Digital fundraising is essential in in the present day’s nonprofit panorama. Within the present software-driven fundraising period, nonprofits, faculties, and different charitable establishments should reassess their fundraising arsenals.
If this description seems like your state of affairs, chances are you’ll be contemplating enhancing your present toolkit or shopping for new fundraising software program. To help you on this journey, we’ve crafted a complete information for navigating this course of. We’ll cowl:
Enhance your understanding of how fundraising software program impacts organizations like yours and be taught what to contemplate when looking for new instruments. From matching reward instruments to peer-to-peer platforms, we’ll cowl the whole lot it is advisable elevate your fundraising efforts.
Kinds of Fundraising Software program to Know
A nonprofit fundraising toolkit contains a number of platforms that collectively carry out all of the capabilities it is advisable attain out to supporters and safe donations. Some options are “all-in-one” platforms, whereas others give attention to a number of particular options and might combine with exterior add-ons to increase their performance.
What platforms to incorporate in your fundraising toolkit will depend on your nonprofit’s wants and targets. Nonetheless, a number of sorts of fundraising software program options could be thought-about important.
On-line Donation Kinds
One of many core parts of your fundraising toolkit is your group’s on-line donation varieties. These assets enable nonprofits to gather donations on-line.
The finest donation pages empower customers to:
- Supply steered (or {custom}) donation quantities
- Settle for presents from desktop computer systems and cell gadgets
- Match their donation kind branding to their group
- Facilitate one-time and recurring presents
- Gather extra donor info by way of {custom} kind fields
- Combine with quite a lot of different nonprofit options, like Double the Donation’s matching reward software program
Donation varieties have one of the crucial easy functions of all fundraising software program, however there are nonetheless many suppliers to select from. It’s possible you’ll even select one with extra options than those we simply listed.
Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Pages
Peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns elevate present donors’ engagement whereas concurrently increasing your attain to new prospects. A number of peer-to-peer fundraising software program choices can be found that allow organizations to:
- Equip volunteer fundraisers with customizable marketing campaign pages
- Add pictures and different fundraising updates
- Unfold the phrase with social sharing instruments
- Monitor fundraising progress towards targets
- Prioritize an accessible and easy-to-use giving course of
- Combine with different nonprofit options
Bear in mind, for peer-to-peer fundraising, your system ought to be simple for each your crew and your donors to make use of.
Matching Reward Software program
Tons of office giving income will get left on the desk every year—together with $4 to $7 billion in unclaimed matching presents alone. Fortunately, nonprofits can leverage an identical reward platform to make sure their donors are tapping into these neglected assets.
The sort of fundraising software program allows nonprofits to:
- Market matching reward alternatives to donors and supporters
- Find detailed details about matching presents and volunteer grants
- Leverage an autocompleting search instrument to determine employment info
- Set off automated outreach to offer helpful matching reward program insights
- Guarantee no matching reward alternative falls by way of the cracks with well timed follow-up cadences
- Combine with different nonprofit options
In relation to matching reward software program, now we have to suggest our state-of-the-art resolution, 360MatchPro. What places our matching reward database excessive is our partnerships with company giving software program, enabling automated submission of matching reward requests.
Cost Processors
To just accept donations and different funds on-line, you’ll want cost processing software program that facilitates transactions behind the scenes. This instrument basically mediates between the group, the donor, and their monetary establishment.
An efficient cost processor empowers nonprofit organizations to:
- Course of contributions for a number of cost strategies
- Supply a easy person interface
- Produce ready-built and {custom} stories
- Preserve excessive ranges of cost safety requirements
- Combine with different nonprofit options
This fundraising instrument is crucial for facilitating donations, so select a safe one which strengthens your donation course of. Word {that a} donation kind differentiates in that it collects different donor info and will use varied cost processors to finish transactions.
Donor Administration Methods
In relation to managing donors, there’s loads on your crew to maintain observe of. Guarantee your fundraisers have the instruments to enhance operations by way of a strong donor knowledge administration system.
