Per-Seat Pricing Is Hurting Your Team: The Case for Unlimited Users

Picture this: your executive director, two part-time staff, a volunteer treasurer, and a board member who helps with major gifts all need to see donor information. Under per-seat pricing, that is five licenses. Many small organizations respond by sharing one login, which creates a security problem, or by leaving people out, which creates a workflow problem. An unlimited users nonprofit CRM removes that trade-off.

That is why we think unlimited users are not a luxury. They match how charities actually operate.

How per-seat pricing works

Per-seat pricing charges a fee for every person who logs into the software. It is common in business software, where every user is a paid employee. But nonprofits are different. Their teams include:

• Part-time and seasonal staff
• Volunteer bookkeepers and treasurers
• Board members who review reports
• Event volunteers who check people in
• Clergy, program leads, or coordinators who need occasional access

Many of these people log in a few times a month. Paying a full seat for each one rarely makes sense, so organizations ration access instead.

What we saw in the organizations we worked with

Our team at Orthoplex began by volunteering, building a free website for our church. Over the next decade, as we worked with more charities, food banks, and community organizations, we saw a pattern in how they used software.

The people doing the work were not always on the payroll. A retired accountant would volunteer to reconcile donations. A board member would help with a year-end appeal. A parish volunteer would record the Sunday offering. And too often, the organization had to decide whether that help was worth another monthly seat.

The result was predictable. Shared passwords. Spreadsheets emailed back and forth because one person had "the login." Reports that only one person could run.

The hidden costs of rationing logins

• Security risk. Shared credentials make it impossible to know who changed what, and very hard to remove access when a volunteer moves on. The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security recommends individual accounts with appropriate access for exactly this reason.
• Bottlenecks. When one person holds the keys, everything waits for them, including receipts and reports.
• Lost knowledge. When work happens outside the system, donor history ends up in inboxes and personal files instead of your database.
• Higher costs as you grow. Every new hire or active volunteer increases your software bill.

Signs per-seat pricing is already costing you

• More than one person uses the same login
• Volunteers email you reports because they cannot access the system
• You have delayed adding a new coordinator because of the extra seat
• You are not sure who still has access

Decide who needs what

Unlimited users does not mean everyone needs access to everything. Before you invite people, think about what each role actually does:

• Executive director and development lead: donors, campaigns, and reports
• Treasurer or bookkeeper: donations, receipts, and reconciliation
• Board members: reports and dashboards
• Event and volunteer coordinators: events, check-in, and volunteer shifts

Give each person their own login, and review the list whenever someone joins or leaves.

A quick illustration

Imagine an organization with 3 staff and 7 regular volunteers who need access. On a per-seat plan, that is 10 seats. If the organization adds a new program with 4 more volunteer coordinators, the bill rises again, even though the number of donors has not changed. On an unlimited users plan, adding those coordinators costs nothing.

What unlimited users looks like in practice

• A church: the priest, the treasurer, two Sunday counters, the office volunteer, and the youth ministry lead each have their own login.
• A food bank: the coordinator, the volunteer scheduler, a bookkeeper who comes in twice a month, and a board member who reviews reports.
• A mental health program: the program director, an administrator, and a fundraising volunteer who manages the annual appeal.

In each case, nobody shares a password, everyone sees what they need, and the software bill stays the same.

What to look for instead

When comparing platforms, ask:

• Are staff seats unlimited, or capped by plan?
• Can we give each person their own login?
• Is there a separate cost for volunteer or read-only users?
• Can we remove a user's access instantly when they leave?

DonorsBase: an unlimited users nonprofit CRM

Every DonorsBase plan includes unlimited staff seats. We price based on the number of donors you manage, not the number of people helping you manage them. Add your treasurer, your board chair, and your event volunteers without watching your bill change.

That fits with the rest of our pricing philosophy: donations are unlimited, we take 0% of what you raise, and your cost is tied to the software, not your success. You also connect your own payment processor and keep your own rates, as we explain in our guide to payment processing fees for nonprofits. Our 2026 buyer's guide to donor management software compares the main pricing models side by side.

If volunteers are a big part of your team, DonorsBase also includes volunteer management, so their hours and shifts live alongside your donor records. Independent Sector estimates the value of a volunteer hour in the US at $36.14 for 2025, a helpful reminder of what those volunteers are worth.

See the full list of what is included on our features page, or book a demo to walk through it with our team.

Frequently asked questions

What is per-seat pricing?

A pricing model where you pay for each person who logs in. It is common in business software but a poor fit for volunteer-heavy teams.

Is it safe to share one login?

No. Shared logins make it hard to track changes and remove access. Each person should have their own account.

Does DonorsBase charge per user?

No. Every plan includes unlimited staff seats.