•     •   11 min read

Best Project Management Tools for Nonprofits 2024

Non­prof­its oper­ate with lim­it­ed resources and tight bud­gets, mak­ing effi­cient project man­age­ment essen­tial for suc­cess. Project man­age­ment soft­ware can help non­prof­its stream­line oper­a­tions, man­age vol­un­teers, and track progress, ulti­mate­ly increas­ing their impact on the com­mu­ni­ty. In 2024, top project man­age­ment tools are tai­lored to the unique needs of non­prof­its, ensur­ing that teams can focus on their mis­sion rather than admin­is­tra­tive tasks.

What is Project Man­age­ment Soft­ware for Nonprofits?

Project man­age­ment soft­ware for non­prof­its is specif­i­cal­ly designed to han­dle the unique chal­lenges non­prof­it orga­ni­za­tions face. These tools man­age tasks, allo­cate resources, track dona­tions, and ensure com­pli­ance with grant require­ments. Non­prof­its often rely on lim­it­ed resources, mak­ing it essen­tial to have soft­ware that max­i­mizes efficiency. 

Project man­age­ment soft­ware for non­prof­its pro­vides fea­tures like time track­ing, task sched­ul­ing, and doc­u­ment shar­ing, allow­ing teams to stay orga­nized and focused on their mis­sion. Many plat­forms also include donor man­age­ment, vol­un­teer track­ing, and report­ing fea­tures, ensur­ing that non­prof­its can han­dle their var­i­ous oper­a­tions in one place. 

Inte­gra­tion with exist­ing project col­lab­o­ra­tion tool non­prof­it, such as CRMs or fundrais­ing plat­forms, enhances the util­i­ty of this soft­ware, pro­vid­ing a com­pre­hen­sive solu­tion for non­prof­its. By opti­miz­ing project work­flows, project man­age­ment soft­ware allows non­prof­its to focus more on their mis­sion and less on admin­is­tra­tive tasks.

Ben­e­fits of Project Man­age­ment Soft­ware for Nonprofits

Project man­age­ment soft­ware offers sev­er­al ben­e­fits to non­prof­it orga­ni­za­tions, help­ing them improve oper­a­tional effi­cien­cy and achieve their goals:
  1. Improved Donor and Vol­un­teer Man­age­ment: Non­prof­its can track inter­ac­tions with donors and vol­un­teers, ensur­ing effec­tive com­mu­ni­ca­tion and engagement.
  2. Enhanced Trans­paren­cy: By keep­ing all project-relat­ed data cen­tral­ized, non­prof­its can eas­i­ly access reports and track progress, fos­ter­ing trans­paren­cy with donors and board members.
  3. Bet­ter Resource Allo­ca­tion: These tools help allo­cate resources effi­cient­ly, ensur­ing tasks are com­plet­ed on time and with­in budget.
  4. Stream­lined Fundrais­ing Cam­paigns: Project man­age­ment tools facil­i­tate cam­paign track­ing, ensur­ing that fundrais­ing efforts are prop­er­ly coor­di­nat­ed and executed.
  5. Accu­rate Report­ing: project man­age­ment soft­ware for non­prof­its allows non­prof­its to gen­er­ate detailed reports on grants, dona­tions, and projects, ensur­ing com­pli­ance with donor and grant requirements.
With fea­tures like task track­ing, real-time updates, and report­ing capa­bil­i­ties, these tools pro­vide a com­pre­hen­sive solu­tion to non­prof­its’ project man­age­ment needs, allow­ing them to focus on their core mis­sion while ensur­ing oper­a­tional efficiency.

How to Choose the Right Project Man­age­ment Soft­ware for Your Nonprofit

Choos­ing the right project man­age­ment soft­ware for non­prof­its involves sev­er­al impor­tant con­sid­er­a­tions. First, it’s essen­tial to pick a tool that is cost-effec­tive. Many non­prof­its work with lim­it­ed bud­gets, so find­ing a solu­tion that offers non­prof­it dis­counts or afford­able pric­ing is key. Addi­tion­al­ly, ease of use is crit­i­cal. Many staff mem­bers or vol­un­teers may not have exten­sive expe­ri­ence with soft­ware, so an intu­itive inter­face ensures quick adop­tion and less time spent on training.