Often known as a CRM (or constituent relationship administration instrument), your donor database ought to enable your crew to:
- Preserve detailed supporter information with engagement histories
- Add useful notes inside donor profiles
- Section your supporter base for focused communications
- Automate administrative duties and donor outreach
- Simply generate sturdy stories
- Combine with different nonprofit options
One of the best nonprofit CRMs simplify communication and strengthen relationships. By understanding your supporters higher, you’ll have the ability to foster deeper connections with them.
Nonprofit Occasion Instruments
Internet hosting a fundraising occasion is an efficient manner to herald new supporters, enhance donor engagement, and improve fundraising income. Nonprofit occasion software program can streamline the complete expertise together with planning, internet hosting, and following up post-event.
Particularly, the perfect occasion fundraising instruments make it simple to:
- Craft on-line occasion pages and/or microsites to advertise upcoming alternatives
- Supply free or paid ticketing choices
- Manage participating in-person, digital, and hybrid experiences
- Facilitate digital bidding at public sale occasions
- Gather extra donations past ticket gross sales
- Combine with different nonprofit options
Occasions are a elementary a part of donor engagement, so be sure you can convey your group collectively to assist your trigger with the precise occasion software program.
Donor Acknowledgment Software program
Appreciating your donors is a essential part of nonprofit fundraising, particularly for those who’re seeking to steward long-term relationships with them. Make sure you might have some type of donor recognition software program in your fundraising toolkit.
Whereas an everyday e mail or thank-you letter could make do in a pinch, elevate your gratitude with distinctive and fascinating acknowledgments—like eCards!
Your donor recognition software program ought to empower your crew to:
- Model messages to your nonprofit, together with fonts, pictures, and colours
Ship acknowledgments in seconds
Leverage a number of digital communication channels, together with e mail and SMS
Customise communications to domesticate private donor connections - Monitor digital thank-you notes to find out when supporters work together together with your outreach
Acknowledging generosity is essential for retaining assist, so consider appreciation software program as a instrument for investing in incomes future donations.
Elements to Think about When Shopping for Fundraising Software program
As you discover varied software program choices, we suggest making detailed notes on the next parts of every platform:
Performance
Fundraising software program is a broad time period that encompasses many various kinds of platforms and options. That mentioned, be sure you’re shopping for software program that has the functionalities your group wants.
On the identical time, contemplate what you’ll be able to reside with out. For instance, in case your group has superior occasion fundraising concepts however isn’t so massive on advocacy, forgo instruments with advocacy options in favor of ones which have wonderful occasion planning capabilities. Or maybe you’re on the lookout for a brand new nonprofit CRM, and you have already got a donation platform you’re keen on. In that case, search for solely database options that don’t supply a built-in on-line giving instrument.
Donor Expertise
Your donors will usually be the tip person of your fundraising software program. For instance, they’re those who fill out your nonprofit’s on-line donation varieties, take part in peer-to-peer campaigns, and work together together with your matching reward database search instrument.
Prioritize fundraising software program that makes the donor expertise fast, simple, and painless. If a course of is just too lengthy or difficult, even your most devoted supporters might abandon their presents. Alternatively, a seamless giving expertise will hold donors coming again to assist your trigger time and time once more.
Backend Ease of Use
Organizations ought to select tech options with a degree of complexity that’s manageable and appropriate for his or her crew. For instance, in case your nonprofit employs builders, a custom-coded resolution would possibly make sense. However, if nobody in your crew is especially technical, you’ll seemingly wish to prioritize an off-the-shelf fundraising platform for ease of use.
An answer that’s too technical—and finally inaccessible—will complicate operations and discourage employees members from utilizing it altogether. Bear in mind, it’s not simply the software program however what you do with it that issues.
Scalability
As your inside fundraising crew grows, will your software program allow sufficient approved customers? Guarantee all employees members who want to make use of your fundraising platform can. Not solely that however in the case of CRMs specifically, verify that your potential platform can maintain all of your donor knowledge with room to spare.
If you happen to anticipate main progress within the close to future, prioritize shopping for a platform that has room for growth. This may enable your new instruments to scale alongside your group with out requiring a software program platform swap too shortly.
