CharityEngine Reviews & Product Details

Everything! We came to Charity Engine after reviewing multiple other platforms. Our experience with our current CRM and those interviews with other platforms left us skeptical that Charity Engine could really deliver on the promises they made. Additionally, we were in a terrible time crunch with less than 60 days to negotiate a contract and then migrate from one platform to another - something that usually takes months. The Charity Engine team said they could do it, and they did! And the platform delivers on every single promise made in the demos and publicity - in fact, they deliver even more than we could have anticipated.

When is the last time you heard someone say they're happy to get into work and dive into the CRM?

Our experience with CharityEngine during onboarding has been overwhelmingly positive. From the outset, the CharityEngine team demonstrated a strong understanding of the complexity nonprofit organizations face when managing fundraising, donor data, and integrated campaigns.

The onboarding process was thorough, well-structured, and collaborative. Our implementation team took the time to understand our organizational goals, fundraising model, and operational needs, rather than forcing a one-size-fits-all solution. They provided clear guidance, realistic timelines, and hands-on support at every stage—from data migration and system configuration to campaign setup and reporting.

What stood out most was the team’s responsiveness and problem-solving mindset. Questions were addressed quickly and thoughtfully, and challenges were met with practical solutions rather than workarounds. CharityEngine’s flexibility and powerful automation tools have already streamlined workflows that previously required significant manual effort, allowing our staff to focus more on strategy and relationship-building. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I haven't found anything to dislike. We're a small organization, and Charity Engine is costly for us, but it's an investment we believe will have a satisfying ROI. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Switching to Charity Engine has been one of the best decisions we've made for our organization. Charity Engine's implementation team set the tone with excellence. They were knowledgeable, thorough, and incredibly supportive throughout the onboarding process. They made what could have been an overwhelming transition feel manageable and even exciting.

Charity Engine has a truly unmatched level of support. Every help request or enhancement idea we’ve submitted has been met with a genuine willingness to listen and a prompt, thoughtful response. Their team has actively partnered with us to make sure we’re getting the most out of our partnership.

Their communication is excellent, whether through regular email updates, training webinars, or alerts about new features. It's clear they care about empowering their clients and keeping us informed.

We also appreciated Charity Engine's commitment to innovation. They are constantly improving, evolving, and adding new capabilities that make our work more efficient and impactful. It’s rare to find a CRM that blends powerful functionality with a team that feels like an extension of your own.

We couldn’t be more pleased with our experience with Charity Engine. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Like any robust platform, there have been a few challenges along the way. Early on, we found it difficult to locate relevant information in the Help Center, which made troubleshooting slower than we’d hoped. However, they have significantly improved the searchability and organization of support content. Additionally, we've experienced some limitations in customizing certain forms and templates to fit our specific needs. We would also love if there were some additional features in the User Center portion of Charity Engine. These areas aren't deal-breakers, but they are worth noting. That said, Charity Engine’s willingness to listen and improve gives us confidence that continued enhancements are always on the horizon. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

CharityEngine (CE) is very user-friendly and intuitive. It gives us one place to manage events, email campaigns, and SMS communications. My favorite feature is the bulk email tool—I use it every January to send year-end receipts to all donors at once, which saves so much time and reduces calls requesting copies.

The query builder and built-in reports are simple to use, and each module feels thoughtfully designed. I also appreciate the CC Updater for keeping our monthly sustainers on track with their giving.

The support team is excellent, with easy ticket submission, a new 1-800 number for quick help, and ongoing webinars and help articles that make learning effortless.

As a Database Manager using CE daily, I’m very pleased—it’s efficient, reliable, and continues to improve with user feedback. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The system can occasionally lag due to its size and complexity

Some modules require additional costs for access Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What I like best about Charity Engine is the ability to capture so much relevant information for donors. Also, being able to use that information to foster and build relationships with donors. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

It's not really a downside, but there is a rather large learning curve as Charity Engine uses terminology that users may not be familiar with and there is a lot to the set-up. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

CharityEngine, in the month that I've been using it, has been such a great tool to hone in on the things I need to do my job and run an organization on lean staff. It's been the prefect fit, allowing so much customization and a consistent look across our platforms. I'm daily impressed by the quality and intuitiveness of the product, and the customer service is fabulous.

