Project Management by Team · Researched comparison

Best Project Management Software for Fundraising Teams

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Key takeaways

  • monday.com Standard at $12 per seat a month is the most visual choice for fundraising work, with timeline views, guest access for board members, and 250 automation actions a month.
  • Asana Starter at $10.99 per user a month covers campaign planning with forms, custom fields, and unlimited free guests for volunteers and donors.
  • ClickUp Core at $9 per user a month keeps costs low for small fundraising teams, with docs, tasks, and chat in one workspace.
  • Airtable Team at $20 per user a month fits teams that track donors and gifts as structured records, with interfaces that turn a base into a simple portal.
  • Smartsheet Business at $19 per member a month gives larger fundraising programs a grid layout with timeline views, workload tracking, and unlimited automations.

Comparison

How these compare
ToolBest forPrice rangeFree plan
monday.comVisual campaign boards and donor pipelines$9 per seat/month (billed annually)Yes
AsanaCampaign planning and volunteer coordination$10.99 per user/month (billed annually)Yes
ClickUpAll-in-one docs, tasks, and chat$9 per user/month (billed annually)Yes
AirtableStructured donor and gift records$20 per user/month (billed annually)Yes
TeamworkFundraising projects with billable hours$9.99 per user/month (billed annually)Yes
WrikeApprovals and campaign workflows at scale$10 per user/month (billed annually)Yes
SmartsheetGrid-based grant and campaign planning$9 per member/month (billed annually)Free trial (30 days)
NotionFundraising playbooks, wikis, and briefs$10 per member/month (billed annually)Yes

How we choose

We compared vendor pricing pages, plan comparison tables, and documentation for each tool, and we checked the entry priced plan, the free plan limits, and the next tier up. We looked for features that matter to fundraising work: campaign planning, grant deadline tracking, guest access for volunteers and board members, forms for intake, and reporting a director can use in a board meeting. We did not test the tools hands-on, and we did not use customer reviews as a source for prices or limits. Prices come from the vendor pricing pages listed in Sources, checked in November 2026.

Our full method

The shortlist

★ Best overall

The best project management software for fundraising teams

Fundraising teams juggle appeals, events, grant applications, donor stewardship, and volunteer schedules, often with a small staff and a board that wants clear updates. The tool has to track a campaign from idea to thank-you letter, keep grant deadlines visible, and let volunteers and board members see what they need without a full seat. The eight tools below cover that range, from visual boards for daily campaign work to databases for donor records and grids for grant programs.

2

monday.com

Best for Visual campaign boards and donor pipelines

Website: https://monday.com

Best for: Visual campaign boards and donor pipelines

Starting price: $9 per seat/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Timeline and Gantt views from Standard; free viewers on priced plans

Cons: Basic has no automations or integrations; 3-seat minimum on all priced plans

monday.com suits fundraising teams that think in boards and columns. A campaign becomes a board, with groups for prospecting, cultivation, asks, and stewardship, and each donor or gift moves across as a row. Status columns, dates, and owners make the pipeline visible at a glance, which helps when a development director needs a quick read before a board meeting. Standard at $12 per seat a month adds timeline and Gantt views, guest access, and 250 automation actions a month, so reminders can go out when a pledge date slips.

The free plan covers up to 2 seats, which works for a tiny team testing the layout, but most fundraising teams will need a priced plan. Basic at $9 per seat a month has unlimited boards and items, yet it leaves out automations and integrations, so a team that wants deadline reminders or a link to its email tool should budget for Standard. Pro at $19 adds time tracking, private boards, and 25,000 automation actions a month, which fits larger shops that run many campaigns at once. The 3-seat minimum applies to every priced plan, so a team of two still pays for three seats.

3

Asana

Best for Campaign planning and volunteer coordination

Website: https://asana.com

Best for: Campaign planning and volunteer coordination

Starting price: $10.99 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Timeline and Gantt on Starter; unlimited free guests

Cons: Portfolios and goals need Advanced; no native time tracking on Starter

Asana fits fundraising teams that run many small projects at once: an annual gala, a year-end appeal, three grant applications, and a spring mailing can each live as a project with its own tasks, dates, and owners. Starter at $10.99 per user a month includes timeline and Gantt views, forms, custom fields, dashboards, and unlimited automations, so intake forms for event volunteers can feed straight into a project. Unlimited free guests matter here, because volunteers, board members, and consultants can comment and complete tasks without a priced seat.

The Personal plan is free for up to 2 users, which covers a solo fundraiser and one colleague. Larger teams move to Starter, and the step to Advanced at $24.99 per user a month adds portfolios, goals, workload, approvals, and native time tracking. That step is worth it when a director manages a portfolio of campaigns and needs to see capacity across them. The main gap on Starter is reporting depth: dashboards exist, but cross-project workload and goals stay behind the Advanced paywall.