When selecting fundraising software program, contemplate that low-cost options might shortly turn out to be insufficient, resulting in the necessity for future upgrades and knowledge migration. That’s why it’s clever to make a forward-thinking choice from the beginning.
Integrations
Even essentially the most complete software program options won’t have all of the options your group wants. You’ll have to combine extra packages or methods to help your operations.
Listed below are a number of widespread eventualities if you would possibly want integrations:
- A company may need area of interest wants, the place they could want so as to add their very own software program options (e.g., a selected cost processor or e mail utility) to enhance their present instruments.
- The software program firm you’re shopping for from doesn’t supply instruments to facilitate all your operations (e.g., company matching presents), requiring you to combine specialised fundraising software program.
If you happen to discover that you simply require software program integration, talk your must your potential new vendor. That manner, they will help decide the compatibility between completely different methods. Maybe there’s a local, ready-built integration, by which case, nice! However, if it’s troublesome to combine two options, rethink your priorities or contemplate working with a nonprofit know-how marketing consultant who can develop a {custom} integration.
Value
It’s essential to enter any main buy with a funds in thoughts, and fundraising software program is not any exception. Earlier than evaluating particular platforms, determine how a lot your group can spend. Think about base value, startup prices, and any extra ongoing charges.
The bottom value is the seller’s record value on the platform you wish to purchase and might be what most of your funding goes towards. It encompasses the core capabilities of the platform however normally excludes expansions or non-obligatory add-ons.
You’ll want to ask precisely what’s included within the base value to be sure you obtain all of the capabilities you want. If the bottom value doesn’t embody any of your group’s vital options, contemplate how a lot the excluded options value so as to add on.
From there, you would possibly run into extra hidden prices comparable to:
- Employees coaching
- Upkeep charges
- On-line donation processing charges
- Future updates or add-ons
Going into the shopping for course of with a transparent funds will naturally restrict your choices, making the choice course of simpler. It additionally, in fact, ensures that you simply gained’t be spending greater than you’ll be able to afford.
Customizability
When shopping for fundraising software program, you’re seemingly on the lookout for an answer that may complement your group’s operations with its out-of-the-box options. Even so, many platforms are customizable and could be additional tailor-made to suit your trigger.
Customizability is a sliding scale, and what degree of customizability your nonprofit wants seemingly will depend on your measurement, assets, and targets. As an illustration, enterprise-size nonprofits usually require absolutely customizable options which can be basically constructed from the bottom up, whereas small nonprofits might even see required customization as an pointless pressure on their time and funds.
In your search, chances are you’ll discover that software program customization can apply to many various options, together with:
- Supporter profiles
- Donation and sign-up varieties
- E mail advertising templates
- Reporting and monitoring instruments
With customizable options, you’ll be able to mildew your software program to suit your group’s distinctive wants higher. Your fundraising software program will really feel custom-made, extra successfully driving affect towards your general targets.
Coaching and Ongoing Assist
Whenever you first get began with a brand new fundraising platform, your crew might want to undergo coaching or an onboarding course of to turn out to be proficient with the brand new instruments. The extent of instruction can fluctuate drastically from vendor to vendor, making it an essential consideration in your search.
Listed below are a number of normal questions on your fundraising software program firm in regard to team-wide coaching:
- How lengthy is the coaching course of?
- How is coaching administered (e.g., digital, on-site, and many others.)?
- What proficiency degree does your coaching cater to?
- What are the related prices?
From there, contemplate ongoing assist availability as properly. In spite of everything, in case your nonprofit hires new crew members after your preliminary onboarding session, they’ll should be skilled, too.
Evaluate software program assist choices by making the next inquiries earlier than you buy:
- Do you supply IT assist?
- How do I get involved with assist if there’s an issue?
- What’s your typical response time?
Bear in mind, the higher you and your crew perceive your software program, the extra practical it is going to be, so select a supplier that provides the assist you want. With the precise assist degree at your fingertips, your software program will carry out properly for years.
