Softwr

Nonprofits · head to head

Foundant Technologies vs Sumac

Foundant Technologies logo

Foundant Technologies

Nonprofits

Grant lifecycle management for foundations, with public subscription bands and a two-year term

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Sumac logo

Sumac

Nonprofits

Modular nonprofit CRM that pairs donor management with client case management

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Foundant Technologies the Basic licence tier omits eligibility quizzes and advanced automation and caps file sizes, so foundations with conditional application logic must buy up rather than configure around it.; Sumac pricing is not published at all, so a small organisation cannot compare Sumac against per contact priced competitors without committing to a sales process.
  • They diverge on capability: Foundant Technologies covers Grant Lifecycle Manager, Sumac covers Donor and gift management.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Foundant Technologies and Sumac actually diverge.

Attributes where Foundant Technologies and Sumac differ
AttributeFoundant TechnologiesSumac
PlatformsWebWeb, Windows

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 Foundant Technologies

  • Grant Lifecycle Manager
  • CommunitySuite
  • Scholarship Lifecycle Manager
  • Candid integration
  • Evaluator portal
  • Grantee portal

Only in Sumac

  • Donor and gift management
  • Case management module
  • Memberships and volunteers
  • Grant management
  • Role based permissions
  • Custom fields and forms

What people use each for

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

Foundant Technologies

  • A private foundation making 50 to 500 grants a year that wants a defined process rather than a configuration projectnot Sumac
  • A community foundation needing donor-advised fund accounting and grantmaking from the same vendornot Sumac
  • Running a scholarship programme with volunteer review committees who should not have full staff loginsnot Sumac
  • A foundation that needs charity status verification against Candid data before every payment goes outnot Sumac

Sumac

  • A social service agency that must record client cases and donor gifts without buying two systemsnot Foundant Technologies
  • A charity that wants only donor and grant modules and refuses to pay for an events suite it will not usenot Foundant Technologies
  • A Canadian organisation wanting local support hours and receipting conventionsnot Foundant Technologies
  • An agency replacing a legacy Access or FileMaker database with something supportednot Foundant Technologies

Where each one falls short

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

Foundant Technologies

  • The Basic licence tier omits eligibility quizzes and advanced automation and caps file sizes, so foundations with conditional application logic must buy up rather than configure around it.
  • The standard contract is two years, which removes the option of a one-year trial period and locks you in before you know whether the process fits.
  • The annual subscription excludes implementation, and the setup fee is a meaningful additional first-year cost that quotes do not always foreground.
  • It is deliberately less configurable than enterprise grants systems, so a funder with unusual multi-stage workflows will hit walls that require process change rather than software change.
  • Pricing above the standard bands switches to an assets under management basis, meaning a well-endowed foundation making few grants can be quoted far more than its grant volume would suggest.

Sumac

  • Pricing is not published at all, so a small organisation cannot compare Sumac against per contact priced competitors without committing to a sales process.
  • The interface reflects the product's age, and staff arriving from consumer grade software find navigation and data entry slower than in newer CRMs.
  • Holding client case notes and donor records in one database makes permission design a compliance obligation, and a misconfigured role can expose confidential client material to fundraising staff.
  • The integration catalogue is small, so payment, email and accounting connections outside the listed few mean manual export or paid custom work.
  • Modular licensing means the price rises in visible steps as programmes expand, and organisations frequently discover the module they need most was not in the original quote.

Pricing, plan by plan

Foundant Technologies

On request
  • Grant Lifecycle Manager$undefined/year
    • Three licence tiers gating automation and eligibility quizzes
    • Two-year contract standard
    • Reported range of roughly 4,250 to 9,500 USD per year
  • CommunitySuite$undefined/year
    • Fund accounting and donor-advised funds
    • Priced for community foundations by fund count and complexity
  • Scholarship Lifecycle Manager$undefined/year
    • Scholarship application and review workflows
    • Sold alongside or independently of GLM

Sumac

On request
  • Sumac$undefined/year
    • Quoted by module selection and organisation size
    • Case management is a separately licensed module
    • Implementation and data migration quoted separately

Which should you pick?

Choose Foundant Technologies if

  • You need grant lifecycle manager.
  • You also want communitysuite.
Foundant Technologies review

Choose Sumac if

  • You need donor and gift management.
  • You work on Web, Windows.
  • You also want case management module.
Sumac review

Questions people ask

Is Foundant Technologies or Sumac better?
Neither clearly leads. Foundant Technologies starts at On request and Sumac at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Foundant Technologies or Sumac?
Foundant Technologies starts at On request and Sumac at On request.
Does Foundant Technologies or Sumac run on more platforms?
Foundant Technologies runs on Web. Sumac runs on Web, Windows.
What is Foundant Technologies best used for?
Foundant Technologies is most often used for a private foundation making 50 to 500 grants a year that wants a defined process rather than a configuration project, a community foundation needing donor-advised fund accounting and grantmaking from the same vendor, running a scholarship programme with volunteer review committees who should not have full staff logins, a foundation that needs charity status verification against candid data before every payment goes out. Of those, a private foundation making 50 to 500 grants a year that wants a defined process rather than a configuration project and a community foundation needing donor-advised fund accounting and grantmaking from the same vendor are not what Sumac is typically brought in for.
What can Foundant Technologies do that Sumac cannot?
Foundant Technologies covers Grant Lifecycle Manager, CommunitySuite, Scholarship Lifecycle Manager, Candid integration. Sumac covers Donor and gift management, Case management module, Memberships and volunteers, Grant management.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Foundant Technologies: What does Grant Lifecycle Manager cost?

Sector guides report roughly 4,250 to 9,500 US dollars a year on a two-year contract, with larger foundations priced on assets under management. Foundant does not publish these figures itself.

Sumac: Is Sumac the same product as Societ?

The vendor has been moving its products under the Societ brand, so you may see both names for the same platform during a sales cycle.

Foundant Technologies: Is implementation included?

No. Setup is billed separately from the annual subscription.

Sumac: Can it handle client case management?

Yes, that is its clearest differentiator among donor CRMs. It is a licensed module, not part of the base product.

Foundant Technologies: Is the Candid integration extra?

It is included in the GLM subscription and free for up to 1,000 charity checks a year.

Sumac: Is pricing published?

No. It is quoted by module and organisation size, which makes like for like comparison harder than with published per contact products.

Foundant Technologies: Is there a discount for small funders?

Some sector associations, including Exponent Philanthropy, negotiate a discount off the initial licence for members.

Sumac: Does it work for US charities?

Yes, though the vendor is Canadian and its receipting and support conventions are strongest for Canadian organisations.

Share

Related pages

More on Foundant Technologies

More on Sumac

Keep looking

Other head to heads