DonorDirect was formed in the spring of 1999. However, our roots developing software go back over 30 years. That was when Frank Smith first began working with ministries to help them take advantage of emerging computer technology. Today, in an era of laptops and smart phones, DonorDirect continues to provide advanced technology for ministries.

In November of 2000, DonorDirect began to roll out the donor management system. It was the first fully-integrated donor management system designed exclusively for ministries. In 2001, the missionary and project management module was introduced. It gave mission-sending agencies a broad set of tools for fund accounting and missionary management. In 2003, DonorDirect introduced SelfServe. This extensive set of APIs allowed organizations to give constituents unmatched access to their data via a website.

The year 2004 brought the introduction of e-commerce a fully integrated e-commerce add-on to an organization's public website with real-time connectivity to the DirectToDonor suite of applications. In 2006 DonorDirect introduced DirectToFulfillment, an advanced fulfillment and product tracking system for product-intensive ministries.

In 2007, DonorDirect teamed up with Microsoft as a Certified Microsoft Partner to utilize their cutting-edge technology to build powerful and user-friendly software solutions. Shortly after, DonorDirect released DirectToCRM, an advanced contact management solution that is built on Microsoft Dynamics CRM. DirectToCRM is a departmental solution that will enhance relationship management for donor development, volunteer management, missionary recruitment, local office support, church relations and others. DonorStudio was introduced in 2009 as the only enterprise-wide system that can handle all aspects of the modern ministry, utilizing the most cutting edge technology to provide tools that are powerful and user-friendly.

DonorStudio has unique functionality, created specifically for the ways that ministries work, to streamline and automate ministry processes and enable organizations to fulfill their mission. 2009 also brought DonorStudio's e-commerce extension, StudioOnline. StudioOnline is an online application with complete two-way real-time synchronization with DonorStudio to allow ministries to process donations, product orders, event registration and other transactions using state-of-the-art shopping cart technology. The easy-to-use MyAccount features allow donors to access and update their information, and even have customized landing pages for more strategic marketing and outreach. DonorStudio also fully integrates with Microsoft Dynamics GP accounting system for a complete donor management and accounting package.


Today, DonorDirect serves over 40 ministries and is pleased to be a part of the vital work that our ministry partners are accomplishing around the world. While the technology continually changes, the initial desire of helping ministries do more with technology remains the same.