How Your Nonprofit Data Lives in HubSpot
HubSpot organizes all data into objects. Understanding objects is the foundation for using HubSpot effectively as a nonprofit.
Standard Objects and Their Nonprofit Equivalents
|
HubSpot Object |
What It Means for Nonprofits |
|
Contacts |
Individual constituents — donors, volunteers, alumni, program participants, staff |
|
Companies |
Organizations — foundations, churches, corporate partners, grantmakers |
|
Deals |
Transactions or opportunities — gifts, pledges, grant applications (often renamed) |
|
Activities |
Interactions — emails, calls, meetings, notes logged on a record |
How Objects Relate to Each Other
Objects in HubSpot can be connected to each other. A donor contact can be associated with a company (their employer), a gift record (their donation), and a program enrollment — all linked together so you see the full picture from any record.
Relationships are defined using association labels, which let you describe the nature of the connection. Examples: a contact is labeled 'Primary Contact' at a foundation; a spouse pair is labeled to trigger joint giving calculations.
Important:
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Some association labels drive downstream calculations and workflows. Never remove a label without understanding what it controls. |
Custom Objects
HubSpot's standard objects cover most nonprofit needs, but some organizations add custom objects for specific use cases — such as program enrollments, gift designations, or allocation tracking. Custom objects require HubSpot's Enterprise tier.