Safety
Likelihood is, your group will use its fundraising software program to accumulate, retailer, and handle supporters’ delicate knowledge. Thus, it’s essential to decide on a safe platform that may shield this info.
When chatting with distributors, ask in regards to the software program’s flexibility in controlling person permissions, so you’ll be able to choose which customers can entry delicate info.
In relation to donor cost info, contemplate trade safety requirements in your search, comparable to the next protections:
- PCI compliance: The Cost Card Business Knowledge Safety Customary (PCI DSS) is a set of necessities designed to make sure that bank card info is processed, saved, and transmitted securely. For fundraising software program, it’s important for shielding donor cost info.
- Encryption and Tokenization: Encryption converts knowledge right into a coded format to stop unauthorized entry. Tokenization replaces delicate knowledge with distinctive identification symbols that retain all of the important info with out compromising its safety. Each are used to guard delicate knowledge like bank card numbers.
- Password Safety: Sturdy password safety measures guarantee entry to fundraising software program is guarded in opposition to unauthorized customers. This contains necessities for advanced passwords, common password modifications, and safe storage of passwords.
- Multi-Issue Authentication (MFA): MFA provides an additional layer of safety by requiring two or extra verification components to entry a useful resource, comparable to a database or on-line account. As an illustration, your fundraising system would possibly require customers to enter an emailed code after coming into their login particulars. This considerably reduces the danger of unauthorized entry.
Verify that donors’ knowledge might be saved protected and sound inside your fundraising platform, a make sure that supporters really feel comfy coming into their cost info within the first place!
Inquiries to Ask Earlier than Shopping for Fundraising Software program
To make sure you discover software program that completely aligns together with your wants, listed here are some beneficial questions on your choice course of!
How troublesome are the preliminary setup and knowledge switch?
Since you shopping for fundraising software program, account for the preliminary software program setup and knowledge switch out of your earlier resolution. Your knowledge is the important thing to strengthening donor relationships and optimizing fundraising efforts, so it’s important that it interprets to your new platform with out subject.
First, decide that it’s potential to switch your knowledge to the brand new system in its correct format. Then, contemplate the way you’ll put together your knowledge for this course of. If it seems that transferring your knowledge from one system to a different requires quite a lot of time and labor in your half, contemplate whether or not the software program provides different advantages that make it well worth the effort.
Does it have the integrations my group wants?
Integrations are important for an efficient fundraising software program ecosystem. Unintegrated software program may end up in time-consuming handbook knowledge migration and knowledge silos. With integrations, nevertheless, your know-how can operate as a cohesive unit, fairly than a set of disparate instruments.
Due to this fact, one of the crucial essential questions when shopping for fundraising software program is “Does it supply the integrations my crew—and know-how ecosystem—wants?”
For instance, Double the Donation integrates with 70+ of the trade’s largest nonprofit know-how suppliers, together with donation platforms, peer-to-peer software program, CRMs, company giving options, and extra. If you happen to use (or plan to make use of) Double the Donation’s matching reward software program, we strongly suggest exploring the giving instruments with which we companion.
How do I preserve efficient use of my software program over time?
The shopping for course of doesn’t simply finish the minute your software program is ready up and your employees is aware of easy methods to use it. In your software program to maintain working at its highest capability, contemplate the way you’ll preserve it over time.
Earlier than deciding, ask if the software program has any built-in options to =hold your knowledge clear and up-to-date. That is one occasion the place automation could make an enormous distinction. Automated options like deduplication will help preserve a clear and correct database, guaranteeing your information by no means turn out to be messy and out of hand.
Second, make sure that your upkeep assist contains putting in updates, or if it doesn’t, that these updates are pretty simple to put in your self. By protecting your software program up-to-date, you’ll get way more life out of it and guarantee it stays safe.
Key Steps for Shopping for Fundraising Software program
As you navigate the fundraising software program shopping for course of, hold these key steps in thoughts.
