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Nonprofits · head to head

CharityEngine vs MemberClicks

CharityEngine logo

CharityEngine

Nonprofits

Nonprofit CRM with its own in-house payment processing rather than a third-party gateway

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
MemberClicks logo

MemberClicks

Nonprofits

Association management for professional bodies and trade associations

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: CharityEngine payment processing rates are negotiated and never published, so the total cost cannot be compared to a licence-only CRM without getting a quote and modelling your own volume in basis points.; MemberClicks pricing is not published, which is a marked step down in transparency from Wild Apricot at the tier below it
  • They diverge on capability: CharityEngine covers In-house payment processing, MemberClicks covers Membership management.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which CharityEngine and MemberClicks actually diverge.

Attributes where CharityEngine and MemberClicks differ
AttributeCharityEngineMemberClicks
PlatformsWebWeb, iOS, Android

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Nonprofits).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in CharityEngine

  • In-house payment processing
  • Recurring giving recovery
  • Direct mail segmentation
  • Peer-to-peer and events
  • Advocacy and membership
  • Marketing automation

Only in MemberClicks

  • Membership management
  • Chapters and committees
  • Continuing education
  • Events and registration
  • Job board
  • Member community

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

CharityEngine

  • A nonprofit processing high recurring gift volume that wants card updater and dunning built into the CRM rather than bought separatelynot MemberClicks
  • Replacing a stack of a CRM, an email tool and a separate donation gateway with one contract and one reconciliationnot MemberClicks
  • A direct mail heavy organisation that needs offline gift entry and mail file segmentation as first-class features, not add-onsnot MemberClicks
  • An organisation whose finance team wants a single settlement file that already reconciles to donor recordsnot MemberClicks

MemberClicks

  • Professional associations tracking continuing education credits for membersnot CharityEngine
  • Trade associations with chapters that manage their own membershipnot CharityEngine
  • Chambers of commerce running events, directories and job boardsnot CharityEngine
  • Organisations that have outgrown a small-club membership toolnot CharityEngine

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

CharityEngine

  • Payment processing rates are negotiated and never published, so the total cost cannot be compared to a licence-only CRM without getting a quote and modelling your own volume in basis points.
  • Because the vendor is both the software provider and the merchant processor, switching CRM also means re-papering merchant services and re-tokenising every recurring donor, which is a far larger project than a normal migration.
  • Subscription pricing is quote-only and reported entry points come from third parties rather than the vendor, so small organisations often discover the floor is well above what they budgeted.
  • The interface is dense and configuration-heavy, and organisations without a dedicated database administrator tend to use a fraction of what they pay for.
  • Implementation and data migration are billed on top of the subscription and are commonly the largest first-year line item, which is easy to miss when comparing monthly figures.

MemberClicks

  • Pricing is not published, which is a marked step down in transparency from Wild Apricot at the tier below it
  • Annual contracts and implementation fees make it a considerably larger commitment than the per-month membership tools
  • The interface is dated in places, particularly the website content management
  • Migration from Wild Apricot is a real project despite the shared ownership, and buyers sometimes assume otherwise
  • Smaller associations will pay for chapter and continuing education machinery they never use

Pricing, plan by plan

CharityEngine

On request
  • CharityEngine$undefined/year
    • Donor CRM and gift processing
    • In-house payment processing at a negotiated rate
    • Email, SMS and direct mail tools

MemberClicks

On request
  • MemberClicks$undefined/year
    • Membership management
    • Events
    • Chapters and committees
  • MC Professional$undefined/year
    • Continuing education
    • Job board
    • Advanced reporting

Which should you pick?

Choose CharityEngine if

  • You need in-house payment processing.
  • You also want recurring giving recovery.
CharityEngine review

Choose MemberClicks if

  • You need membership management.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want chapters and committees.
MemberClicks review

Questions people ask

Is CharityEngine or MemberClicks better?
Neither clearly leads. CharityEngine starts at On request and MemberClicks at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, CharityEngine or MemberClicks?
CharityEngine starts at On request and MemberClicks at On request.
Does CharityEngine or MemberClicks run on more platforms?
CharityEngine runs on Web. MemberClicks runs on Web, iOS, Android.
What is CharityEngine best used for?
CharityEngine is most often used for a nonprofit processing high recurring gift volume that wants card updater and dunning built into the crm rather than bought separately, replacing a stack of a crm, an email tool and a separate donation gateway with one contract and one reconciliation, a direct mail heavy organisation that needs offline gift entry and mail file segmentation as first-class features, not add-ons, an organisation whose finance team wants a single settlement file that already reconciles to donor records. Of those, a nonprofit processing high recurring gift volume that wants card updater and dunning built into the crm rather than bought separately and replacing a stack of a crm, an email tool and a separate donation gateway with one contract and one reconciliation are not what MemberClicks is typically brought in for.
What can CharityEngine do that MemberClicks cannot?
CharityEngine covers In-house payment processing, Recurring giving recovery, Direct mail segmentation, Peer-to-peer and events. MemberClicks covers Membership management, Chapters and committees, Continuing education, Events and registration.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

CharityEngine: Does CharityEngine publish pricing?

No. Both the subscription and the payment processing rate are quoted. Third-party sites report a starter tier around 550 US dollars a month, but the vendor does not confirm this.

MemberClicks: How does it differ from Wild Apricot?

Chapters, committees and continuing education credit tracking. Those structures are what make professional associations different from clubs, and they are where simpler tools fail.

CharityEngine: Is the payment processing optional?

In practice no. The processing is the product. Using an external gateway removes most of what distinguishes CharityEngine from cheaper CRMs.

MemberClicks: What does it cost?

Not published. It is an annual contract with implementation, quoted on member count and modules.

CharityEngine: Is there a nonprofit discount?

Every customer is a nonprofit, so there is no separate discount; pricing is tiered by contact count and gift volume instead.

MemberClicks: Is migration from Wild Apricot easy?

Not automatically. Both are owned by Personify, but they are separate products and a migration is a project with data mapping and re-implementation.

CharityEngine: How long is the contract?

Annual terms are standard, and multi-year commitments are used to buy down the rate.

MemberClicks: Does it handle continuing education?

Yes, including credit tracking and certification records, which is one of the main reasons professional bodies choose it.

MemberClicks: Who should not buy it?

Small clubs and associations without chapters or education requirements. The machinery that justifies the price will sit unused.

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