Charity Software Integrations: How to Connect Your CRM, Accounting, and Email Tools

Most charities run on a patchwork of disconnected tools. Your CRM holds supporter data, your accounting software tracks finances, your email platform manages campaigns, and your payment processor handles donations — but none of them talk to each other. The result is duplicated effort, inconsistent records, and staff spending hours on manual data transfers that software should handle automatically.

This guide explains how to connect your charity's systems effectively, what integration approaches are available, and when an all-in-one platform might be the better path.

TL;DR: Disconnected charity software wastes staff time, creates data errors, and limits your ability to report on impact. You can connect systems through native integrations, automation tools like Zapier, or APIs — but each approach has trade-offs. All-in-one platforms like Plinth reduce integration needs by combining case management, CRM, payments, bookings, and reporting in a single system.

Who this is for: Charity managers, operations leads, and trustees evaluating how to connect their organisation's technology systems or considering a platform change.

Why Integration Matters for UK Charities

Integration is not a technical nice-to-have — it is a practical necessity for charities operating with limited staff and tight budgets.

When your systems are disconnected, staff must manually re-enter data between platforms. A new donor recorded in your payment processor needs to be added to your CRM. A booking confirmation needs to be cross-referenced with your email list. A grant payment needs to be logged in both your case management system and your accounting software. Each of these manual steps introduces the risk of errors, duplicates, and delays.

The scale of this challenge is significant. According to the Charity Digital Skills Report 2024, 31% of charities say they are poor at, or not engaging with, the collection, management, and use of data (Charity Digital Skills Report 2024). When data lives in disconnected silos, even charities that want to use data well struggle to do so.

The cost is not just inefficiency — it is missed insight. When your systems do not share data, you cannot easily answer questions like "Which of our service users also donate?" or "What is the lifetime value of supporters who first attended an event?" These insights require connected data, and without integration, they remain invisible.

What Systems Need to Talk to Each Other?

A typical UK charity's technology stack includes several categories of tools that benefit from integration.

CRM and supporter database. This is where you track relationships with beneficiaries, donors, volunteers, and partner organisations. It needs to receive data from almost every other system — payment records, event attendance, email engagement, and case notes. Plinth's Partner CRM is designed to centralise this relationship data without requiring external connectors.

Accounting software. Tools like Xero and QuickBooks handle financial reporting, invoicing, and regulatory compliance. They need to receive transaction data from payment processors, donation platforms, and grant management systems. According to the Charity Digital Skills Report 2024, 60% of charities cite finding funds to invest in infrastructure, systems, and tools as a barrier — a significant increase from 49% the year before (Charity Digital Skills Report 2024). This means many charities are working with legacy systems that make integration harder.

Email marketing. Platforms like Mailchimp or Campaign Monitor manage newsletters and supporter communications. They need accurate, up-to-date contact lists from your CRM, and ideally they should feed engagement data (opens, clicks, unsubscribes) back into your CRM for a complete picture of each relationship.

Payment processors. Stripe, GoCardless, and similar tools handle donations, membership fees, and service charges. Payment data needs to flow into both your CRM (to update donor records) and your accounting software (for reconciliation and reporting). With Plinth's built-in Payments feature, this data stays within the same platform as your case records and CRM.

Booking and scheduling tools. Event management, appointment booking, and room scheduling generate data about who is engaging with your services and when. Plinth's Bookings feature keeps this data alongside your case management and CRM records, eliminating the need for a separate integration.

Impact and reporting tools. Funders increasingly expect data-driven impact reporting. The Charity Digital Skills Report 2025 found that over 75% of charities report low data literacy (Charity Digital Skills Report 2025). Disconnected systems make reporting harder because staff must manually compile data from multiple sources. Plinth's Impact Reporting draws directly from your case and programme data.

Common Integration Approaches

There are four main ways charities connect their software systems, each with distinct strengths and limitations.

Native integrations

These are built-in connections between two specific platforms. For example, many CRMs offer a direct Xero or QuickBooks integration that syncs financial data automatically.

Strengths: Usually the most reliable option, with the tightest data mapping and fewest errors. Maintained by the software vendors themselves.

Limitations: Only available for specific platform combinations. If your CRM does not offer a native integration with your accounting tool, this approach is not an option.