1. Decide your fundraising targets, must-have options, and funds.
Begin by figuring out what you wish to obtain with a brand new platform. Maybe you wish to:
- Enhance matching reward income with software program that identifies eligible donors, markets match alternatives, and streamlines the matching reward request course of.
- Improve donation web page conversions by leveraging fundraising software program with a user-friendly interface, customizable calls-to-action, and a seamless donation course of.
- Enhance knowledge move out of your donation kind to your CRM by automating knowledge entry and minimizing duplicate entries by way of deduplication.
Discover how every purpose has correlating options that assist you to accomplish these targets. Allocate your funds based mostly on these targets, must-have options, and anticipated variety of customers.
One of the best recommendation we can provide is to not overcomplicate the fundraising course of when shopping for fundraising software program. Your new software program ought to make your group’s present operations higher. In case your new resolution overcomplicates issues on your crew and donors with pointless options, it’s most likely not the one.
2. Create an inventory of potential distributors.
With so many fundraising software program options obtainable, it may be troublesome to slender down your choices. To kickstart your analysis with trusted suppliers, we suggest heading over to Double the Donation’s partnerships hub to take a look at the vary of modern, best-in-class options that we work with.
Nonetheless too many decisions? Use our software program search instrument to filter for various platform varieties, verticals served, and key performance. In doing so, you will discover the precise instruments and equip your crew with Double the Donation’s matching reward resolution to drive company giving income.
3. Take a look at the critiques.
You don’t must undergo the shopping for course of alone. Actually, organizations which have beforehand used a selected fundraising software program could be a large assist in the case of deciding whether or not or to not purchase. As a result of they’ve had expertise with the product, they’ll attest firsthand to the way it capabilities.
Seek the advice of on-line critiques different organizations have offered in regards to the software program you’re evaluating. If you happen to see sure patterns concerning the platform’s strengths or weaknesses, it’s pretty protected to count on an identical expertise.
Moreover, attempt reaching out to your connections within the nonprofit sector. Fundraising professionals at organizations much like yours might have perception into the software program they thought-about, which options labored, and which despatched up purple flags for them.
4. E-book demos.
Earlier than making your ultimate choice, see the instruments in motion. Most software program distributors supply informational demos, permitting potential purchasers to get a greater concept of their product earlier than shopping for.
Test the seller’s web site to see in the event that they characteristic any pre-recorded demo movies. Some suppliers might require primary details about your nonprofit and the way you propose to make use of the software program first, then ship an on-demand demo (or maybe even a free trial) over e mail or by way of their website.
For these additional alongside within the shopping for course of, many distributors additionally supply reside on-line demos upon request. These experiences are extra customized and might present a better have a look at how the software program will work on your group. From right here, you can also make your ultimate choice and purchase the fundraising software program that’s the perfect match on your group!
5. Buy your fundraising software program.
Based mostly in your demos, make your ultimate choice and purchase the fundraising software program that’s the perfect match on your group! Work together with your vendor to get the know-how up and working. You can even work with a fundraising know-how marketing consultant to combine the brand new instruments into your processes.
Our High Fundraising Software Choose to Drive Engagement + Income
Following the tips about selecting the right fundraising software program, you could be questioning what our high fundraising software program suggestions are. To maximise donor contributions and fundraising effectivity, we advise selecting 360MatchPro—our full matching reward automation platform. It empowers you to determine company match alternatives, pinpoint your highest-value alternatives, and drive these matches to completion.
360MatchPro Overview
360MatchPro by Double the Donation enhances the matching reward course of for nonprofits and their donors, growing matching reward income. Our platform integrates seamlessly with a variety of fundraising instruments, comparable to donation varieties, peer-to-peer software program, and donor administration methods.
Upon receiving a donation, donors who used their work e mail addresses for his or her reward are routinely evaluated by 360MatchPro to find out if they’re eligible for an identical reward from their employer. If they’re, the platform then sends tailor-made, company-specific directions for submitting an identical reward request. If eligibility is unsure, the software program prompts donors to make use of an embedded firm search instrument to verify their standing and entry real-time directions.
