Guide
Spreadsheet or CRM: is it worth it?
You want every dollar to go to the mission. So do we. But what about every hour? Here's how to count the time a spreadsheet really costs, with three examples and your own numbers.
Updated 2026-11-01
Every dollar to the mission. What about every hour?
A spreadsheet looks free, until you count the hours around it. Who keeps it up? Someone types in Sunday's checks. Someone writes each receipt and walks the envelopes to the post office. Someone emails "donors_FINAL_v3.xlsx" to the team, and someone else asks which version is right.
None of that shows up in the budget, but all of it is paid for, in staff hours or in volunteer hours. Independent Sector puts the value of a volunteer hour at $36.14 for 2025. An hour spent copying numbers is an hour not spent on the people you serve.
Where does the time go?
- Typing in gifts: every check, every online gift, by hand.
- Receipts and thank-yous: written, printed, stamped and mailed.
- Renewals: remembering who's due and chasing them.
- Versions: emailing copies, merging edits, and finding out two people updated different files.
- Board and audit numbers: rebuilt every time someone asks.
- Donated items: recounting the shelves to update the wishlist.
A team only works well when everyone has the same numbers. With five spreadsheets, nobody is sure which one is right.
What could three organizations get back?
A volunteer-run congregation: checks, receipts, one shared spreadsheet
- Hours a week today
- 8
- With Donorly (suggested)
- 1.9
- Hours back a year
- 317
- Value of that time, at $36.14 an hour
- $11,456
A food pantry with a part-time coordinator: donated items, wishlists, a few spreadsheets
- Hours a week today
- 13
- With Donorly (suggested)
- 2.7
- Hours back a year
- 536
- Value of that time, at $36.14 an hour
- $19,371
An arts group with two staff and members: renewals, online gifts, board reports
- Hours a week today
- 12
- With Donorly (suggested)
- 2.5
- Hours back a year
- 494
- Value of that time, at $36.14 an hour
- $17,853
Made-up examples to show the math, using the estimation tool's illustrative suggestions (20 to 25% of each task left). Not a guarantee: put in your own hours below.
And over three years?
The congregation
- Hours on this work, spreadsheets
- 1,248
- Hours with Donorly (suggested)
- 296
- Hours back
- 952
- Value of that time, at $36.14 an hour
- $34,405
The food pantry
- Hours on this work, spreadsheets
- 2,028
- Hours with Donorly (suggested)
- 421
- Hours back
- 1,607
- Value of that time, at $36.14 an hour
- $58,077
The arts group
- Hours on this work, spreadsheets
- 1,872
- Hours with Donorly (suggested)
- 390
- Hours back
- 1,482
- Value of that time, at $36.14 an hour
- $53,559
Three years at the same hours a week. If your organization grows, the spreadsheet work tends to grow with it.
Hours are how you keep good people
It's hard to attract staff and volunteers to a job that's mostly typing, and harder to keep them. The hours a spreadsheet eats are the hours you'd spend recruiting, training and thanking the people who make your mission work. Free those hours, and the job gets better for everyone in it.
So, is a CRM worth the cost?
Put the hours back on one side and the price on the other. For most teams that spend even a few hours a week on this work, the hours win. And you don't have to take our word for it: use your own numbers below.
Organizations that join during the beta get reduced pricing. We go through pricing on a walkthrough, with your number in hand.
Estimation tool
How much time could you get back?
Change both columns to match how you work. Count volunteers too: their time is a gift you could spend on the mission.
Hours a week your team spends on…
Example hours. Change both columns to match how you work.
- Gifts on your Donorly pages are recorded on their own.TodayWith Donorlysuggested
- Our AI reads each check; you confirm instead of typing.TodayWith Donorlysuggested
- Gifts are receipted by email on their own.TodayWith Donorlysuggested
- Receipts go by email. For donors with no email, Donorly will print and mail them for you: coming soon.TodayWith Donorlysuggested
- Members get renewal reminders automatically.TodayWith Donorlysuggested
- Everyone on your team sees the same live numbers, so everyone stays in sync.TodayWith Donorlysuggested
- Your dashboard and reports stay up to date.TodayWith Donorlysuggested
- Items coming in and going out are tracked in one place, so you always know what's on hand. Counts stay current on their own.TodayWith Donorlysuggested
- Fixing duplicate donors, answering "did you get my check?" calls, training volunteers on the spreadsheet… Put your own numbers in both columns.TodayWith Donorlyyour estimate
Time you could get back
530
hours a year
$13,260
a year: the value of your team's time, not cash saved
Your numbers and our suggestions. Our suggestions leave 20 to 25% of each task in place; change any of them. An estimate, not a guarantee.
See where those hours come back, on your own checks, in a 30-minute walkthrough →Questions we hear
We're volunteer-run. Isn't a spreadsheet enough?+
It can be, until you count the hours. Volunteer time is the scarcest thing you have, and every hour of typing is one they don't spend on the mission.
Our volunteers do it for free. Why count their time?+
Because it isn't free to them. Independent Sector values a volunteer hour at $36.14, and volunteers who came to serve rarely stay to copy numbers.
How long does it take to move from spreadsheets?+
A donation page takes minutes. Moving your existing data takes a few days in our experience, depending on what you bring, and during the beta our team does it for you at no cost.
Can we take our data back out?+
Yes. Your data is yours: you can export it from Donorly whenever you like.
Keep reading
See it with your own checks, pages and members.
30 minutes, on your own work: your checks, your pages, your numbers. Ask us how anything works. During the beta, we move your data in for you at no cost.