CRM and payments for non-profits

Every way your non-profit takes money, in one checkout.

Memberships, dues, donations, admission, events, auctions, raffles, classes and the gift shop run on your own Stripe account, and every payment lands on one record for each supporter.

Request a demo See what it does

Running memberships, dues, galas and gift shops for museums, service clubs and arts organizations.

The Clerestory embed form's membership tab, showing tiers with monthly and annual pricing and an auto-renew option — One member's year
Membership
Renewed automatically
Winter gala
Two tickets
Gift shop
Member discount
Year-end gift
Fees covered
All of it
On one record
An example of what a supporter's record shows.

Nearly 1 in 3lapsed members came back from a single invitation email at one history museum. None had returned on their own in the 90 days before.

31%of members who join online turn on auto-renew. Almost none entered by staff do.

44%of people paying choose to cover the processing fees, which pays 41% of all fees.

One recordfor every supporter: memberships, gifts, tickets, classes, purchases and auction wins together.

Figures from every Stripe-processed payment on Clerestory through September 2026. See everything Clerestory does

Built for organizations that take money in more than one way

If your members, donors, visitors and guests each live in a different system today, Clerestory puts them on one record.

Museums and historical societiesAdmission, memberships, the gift shop and the gala in one place.Botanical gardens and nature centersMemberships, plant sales, classes and walk-up admission.Arts centers and art schoolsClass registration with waivers, waitlists and member pricing.Service clubsDues by tier, honorary members, and the club and its foundation side by side.Friends groups and foundationsMemberships, book sales and gifts, receipted to the right entity.Land trusts and conservanciesMemberships, recurring gifts, pledges and field events.ChurchesRecurring giving, pledges, events and classes.Animal rescues and sheltersRecurring gifts, adoption events, raffles and the gala.

One checkout

Online, at the front desk and at the gala, the same checkout

Put forms on the website you already have and run the same checkout on a tablet at the front desk. Whatever someone buys or gives, it lands on their record.

Embeddable forms. Donation, membership, event and shop forms drop into your existing website.
One basket at the kiosk. Sell admission, shop items, event and raffle tickets and a one-time donation in one payment on a tablet.
Card readers, cash and checks. Take cards on a Stripe card reader, or record cash and checks so they count in every report.
One record per supporter. Lifetime totals for donations, membership, retail, events and dues, on one page.

See every feature →

Clerestory's front-desk kiosk mid-sale, with admission tickets and gift shop items in one basket — Admission and gift shop items in one sale at the kiosk.

Memberships and dues

Renewals and dues that run without anyone chasing them

Members renew on the terms you set, dues are billed on schedule, and the follow-up happens on its own once you switch it on.

Membership rules. Rolling or shared years, grace periods, early renewal and auto-renew that follows the date a member is paid through.
Dues by tier. Bill monthly, quarterly, twice a year or annually, with proration, and see billed against collected for every period.
Honorary and emeritus. Their dues are waived automatically, and every waiver appears in its own report.
Reminders. Turn them on in your settings and members are reminded ahead of each renewal and before dues fall due, timed to the length of the term.
Failed-payment recovery. A declined renewal, recurring gift or dues payment is tried again automatically over the following days.

How to collect club dues online →

Clerestory's Dues screen for one quarter, showing the amount collected against the amount billed and each member as due, paid or waived — One dues period: billed against collected, member by member.

Events, auctions and raffles

The gala, without a second system

Sell tickets and sponsorships, run the silent and live auction and the paddle raise, and draw the raffle, all in the same account as your members.

Member pricing. Members get their price, free tickets and early access automatically.
Bidding from guests' phones. Maximum bids, buy it now and outbid alerts by email, with a room screen showing the total against the goal.
One batch at the end of the night. Charge every winner's card once per bidder number, and send one statement per guest.
A raffle draw you can stand behind. Every drawing is recorded, and raffle money is never receipted as a gift.

Silent auction software compared →

Clerestory's room screen for a Winter Gala, showing the amount raised tonight toward the goal and a QR code to bid and give — The room screen at a gala: raised so far, against the goal.

Fee coverage

Donors can cover the fees, and many do

Donations, memberships, dues, event tickets, classes and the gift shop can all offer the buyer the option to cover the processing fees, so your organization receives the full amount.

