How Alder compares.
Every charity is different, and the right CRM depends on what you need. We believe in transparency — here’s how Alder stacks up against the alternatives.
GoodCRM
GoodCRM is a well-liked platform built for charities and purpose-driven organisations. It scores 4.2/5 in the Fundraising Magazine CRM Survey 2025 with 100% recommendation rate — a strong endorsement from its users. It’s particularly popular with arts, heritage, and community organisations.
If your charity needs a straightforward CRM for contacts, donations, and memberships, GoodCRM is a solid choice. But if you also need governance workflows, safeguarding, compliance tooling, and board reporting built into the platform, that’s where Alder goes further.
What’s different
Governance and compliance built in. GoodCRM handles contacts, fundraising, cases, and memberships well. But it doesn’t include board governance tools, Charity Commission compliance workflows, safeguarding incident tracking, or DBS check management. Alder includes all of this at every tier — because for most charities, these aren’t optional.
Free tier with every feature. GoodCRM’s lowest plan (Personal) is £28/month plus a £199 setup fee. Alder Free is £0, forever — 500 contacts, 3 users, every feature, no setup cost. If you’re a micro-charity or just want to try a CRM properly before committing, there’s no financial barrier.
Broader feature set. GoodCRM covers the core well: contacts, donations, memberships, cases, events, and impact reporting. Alder adds volunteer scheduling and rotas, DBS tracking, Gift Aid automation with HMRC submission, governance checklists, board reporting dashboards, compliance workflows, and AI-powered grant search. One platform for everything your charity needs to operate, not just fundraise.
API and integrations. GoodCRM integrates with Stripe, GoCardless, and Xero, but doesn’t currently offer a public API for custom integrations. Alder provides an API, so you can connect to the tools your charity already uses.
| Alder CRM | GoodCRM | |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | Yes — 500 contacts, 3 users, every feature | No (from £28/mo + £199 setup) |
| Case management | Full (records, safeguarding, outcomes) | Yes (custom case types, assignment) |
| Volunteer management | Full (scheduling, DBS, hours, rotas) | Limited |
| Governance/board tools | Yes (checklists, dashboards, trustee portal) | No |
| Safeguarding workflows | Yes (DBS tracking, incident logs, restricted access) | No |
| Compliance tools | Yes (GDPR, Charity Commission, audit trails) | Limited (GDPR consent) |
| Gift Aid | Yes (tracking + HMRC submission) | Yes (tracking) |
| AI grant search | Yes | No |
| API | Yes | No |
| Built in the UK | Yes | Yes |
| CRM Survey 2025 | New — not yet rated | 4.2/5 (23 respondents, 100% recommend) |
Where GoodCRM wins
GoodCRM has a loyal, satisfied user base and a strong reputation in the arts and community sector. Their in-person training and monthly client surgeries are a standout — if your team values hands-on, face-to-face support, that’s genuinely hard to match. The interface is clean and approachable, and setup is straightforward.
Where Alder wins
Alder goes beyond CRM into charity operations. If your board needs reporting dashboards, your safeguarding lead needs incident tracking, your HR lead needs DBS management, and your fundraiser needs Gift Aid automation — Alder covers all of it in one platform. A genuine free tier means you can try everything before spending a penny.