprofits: At $10-50/month (or $5-25 with annual billing), significantly cheaper than Tableau or enterprise BI platforms
- Natural language queries: Ask questions in plain English via PolyAI—no SQL or formula knowledge required
- Great for ad-hoc exploration: Quickly test hypotheses and answer "what if" questions without extensive setup
- Beautiful, shareable dashboards: Professional-looking visualizations that impress boards and funders
Cons
- Limited nonprofit CRM connectors: No native support for Bloomerang, DonorPerfect, or most nonprofit-specific platforms—requires workarounds
- AI chat responses capped on lower tiers: Basic has 0 AI responses, Starter only 10/month—limits natural language exploration
- No nonprofit-specific discount: Unlike Power BI (70% off) or Tableau (nonprofit pricing), Polymer charges standard rates
- Limited advanced analytics: Great for visualizations, but lacks deep statistical analysis and predictive modeling of Power BI/Tableau
- Fewer data sources than competitors: Power BI connects to 100+ sources; Polymer focuses on most common platforms
- May be limiting for complex needs: If you need sophisticated data modeling or enterprise-grade governance, may outgrow Polymer
Alternatives to Consider
If Polymer doesn't feel like the right fit for your nonprofit, consider these alternatives:
Microsoft Power BI
More powerful, better nonprofit pricing, steeper learning curve
Best if: You need deep analytics, connect to many data sources (100+ connectors including most nonprofit CRMs), want built-in AI predictive features, or already use Microsoft 365.
Pricing advantage: $4-5/user/month for nonprofits (70% discount), free Desktop version for creating reports.
Trade-off: Takes 2-3 weeks to reach proficiency vs. Polymer's 1-2 hours. More complex but more capable.
Google Looker Studio (formerly Data Studio)
Completely free, Google ecosystem integration, moderate complexity
Best if: Budget is the primary concern, you use Google Workspace, and you're comfortable with a moderate learning curve (easier than Power BI, less automated than Polymer).
Pricing advantage: Completely free—no limits, no tiers, unlimited dashboards and users.
Trade-off: No AI auto-generation—you build dashboards manually. Great for Google Sheets/Analytics users but requires more hands-on work.
Tableau
Premium data visualization, expensive, best-in-class aesthetics
Best if: You need the most sophisticated, beautiful visualizations possible, have a larger budget, and value customization over ease of use.
Pricing disadvantage: ~$70-115/user/month even with nonprofit discounts—significantly more expensive than Polymer or Power BI.
Trade-off: More powerful than Polymer for complex visualizations, but much steeper learning curve and higher cost.
Why Choose Polymer Instead?
Polymer wins when speed and simplicity matter more than depth and breadth. Choose Polymer if:
- You need dashboards today, not after a 2-week training period
- Your team has zero technical/data analysis background
- You want AI to do the heavy lifting (auto-generate visualizations, answer natural language questions)
- Your data lives primarily in spreadsheets (Google Sheets, Excel) rather than complex databases
- You value low-cost entry point and want to test data visualization without major investment
Getting Started
Your First Hour with Polymer
Four simple steps to your first working dashboard
1Sign Up for Free Trial (5 minutes)
Visit polymersearch.com and start your 7-day free trial (14 days for Pro plan). No credit card required. Choose the plan that matches your needs—start with Starter if you want AI chat features.
2Upload Your First Dataset (2-3 minutes)
Export donor data, program metrics, or fundraising results from your CRM/database to CSV or Excel. Upload to Polymer, or connect Google Sheets directly. Start simple—a donor list with donation dates, amounts, and campaigns is perfect.
Pro tip: Clean your data first (remove duplicates, standardize formatting) for better AI-generated insights. Polymer works with messy data, but cleaner data = better recommendations.
3Let AI Build Your Dashboard (Instant)
The moment your data uploads, Polymer's AI analyzes it and creates a complete dashboard with charts, graphs, and filters. No configuration needed—it's already done. Explore what the AI created: click charts, apply filters, see what insights emerge.
Pro tip: Try asking PolyAI a question like "Which donors gave more than $500?" or "Show donation trends by month" to see natural language queries in action (Starter plan and above).
4Customize and Share (15-30 minutes)
Adjust the AI's suggestions: change chart types, modify colors to match your brand, add/remove visualizations, create custom filters. When satisfied, share the dashboard link with your team, board, or funders. They can explore interactively without needing Polymer accounts.
Pro tip: Set up automated syncing (Starter plan and above) so your dashboard updates daily/hourly as new data arrives—no manual uploads.
Need Help with Implementation?
Even with Polymer's ease of use, setting up effective dashboards, cleaning data, and determining which metrics matter most can feel overwhelming when you're already stretched thin. If you'd like expert guidance getting Polymer configured for your nonprofit's specific needs, we're here to help.
One Hundred Nights offers implementation support—from quick setup consultations to full-service dashboard design and data strategy. We'll help you move from spreadsheet chaos to clear, actionable insights.
Contact Us to Learn MoreResources
Learning Resources
Third-Party Reviews
Related One Hundred Nights Articles
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Polymer free for nonprofits?
Polymer doesn't offer a specific nonprofit discount. However, students and educators can use Polymer for free. The Basic plan starts at $10/month for individuals. Nonprofits can save 50% by choosing annual billing (e.g., Starter plan becomes $25/month instead of $50/month when billed yearly). A 7-day free trial is available to test the platform.
Do I need technical skills to use Polymer?
No technical skills required. Polymer is designed with a "zero learning curve" philosophy. If you can upload a spreadsheet, you can create a dashboard. The AI automatically analyzes your data and builds visualizations the moment you upload a CSV, Excel file, or connect Google Sheets. Natural language queries let you ask questions in plain English and get visual answers.
How long does it take to create a dashboard with Polymer?
Polymer can generate an interactive dashboard in seconds. Upload your data (2-3 minutes), let the AI auto-create visualizations (happens instantly), customize as needed (5-15 minutes), and you're done. Most users create their first useful dashboard within 15-30 minutes—compared to hours or days with traditional BI tools.
Does Polymer integrate with nonprofit CRMs like Salesforce or Bloomerang?
Polymer has a Salesforce connector, which works with Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud. However, it doesn't have native connectors for most nonprofit-specific CRMs like Bloomerang or DonorPerfect. You can still use Polymer by exporting data from your CRM to CSV/Excel or Google Sheets, or by using third-party ETL tools like Windsor.ai or Dataddo to connect unsupported platforms.
What's the difference between Polymer and Power BI for nonprofits?
Polymer is faster to set up and easier to learn (zero learning curve vs. Power BI's 2-3 week proficiency timeline), with dashboards auto-generated by AI. It's more affordable for small teams ($10-50/month vs. Power BI's $4-5/user/month for nonprofits). However, Power BI offers more advanced features, better nonprofit discounts, and connects to 100+ data sources. Choose Polymer for speed and simplicity; choose Power BI for depth and enterprise capabilities.
Are there limits on AI features in Polymer's lower tiers?
Yes. The Basic plan ($10/month) includes zero AI chat responses—you can create dashboards but can't ask PolyAI questions. Starter has 10 AI responses/month, Pro has 20/month, and Teams has 30/month. Only Enterprise has unlimited AI. If you want to use natural language queries regularly, you'll need at least the Starter plan ($50/month or $25/month annually).