CRM's as a Lifeline for Nonprofit Fundraising

For all of the social huff that seems to come about concerning the millennial generation, statistics taken from leading nonprofit agencies have found that approximately 40% of this up-and-coming population makes a monthly donation to a charitable cause. Although this still several points behind both Baby Boomers and Gen Xers, millennials lead the way in online giving through social media channels and crowdfunding sites. Rather than feeling stifled by the technology and usage habits of a younger generation, some nonprofits have tapped into the potential that business tech options bring to the mission of saving the world.

Tackling Tech Changes

There are still some companies that prefer to send out monthly newsletters and photo packets to entice giving, but the way global citizenship thinks about giving and the methods of sharing their wealth is undergoing a change. It’s not to say that people aren’t caring about the mission or the cause, but the landscape of influence has been altered. Peer connections are becoming more influential in motivating giving, and online platforms and mobile device apps are being used more frequently in these exchanges.  How well your nonprofit understands these trends and creates a strategy that taps into them will determine how successful your fundraising campaigns will be.

Streamlining Operations

Before you can address the giving potential, you need to get your operations in order. Rather than spreading your staff thin trying to cover administrative tasks, fundraising, and follow-up, consider purchasing a management system that can handle a lot of the day-to-day operations. Whether you choose to invest on your own or you work with a third party, working with a nonprofit payroll software can reduce the risk of mistakes with tax, benefits, and exemptions, saving you precious time and manpower. Accounting functions can be digitized, reducing errors and improving timeliness. Onboarding processes for new volunteers or applications and training that can be accessed via the internet or unique company portals can make your operations more effective and consistent. When this happens, you are free to work on the business of pursuing donations.

Taking Actionable Steps

Boosting your fundraising potential involves knowing about your past and future donors. Your company has probably kept a master list or file of donors, but doing something with all of this data is what makes the difference. By using a customer relationship management tool (CRM), you can develop an in-depth understanding of your giving base.

A CRM organizes your information, such as email or mailing lists, fundraising reports, events, online engagement, and social advocacy opportunities. Rather than just a basic knowledge of who is giving and which campaigns seemed the most successful, a CRM can evaluate the success of individual campaigns, the giving trends of certain companies or individuals, and forecast projections for giving opportunities in the future. Taking data and turning into action-worthy opportunities improves your organization’s efficiency, but it also supports more consistent fundraising.

Technology is a Better Multitasker

Implementing a CRM can do the job of several of your best employees or volunteers. The system can track how your donors are responding to your attempts at communication, letting you know if you should send out another email newsletter or posting another video blog about the latest project you have supported.  A CRM system looks at data from multiple areas of engagement and finances, taking the work of two separate departments and seamlessly merging into an easy-to-read report. 

As your company’s goal is to make a difference with a cause you hold dear, there is no shame in pulling out all the stops to make it happen. The donor base is familiar with tech and prefers it, making it a smart investment to get on the same page while you still can.

Community Partnerships With Non-Profits – A Powerful Way To Promote Change

The importance of a partnership between community leaders and non-profit organizations should never be underestimated. It is a powerful combination that can provide countless opportunities and benefits to both entities. Although it is not always an intuitive relationship, charities, nonprofits, and religious organizations often have an abundance of influence in communities that may go unrecognized by community leaders. This type of partnership is significant because it works, and while the benefits are flowing, the community grows. Here are some steps you can take to promote partnerships in your civic area.

Recognize a Need

Most communities have many unmet needs, so identifying a possible initiative to strive for or resources to fight over may not be difficult. The problem is often finding a need in the community that fits into the mission of the nonprofit, too. For the partnership to be successful, both sides must feel they are benefiting from the actions of the group. This can be essential in the further partnership efforts for the benefit of more community actions.

Prepare a Plan

Although it sounds easy, when you begin to prepare a plan of action from two distinct points of view, it may take some work to hone the exact proposal. Grasping the full extent of the problem and identifying possible issues connected to the issue may take weeks. Let your potential partners know the ways you can imagine addressing the situation, ask for feedback, and then realize the solution may change as more information pertaining to the community comes into view.

Identify Partners

Identifying potential partners may be one of the most difficult tasks. Not only must the company or non-profit have a possible stake in the situation, but the problem must also be something they are actually aware of. If the group you approach is unable to partner with you at the specified time, you can learn how to ask for donations to your cause. Government agencies, coalitions, businesses and other organizations are often happy to donate to worthwhile causes when they are unable to partner.

Craft an Approach

The implementation of any strategy can require many hours of processing, planning, and reevaluating. It is important to involve the community, partners, and any organization involved in the project with appropriate and frequent updates. This allows for timely objections or protests about possible key solutions or resolutions to the problem. Allowing each of those involved to have a voice can prevent possible negative feelings or publicity.

Evaluate Results

Evaluation is a step that starts a few days after the project begins. As the collected data signals the impact the project is having on the community, it may also identify problems that were unnoticed, critical issues that require immediate resolution, or problems in the information presented. As with all projects, there may be questions that are left unresolved.

Making positive changes in your area often requires working with community leaders to foster a partnership. Whether it is where you work, live, or socialize, the collaboration can help further shared goals. By approaching the plan together and combining workforce, ingenuity, and skills, the task can be completed much more quickly, and to the satisfaction of all.

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