Resources
HR Software Buyer's Checklist for Nonprofits
Twenty questions to ask every HR software vendor before you sign. Built for organizations with seasonal staff, volunteers, grant-funded payroll, and a board that will ask what it costs to leave.
Insights for choosing HR software
Define the job before the demo
Records, payroll, hiring, or compliance. Software that is good at one is rarely good at all four. Decide which problem you are buying for, then evaluate against that.
Ask how they count seasonal staff
A counselor who works ten weeks is not a full-time seat. Per-employee pricing that counts them year-round can double the real cost. Ask on the first call.
Price the exit, not just the entry
Contract term, data export, and what it costs to leave matter more than the sticker price, because you will eventually leave.
sample
HR Software Buyer's Checklist for Nonprofits
What is on the checklist
One page, six sections, twenty questions, and a notes area for the demo. It is designed to sit next to you on the vendor call.
1. Define the problem first. Which job are we hiring software for? Who owns the system day to day? What does our current process cost us in hours per month?
2. Pricing. Nonprofit pricing (many offer it, few advertise it). How seasonal staff are counted. Whether volunteers count toward per-employee pricing. Setup and implementation fees. Contract term and the cost to leave.
3. Mixed workforce. Whether W-2 employees, 1099 contractors, and volunteers can be handled separately. Whether a seasonal wave can be onboarded without paying for them year-round. Whether different worker types can run on different pay schedules.
4. Funding and reporting. Whether payroll can allocate compensation across grants and restricted funds. Whether it produces the reports your auditor asks for. Whether it integrates with your accounting software.
5. Compliance and support. Automatic payroll tax filing in every state you operate in. Which compliance updates are included and which cost extra. What support actually is: a human, a chatbot, or a help center.
6. Integrations. Donor CRM and accounting stack: connect or replace? Is an ATS included or separate? What happens to your data if you switch providers.
One more question, for yourself. Is this a software problem or a people problem? No platform fixes unclear policies, a looming termination, or hiring that drags on for months.
The checklist is the companion to Best Nonprofit HR Software and Solutions, which walks through the categories and the vendors worth demoing. For the broader picture, start with The Ultimate Guide to Nonprofit HR. If the honest answer to the last question is "people problem," that is what HR Consulting is for.
sample
HR Software Buyer's Checklist for Nonprofits
What is on the checklist
One page, six sections, twenty questions, and a notes area for the demo. It is designed to sit next to you on the vendor call.
1. Define the problem first. Which job are we hiring software for? Who owns the system day to day? What does our current process cost us in hours per month?
2. Pricing. Nonprofit pricing (many offer it, few advertise it). How seasonal staff are counted. Whether volunteers count toward per-employee pricing. Setup and implementation fees. Contract term and the cost to leave.
3. Mixed workforce. Whether W-2 employees, 1099 contractors, and volunteers can be handled separately. Whether a seasonal wave can be onboarded without paying for them year-round. Whether different worker types can run on different pay schedules.
4. Funding and reporting. Whether payroll can allocate compensation across grants and restricted funds. Whether it produces the reports your auditor asks for. Whether it integrates with your accounting software.
5. Compliance and support. Automatic payroll tax filing in every state you operate in. Which compliance updates are included and which cost extra. What support actually is: a human, a chatbot, or a help center.
6. Integrations. Donor CRM and accounting stack: connect or replace? Is an ATS included or separate? What happens to your data if you switch providers.
One more question, for yourself. Is this a software problem or a people problem? No platform fixes unclear policies, a looming termination, or hiring that drags on for months.
The checklist is the companion to Best Nonprofit HR Software and Solutions, which walks through the categories and the vendors worth demoing. For the broader picture, start with The Ultimate Guide to Nonprofit HR. If the honest answer to the last question is "people problem," that is what HR Consulting is for.
What is on the checklist
One page, six sections, twenty questions, and a notes area for the demo. It is designed to sit next to you on the vendor call.
1. Define the problem first. Which job are we hiring software for? Who owns the system day to day? What does our current process cost us in hours per month?
2. Pricing. Nonprofit pricing (many offer it, few advertise it). How seasonal staff are counted. Whether volunteers count toward per-employee pricing. Setup and implementation fees. Contract term and the cost to leave.
3. Mixed workforce. Whether W-2 employees, 1099 contractors, and volunteers can be handled separately. Whether a seasonal wave can be onboarded without paying for them year-round. Whether different worker types can run on different pay schedules.
4. Funding and reporting. Whether payroll can allocate compensation across grants and restricted funds. Whether it produces the reports your auditor asks for. Whether it integrates with your accounting software.
5. Compliance and support. Automatic payroll tax filing in every state you operate in. Which compliance updates are included and which cost extra. What support actually is: a human, a chatbot, or a help center.
6. Integrations. Donor CRM and accounting stack: connect or replace? Is an ATS included or separate? What happens to your data if you switch providers.
One more question, for yourself. Is this a software problem or a people problem? No platform fixes unclear policies, a looming termination, or hiring that drags on for months.
The checklist is the companion to Best Nonprofit HR Software and Solutions, which walks through the categories and the vendors worth demoing. For the broader picture, start with The Ultimate Guide to Nonprofit HR. If the honest answer to the last question is "people problem," that is what HR Consulting is for.
FAQ
Frequently
asked questions
What questions should a nonprofit ask before buying HR software?
Start with what job the software is for and who will own it. Then pricing: nonprofit discounts, how seasonal staff and volunteers are counted, setup fees, and the cost to leave. Then whether it handles a mixed workforce, allocates payroll across grants, files taxes in every state you operate in, and integrates with your donor CRM and accounting system. The checklist on this page covers all twenty.
What should be on an HRIS requirements checklist for a nonprofit?
The same core requirements as any organization (records, payroll, time off, compliance, reporting) plus four nonprofit-specific ones: seasonal and volunteer headcount handling, grant and restricted-fund payroll allocation, audit-ready reporting, and integration with a donor CRM. Those four are where generic HR software fails nonprofits.
How do you evaluate HR software in a demo?
Bring your own scenarios, not the vendor's. Ask them to onboard a seasonal wave of 40 staff, allocate one salary across two grants, and export your data as if you were leaving. How they handle the exit question tells you most of what you need to know.
Do HR software vendors offer nonprofit pricing?
Many do, and most do not advertise it. Ask directly on the first call, and ask whether the discount applies to implementation fees as well as the subscription.