Automation platforms (Zapier, Make)

Tools like Zapier and Make act as intermediaries, connecting thousands of apps through pre-built "triggers" and "actions." When something happens in one app (a trigger), the automation platform performs an action in another app.

Zapier reports that over 2.2 million businesses use their platform, and they offer a 15% discount for nonprofit organisations (Zapier for Nonprofits).

Strengths: Enormous flexibility. You can connect almost any combination of tools without writing code. Good for bridging gaps where native integrations do not exist.

Limitations: Ongoing subscription costs, potential for breakage when either app updates its interface, and limited ability to handle complex data transformations. Data flows are typically one-directional and may not handle edge cases well.

APIs (Application Programming Interfaces)

APIs allow developers to build custom connections between systems. This is the most flexible approach but requires technical expertise.

Strengths: Complete control over what data flows where and how it is transformed. Can handle complex business logic and bidirectional sync.

Limitations: Requires developer time to build and maintain. If the developer leaves, you may struggle to maintain the integration. Ongoing cost of monitoring and updating as platforms change their APIs.

CSV import and export

The most basic form of integration: exporting data from one system as a spreadsheet file and importing it into another.

Strengths: Works with virtually any system. No technical setup required.

Limitations: Entirely manual, error-prone, and does not scale. Data is only as current as your last export. The Charity Digital Skills Report 2025 found that only 44% of charities have a digital strategy in place, down from 50% the previous year (Charity Digital Skills Report 2025). Organisations without a clear digital strategy are more likely to rely on manual CSV workflows rather than investing in proper integrations.

What to Look for in a Platform's Integration Capabilities

When evaluating charity software, integration capabilities should be a key part of your assessment. Here is what to check.

Does it offer native integrations with your existing tools? Check whether the platform connects directly to the specific accounting, email, and payment tools you already use. A long list of integrations is less useful than the right three or four.

Does it support Zapier or Make? If native integrations are limited, Zapier or Make compatibility gives you a fallback option for connecting additional tools.

Does it have an open API? An API provides a safety net: even if native integrations do not cover your needs today, a developer can build custom connections in the future.

How does it handle data conflicts? When the same record is updated in two systems simultaneously, what happens? Good platforms have clear conflict-resolution rules and audit trails.

What does the integration actually sync? Some integrations only push basic contact details. Others sync full transaction histories, engagement data, and custom fields. Understand the depth of each integration before committing.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

Integration projects frequently go wrong in predictable ways. Being aware of these pitfalls can save significant time and frustration.

Duplicate records. When data flows between systems without proper matching rules, you end up with multiple records for the same person. A supporter might appear once with their full name from your CRM and again with a shortened version from your payment processor. According to the Charity CRM Survey 2025, conducted by Fundraising Magazine with 453 charity respondents, data quality and management remain among the top challenges charities face with their CRM systems (Charity CRM Survey 2025).

Over-reliance on manual exports. It is tempting to say "we will just export a CSV each month" — but this rarely happens consistently. Staff get busy, exports get forgotten, and data drifts out of sync. By the time someone notices, reconciling the differences can take hours.

Assuming integration means identical data. Even well-connected systems may store data differently. Your CRM might record a donation date as the date the payment was initiated, while your accounting software records the date it cleared. These subtle differences can cause confusion in reports if not understood upfront.

Building integrations you do not maintain. A custom Zapier workflow or API integration is not "set and forget." Apps update, data formats change, and automations break. Without someone responsible for monitoring integrations, failures can go unnoticed for weeks. The Charity Digital Skills Report 2025 found that 28% of charity boards have poor digital skills, up from 19% the year before (Charity Digital Skills Report 2025). This leadership gap makes it less likely that integration failures will be identified and addressed at a strategic level.

Integrating too many tools at once. Start with the most impactful connections — typically CRM to accounting and CRM to email — and add others once those are stable. Trying to connect everything simultaneously increases complexity and the chance of cascading failures.

All-in-One Platforms vs Best-of-Breed with Integrations

Charities face a fundamental choice: assemble a best-of-breed stack of specialised tools connected through integrations, or adopt an all-in-one platform that handles multiple functions natively.