Plus, 360MatchPro assists fundraisers in monitoring incoming matches, offering helpful insights for forecasting match income, pushing stalled matches ahead, and providing complete reporting and analytics to evaluate success and determine areas for enchancment in your matching reward technique. To not point out, our auto-submission characteristic is the most recent development in matching reward know-how and simplifies the donation course of immensely. Watch this video for a rundown of the way it works:
With our matching reward software program, the method is totally automated, saving your group vital time and assets. Matching presents have by no means been simpler!
Examples of Fundraising Software program In Motion
When contemplating fundraising software program, it may be helpful to examine precisely what it might do on your nonprofit. Slightly than counting on hypotheticals, attempt on the lookout for case research and examples of organizations that use the instruments you’re contemplating.
To indicate off how the precise software program can elevate a nonprofit’s fundraising technique, we’ve put collectively a number of examples of high fundraising platforms in motion:
Marietta School
*Makes use of GiveCampus and Double the Donation
Marietta School is a non-public liberal arts college persistently ranked among the many high faculties in Ohio. Let’s have a look at the important parts of Marietta School’s fundraising technique and the way its know-how helps its targets.
Donation Web page
Marietta School’s donation web page is fast and simple to finish, prompting customers to enter primary reward particulars and make contact with info. There are additionally non-obligatory fields, together with employer for matching reward packages, affiliation to the varsity, and sophistication 12 months, to offer extra insights for the establishment.
As soon as the shape is accomplished, the varsity’s fundraising software program lets donors try utilizing Venmo, PayPal, Google Pay, debit/bank card, or financial institution switch. Offering a number of cost strategies allows organizations to fulfill donors the place they’re and drive extra presents to completion!
Affirmation Display screen
After submitting their contribution, the donor is routinely rerouted to a present affirmation display. This internet web page thanks supporters for his or her beneficiant contributions and supplies detailed details about their employers’ matching reward packages, together with eligibility standards and easy methods to full their matches.
By telling donors easy methods to pursue obtainable matching reward alternatives, extra matches are pushed to completion, and extra income is generated for the establishment.
Comply with-Up E mail
A couple of minutes after finalizing their donations, Marietta School supporters obtain custom-made e mail follow-ups of their inboxes. These messages embody appreciation emails along with reminders about matching reward program availability, hyperlinks to on-line submission portals, and actionable encouragement to finish their matching reward requests.
This retains the school and its fundraising wants on the forefront of donors’ minds for longer and finally ends in elevated company matching income to assist the varsity attain its targets.
African Affect Basis
*Makes use of Fundraise Up and Double the Donation
The African Affect Basis was established in 2008 to equip kids in Southern and Jap Africa with the schooling and expertise to uncover pathways out of poverty. Right here’s how the muse collects donations utilizing highly effective fundraising instruments.
Multi-Step Donation Web page
The African Affect Basis leverages a multi-step donation kind with which donors can submit their presents to the group. On the primary web page, people can choose their meant donation from steered reward sizes or enter their very own quantity. Moreover, they’ll select to offer on a recurring foundation, dedicate or designate their reward, or add non-obligatory feedback. The fundraising software program provides a number of alternatives all through the giving course of for donors to improve their donations.
On the following web page, donors are inspired to double their reward affect with an identical donation. They’re offered entry to an identical reward firm search instrument to call their employer to view tips and obtainable varieties. Within the ultimate step, donors can select to cowl their transaction prices and take a look at utilizing a bank card, PayPal, or Google Pay.
Comply with-Up E mail
Utilizing the employment info offered in the course of the preliminary donation course of, the African Affect Basis’s fundraising software program triggers automated matching reward follow-up emails, offering donors with company-specific program info and detailed subsequent steps for submitting requests. Additionally they use the follow-up e mail to thank donors and encourage them to get their presents matched by their using firms.
What’s Subsequent?
With the precise instruments and assets in your crew’s tech stack, you’ll have the ability to convey in additional fundraising income and not using a hitch.
Curious about studying extra about strategic nonprofit fundraising and the options obtainable to your crew? Take a look at these extra fundraising assets:
