⚙️ CharityEngine for Nonprofits
Tired of losing monthly donors to expired credit cards and failed payments while juggling separate tools for your CRM, email marketing, events, and payment processing? CharityEngine eliminates vendor fragmentation with the only native all-in-one nonprofit platform that combines every fundraising tool with built-in payment processing. Their SustainerIQ technology retains 98% of monthly giving revenue—compared to the industry average of 70-85%—automatically recovering failed donations so your recurring revenue stays strong. Trusted by Wounded Warrior Project, Easter Seals, and MD Anderson, CharityEngine helps growing nonprofits raise more while simplifying operations.
What It Does
Struggling with monthly donors churning because of payment failures? Spending hours reconciling donations across separate payment gateways, CRM systems, and email platforms? CharityEngine solves the fragmentation problem that plagues growing nonprofits.
At its core, CharityEngine is a unified fundraising platform where every major tool—CRM, payment processing, donation forms, email marketing, events, peer-to-peer, advocacy, and reporting—is built into one integrated system. Unlike platforms that bolt on third-party integrations, CharityEngine's native architecture means your data flows seamlessly without middleware or manual syncing. You get a 360-degree view of every donor relationship in one database.
What truly differentiates CharityEngine is their SustainerIQ technology for recurring giving. Most nonprofits lose 15-30% of monthly donors annually to failed payments, expired cards, and involuntary churn. SustainerIQ uses AI-powered retries, automated donor communications, and smart billing logic to achieve 98% sustainer retention—recovering donations automatically that would otherwise be lost. For a nonprofit with 500 monthly donors at $25/month, that's the difference between $150,000 and $175,000+ in annual recurring revenue.
Best For
Organization Size
- Growing nonprofits with $1.5M-$10M in annual fundraising revenue
- Enterprise organizations with $10M+ seeking consolidated platforms
- Organizations with established monthly giving programs needing better retention
- Nonprofits tired of managing multiple vendors for payments, CRM, and email
Use Cases
- Running sophisticated monthly giving programs with high retention goals
- Managing peer-to-peer campaigns, charity events, and auctions
- Consolidating donor management, email, events, and payments into one platform
- Organizations needing custom reporting with 200+ pre-built templates
Ideal For Teams Who
- Want one vendor for everything instead of managing multiple tool subscriptions
- Prioritize recurring donor retention as a key growth strategy
- Need robust reporting capabilities with custom query builders
- Value native payment processing with PCI compliance built-in
May Not Fit If You
- Are a small grassroots nonprofit—$550/month is a significant investment
- Prefer simple, lightweight tools over comprehensive platforms
- Have limited database skills—the learning curve is steep
- Don't have established recurring giving programs (SustainerIQ value is lower)
Key Features for Nonprofits
CharityEngine's comprehensive suite eliminates vendor sprawl with every major fundraising tool built natively into one platform.
SustainerIQ for 98% Monthly Giving Retention
CharityEngine's proprietary billing technology is the platform's crown jewel. While most nonprofits lose 15-30% of monthly donors to failed payments, SustainerIQ uses AI-powered retries, automated card update communications, and smart billing logic to retain 98% of recurring revenue. Donors receive timely reminders and effortless ways to update payment information—no manual outreach required. It's the first fundraising platform certified for Sustained Giving.
Native Payment Processing (PCI-Certified)
Unlike platforms that integrate third-party payment gateways, CharityEngine is a PCI-certified payment processor. Donations flow directly into your unified database without middleware, reducing fees and eliminating reconciliation headaches. Best-in-class transaction rates, built-in fraud protection, and streamlined accounting—all from one vendor instead of juggling Stripe, PayPal, and your CRM separately.
True All-in-One CRM
Everything in one database: donation forms, email marketing, peer-to-peer campaigns, events, auctions, advocacy, text-to-give, direct mail, memberships, major gifts, volunteer management, and case management. No expensive integrations to build or maintain. One password, one login, one source of truth for your entire donor relationship history.
AI-Powered Donor Insights
CharityEngine's Fundraising AI analyzes donor data to predict gift probability, suggest optimal ask amounts, and identify engagement patterns. The AI blends your historical data with wealth screening indicators to tell you which donors are most likely to give today, what amount to request, and when to reach out. It's like having a data analyst running predictions 24/7.
200+ Pre-Built Reports with Query Builder
Beyond standard dashboards, CharityEngine's Query Builder lets you create custom reports from any data type in your database. Users particularly love the ability to get exactly the data they need without IT support. Real-time analytics track fundraising success, donor behavior, email performance, and campaign ROI in one unified reporting system.
99% Email Deliverability & Fraud Protection
Built-in email marketing with exceptional deliverability rates ensures your appeals reach donor inboxes—not spam folders. AI-based fraud detection protects against fake donations and suspicious transactions, keeping donor information safe and reducing chargebacks. Both features are included without additional fees.
How CharityEngine Uses AI
CharityEngine integrates AI throughout the platform to help nonprofits work smarter, not harder. Here's what's actually AI-powered versus standard automation:
What's Actually AI-Powered
🤖 Predictive Gift Probability
What it does: Analyzes donor history, engagement signals, and wealth indicators to predict how likely each donor is to give and what amount to request. The AI calculates gift probability scores that update in real-time based on donor behavior.
🤖 Smart Ask Amount Suggestions
What it does: AI-powered donation forms suggest optimal gift amounts based on each donor's giving history and capacity. Instead of generic $25/$50/$100 buttons, forms display personalized amounts that maximize donations while respecting donor preferences.
🤖 SustainerIQ Payment Recovery
What it does: Uses intelligent retry logic to recover failed recurring donations automatically. The AI determines optimal retry timing and frequency, achieving 98% sustainer retention versus the industry's 70-85% average.
🤖 Fraud Detection
What it does: AI-based fraud protection analyzes transaction patterns, identifies suspicious donations, and blocks fraudulent activity before it affects your organization. Reduces chargebacks and protects donor data.
🤖 Donor Segmentation & Pattern Recognition
What it does: AI identifies patterns in your donor data that humans might miss—behavioral clusters, engagement trends, lapse risk indicators—and creates intelligent segments for targeted outreach.
What's Standard Automation (Not AI)
- •Automated email workflows: Rule-based automation like "send thank-you 24 hours after donation"
- •Standard reporting: Pre-built reports and dashboards are traditional analytics, not AI-generated insights
- •Data imports/exports: Standard database functions for moving information in and out
- •Event registration: Built-in forms and ticketing are standard functionality
⚠️ AI Transparency: CharityEngine's AI features work best with substantial donor data. Organizations with fewer than 1,000 contacts or limited giving history may see less accurate predictions. The AI improves over time as it learns from your organization's specific patterns. Always review AI recommendations against your fundraiser knowledge—the AI can't understand offline relationships or context your development team knows.
Real-World Nonprofit Use Case
Consider a regional healthcare foundation with 2,000 monthly donors contributing an average of $35/month—$840,000 in annual recurring revenue. Before CharityEngine, they lost 22% of these sustainers annually due to failed payments, expired cards, and involuntary churn. That's $185,000 walking out the door every year, requiring constant new donor acquisition just to stay flat.
After implementing CharityEngine's SustainerIQ technology, their sustainer retention jumped to 97%. Failed payments now trigger automatic smart retries at optimal times, and donors receive seamless communications to update expired cards without staff intervention. That 22% annual loss dropped to 3%—recovering $160,000 in revenue that previously churned.
Beyond retention, their development team consolidated five separate tools (CRM, payment gateway, email platform, event software, peer-to-peer system) into one CharityEngine database. Financial reconciliation that took 8 hours per month now takes 30 minutes. Campaign reporting that required exporting data between systems is now real-time with 200+ pre-built reports.
The AI-powered donation forms also increased average gift size by 12%. Instead of static ask amounts, forms now display personalized suggestions based on each donor's giving history. A donor who previously gave $50 sees $60/$75/$100 options, while a first-time visitor sees accessible $25/$35/$50 amounts. More revenue, less staff time, one unified platform.
Pricing
CharityEngine uses flexible, customized pricing based on your contact count, payment volume, and feature needs. Here's what to expect:
Growing Nonprofits
$1.5M-$10M fundraising revenue
From $550/month
- CRM and donor management
- Donation forms with native payment processing
- Email marketing and automation
- SustainerIQ for recurring giving
- Reporting and analytics
Enterprise
$10M+ fundraising revenue
Custom Pricing
- Everything in Growing tier
- Advanced CRM with custom workflows
- Enterprise-grade security and compliance
- Dedicated account management
- Custom integrations and API access
What's Included in Every Plan
All-in-One Platform: CRM, forms, payments, email, reporting, and sustainer management are included in every plan—you're not nickel-and-dimed for features.
Native Payment Processing: Because payment processing is built-in rather than through third-party gateways, your total cost of ownership is typically lower than juggling multiple vendors.
Onboarding Support: Implementation, migration, and training are guided by a dedicated onboarding team—"real humans who know nonprofits," not bots or ticket black holes.
Transaction Fees: Best-in-class rates for payment processing. Exact fees depend on your volume—request a quote to understand your specific rates.
Note: Prices may be outdated or inaccurate.
Nonprofit-First Pricing
CharityEngine is built exclusively for nonprofits, so their pricing structure is inherently designed for nonprofit budgets and constraints—there isn't a separate "nonprofit discount" because the entire model is nonprofit-focused.
How Pricing Works:
- Contact-Based: Pricing scales with your database size—smaller organizations pay less
- Volume-Based: Payment processing rates improve with higher donation volume
- Feature-Based: Choose the modules you need (events, advocacy, case management, etc.)
- Lower TCO: Native payment processing eliminates separate gateway fees and middleware costs
Get a Custom Quote:
Contact CharityEngine at 833-256-0373 or request a demo through their website. Be prepared to share your current contact count, annual donation volume, and specific feature needs for the most accurate pricing proposal.
Get Custom Nonprofit QuoteNote: Pricing information is subject to change. Please verify current pricing directly with CharityEngine.
Learning Curve
Basic Features
Donation forms, email campaigns, and standard reporting are intuitive. Most users become comfortable within 1-2 weeks.
Intermediate
Overall Rating - CharityEngine is a "very complex system to learn." Allow plenty of time for data migration and complete conversion.
Advanced Features
Query Builder, custom workflows, and API integrations require dedicated admin time and training to master fully.
Implementation Timeline: Most CharityEngine clients are up and running within weeks to a few months, depending on data complexity and customization needs. You'll start with an onboarding specialist who helps map your data, test integrations, and launch with confidence. Users describe the onboarding and support as "amazing"—responsive, professional staff who walk you through every step.
Support Resources: The Help Center contains extensive documentation and tutorials. While the learning curve feels challenging, the Support Ticket process is easy and response times are quick. Users particularly praise the Query Builder functionality for creating exactly the custom reports they need, though mastering it takes time.
Bottom Line: CharityEngine is powerful but not simple. If your team is comfortable with database management and willing to invest in training, the platform rewards that effort with exceptional functionality. If you need something you can set up in an afternoon with minimal training, consider simpler alternatives like Bloomerang or Little Green Light.
Integration & Compatibility
Platform Availability
CharityEngine is a cloud-based web platform accessible through any modern browser. No software installation required—access your donor data from anywhere with an internet connection.
Key Integrations
Payment & Finance
- Native Processing: PCI-certified payment processing built-in (no third-party gateway needed)
- QuickBooks: Financial reconciliation and accounting sync
- PayPal, Authorize.net, Razorpay: Alternative payment options
CRM & Data
- Salesforce: Two-way sync for organizations using both platforms
- Blackbaud: Data exchange with Raiser's Edge and Luminate
- Zapier: Connect to 5,000+ apps for custom workflows
Analytics & Marketing
- Google Analytics: Track website and campaign performance
- Microsoft Power BI: Advanced data visualization
- Meta for Business: Social media advertising integration
Developer Tools
- API Access: Build custom integrations with robust API documentation
- Microsoft Excel: Export and import data seamlessly
- Embedded Forms: Drop donation forms directly on your website
Data Portability
CharityEngine allows full data exports in standard formats (CSV, Excel), so you're not locked into the platform. The Query Builder makes it easy to extract exactly the data you need for custom analysis or migration purposes.
Pro Tip: Before migrating data into CharityEngine, invest time in cleaning your existing donor data. Remove duplicates, standardize formatting, and fix obvious errors. Garbage in = garbage out, and the AI features work best with high-quality data.
Honest Assessment: Pros & Cons
Pros
- ✓Industry-Leading Sustainer Retention: SustainerIQ achieves 98% monthly giving retention vs. 70-85% industry average—potentially worth tens of thousands annually
- ✓True All-in-One Platform: Native payment processing, CRM, email, events, peer-to-peer, and reporting in one system—no expensive middleware or integration headaches
- ✓Lower Total Cost of Ownership: Built-in payment processing eliminates separate gateway fees and reduces vendor management overhead
- ✓Exceptional Customer Support: Users describe onboarding and support as "amazing"—responsive, knowledgeable staff who understand nonprofits
- ✓Powerful Query Builder: Create exactly the custom reports you need without IT support—200+ pre-built templates plus unlimited custom queries
- ✓Trusted by Major Nonprofits: Wounded Warrior Project, Easter Seals, MD Anderson—proven at enterprise scale
Cons
- ✗Expensive for Small Nonprofits: Starting at $550/month, CharityEngine is a significant investment for grassroots organizations with limited budgets
- ✗Steep Learning Curve: Users describe it as "very complex to learn"—allow plenty of time for training and data migration
- ✗Some Features Cost Extra: Advanced capabilities like capacity giving require additional fees beyond base subscription
- ✗Pricing Scales with Database: Costs increase as your contact count grows—budget for tier jumps as your organization expands
- ✗Overkill for Simple Needs: If you just need basic donor tracking and occasional email blasts, simpler (cheaper) tools may suffice
- ✗Not for Early-Stage Orgs: SustainerIQ value requires established recurring giving programs—limited benefit if you're just starting
The Bottom Line
CharityEngine is an excellent choice for growing and enterprise nonprofits that prioritize monthly giving retention and want to consolidate multiple vendors into one platform. The SustainerIQ technology alone can pay for the platform several times over if you have an established recurring donor program. However, the steep learning curve and $550+ monthly cost make it overkill for small organizations with simple needs. If you're processing significant donation volume and struggling with sustainer churn, CharityEngine delivers exceptional value. If you're a grassroots nonprofit with limited technical resources, explore alternatives like Bloomerang, Little Green Light, or Zeffy first.
Alternatives to Consider
CharityEngine isn't the only all-in-one nonprofit platform. Here are comparable alternatives and when they might be a better fit:
Bonterra (Network for Good / EveryAction)
AI-powered fundraising coaching platform
Best for: Organizations wanting AI-driven fundraising recommendations and strategic coaching built into the platform. Bonterra excels at telling you which donors to contact, when, and with what message.
Key Advantage: Network for Good is more accessible for small nonprofits, while EveryAction offers advocacy tools CharityEngine doesn't match. Built-in AI coaching provides strategic guidance.
Choose Bonterra if: You want AI fundraising coaching, need advocacy/mobilization tools, or are a smaller nonprofit seeking a gentler learning curve than CharityEngine.
Bloomerang
Donor retention-focused CRM
Best for: Small to mid-sized nonprofits prioritizing donor retention with a simpler, more affordable platform. Bloomerang's entire philosophy centers on engagement scoring and relationship building.
Key Advantage: Significantly lower cost (starts at $125/month), easier learning curve, exceptional customer support, and transparent pricing without transaction fee complexity.
Choose Bloomerang if: Budget is a primary concern, you want simplicity over comprehensive features, and you have under 10,000 contacts. Better for organizations that don't need all-in-one functionality.
Little Green Light
Affordable donor management
Best for: Budget-conscious small nonprofits needing solid donor management without comprehensive all-in-one features. Straightforward, no-frills approach at very affordable pricing.
Key Advantage: Much lower cost than CharityEngine with transparent pricing. No transaction fees, minimal learning curve, and excellent value for basic needs.
Choose Little Green Light if: You're a small nonprofit with simple donor management needs, budget is your primary constraint, and you don't require integrated events, email, or payment processing.
How to Choose
Choose CharityEngine if you have established monthly giving programs and want industry-leading sustainer retention with native payment processing. Pick Bonterra for AI fundraising coaching and advocacy tools. Select Bloomerang for simplicity, retention focus, and transparent pricing. Go with Little Green Light when budget constraints are your primary concern.
Our recommendation: Request demos from your top 2-3 finalists, calculate total cost of ownership (including transaction fees), and involve the staff members who'll use the system daily. The "best" CRM is the one your team will actually use consistently.
Getting Started with CharityEngine
Ready to explore CharityEngine? Here's how to evaluate whether it's the right fit for your nonprofit:
Assess Your Monthly Giving Program
SustainerIQ value depends on your recurring donor base
Calculate your current sustainer retention rate. If you're losing 15%+ of monthly donors annually to payment failures, CharityEngine's 98% retention could recover significant revenue. A nonprofit with 500 sustainers at $35/month losing 20% annually loses $42,000—SustainerIQ could recover most of that.
Critical question: Do you have an established monthly giving program, or are you just starting? CharityEngine's value proposition is strongest for organizations with mature sustainer programs.
Request a Demo
See the platform in action with your specific use cases
Visit charityengine.net or call 833-256-0373 to schedule a personalized demo. Be specific about your current pain points, especially around monthly giving retention and vendor fragmentation.
During the demo, ask: What are the exact transaction fees for our donation volume? How does SustainerIQ compare to our current retention rate? What's the implementation timeline? What support is included? Can we see the Query Builder in action?
Calculate Total Cost of Ownership
Look beyond monthly subscription fees
Compare CharityEngine's all-in-one cost to your current vendor stack: CRM + payment gateway + email platform + event software + their respective transaction fees. Native payment processing often results in lower total cost despite higher subscription fees.