The donor's choice. Fee coverage is a checkbox at checkout, and it starts unticked.
Exact to the cent. On a $100 gift the donor pays $105.81 and your organization receives the full $100.00.
What donors actually do. 44% of people paying through Clerestory choose to cover the fees, which pays 41% of all processing fees.
The club and the foundation. Dues go to the club and gifts to the foundation, each with its own bank account, EIN and the right receipt.

Try the fee coverage calculator →

A Clerestory membership checkout with auto-renewal switched on and a one-time gift added, showing separate fees — A membership checkout with a gift added and the fees shown.

“Clerestory intelligently handles all of our payment needs.”

Ebba de la Rosa
Healdsburg Museum & Historical Society

Clerestory's founder, Corey Rawdon, serves on the board of the Healdsburg Museum & Historical Society.

Member directory

A member directory that keeps itself current

For chambers of commerce, business associations and service clubs, a public listing of members' businesses, built from the same records as their memberships.

Browse and search. Categories, search by name and featured members at the top.
Members keep their own listing. Each member updates their business details, and their member-only offer, from their own portal.
Tied to membership. A lapsed member's listing comes down on its own after the grace period you set.
Share it anywhere. A public link for your website and a printable QR code for signage.

See the member directory →

A Clerestory public member directory filtered to featured members, with one restaurant's full listing open showing its contact, address, website and member offer — A public member directory, with one member's full listing open.

What Clerestory does not do

Better you hear it now than after you have moved your members over.

Collections management. Clerestory does not catalog objects. Keep your collections system for that.
Timed entry and reserved seating. Walk-up admission is sold by price tier, not by time slot, and tickets are general admission. Timed sessions with a capacity can be sold as an event series.
Meeting attendance and district reporting. Clerestory does not track attendance or report to a district or to Rotary International.
Text messages, offline mode and tap to pay on iPhone. Alerts and receipts go by email, card payments need a connection, and in-person cards use a Stripe card reader.
Website building. Clerestory gives you forms, event pages and a directory to embed, not a website.
A free plan. Every successful payment carries the 3%.

Pricing

3% per successful transaction. Nothing else from us.

No tiers, modules, seats or setup fee, so every organization gets the whole product from the first day. Payments run as direct charges on your own Stripe account, and your organization is the merchant of record.

See pricing Fee coverage calculator

On a $100 membership	Amount
Clerestory's 3%	$3.00
Stripe's processing at its non-profit rate, 2.2% + $0.30	$2.50
Your organization receives	$94.50
If the member covers the fees, they pay $105.81 and you receive	$100.00

Organizations without Stripe's non-profit rate pay Stripe's standard 2.9% + $0.30.

Compare

Clerestory beside the platforms you are weighing

Every competitor claim links to the competitor's own documentation, with the date it was checked.

All comparisons →

Guides

Practical guides for the people who run the money

Written for treasurers, membership managers and development staff.

The blog →

Frequently asked questions

What is Clerestory?

Clerestory is a CRM and payments platform for non-profits. Memberships, dues, donations, admission, events, auctions, raffles, classes and the gift shop run in one checkout on the organization's own Stripe account, and every payment lands on one record for each supporter.

How much does Clerestory cost?

3% per successful transaction, on your organization's own Stripe account, plus Stripe's processing, adjusted for high-volume accounts. There is no license fee, no per-seat fee, no modules, no setup fee, no minimum and no contract. When the payer chooses to cover the fees, Clerestory's 3% costs your organization nothing.

Can donors cover the processing fees?

Yes. Fee coverage is a checkbox at checkout that starts unticked. On a $100 gift, a donor who covers the fees pays $105.81 and the organization receives the full $100. Across every payment through September 2026, 44% of people paying chose to cover the fees.

Who is Clerestory for?

Non-profits that take money in more than one way: museums and historical societies, botanical gardens, arts centers, service clubs, Friends groups, land trusts, churches and animal rescues.

Can a club and its foundation use one Clerestory account?

Yes. Each entity is its own payment account on the same organization, with its own bank account, EIN and tax classification, and each receipt says whether the payment is tax-deductible.

What happens if we leave?

There is no contract to end and no cancellation fee. Payments run on your own Stripe account, so the account and its history stay with you, and you can export your donor, membership and payment records.