ChurchSoftware Accounting vs Foundant CommunitySuite

ChurchSoftware Accounting is a free accounting suite for churches, with fund tracking, income and expense records, and financial reporting. It can track designated funds for purposes such as missions, building projects, and benevolence, and record tithes, offerings, donations, bills, payroll, and ministry expenses. Reports include financial statements, giving reports, and custom summaries. Online giving and donations connect to accounting for automatic recordkeeping. The vendor says its core platform is free for eligible 501(c)(3) organizations, including churches, parachurch organizations, nonprofits, and mission organizations, with no fees or trial period. The free core also includes people, groups, and volunteer management; check-in; event registration and forms; a sermon library; a church mobile app; custom reports; and customer support. It runs on Android, iOS, and the web. Optional services have separate listed prices, including a church website for $59/mo and payroll for $25/mo + $9 per employee. The vendor says it serves churches ranging from church plants to multi-site megachurches.

Foundant CommunitySuite is a cloud platform that brings fund accounting, CRM, donor portals, endowment and fee management, events, and online donations together. Foundant identifies community foundations as its primary audience and also names college and education foundations, family foundations, and faith-based community foundations. The accounting tools track endowed and non-endowed funds, pooled investment earnings, administrative fees, and spending policies. Its CRM ties interactions for donors, advisors, grantees, and vendors to individual constituent records. Donors can make recurring gifts and print tax receipts through portals; advisors can check balances and statements and recommend grants. The system processes grants and scholarships itself or connects with Foundant’s grant and scholarship lifecycle products. Reports include filtered financial views, current spendable balances, batch fund statements, and performance and trend analytics. Listed integrations include Outlook, Power BI, Candid, Stripe, Mailchimp, Google Looker Studio, AlphaVantage, Salesforce, and Constant Contact, alongside an open API. Foundant lists security controls and compliance credentials, as well as unlimited support, a dedicated team, and the Compass peer community. Pricing is provided after Foundant discusses an organization’s needs.