Buyer guide
Best survey software for nonprofits
Six tools for organisations that survey donors, volunteers and the people they serve, often on a small budget and sometimes offline. Public pricing as of October 2026.
What is the best survey software for nonprofits?
Nonprofits need low cost, donation forms and ways to reach people who are not at a desk. Claform, our product, fits that with a Free plan, Stripe donation forms on Professional, SMS and WhatsApp outreach, and kiosk mode with offline sync for events and field work. Google Forms and Microsoft Forms are free fallbacks; SurveyMonkey, Jotform and Zoho Survey each add something specific.
How we chose
The same four criteria as our alternatives pages, weighted for what this kind of team needs most.
Public information only
Each tool is described by what its own public site says it does. We do not run competitor accounts or infer features from reviews.
Public pricing, hedged
Where a tool lists prices, we quote the starting point; where it does not, we say so and link to their pricing page rather than guess.
Breadth of the job
Tools that build the survey, send it to people and analyse the answers rank above tools that only do one of those steps.
Clear plans and a free way to try
A free plan or trial and plans you can buy without a sales call count in a tool's favour, because most teams want to test before they commit.
Checked October 2026. Plans and features change often; a dash in the table means we could not confirm something, not that the feature is missing.
Sources and date: tool descriptions and prices as listed on each vendor's public site, checked October 2026. Claform details come from our own plan catalogue. Tell us if something changed
The 6 best picks for nonprofits, ranked
Claform comes first because it is ours. Every tool below gets the same sections, and the pick line says why it fits this audience.
Why we list ourselves first
This is Claform's website, so Claform leads the list. We keep the rest honest: every tool gets the same four sections, competitor facts come from their public pages, and the comparison table marks anything we could not confirm with a dash instead of a cross.
1. Claform
Our product- What it is
- Claform is an AI survey, form and quiz platform. Clue drafts a survey from a prompt, a document or a link; one survey goes out by email, SMS, WhatsApp, voice, QR code, kiosk, Slack or Microsoft Teams; and the AI Analyst explains the results and shows the statistic behind each finding.
- Best for
- Teams that want to build, send and understand surveys in one product, with public prices and no sales call.
- Why it fits
- A Free plan with no card, donation forms with preset, custom and recurring monthly gifts, SMS from Starter and WhatsApp from Professional, and kiosk mode with offline sync for collecting at events or in the field.
- Standout features
- Eight channels from one survey: email and QR codes on Free, SMS from Starter, WhatsApp and voice from Professional.
- AI Analyst with key drivers, segment comparisons and the test statistic shown next to each finding.
- Workflows that turn a low score into an alert, a ticket or a follow-up, tested with a dry run first.
- Pricing starting point
- Free plan at $0 with no credit card. Starter $25, Professional $55 (7-day free trial), Business $149 per month; Enterprise is custom.
- Which Claform plan you need
- Free covers the AI builder, QR codes, email sharing and basic analytics. Quiz scoring, Stripe payment forms and kiosk mode with offline sync need Professional. SAML single sign-on needs Business.
2. Google Forms
- What it is
- Google Forms is the free form builder that comes with a Google account. It covers quick surveys, quizzes and sign-up forms, with answers landing in Google Sheets.
- Best for
- Quick internal polls and simple forms when the budget is zero and your team already lives in Google Workspace.
- Why it fits
- Free with a Google account and good enough for volunteer sign-ups and event feedback when the budget is zero.
- Standout features
- Free with a Google account, no plan to choose.
- Quiz mode with automatic grading.
- Responses flow into Google Sheets.
- Pricing starting point
- Free with a Google account; included in Google Workspace plans.
3. SurveyMonkey
- What it is
- SurveyMonkey is one of the best-known online survey tools, with a large question bank, templates and reporting used by teams of every size.
- Best for
- Teams that want a familiar, widely approved survey tool with a long track record.
- Why it fits
- A familiar tool with a free plan; check its site for any nonprofit pricing and which features sit on which plan.
- Standout features
- Question bank and templates for common survey types.
- Built-in reporting with filters and exports.
- Enterprise plan with add-ons for larger organisations.
- Pricing starting point
- Free plan and paid plans; check SurveyMonkey's pricing page for current prices (October 2026).
4. Jotform
- What it is
- Jotform is a widely used online form builder with a very large template catalogue, payment fields for many gateways and a mobile app with kiosk mode.
- Best for
- Teams that collect intake, orders and payments through forms and want a template for almost every case.
- Why it fits
- Payment fields for many gateways and a very large template catalogue, including registration and donation-style forms.
- Standout features
- Large template catalogue.
- Payment fields for many payment gateways.
- Mobile app with kiosk mode for collecting on a device.
- Pricing starting point
- Free plan with limits and paid plans; check Jotform's pricing page for current prices (October 2026).
