We’ve developed these supplementary materials to help your team run a successful RFP process from start to finish. Whether you’re issuing your first RFP or refining your approach, these tools are designed to save you time, align stakeholders, and give potential vendors the clarity they need to respond with well-matched solutions.
These resources are grounded in deep research and practical experience from dozens of platform evaluations. Use them to guide internal discussions, structure your requirements, and improve how you compare vendor proposals.
This fully structured RFP template includes all the key sections we recommend for organizations upgrading their digital giving platform. You can use this as a starting point or adapt it to reflect your unique needs. It’s designed to ensure that nothing critical is left out—whether strategic, operational, or technical.
This checklist captures every major consideration you might include in a digital giving RFP—from CRM integration and donor experience to compliance, scalability, and reporting. It’s perfect for nonprofits who want a complete view of what today’s platforms can offer.
This checklist captures every major consideration you might include in a digital giving RFP—from CRM integration and donor experience to compliance, scalability, and reporting. It’s perfect for nonprofits who want a complete view of what today’s platforms can offer.
If you’re looking for a quicker way to assess fit, this condensed checklist highlights the most critical “must-have” functionality for modern digital fundraising. It’s ideal for RFP scoring, board summaries, or vendor demos.
Download the checklist here
To support shared understanding—especially across cross-functional teams—we’ve also created a glossary of key terms used in digital giving and nonprofit tech that you can copy/paste into your own glossary of terms document and share with Vendors. We suggest you remove the keywords that are not applicable for your organization and add any keywords that are missing.
Accessibility Standards (WCAG): Guidelines and standards (e.g., WCAG 2.1 AA or better) that ensure web content is accessible to users with disabilities. Includes alt text, keyboard navigation, screen reader compatibility, and color contrast.
Advocacy Campaigns: Online campaigns aimed at mobilizing constituents to take specific actions, such as contacting policymakers, signing petitions, or responding to surveys. Commonly used for lead generation.
API (Application Programming Interface): A set of tools and protocols that allow different software systems to communicate and share data. Essential for platform integration with CRMs, BI tools, etc.
Ask Array: A set of preset donation options shown on giving forms. Can be static or dynamically tailored to each donor based on giving history or profile.
Bi-Directional Data Sync: The ability to sync data in both directions (to and from the platform and CRM) in real-time or near real-time, ensuring full data parity across systems.
BYOP (Bring Your Own Processor): An option that allows nonprofits to use their existing payment processor instead of being limited to the platform’s native provider.
CNAME (Canonical Name) Record: A DNS entry used to point a subdomain to another server, enabling branded URLs for hosted donation pages (e.g., donate.yournonprofit.org).
CRM (Constituent Relationship Management): A central database for managing donor and constituent interactions. Common nonprofit CRMs include Salesforce NPSP, Virtuous, and Microsoft Dynamics.
Data at Rest Encryption: Protecting stored data on servers or databases using encryption methods to secure donor and financial information.
Data in Transit Encryption (SSL/TLS): Encrypting data as it moves across networks to prevent interception during submission or retrieval, using secure protocols like SSL or TLS.
Data Migration: The secure and validated transfer of data from a legacy system to a new platform, including recurring gifts and donor records.
Data Ownership: The legal and practical control over data stored in a system. Nonprofits must retain ownership of their donor and transactional data.
Data Privacy Regulations (GDPR, CCPA): Compliance with international and regional privacy laws that govern the collection, use, and management of personal data.
Deduping (Deduplication): Merging or linking duplicate records to ensure database cleanliness and prevent communication or reporting errors.
Designation (Allocation): How a donor’s gift is directed within the organization. Designations often correspond to specific funds, campaigns, or programs.
Donor Portal: A secure, self-service portal where donors can log in to manage their giving history, payment methods, recurring donations, and receipts.
Financial Reconciliation: The process of matching platform-reported transactions with actual bank deposits and internal accounting records.