Look for soft­ware that offers inte­gra­tion capa­bil­i­ties with your exist­ing sys­tems, such as CRM plat­forms or fundrais­ing tools, to ensure seam­less data shar­ing and stream­lined work­flows in a sin­gle work­place. Cus­tomiza­tion options are also cru­cial. Non­prof­its often need to tai­lor work­flows for dif­fer­ent projects, such as fundrais­ing cam­paigns or vol­un­teer coordination.

Final­ly, ensure that the soft­ware pro­vides robust report­ing fea­tures, as detailed report­ing is essen­tial for com­pli­ance with donor and grant require­ments. Whether you’re man­ag­ing a small non­prof­it or a large orga­ni­za­tion with mul­ti­ple stake­hold­ers, choos­ing project man­age­ment soft­ware that aligns with your needs will help stream­line your oper­a­tions and ensure effi­cient project delivery.

Best Project Man­age­ment Soft­ware for Non­prof­its in 2024

Let’s first look at the com­par­i­son table for a quick com­par­i­son of project man­age­ment tools for nonprofits:
Soft­ware

Fea­tures

Best For

Pric­ing

Work­sec­tion

Task man­age­ment, non­prof­it project man­age­ment, time track­ing, Gantt chart, Kan­ban, doc­u­ments stor­age, cal­en­dar, vol­un­teer coor­di­na­tion, report­ing, real-time project track­ing, access control

Small to medi­um nonprofits

From $2.5 per user/​month

Asana

Task track­ing, team col­lab­o­ra­tion, cus­tomiz­able workflows

Ver­sa­tile tool for non­prof­its of all sizes

From $10.99 per user/​month

Trel­lo

Kan­ban boards, project tem­plates, integrations

Sim­ple task man­age­ment for small nonprofits

From $5 per user/​month

Mon​day​.com

Cus­tom work­flows, time track­ing, automation

Non­prof­its need­ing advanced customization

From $9 per user/​month

Wrike

Resource man­age­ment, Gantt charts, real-time updates

Large non­prof­its with com­plex project needs

From $9.80 per user/​month

Click­Up

Cus­tom views, task automa­tion, goal tracking

Flex­i­ble solu­tion for var­i­ous non­prof­it needs

From $7 per user/​month

Base­camp

File shar­ing, task lists, team communication

Small non­prof­its need­ing straight­for­ward collaboration

From $15 per user/​month

Smartsheet

Grid-based inter­face, resource track­ing, collaboration

Non­prof­its man­ag­ing com­plex grant projects

From $9 per user/​month

Zoho Projects

Task automa­tion, detailed report­ing, integrations

Bud­get-friend­ly option for grow­ing nonprofits

From $4 per user/​month

Microsoft Project


Gantt charts, resource man­age­ment, inte­gra­tions with Office 365

Large non­prof­its with intri­cate project timelines

From $10 per user/​month

Work­sec­tion

Work­sec­tion has a set of fea­tures that fit the work­flow of non­prof­it orga­ni­za­tions. Beyond the typ­i­cal project man­age­ment tools like task sched­ul­ing, Gantt charts, and time track­ing, it excels at donor and vol­un­teer coor­di­na­tion. Work­sec­tion allows non­prof­it teams to stream­line com­mu­ni­ca­tions, del­e­gate tasks effi­cient­ly, and track mile­stones for fundrais­ing or out­reach cam­paigns. Its real-time col­lab­o­ra­tion fea­tures also ensure trans­paren­cy with stake­hold­ers, which is crit­i­cal for donor relations. 


Pric­ing start­ing at $2.5 per user/​month. Learn more.

Asana

Asana is well-suit­ed for non­prof­its that man­age mul­ti­ple projects or cam­paigns simul­ta­ne­ous­ly. It shines in its abil­i­ty to orga­nize work­flows, mak­ing it easy to break down com­plex ini­tia­tives like mul­ti-stage fundrais­ing dri­ves or grant-writ­ing process­es. Non­prof­its can ben­e­fit from fea­tures like work­flow automa­tion and task depen­den­cies, ensur­ing that cru­cial dead­lines are met. Asana’s robust inte­gra­tions with tools like Slack and Google Dri­ve also help non­prof­it teams com­mu­ni­cate effec­tive­ly while main­tain­ing an orga­nized record of all their doc­u­ments and progress. 


Pric­ing starts at $10.99 per user/​month. Learn more.

Trel­lo

Trel­lo’s visu­al Kan­ban boards offer sim­plic­i­ty, mak­ing it per­fect for small­er non­prof­its or grass­roots orga­ni­za­tions look­ing to orga­nize tasks with­out over­whelm­ing com­plex­i­ty. The card-based sys­tem allows non­prof­it teams to man­age cam­paigns, vol­un­teer sched­ules, or event plan­ning with min­i­mal learn­ing curve. Non­prof­its can cre­ate boards for each project, allow­ing team mem­bers to track progress in real-time. 


Pric­ing start­ing at $5 per user/​month. Learn more.

Mon​day​.com

Mon​day​.com pro­vides a dynam­ic plat­form for grow­ing non­prof­its that require scal­able solu­tions. It offers the abil­i­ty to cus­tomize work­flows for dif­fer­ent projects, whether it’s man­ag­ing donor out­reach or track­ing vol­un­teer hours. Non­prof­its ben­e­fit from Monday.com’s strong automa­tion fea­tures, which can be used to send updates to teams when mile­stones are reached, ensur­ing that no task falls through the cracks. Addi­tion­al­ly, Mon​day​.com inte­grates well with oth­er tools, allow­ing non­prof­it orga­ni­za­tions to man­age both com­mu­ni­ca­tion and resources with­in one platform. 


Pric­ing starts at $9 per user/​month. Learn more.

Wrike

Wrike is par­tic­u­lar­ly suit­ed for larg­er non­prof­its man­ag­ing mul­ti-lay­ered, com­plex projects. With its advanced project man­age­ment fea­tures like resource allo­ca­tion, Gantt charts, and pow­er­ful report­ing tools, Wrike helps orga­ni­za­tions main­tain over­sight on large fundrais­ing cam­paigns or mul­ti-loca­tion oper­a­tions. Wrike’s abil­i­ty to facil­i­tate col­lab­o­ra­tion across dis­trib­uted teams makes it espe­cial­ly use­ful for orga­ni­za­tions work­ing glob­al­ly or with a broad vol­un­teer base. Real-time updates and deep inte­gra­tions make Wrike a com­pre­hen­sive tool.


Pric­ing start­ing at $9.80 per user/​month. Learn more.

Click­Up

Click­Up is a flex­i­ble tool that adapts to the var­ied needs of non­prof­its. It offers advanced fea­tures such as task automa­tion, time track­ing, and cus­tomiz­able dash­boards, which non­prof­its can use to man­age their diverse ini­tia­tives. Whether track­ing grant appli­ca­tion dead­lines or coor­di­nat­ing events, ClickUp’s robust cus­tomiza­tion makes it easy for non­prof­it orga­ni­za­tions to tai­lor the plat­form to their spe­cif­ic work­flows. Its goal-set­ting fea­tures also help non­prof­its main­tain focus on their mis­sions and long-term objectives. 


Pric­ing starts at $7 per user/​month. Learn more.

Base­camp

Base­camp is pop­u­lar because oh its sim­plic­i­ty, which is ide­al for small­er non­prof­its that need straight­for­ward tools with­out too many bells and whis­tles. Teams can eas­i­ly orga­nize to-do lists, upload impor­tant doc­u­ments, and com­mu­ni­cate in one place. Basecamp’s flat-rate pric­ing makes it cost-effec­tive for small­er non­prof­its look­ing to avoid per-user fees. 


Pric­ing starts at $15 per user/​month. Learn more.

Smartsheet

Smartsheet is a great fit for larg­er non­prof­its man­ag­ing grant-fund­ed projects or mul­ti-phase pro­grams. Its spread­sheet-like inter­face makes data orga­ni­za­tion intu­itive for teams man­ag­ing com­plex infor­ma­tion, such as donor track­ing, event plan­ning, or bud­get man­age­ment. Smartsheet’s robust automa­tion fea­tures allow non­prof­its to auto­mate rou­tine process­es, sav­ing time and improv­ing efficiency. 


Pric­ing starts at $9 per user/​month. Learn more.

Zoho Projects

Zoho Projects is a bud­get-friend­ly option for non­prof­its look­ing to inte­grate project man­age­ment with oth­er Zoho tools, such as Zoho CRM or Zoho Books. It offers task automa­tion, time track­ing, and easy inte­gra­tion with oth­er tools, mak­ing it ide­al for orga­ni­za­tions man­ag­ing mul­ti­ple ini­tia­tives on a tight budget. 


Pric­ing starts at $4 per user/​month. Learn more.

Microsoft Project

Microsoft Project is ide­al for larg­er non­prof­its that need detailed sched­ul­ing and resource man­age­ment. With pow­er­ful tools for project plan­ning and exe­cu­tion, Microsoft Project allows non­prof­its to han­dle every­thing from vol­un­teer coor­di­na­tion to detailed bud­get­ing and time­line track­ing. Its inte­gra­tion with Microsoft Office makes it a nat­ur­al fit for orga­ni­za­tions already using the suite, pro­vid­ing a com­pre­hen­sive, uni­fied experience. 


Pric­ing starts at $10 per user/​month. Learn more.

Who Should Use Project Man­age­ment Soft­ware for Nonprofits?

Project man­age­ment soft­ware is cru­cial for non­prof­its of all sizes, from small grass­roots ini­tia­tives to large inter­na­tion­al orga­ni­za­tions. For small non­prof­its, these tools stream­line vol­un­teer coor­di­na­tion, track fundrais­ing efforts, and man­age donor rela­tion­ships, help­ing them effi­cient­ly allo­cate lim­it­ed resources. Larg­er orga­ni­za­tions, on the oth­er hand, rely on project man­age­ment soft­ware to han­dle more com­plex tasks, such as over­see­ing grant-fund­ed projects, man­ag­ing mul­ti­ple teams, and ensur­ing com­pli­ance with var­i­ous regulations.

Advo­ca­cy groups and char­i­ta­ble orga­ni­za­tions use project man­age­ment tools to track cam­paigns, man­age out­reach efforts, and keep stake­hold­ers engaged. By automat­ing these admin­is­tra­tive tasks, non­prof­its can focus more on ful­fill­ing their missions.

The project man­age­ment tools for non­prof­its pro­vide a cen­tral­ized hub where all activ­i­ties are orga­nized, ensur­ing smooth oper­a­tion. This effi­cien­cy allows non­prof­its to achieve greater impact, whether it’s orga­niz­ing com­mu­ni­ty events or run­ning large-scale human­i­tar­i­an projects.

Inte­grat­ing Project Man­age­ment Soft­ware with Oth­er Non­prof­it Tools

Inte­grat­ing project man­age­ment soft­ware with oth­er essen­tial non­prof­it tools cre­ates a cohe­sive man­age­ment sys­tem that enhances effi­cien­cy and effec­tive­ness. By con­nect­ing project man­age­ment plat­forms with CRM sys­tems, non­prof­its can stream­line donor and vol­un­teer track­ing, mak­ing it eas­i­er to man­age rela­tion­ships and out­reach efforts. This inte­gra­tion allows for bet­ter data flow, ensur­ing that project man­agers have access to up-to-date infor­ma­tion on donor con­tri­bu­tions, vol­un­teer avail­abil­i­ty, and more.

Addi­tion­al­ly, link­ing project man­age­ment soft­ware with fundrais­ing plat­forms can cen­tral­ize finan­cial data, help­ing non­prof­its mon­i­tor their progress towards fundrais­ing goals in real time. These inte­gra­tions allow for seam­less track­ing of dona­tions, enabling orga­ni­za­tions to ana­lyze trends, engage donors effec­tive­ly, and strate­gize future fundrais­ing efforts.

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion tools, such as Slack, can also be inte­grat­ed with project man­age­ment soft­ware to improve team col­lab­o­ra­tion and stake­hold­er engage­ment. Non­prof­its can keep every­one aligned by shar­ing real-time updates, task lists, and dead­lines with­in one uni­fied plat­form. The result is enhanced trans­paren­cy, stream­lined com­mu­ni­ca­tion, and the elim­i­na­tion of infor­ma­tion silos.

By inte­grat­ing all these tools into a sin­gle sys­tem, non­prof­its can improve deci­sion-mak­ing, bet­ter man­age resources, and ensure that every project is aligned with the orga­ni­za­tion’s mis­sion and goals.

Case Stud­ies: Suc­cess­ful Implementations

eHealth, a lead­ing Ukrain­ian IT com­pa­ny spe­cial­iz­ing in dig­i­tal health­care solu­tions, is an exam­ple of a non­prof­it orga­ni­za­tion suc­cess­ful­ly imple­ment­ing project man­age­ment soft­ware. eHealth faced dif­fi­cul­ties man­ag­ing exten­sive projects involv­ing numer­ous stake­hold­ers across gov­ern­ment and health­care sec­tors. The chal­lenge was not only about orga­niz­ing tasks but also about align­ing dif­fer­ent depart­ments, man­ag­ing com­plex work­flows, and ensur­ing com­pli­ance with strict reg­u­la­to­ry frame­works. Pri­or to using Work­sec­tion, coor­di­na­tion across mul­ti­ple teams was inef­fi­cient, and project time­lines were prone to delays.

By imple­ment­ing Work­sec­tion, eHealth was able to auto­mate tasks, track time more effi­cient­ly, and ensure that all team mem­bers, regard­less of their loca­tion or depart­ment, had access to the same up-to-date infor­ma­tion. The cen­tral­ized plat­form allowed for real-time progress track­ing and bet­ter col­lab­o­ra­tion between teams. The inte­gra­tion of project data into a sin­gle plat­form also pro­vid­ed bet­ter vis­i­bil­i­ty for lead­er­ship to mon­i­tor project sta­tus, enabling quick­er, data-dri­ven deci­sion-mak­ing. As a result, the plat­form facil­i­tat­ed smoother oper­a­tions, reduced com­mu­ni­ca­tion gaps, and enhanced over­all project deliv­ery timelines.

For more in-depth details, you can read the full case study here.

FAQ

Can project man­age­ment soft­ware help non­prof­its in event plan­ning and management?

Yes, project man­age­ment soft­ware can help non­prof­its orga­nize events, assign vol­un­teer roles, and track event time­lines. These tools facil­i­tate detailed plan­ning and day-of-event coor­di­na­tion, ensur­ing that all aspects of the event run smoothly.

Are there afford­able or free project man­age­ment tools suit­able for small nonprofits?

Yes, many project man­age­ment tools offer free or low-cost plans that are tai­lored to meet the needs of small non­prof­it orga­ni­za­tions. Tools like Trel­lo and Work­sec­tion make them acces­si­ble to orga­ni­za­tions on a tight bud­get by pro­vid­ing essen­tial fea­tures at a low cost. 

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