5. Microsoft Forms
- What it is
- Microsoft Forms is the survey, quiz and poll tool inside Microsoft 365. It works with Excel, Teams and SharePoint and is already available to most Microsoft 365 users.
- Best for
- Organisations standardised on Microsoft 365 that need simple internal surveys, polls and quizzes without buying another tool.
- Why it fits
- Included with Microsoft 365, which many nonprofits already have, so simple internal and volunteer surveys cost nothing extra.
- Standout features
- Included with Microsoft 365, with a free version for personal Microsoft accounts.
- Results open in Excel; polls run inside Teams meetings.
- Quizzes with automatic grading for classrooms and training.
- Pricing starting point
- Included with Microsoft 365 subscriptions; a free version exists for personal Microsoft accounts (October 2026).
6. Zoho Survey
- What it is
- Zoho Survey is the survey tool in the Zoho suite. It offers templates, logic and reporting and connects to Zoho CRM and other Zoho apps.
- Best for
- Teams already using Zoho CRM or Zoho One that want surveys connected to their existing records.
- Why it fits
- Useful if your donor records live in Zoho CRM, since surveys connect to them directly.
- Standout features
- Part of the Zoho suite, with CRM integration.
- Templates, skip logic and piping.
- Reporting with filters and scheduled exports.
- Pricing starting point
- Free plan and paid plans; check Zoho Survey's pricing page for current prices (October 2026).
Compared on what matters for nonprofits
Only the features this audience asks about. Claform cells show the plan a feature needs; other columns show what each vendor's public pages list, and a dash means we could not confirm it.
| Feature | Claform | Google Forms | SurveyMonkey | Jotform | Microsoft Forms | Zoho Survey |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Free forever, no card | Free(Listed) | Free plan(Listed) | Free plan with limits(Listed) | —(Not confirmed by us) | —(Not confirmed by us) |
| Payment forms | Stripe payments on Professional | —(Not confirmed by us) | —(Not confirmed by us) | Listed(Listed) | —(Not confirmed by us) | —(Not confirmed by us) |
| SMS surveys | From Starter | —(Not confirmed by us) | Enterprise add-on(On some plans or as an add-on) | —(Not confirmed by us) | —(Not confirmed by us) | —(Not confirmed by us) |
| WhatsApp and voice surveys | From Professional | —(Not confirmed by us) | —(Not confirmed by us) | —(Not confirmed by us) | —(Not confirmed by us) | —(Not confirmed by us) |
| Offline or kiosk collection | Kiosk mode with offline sync, Professional | —(Not confirmed by us) | Enterprise plan(On some plans or as an add-on) | Kiosk mode in mobile app(Listed) | —(Not confirmed by us) | —(Not confirmed by us) |
Survey software for nonprofits: common questions
Is there free survey software for nonprofits?
Yes. Google Forms is free with a Google account and Microsoft Forms comes with Microsoft 365. Claform's Free plan is $0 with no credit card and includes the AI survey builder, QR codes, email sharing, basic analytics and CSV export. Some vendors list nonprofit pricing on their own sites; check each one.
Can survey software collect donations too?
Claform's donation forms collect into your own Stripe account with preset amounts, custom amounts and, on Business, recurring monthly gifts; payment forms start on Professional. Jotform lists payment fields for many gateways. Google Forms and Microsoft Forms do not list payments.
How do I survey people who do not use email?
Send the survey by SMS or WhatsApp, print a QR code, or collect answers on a tablet in kiosk mode. Claform covers all of these: SMS from Starter, WhatsApp and voice from Professional, QR codes on Free, and kiosk mode with offline sync on Professional, so answers collected without a connection upload later.
Which survey tool works offline at events or in the field?
Claform's kiosk mode on Professional stores answers on the device and syncs when it reconnects. As of October 2026, Jotform lists kiosk mode in its mobile app and Qualtrics lists an offline app; the free tools on this list do not list offline collection.
Can a small nonprofit team understand survey results without an analyst?
Yes. Claform's AI Analyst summarises responses, finds the key drivers behind a score and shows the statistic behind each finding in plain language, and workflows can alert a staff member when a beneficiary flags a problem. Most tools on this list offer summary charts on their plans.
Pages for this work
Solution pages, pricing and the other buyer guides.
- Donation FormsPreset, custom and monthly gifts via StripeRead more
- Event FeedbackRegistration, session ratings, post-eventRead more
- Customer FeedbackNPS, CSAT, CES surveysRead more
- Claform pricingFree, Starter, Professional, Business and Enterprise, with what each includes.Read more
- Best survey software for small businessWhat is the best survey software for a small business?Read more
- Best survey software for HR teamsWhat is the best survey software for HR teams?Read more
- Best survey software for market researchWhat is the best survey software for market research?Read more
- All alternatives and buyer guidesEvery ranked list and buyer guide in one place.Read more
Start with the first pick
Claform's Free plan needs no credit card. Take the product tour with sample data if you would rather look first.