Project management software for nonprofits: free plans, discounts and volunteer access

Who this guide is for

This guide is for nonprofit staff who coordinate programs, events, grant applications and volunteers, usually with a small paid team and a larger group of part-time helpers. Budget is tight, so the questions are practical: what the free plan really covers, whether the vendor has a documented nonprofit program, and how volunteers get access without each one becoming a paid seat.

Every fact below comes from vendor pricing pages, nonprofit pages and help centers checked on 19 October 2026. We list a nonprofit discount only where the vendor's own page states one. We have not tested these tools hands-on.

What nonprofit work needs

• Deadlines that cannot move. Grant applications and reports have fixed due dates, often with several internal drafts before them.
• Event plans. Fundraisers and community events have many small tasks, owners and suppliers, all tied to one date.
• Volunteer access. Volunteers need to see their tasks and shifts without seeing everything, and without costing a seat each.
• Intake. Forms for volunteer applications, program requests or partner referrals that land as tasks.
• Board and funder visibility. A simple way to show progress without building a report by hand.

Free plans versus nonprofit programs

There are two routes to keeping costs down, and they suit different organizations.

• Free plans. Good for small teams, but the limits fall on exactly the things nonprofits need: the number of members, guests, projects or file storage. Check those limits against your volunteer count, not just your staff count.
• Nonprofit programs. Several vendors discount paid plans for eligible organizations. Eligibility is checked by the vendor or a partner, the discount often applies to annual billing only, and it may cover one plan or one workspace. Apply before you commit, and plan for a few days' wait.

A free plan with a generous member limit can beat a discounted paid plan if your needs are simple. If you need timelines, automation or permission controls, the discounted paid plan is usually the more realistic comparison.

The shortlist

Among the tools on this site, this guide covers seven that have a free plan, a documented nonprofit program, or both. Others on the site, such as Wrike, Zoho Projects and Teamwork.com, also have free plans. ClickUp is our commercial partner and is listed first.

• ClickUp. The Free Forever plan allows unlimited members and guests at no charge, though guests on that plan always have full create and edit permissions. Its nonprofit page offers a discount on a ClickUp Workspace through a 'Claim your non-profit discount' button; the page does not state a percentage. On Free Forever, storage is 60 MB, Gantt is limited to 60 uses that do not reset, and time tracking to 100 uses.
• monday.com. The standard Free plan is limited to 2 seats, 3 boards and 3 Docs. Its nonprofit pricing page lists 10 free seats and a 70% discount on each additional seat, billed annually, for eligible organizations. That plan lists private boards, time tracking, automations, integrations and dashboards that combine up to 10 boards. On its regular paid plans, monday.com's support center says every 4 guests on Standard count as 1 billed seat, and Pro and Enterprise allow unlimited guests; the nonprofit pricing page does not say which rule applies to its Nonprofit plan.
• Asana. The free Personal plan covers 2 users. Asana's nonprofit page offers 50% off Starter or Advanced for qualifying nonprofits with 501(c)(3) designation, public libraries with valid nonprofit status, or an equivalent international designation. Starter adds unlimited free guests, forms, and Timeline and Gantt views.
• Notion. The Free plan allows 10 guests, but the number of blocks is limited once a workspace has 2 or more members, and file uploads are capped at 5 MB. Notion's nonprofit page offers 50% off the Business plan for up to three workspaces.
• Basecamp. The Free plan is described as one free project for personal use, with up to 5 users. Basecamp's pricing FAQ lists 10% off for registered 501(c)(3) nonprofits, applied after you email your paperwork. Every person you add counts as a user, but plans from Studio up include unlimited users.
• Trello. The Free plan allows up to 10 collaborators and 10 boards per Workspace. Single-board guests start on Standard, and guests on more than one board are billed as members. Trello's pricing FAQ links its non-profit community discount to a help article that now redirects to Atlassian's nonprofit page, which lists Trello Standard, Premium and Enterprise at 75% off list price. Organizations registered in low and lower-middle income countries, as defined by the World Bank, can receive 85% off instead of 75%. Atlassian verifies eligibility through Goodstack.
• Jira. The Free plan covers up to 10 users and includes Timeline view; free guest access starts on Standard. Jira's pricing page also says Free sends up to 100 emails a day across the site, counting notifications and automation together. Atlassian's nonprofit page lists Jira Standard or Premium at 100% off list price for up to 25 seats billed annually, and says that above 25 seats every seat is charged at the discount: 75% off list price, or 85% for organizations in low and lower-middle income countries.

Planning grants and events in these tools

None of these tools is a grant management or donor system, but each can run the work around a deadline. A few patterns help:

• Build a template for each recurring grant or event, with tasks counted back from the due date, and copy it each cycle.
• Use a timeline or Gantt view where your plan allows one. Asana lists it from Starter, monday.com from Standard and Trello from Premium. ClickUp's Free Forever plan includes 60 uses of Gantt view, and those uses do not reset.
• Collect volunteer sign-ups through forms. ClickUp's Free Forever plan includes 1 Form, Asana lists forms from Starter, and Notion lists basic forms on its Free plan.
• Use vendor templates as a starting point. Notion's nonprofit page links to grant pipeline and volunteer management templates, and Asana's describes grant management and fundraising event use cases.

Plans and costs to check

We do not publish prices because they change. Check each vendor's pricing page and nonprofit page for current numbers and terms. Before you apply, confirm:

• Which plans the discount covers. Asana's applies to Starter or Advanced, Notion's to Business only.
• Billing terms. monday.com's nonprofit plan is billed annually, and Asana's pricing FAQ refers to annual plans.
• How many workspaces or accounts qualify. Notion allows up to three workspaces; Basecamp discounts one account.
• How volunteers are counted. Guests, viewers and members are treated differently in every tool above.

How to run a trial

• Pick one real deadline in the next six weeks, such as a grant report or a small event.
• Set it up in two tools at most, with real tasks, owners and dates.
• Invite two or three volunteers and ask them to update their own tasks from their phones.
• Check what volunteers can see. On ClickUp's Free Forever plan, for example, guests always have full permissions on what you share with them.
• Apply for the nonprofit program in parallel, so pricing is confirmed before the trial ends.

When a specialized tool is a better fit

If your main need is donor records, gift tracking or grant pipelines with reporting to funders, look at donor management or grant management software, or at a nonprofit CRM. monday.com's nonprofit page, for example, describes a donors and grants CRM alongside project tools. A project tool suits the delivery work around those records: the tasks, owners and dates.