For a small charity testing donor tracking and campaigns, the best free NGO CRM/fundraising platforms are usually the ones that give you:

• donor/contact management
• campaign tracking
• donation forms or event tools
• email/engagement features
• easy setup without needing a consultant

Here are the strongest free options to look at:

1) HubSpot CRM — best overall free CRM foundation

Good for: donor/contact tracking, pipelines, email logging, campaign organization
Why it stands out:

• Free CRM is very generous
• Easy to use
• Great contact and activity tracking
• Useful for managing prospects, supporters, partners, and donors

Limitations:

• Not NGO-specific
• Donation processing and fundraising features are limited on the free plan
• Some marketing automation is paid

Best if: you want a clean, scalable system to test donor management first.

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2) Zoho CRM Free — best low-cost starter for small teams

Good for: basic donor records, follow-ups, segmentation
Why it stands out:

• Free plan for small teams
• Customizable fields and workflows
• Integrates with Zoho tools

Limitations:

• Free plan is limited in users/features
• Not built specifically for nonprofits
• Campaign/fundraising tools are more limited unless you add other Zoho products

Best if: you need a simple CRM and may later grow into a broader suite.

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3) CiviCRM — best free nonprofit-focused CRM

Good for: donor management, memberships, events, campaigns, email, fundraising
Why it stands out:

• Open-source and built specifically for nonprofits
• Strong donor and supporter tracking
• Good for campaigns, memberships, event management, and email

Limitations:

• Requires hosting and setup
• Can be technical to implement
• Usually needs some admin/IT support

Best if: you want a true nonprofit CRM and can handle setup complexity.

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4) Airtable — best flexible free database for testing

Good for: quick donor tracking, campaign lists, lightweight reporting
Why it stands out:

• Very flexible
• Easy to create custom tables for donors, donations, campaigns, volunteers
• Great for testing workflows before moving to a full CRM

Limitations:

• Not a real fundraising platform
• Automation and record limits on free plan
• No built-in donation processing

Best if: you want to prototype a donor database quickly.

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5) Bitrix24 Free — best free all-in-one collaboration CRM

Good for: contacts, tasks, pipelines, internal coordination
Why it stands out:

• CRM plus tasks, communications, and project tools
• Useful if fundraising is tied to a small team’s operations

Limitations:

• Interface can feel crowded
• Not nonprofit-specific
• Campaign and donation features are basic

Best if: your charity also wants project/task management with CRM.

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6) Bloomerang (free trials / nonprofit offerings) — worth checking, but not fully free

Good for: donor retention and fundraising insights
Why it stands out:

• Strong nonprofit CRM reputation
• Good donor tracking and engagement focus

Limitations:

• Usually not free long-term
• Pricing can be a barrier for very small charities

Best if: you want to test a nonprofit-grade CRM and can start with a trial/demo.

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7) Donorbox + simple CRM combination — best for donation forms

Good for: collecting donations online and syncing basic donor info
Why it stands out:

• Easy donation forms and fundraising pages
• Can pair with a CRM like HubSpot, Airtable, or Zoho
• Good for small campaigns and peer-to-peer fundraising

Limitations:

• Donation platform fees may apply
• CRM features are limited unless integrated

Best if: your priority is online donation collection more than deep CRM.

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Best picks by use case

If you want the easiest free CRM:

• HubSpot CRM

If you want a nonprofit-specific platform:

• CiviCRM

If you want fast testing with no setup burden:

• Airtable

If you want donation forms plus tracking:

• Donorbox + HubSpot/Airtable

If you want a broad team collaboration tool:

• Bitrix24

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Practical recommendation for a small charity

If you’re just testing donor tracking and campaigns, I’d suggest:

Option A: simplest setup

• HubSpot CRM
• Google Forms or Donorbox
• Mailchimp free plan for email campaigns

Option B: nonprofit-focused

• CiviCRM
• Use it for donor records, campaigns, events, and email

Option C: ultra-lightweight pilot

• Airtable
• Build a donor/campaign database manually
• Add a donation form tool later

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What to look for before choosing

Check whether the free plan includes:

• number of users
• number of contacts/records
• donation form support
• email campaign limits
• automation/workflow limits
• reporting dashboards
• integrations with your website and email tools
• data export, since portability matters a lot

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If you want, I can also give you:

1. a comparison table of these platforms, or
2. a recommended free stack for a charity with under 500 donors.