Charity and Nonprofit CRM Website Integration: What Goes Where
Key takeaways
- CRM website integration usually means one of two things, capturing website contacts or getting donation data into the CRM, and each is handled differently.
- Contact capture is set up at the website level, while donation data flows directly between the donation platform and the CRM.
- The typical contact-capture method is embedding the CRM's own form, such as a HubSpot form, in a page so submissions go straight to the CRM.
- Everything after a form submission (lists, workflows, automated emails) happens inside the CRM and is the CRM administrator's responsibility.
- When donors fail to appear in a CRM such as Salesforce, look first at the donation platform's integration settings rather than the website.
- A website's own form is enough when you only need email notifications and manual follow-up. Automatic CRM entry needs the CRM's embed form, a connector or middleware such as Zapier or Make.
Summary
How CRM website integration works for a charity or nonprofit: embedding the CRM's own form, with HubSpot as the worked example, connecting a donation platform to the CRM, and who is responsible for each part.
What CRM Website Integration Means for a Charity
CRM website integration, for a charity or nonprofit, means getting records from your website into your CRM without anyone retyping them. The request usually means one of two things, and they require different approaches. This guide assumes you already have a charity CRM system; it does not compare charity CRM software.
The first is contact capture: people who visit the website fill in a form and those contacts flow automatically into the organisation's CRM. The second is donation data: donors who give through the website appear in the CRM with their donation history attached.
These are distinct integrations. For contact capture, the connection happens at the website level: a form on the site sends data to the CRM. For donation data, the connection happens directly between the donation platform and the CRM, with the website out of the path.
Whoever builds your website handles contact capture. Donation platform to CRM configuration is a fundraising operations task handled by the fundraising team or the donation platform's onboarding team.
Contact Capture: Embedding Your CRM's Own Form
HubSpot is the worked example here. The approach is an embed: HubSpot provides embed code for each form, and that code goes on the relevant page.
This means the form on your site is technically a HubSpot form. It is hosted by HubSpot and submits data directly to HubSpot, so a visitor who fills it in appears there as a contact.
Step 1: Create the Form in HubSpot
Forms are created in the CRM, not in the website. In HubSpot, go to Marketing, then Forms and create a new form (HubSpot, 2026). Whoever manages the HubSpot account does this. The form needs to be published before the embed code is available.
Step 2: Copy the Embed Code
Once the form is published, HubSpot offers embed code for an external site (HubSpot, 2026). It is unique to your account and form, so copy it rather than typing it.
Step 3: Add the Code to an Embed Block on the Page
Open the page where the form should appear, add an embed or custom code block, and paste the code. An editing view may not show the form fully, so judge it on the published page.
Step 4: Style the Container
Set the form's look in HubSpot's form settings, bringing it close to your brand (button colour, font, field shape) without rebuilding it. Put a width limit on the block that holds it, so the form does not stretch on wide layouts.
Step 5: Test the Form
- Publish the site
- Go to the page and fill in the form with test details
- Submit it
- Open HubSpot and confirm the test contact appears in Contacts
- Confirm the contact is tagged correctly, associated with the correct form, list or workflow
If the contact does not appear, confirm the embed code was pasted whole and unedited, and that the site has been republished since it was added.
What Happens After the Form Is Submitted
Once a contact submits the form, everything that happens next is in the CRM: adding the contact to a list or workflow, triggering an automated email, assigning to a team member. The CRM administrator handles this, not whoever builds the website.
None of that changes who is accountable for the data. A supporter filling in the form is handing personal data to your charity, so moving it into a CRM is processing under UK GDPR and three things have to be in place before the embed goes live. You need a lawful basis under Article 6. You need to give the privacy information Article 13 requires at the point the data are collected, which means at the form, not buried two clicks away. And the CRM vendor is acting as your processor, so you need the written contract terms set out in Article 28(3).