4

ClickUp

Best for All-in-one docs, tasks, and chat

Website: https://clickup.com

Best for: All-in-one docs, tasks, and chat

Starting price: $9 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Docs, tasks, and chat in one workspace; unlimited storage on Core

Cons: Automation caps are low on Core; dense interface takes time to learn

ClickUp appeals to fundraising teams that want one workspace instead of three tools. Docs hold appeal letters and grant narratives, tasks hold the campaign checklist, and chat keeps the conversation next to the work. Core at $9 per user a month includes unlimited storage, Gantt charts, custom fields, forms, and guest permissions, plus 1,000 automation actions a month per workspace. Business at $17 adds timesheets, resource management, advanced dashboards, and 10,000 automation actions, which suits teams that bill grant hours or track staff time against awards.

The free plan, called Free Forever, works for a very small team, though it caps storage at 60 MB and automations at 100 actions a month. The interface packs a lot into each screen, so a team should expect a week or two of learning before the layout feels natural. ClickUp changed its plan names in 2026, so older guides that mention Unlimited at $7 describe a retired lineup; the current entry plan is Core at $9.

5

Airtable

Best for Structured donor and gift records

Website: https://airtable.com

Best for: Structured donor and gift records

Starting price: $20 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Relational records link donors, gifts, and grants; interfaces build simple portals

Cons: Entry price is high for small nonprofits; commenters count as billable on Team

Airtable fits fundraising teams that think in records rather than tasks. A donor record can link to every gift, event attendance, and grant that donor touched, and views can filter the same base into a major-gift pipeline, a lapsed-donor list, or a grant calendar. Interfaces on the Team plan turn a base into a simple portal, so a board member can see campaign progress without learning the full tool. Automations can send a thank-you task when a gift is logged, and the Team plan at $20 per user a month includes 25,000 automation runs a month.

The cost is the catch. At $20 per user a month, a ten-person team pays $200 a month before tax, which is double most tools on this list. Commenters also count as billable seats on the Team plan, so inviting colleagues to comment adds to the bill. The free plan is useful for a small base, but record limits and the lack of advanced features push a growing fundraising program onto Team or Business at $45 per user a month.

6

Teamwork

Best for Fundraising projects with billable hours

Website: https://www.teamwork.com

Best for: Fundraising projects with billable hours

Starting price: $9.99 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Time tracking and invoicing built in; free plan covers up to 5 users

Cons: 3-seat minimum on Basics; advanced reporting needs Accelerate

Teamwork suits fundraising teams that track hours against grants or bill clients for campaign work. Basics at $9.99 per user a month includes tasks, milestones, time tracking, and invoicing, so a team can log hours against a grant and turn them into a report for the funder. The free plan covers up to 5 users, which is generous for a small nonprofit, and the jump to Accelerate at $24.99 adds resource scheduling, project templates, and deeper reporting.

The layout is calmer than ClickUp or monday.com, with projects, tasks, and time in one place and less visual noise. That helps teams that want to start fast and keep the structure simple. The limits show up at scale: Basics has a 3-seat minimum, and the reporting that a development director needs for a board pack sits on Accelerate. Teams that run many concurrent grants should check whether the Basics reports cover their funder formats before committing.

7

Wrike

Best for Approvals and campaign workflows at scale

Website: https://www.wrike.com

Best for: Approvals and campaign workflows at scale

Starting price: $10 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Request forms route work into projects; approvals built into workflows

Cons: Team plan caps at 15 users; request forms and approvals need Business

Wrike fits fundraising teams with a formal approval chain: a grant narrative that needs a director sign-off, an appeal letter that needs a board review, or an event plan that needs a budget check. Request forms let anyone submit work into a project, and approvals keep the sign-off inside the workflow instead of in email. Team at $10 per user a month covers up to 15 users with task management, shared calendars, and 2 GB of storage per user, which suits a mid-size development office.

Business at $25 per user a month adds approvals, resource management, custom workflows, and 5 GB per user, and it raises the cap to 200 users. The Team cap of 15 users is a real limit for a growing nonprofit, and the approval features that make Wrike stand out sit on Business, not Team. The free plan works for a tiny team, but it lacks the Gantt views and integrations that a campaign calendar needs.

8

Smartsheet

Best for Grid-based grant and campaign planning

Website: https://www.smartsheet.com

Best for: Grid-based grant and campaign planning

Starting price: $9 per member/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Free trial (30 days)

Pros: Grid layout feels like a spreadsheet; Business adds unlimited automations

Cons: No free plan for new signups; Pro caps at 10 members

Smartsheet fits fundraising teams that live in spreadsheets and want that layout with real project features behind it. Grants become rows with funder, amount, deadline, and status columns, and the grid sorts and filters like a sheet while adding dependencies, reminders, and reports. Pro at $9 per member a month covers up to 10 members with Gantt views, forms, and dashboards, which suits a small development team. Business at $19 adds timeline views, workload tracking, and unlimited automations.

There is no free plan for new signups, only a 30-day trial, so a team cannot run on Smartsheet at no cost the way it can on Asana or monday.com. The Pro cap of 10 members also pushes a growing team onto Business sooner than expected. For teams that already plan in spreadsheets, though, the learning curve is short, and the reporting views give a director a clean summary of every grant and campaign in one place.