Through the registration forms, we've been able to get small, episodic, donors through the door who have never given before.

Next up, taking a stab at integrations! I'm excited to even have this possibility through CE. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The few downsides I've found so far is the you have to hover over the icons for a longer time than seems normal to find out what that icon means. I also think the sheer amount of information available on one page can be visually overwhelming, but some of that I'm learning to tailor to what I want to see at any given time.

The other thing is navigating API keys/javascript/code with embedding our donation form into a SquareSpace website. So far it's been pretty complex and code-forward to add that feature. I wish it was as easy as adding an embed link. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I find the staff at CharityEngine to be incredibly helpful, thorough, insightful, and knowledgeable. I really appreciate how they are always ready to jump in and solve any issues or problems we're working on, ensuring our experience is smooth. Additionally, they are very receptive to our suggestions or innovations, which they often implement into the CharityEngine platform, enhancing its functionality. I also find the query tools exceptionally valuable as they allow us to identify and work with groups of individuals effectively, whether for organizing events or conducting outreach programs. Furthermore, I am pleased with the seamless integration of CharityEngine with Microsoft tools, particularly Excel, which supports our internal reporting needs efficiently. Overall, I believe CharityEngine offers superior functionality compared to other mainstream donor applications, providing more value for less cost. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

CharityEngine, while being a very complete system, requires substantial time to learn due to multiple ways to access information. The initial setup was more challenging than expected because of the complexity in data mapping from the previous system. A database map would have been helpful to understand where fields from the old system transitioned into the new system. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

CharityEngine's implementation team is attentive, knowledgeable, and accurate in transferring data. The process from sales demo to implementation has been streamlined and I'm impressed with the speed at which tasks have been completed. The team provides excellent customer service at every step during the process! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Getting comfortable in a new system is to be expected and I have not found anything that I don't like yet. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I love the ability to do advanced searches on any dataset without having to create a query every time. I also appreciate the ability to save reports from these searches and automate their delivery.

Email communication and campaign management are awesome features.

The implementation team was amazing. Uzoma and Royce were extremely knowledgable, helpful and kind. Customer support services are extremely useful. I love the ability to see all my tickets in one place, historical tickets, and allow my co-workers to see all the support tickets as well. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The thing I dislike the most about Charity Engine is the User Interface. I appreciate the minimalism, but the design feels outdated and a bit bland. The user experience isn't super straightforward for older folks, but still manageable to learn after a few videos.

The automated workflow options could be enhanced, as well as the email communications methods. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I like that CharityEngine is intuitive and easy to use. When I need to update reports for password changes or make corrections, it’s easy for me to navigate and find what I’m looking for. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Sometimes it seems like reports don’t always come through to our SFTP site. Also, when I need to rerun queries, it won’t let me save the SFTP connection information, so it’s a nuisance having to re-enter it every time. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Reports run quickly. Customizable dashboards. CE tech support is very friendly and helpful. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

No designated area for planned gifts: annuities, wills, etc. Can't post a split-allocated gift, have to enter each allocation as a separate gift. Can't readily see the name of the entity getting the soft credit - have to click on link number or manage transaction and select the soft credit tab and vice versa for hard credits. Awkward view of education and job listings. Can't give tribute to multiple entities with single gift. Have to add names to tribute list before they can be entered on the gift transaction as a tribute. Can't join a gift with another individual without creating a household. If spouses divorce, household gifts do not follow individuals. If spouse dies and survivor remarries, household gifts do not follow deceased spouse. Lacks ability to attach document to specific records of people/organizations. For example, cannot attach pdf of appraisal, etc. to a gift-in-kind. Current product may be better suited for churches or non-higher ed charities, but CE is adding to and refining product to better support higher eds. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.