Donation Platform to CRM: Not a Website Task
For donation data flowing into a CRM, the integration happens between the donation platform and the CRM. Donorbox and Fundraise Up both publish native integrations with major CRMs (2026), configured away from the website.
If a nonprofit's fundraising team notices donors are not appearing in Salesforce, that is a Donorbox to Salesforce configuration issue in the Donorbox dashboard, not a website problem.
When Your Website's Own Forms Are Enough
A website's own forms are appropriate when the requirement is simple: receive a notification, review manually, follow up by hand. Getting those submissions on into a CRM usually means middleware such as Zapier or Make.
Decision rule: if the organisation uses a CRM and needs contacts to appear there automatically, use the CRM's own embed form. If it needs only email notifications and occasional manual exports, the site's own forms are simpler and sufficient.
There is a third option where the CRM is HubSpot. Its non-HubSpot forms feature collects submissions from an external HTML form and needs HubSpot's tracking code on the page (HubSpot, 2026). If you want to own your form markup and your CRM is HubSpot, that is the arrangement to ask for.
Newsletter Sign-Ups
The same embed approach applies to Mailchimp, Campaign Monitor and similar platforms. Mailchimp's form builder produces an embed code to paste into your website (Mailchimp, 2026), and Campaign Monitor's embedded form builder ends with copying the code and pasting it into your website's HTML (Campaign Monitor, 2026). Subscribers then go directly to the email list. Before you rely on a Mailchimp form, test it without creating new email accounts.
On Webflow? The platform-specific steps are in Platform Notes.
Next Step
With records reaching the CRM, check the rest of how the site handles personal data against the GDPR Checklist for Charity and Nonprofit Websites.
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Frequently asked questions
- What is a nonprofit CRM?
A CRM (customer relationship management system) is the database where an organisation keeps its records of people and its dealings with them. In a charity or nonprofit, that usually means supporters, donors and the history of their contact and gifts. The website is one of the places those records come from.
- What does CRM integration on a charity website actually mean?
Usually one of two things, and they need different approaches. Contact capture is people filling in a form on the website and flowing automatically into the CRM, and that connection happens at the website level. Donation data is donors who give through the website appearing in the CRM with their donation history attached, and that connection is made between the donation platform and the CRM directly.
- How does Salesforce connect to a charity website?
By two separate routes. For website forms, Salesforce's Web-to-Lead generates a form to place on your site, and submissions create leads. For donations, the connection is made from the donation platform: Donorbox and Fundraise Up both publish native Salesforce integrations, configured away from the website.
- Can we host our website on the CRM?
Some CRM vendors offer it. HubSpot, for example, sells website tools in its Content Hub. That is a platform decision rather than an integration, so ask what you would keep if you left the CRM. The platform comparison for nonprofits sets out how to weigh it.
- How does a HubSpot form get onto a charity's website?
By embed. The form is created and published in HubSpot under Marketing, then Forms. HubSpot then provides embed code unique to your account and form, and that code goes in an embed block on the relevant page. The form on your site is technically a HubSpot form, so anyone who fills it in appears in HubSpot as a contact.
- Donors are not appearing in our CRM: is that a website problem?
Almost certainly not. Donorbox and Fundraise Up both publish native integrations with major CRMs, and they are configured in the donation platform's own dashboard. So donors missing from Salesforce is a configuration issue in the donation platform, and a fundraising operations task for the fundraising team or the platform's onboarding team. See also: How to Embed a Donation Form on Your Nonprofit Website.
- When are a website's own forms enough?
When the requirement is simple: receive a notification, review it manually, follow up by hand. If the organisation uses a CRM and needs contacts to appear there automatically, use the CRM's own embed form. Website Forms for Charities covers collection and responsibility.
- How do we check the form is working?
Publish the site, go to the page, fill the form in with test details and submit it, then open the CRM and confirm the test contact appears and is tagged against the right form, list or workflow. If it does not appear, confirm the embed code was pasted whole and unedited, and that the site has been republished since it was added.