QuickBooks as a donor database? Not a fan! #wouldnotrecommend

Some early stage organizations using QuickBooks Online (QBO) tend to gravitate toward using it to keep track of donor activity. It seems to make sense because you have to enter donations into the accounting system, you may as well keep donor information there, too.

Unfortunately, as an organization grows it becomes clear there are specific limitations to what QBO can do when it comes to donor management and tracking.

A few things it can’t do:

• Send out donation acknowledgment letters

• Track communication activities with donors and prospective donors (an especially helpful tool with team member turnover so the donor’s relationship with the organization can be retained and doesn’t leave with someone’s email account)

• Manage pledges

• Target specific audience segments to send information to

• Give you access to statistics that can give you a comprehensive overview of your fundraising activities

Having accurate donor records is just as important as having accurate financial records. The two systems can work together, but really only interact with a reconciliation between the two to ensure the financial totals being reported from your accounting software match the recorded donations from your donor relationship management software (reported to the IRS and other funding sources looking at your financial statements).

Donation details ideally are maintained in your donor management system with a batch journal entry in QBO of only the total donations. There is no legal/accounting need to keep the donors in QBO as the detailed report can be pulled from your donor management software. Even QBO itself, in articles like the one linked here, encourage and instruct nonprofits on how to select an independent donor management system.

TL;DR (Too Long; Didn't Read)

As a general fyi, DonorPerfect Lite and Salsa work and Little Green Light is especially cost effective. TechSoup.org is another way to get discounts on some of these products, linked here. DonorPerfect, for example, can be accessed through them for a significantly reduced yearly admin fee & clients often find it works well with their need.