The best-of-breed argument is that each tool is the best at its specific job. Your email platform is built for email. Your accounting tool is built for accounting. In theory, you get the strongest capabilities in each area.

The all-in-one argument is that integration itself is a cost — in money, time, and ongoing maintenance. Every connection between two systems is a potential point of failure. The Charity Digital Skills Report 2024 found that only 32% of charities are prioritising investing in infrastructure and systems, down from 45% the year before (Charity Digital Skills Report 2024). With fewer resources going to infrastructure, maintaining a complex web of integrations becomes increasingly difficult.

For many charities — particularly small and medium-sized organisations — the practical benefits of an all-in-one approach outweigh the theoretical advantages of best-of-breed.

Plinth takes this approach by combining Case Management, Partner CRM, Payments, Bookings, and Impact Reporting in a single platform. When a beneficiary books a session, that data appears in their case record. When a partner makes a payment, it is recorded against their CRM profile. When a funder asks for impact data, you can generate reports without exporting from three different systems.

This does not mean you never need integrations. Most charities will still connect their platform to accounting software like Xero and email tools like Mailchimp. But the number of integrations drops significantly — from a dozen connections to two or three — and with it, the risk of data silos, sync failures, and maintenance burden.

A Practical Integration Checklist

If you are evaluating or improving your charity's software integrations, work through these steps.

1. Audit your current tools. List every piece of software your organisation uses, who uses it, and what data it holds.
2. Map your data flows. Draw arrows between systems showing what data needs to move where. Identify which flows are currently manual.
3. Prioritise by impact. Which manual data flows waste the most staff time or cause the most errors? Start there.
4. Check for native options. Before reaching for Zapier, check whether your platforms already offer direct integrations you have not enabled.
5. Assign ownership. Every integration needs someone responsible for monitoring it. If nobody is responsible, it will break unnoticed.
6. Document everything. Record what each integration does, how it was set up, and what to check if it stops working.
7. Review quarterly. Integrations are not permanent. As your tools and needs change, your integrations should be reviewed and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do we need a developer to set up integrations?

Not necessarily. Native integrations and tools like Zapier are designed for non-technical users. However, if your needs involve complex data transformations, bidirectional sync, or custom business logic, developer support will produce a more reliable result. Many charities start with Zapier and graduate to API integrations as their needs grow.

How much does integration typically cost?

Costs vary widely. Native integrations are usually included in your software subscription. Zapier plans start from around 19 USD per month (with a 15% nonprofit discount), scaling with the number of automated tasks. Custom API integrations can cost anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand pounds in developer time, plus ongoing maintenance. The key cost to factor in is not just the tools but the staff time required to set up, monitor, and fix integrations.

What happens to our data if an integration breaks?

When an integration fails, data stops flowing between systems. New records created in one system will not appear in the other until the integration is repaired and a manual catch-up is performed. This is why monitoring is essential. Most automation platforms offer error notifications — make sure these are enabled and directed to someone who will act on them.

Should we migrate to a single platform or integrate what we have?

This depends on how many systems you are currently running and how well they serve your needs. If you are managing five or more disconnected tools with manual data transfers between them, the total cost of ownership — including staff time spent on integration — may exceed the cost of migrating to an all-in-one platform. If you have two or three well-chosen tools with reliable native integrations, adding a connector may be more practical than a full migration.

How do we handle GDPR when data flows between systems?

Every system that holds personal data must be included in your data processing records. When data flows between platforms, ensure each system meets your data protection standards, that data processing agreements are in place with each vendor, and that individuals' rights (access, deletion, portability) can be fulfilled across all connected systems. Integration does not change your GDPR obligations — it extends them across every connected platform.

Recommended Next Pages

• Case Management — See how Plinth centralises case tracking, notes, and workflows in a single system.

• Partner CRM — Manage all your partner and supporter relationships without a separate CRM tool.

• Impact Reporting — Generate funder-ready reports from your existing case and programme data.

• Payments — Accept donations and service payments without a third-party payment integration.

• Bookings — Manage events, appointments, and scheduling alongside your case records.

Last updated: February 2026

For more information about connecting your charity's software systems or to see how Plinth reduces integration complexity, contact our team or schedule a demo.