GA4 / GTM (Google Analytics 4 / Google Tag Manager): Digital tools used to track website usage, campaign effectiveness, and donor behavior. Integration allows for marketing attribution and optimization.
GL Codes (General Ledger Codes): Accounting codes used to categorize donations and other transactions for financial reporting and auditing.
Localization: Customizing platform features for different countries or languages, including currency formats, payment methods, and compliance with regional regulations.
Marketing Automation: Technology that enables automated donor journeys via email, SMS, and other channels, based on behavior or data triggers.
Mobile-First Design: A design philosophy prioritizing usability on smartphones and tablets before scaling up to desktops.
Multi-Channel Communications: The ability to engage supporters via multiple methods like email, SMS, direct mail, and in-app messages.
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): A security mechanism requiring users to verify identity through two or more credentials, such as a password plus a phone verification.
NPSP (Nonprofit Success Pack): A Salesforce-based CRM solution tailored to nonprofit needs, enabling donation management, constituent tracking, and impact reporting.
Offline Gift Management: Tools that allow staff to enter and reconcile gifts received through checks, cash, phone calls, or third-party platforms (e.g., Facebook Giving).
PCI-DSS Compliance (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard): Industry-mandated standards for secure handling of credit card information. Mandatory for platforms processing donations.
Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Fundraising: Campaigns where individual fundraisers create personal pages to collect donations from their networks on behalf of the organization.
PII (Personally Identifiable Information): Sensitive personal data that can identify an individual, including name, email, address, and payment info.
Premiums: Tangible or symbolic items offered in exchange for a donation. Examples include t-shirts, tote bags, or “buy a goat”-style symbolic giving.
Privacy by Design: A principle where privacy is built into system architecture from the start, such as requiring opt-ins before displaying donor names publicly.
QA (Quality Assurance): Systematic processes for testing software to ensure functionality, integration, and user experience meet defined standards.
Recurring Giving (Sustainer Giving): Donations scheduled at regular intervals, such as monthly or annually. A core component of sustainable fundraising strategies.
RFP (Request for Proposal): A formal document issued to solicit proposals from vendors for a new platform or service, outlining project goals, requirements, and evaluation criteria.
Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): A system security method that grants access based on user roles (e.g., admin, donor services), reducing the risk of unauthorized actions.
Scalability: The ability of a system to expand capacity in response to increased data, users, or traffic — particularly important during campaigns or emergencies.
Segmentation: Dividing donors into meaningful groups based on demographics, behavior, or giving patterns for targeted messaging.
Self-Service (in Donor Portal Context): Features that allow donors to manage their own accounts, update info, download receipts, or adjust giving plans without staff intervention.
SLA (Service Level Agreement): A contract that defines service expectations, such as response time for support requests, uptime guarantees, and issue resolution timelines.
SOC2 Report (Service Organization Control 2): A third-party audit report that validates a vendor’s data security, availability, and confidentiality controls.
SSO (Single Sign-On): A method allowing users to log into multiple systems using one set of credentials, enhancing user experience and security.
Symbolic/Tangible Giving: Donation options where donors “purchase” a symbolic or actual item (e.g., water filter, blanket) that represents the impact of their gift.
Tokenization (Payment Token): A security process that replaces sensitive payment data with a non-sensitive token. The token can be stored and reused safely without exposing actual card info.
Tribute Gifts: Donations made in honor or memory of someone. Platforms should support capturing tribute details and sending notifications to honorees.
UAT (User Acceptance Testing): The final stage of testing in which real users validate that the system works as intended before launch.
UTM Parameters: Tags added to URLs to track the source and effectiveness of digital marketing campaigns.
UX/UI (User Experience / User Interface): UX refers to how users interact with a platform overall, while UI refers to the specific layout and visual elements they use.
Vendor Qualifications: The credentials and background of a vendor, including past performance, sector experience, technical expertise, and financial health.