Don't forget value: If SustainerIQ recovers $30,000 in previously-lost recurring revenue, the platform may pay for itself. Calculate potential revenue recovery, not just costs.
Plan for Implementation Time
Set realistic expectations for the learning curve
CharityEngine is powerful but complex. Budget adequate time for data migration, staff training, and workflow configuration. Most clients are up and running within weeks to a few months, but full proficiency takes longer.
Pro tip: Clean your donor data before migration. Remove duplicates, standardize formatting, and fix errors. The AI features work best with high-quality data—garbage in, garbage out.
Need Help Implementing CharityEngine?
Choosing the right fundraising platform is just the beginning. Successfully implementing CharityEngine requires strategic planning, clean data migration, and team training to maximize SustainerIQ and AI capabilities.
One Hundred Nights helps nonprofits evaluate, implement, and optimize fundraising technology. We'll help you:
- Assess whether CharityEngine is the right fit versus alternatives given your budget, team, and goals
- Clean and prepare your existing donor data for seamless migration without duplicates or errors
- Configure SustainerIQ and AI features to maximize recurring revenue recovery
- Train your team to use Query Builder, reporting, and advanced features effectively
- Set up integrations with QuickBooks, Salesforce, and other systems in your nonprofit tech stack
Frequently Asked Questions
What is SustainerIQ and why does it matter?
SustainerIQ is CharityEngine's proprietary billing technology that helps nonprofits retain up to 98% of their monthly giving revenue—compared to the industry average of 70-85%. It uses AI-powered payment retries, automated communications for donors to update expired cards, and smart billing logic to automatically recover failed donations. This means you keep more monthly donors active without manual outreach, significantly increasing lifetime value from your sustainer program.
Does CharityEngine offer nonprofit discounts?
CharityEngine's pricing is designed specifically for nonprofits, so there isn't a separate "nonprofit discount" per se. Their pricing is based on your contact count, payment volume, and feature needs. Since they're exclusively focused on the nonprofit sector, their rates are already structured for nonprofit budgets. The platform is best suited for growing nonprofits with $1.5M-$10M in fundraising revenue, with enterprise solutions available for larger organizations.
How does CharityEngine's AI help with fundraising?
CharityEngine uses AI in several ways: predictive analytics for gift probability and donor engagement scoring, AI-based suggestions for optimal gift amounts on donation forms, automated fraud protection, and smart donor segmentation that identifies patterns and trends. The AI can predict how likely a donor is to give, what amount to suggest, and when to reach out—all based on their history and wealth screening data. The platform also uses AI-powered payment retries to recover failed donations automatically.
What's the difference between CharityEngine and Bonterra?
Both are all-in-one nonprofit platforms, but with key differences. CharityEngine includes native payment processing (PCI-certified) with lower total cost of ownership because you're not paying separate payment gateway fees. Their SustainerIQ technology specifically excels at recurring donor retention (98% vs. industry 70-85%). Bonterra is better known for AI fundraising coaching and advocacy tools. CharityEngine is best for organizations prioritizing monthly giving programs and integrated payments, while Bonterra suits those needing advocacy features and strategic coaching.
Is CharityEngine suitable for small nonprofits?
CharityEngine is designed for growing nonprofits with $1.5M-$10M in fundraising revenue, and enterprise organizations above $10M. At $550/month starting price, it's a significant investment for smaller organizations. If you're a grassroots nonprofit with limited budget, platforms like Little Green Light, Zeffy, or Bloomerang may be more appropriate. CharityEngine makes the most sense when you have established recurring giving programs and donation volume that justifies the investment.
How long does it take to implement CharityEngine?
Most CharityEngine clients are up and running within weeks to a few months, depending on data complexity and customization needs. You'll work with a dedicated onboarding specialist who helps map your data, test integrations, and configure workflows. The platform has a steeper learning curve than simpler CRMs due to its comprehensive features, so plan for adequate training time. Users describe the onboarding support as "amazing" with responsive, knowledgeable staff who guide you through the process.
What payment processing fees does CharityEngine charge?
CharityEngine is a PCI-certified payment processor with best-in-class transaction rates. Because payment processing is native to the system rather than through third-party gateways, your total cost of ownership is typically lower than juggling multiple systems. The exact transaction fees depend on your payment volume and plan—request a custom quote to understand your specific rates. The integrated payment approach also simplifies reconciliation and reduces the administrative overhead of managing separate payment vendors.
Ready to Maximize Monthly Giving Retention?
Explore CharityEngine's all-in-one platform and see how SustainerIQ can recover revenue you're currently losing to payment failures.