9

Notion

Best for Fundraising playbooks, wikis, and briefs

Website: https://www.notion.com

Best for: Fundraising playbooks, wikis, and briefs

Starting price: $10 per member/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Docs, wikis, and databases in one place; generous free plan

Cons: No native time tracking; advanced permissions need Business

Notion fits fundraising teams that need a shared memory as much as a task list. Appeal templates, grant boilerplate, donor briefs, and event runbooks can live as pages in one wiki, linked to databases that track campaigns and gifts. Plus at $10 per member a month adds unlimited blocks for teams, 30-day page history, and timeline views, which turn a campaign database into a calendar. Business at $20 adds advanced permissions, SAML single sign-on, and bulk PDF export.

The weakness is structure. Notion gives a team the pieces and asks it to build the system, so a team without someone to set up the databases can drift into a pile of pages. There is also no native time tracking, so hours against a grant need another tool or a manual workaround. For teams that value written knowledge and a calm workspace over strict project controls, Notion is a strong, low-cost choice.

10

Picking by team size and budget

ToolEntry plan5 users a month10 users a month
monday.comBasic$45$90
AsanaStarter$54.95$109.90
ClickUpCore$45$90
AirtableTeam$100$200
TeamworkBasics$49.95$99.90
WrikeTeam$50$100
SmartsheetPro$45$90
NotionPlus$50$100

These figures use the entry priced plan on annual billing, before tax, and they assume every member needs a priced seat. Guests and viewers change the math: Asana gives unlimited free guests, monday.com gives free viewers, and ClickUp gives guest permissions on Core. A team with many volunteers or board members should count priced seats first, then check how many outside people can join at no cost. Airtable is the outlier on price, so it only earns its place when the team truly needs relational donor records.

What to check before you buy

Start with the seat math. Count the staff who need a priced seat, then count the volunteers, board members, and consultants who only need to view or comment. A tool with free guests or viewers can cut the bill in half for a fundraising team, while a tool that bills every commenter, like Airtable on Team, can double it. Check the seat minimum too: monday.com and Teamwork both require at least 3 seats on their entry priced plans.

Next, check the grant features on the plan you would actually buy, not the top plan. Time tracking, approvals, portfolios, and workload views often sit one tier above the entry plan, and the gap can be $8 to $15 per user a month. If your team reports hours to funders, confirm time tracking is included before you sign. If your director needs cross-campaign reporting, confirm portfolios or workload views are included.

Finally, test the free plan or trial with a real campaign. Build one appeal from idea to thank-you letter, add a grant deadline, invite a volunteer as a guest, and export a report. If any of those steps needs a higher tier, you will see it in an afternoon. Keep the data you enter small and fictional until you have chosen, so a trial workspace does not become a second source of truth.

FAQ

Which tool is best for a small nonprofit fundraising team?

Asana Starter or ClickUp Core suit most small nonprofit teams, because both start near $9 to $11 per user a month and include the views, forms, and guest access a campaign needs. Asana is calmer and easier to learn, while ClickUp packs docs and chat into the same workspace. Pick Asana when volunteers need a simple layout, and ClickUp when the team wants fewer tools overall.

Can volunteers use these tools without a priced seat?

Yes, on most of them. Asana gives unlimited free guests on Starter, monday.com gives free viewers on priced plans, and ClickUp gives guest permissions on Core. Guests can usually comment and complete tasks but cannot create projects or change the workspace structure. Airtable is the exception here, because commenters count as billable seats on the Team plan, so check that rule before inviting a large volunteer list.

Do any of these tools track donations directly?

No, none of these eight is a donor database, and none of them processes gifts. They track the work around fundraising: campaigns, appeals, events, grant applications, and stewardship tasks. Teams usually pair the project tool with a donor system and use an integration or a simple export to keep the two in step. Airtable comes closest to donor tracking, because its relational records can hold donor and gift data, but it is not a fundraising CRM.

What does a 10-person fundraising team actually pay per year?

On the entry priced plan with annual billing, a 10-person team pays about $1,080 a year for monday.com Basic or ClickUp Core, $1,199 for Teamwork Basics, $1,200 for Wrike Team or Notion Plus, $1,319 for Asana Starter, and $1,080 for Smartsheet Pro, before tax. Airtable Team is the outlier at $2,400 a year. These figures assume every member needs a priced seat and exclude add-ons.

Is a free plan enough to run a fundraising campaign?

A free plan can run one small campaign, but it usually lacks the views and automations a team needs once the work grows. Asana Personal caps at 2 users, monday.com free caps at 2 seats, and ClickUp Free Forever caps storage at 60 MB. Smartsheet has no free plan at all, only a 30-day trial. Treat the free plan as a test drive, and budget for the entry priced plan when the team passes five people.

Sources we checked

  • https://monday.com/pricing
  • https://asana.com/pricing
  • https://clickup.com/pricing
  • https://airtable.com/pricing
  • https://www.teamwork.com/pricing/
  • https://www.wrike.com/pricing/
  • https://www.smartsheet.com/pricing
  • https://www.notion.com/pricing
How we score

Need the method behind these picks?

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The best project management software for fundraising teams#1 PICK