One of the most important steps in the vendor selection process is defining your “must-have” functionality—those features and capabilities that are non-negotiable for your organization. These are the foundational requirements that every proposed platform must meet in order to move forward in your evaluation. If a vendor cannot support even one of these critical functions, they should be removed from consideration, regardless of other strengths.
The following list reflects the functionality most commonly identified as essential by nonprofit organizations evaluating digital giving infrastructure. These areas should serve as your checklist when comparing vendors.
Your digital giving platform must offer a real-time, bi-directional integration with your CRM—particularly if you’re using Salesforce (NPSP or Nonprofit Cloud). This ensures donor data flows cleanly between systems without requiring manual intervention.
Look for:
“We can’t afford to manually fix sync issues. Integration must be seamless and reliable.”
Your donors should be able to manage their relationship with your organization independently, without needing to contact staff for help.
Key features include:
“Our donors expect a smooth experience—one where they feel in control.”
Your giving forms are often a donor’s first touchpoint with your digital presence. You need full control over how these forms look and behave—without requiring a developer.
Must-have capabilities:
“Marketing teams should be able to launch a form without submitting a ticket to IT.”
To track campaign performance and meet financial reporting standards, you’ll need robust reporting tools.
Be sure the platform supports:
“If we can’t trace gifts to deposits, we can’t report accurately or optimize campaigns.”
Recurring donors are the lifeblood of most nonprofit fundraising. Your platform should empower both staff and donors to manage recurring giving seamlessly.
Core features to require:
“Recurring giving should run like clockwork—with no disruptions.”
Handling donor payments comes with major responsibilities. You’ll need full PCI compliance and confidence that your systems are secure.
Ensure the platform is:
“Donor data security isn’t optional. It’s foundational.”
Your platform must be able to scale with you. Whether you’re preparing for Giving Tuesday or launching a rapid-response campaign, downtime or delays are unacceptable.
What to expect:
“We need to be able to spin up giving pages in hours—not days.”
With increasingly complex privacy regulations, your platform should be built with privacy by design.
Require:
“Protecting donor privacy isn’t just legal—it’s mission-aligned.”
Even the best platforms need support. Make sure your vendor can respond quickly and effectively when you need them most.
Look for:
“When something breaks, we want to talk to someone who knows our account.”
Security and compliance should be validated—not just promised.
Require documentation of:
“Certifications are the baseline for any platform that handles sensitive data.”
During your RFP evaluation, make sure every vendor explicitly addresses each of these must-have requirements. If a vendor cannot meet them, you’re better off moving forward with one who can.