By Guest Author: John Killoran, Clover Leaf Solutions*
Your fundraising software is central to everything that your organization does and aims to accomplish. That’s why it’s crucial to make a worthwhile investment in a solution that meets your unique needs and helps you do mission-critical work.
To make sure you pick the right software for your organization, we’ve compiled a list of the top features to look for in fundraising software:
- Customizable Campaigns
- Donor Profiles
- Event Management
- Communication Capabilities
- Easy Reporting
- Software Scalability
Not all software solutions are made equal, but the key to finding the perfect software is to choose one that best fits your organization’s needs. Read on to learn why each of these features is important so you can make the most informed decision.
1. Customizable Campaigns
48% of donors give because they believe in the cause, meaning your organization’s work and mission must be at the core of your fundraisers to raise support! To do this, you’ll need a software solution that offers campaign customization options and allows an unlimited number of campaigns.
Look for the following customization options in your software:
- Custom fields: Whether you’re creating a registration form for your charity auction or a general donation page, custom fields allow you to ask the exact questions that need to be answered.
- Custom colors and branding: Including your branding in your campaigns and donation pages is an important strategy for reminding donors about your mission and the purpose of the fundraiser.
- Unlimited forms: Over time, your nonprofit will need to create forms for various purposes, such as event registration, volunteer sign-ups, one-time donations, and more. Make sure to choose a platform that allows you to create as many forms as you need.
These features will help you create useful campaigns that help you reach your goals and encourage your donors to increase their support for your organization.
2. Donor Profiles
Donor data helps you better understand your supporters and what inspires them to engage with your organization. Instead of tracking this essential information on multiple platforms, choose fundraising software that hosts donor profiles.
Donor profiles are compilations of donor data that show supporters’:
- Giving histories
- Contact information
- Engagement metrics
The proper approach to donor data management allows your nonprofit to segment its donor base while running fundraising campaigns. Depending on the fundraising software you choose, the platform may offer segmentation capabilities that allow you to filter donors according to specific criteria.
This way, you can send out personalized communications and appeals that are more likely to spark responses. Additionally, this data can be used to identify new donors or supporters with the potential to increase their contributions during prospect research.
3. Communication Capabilities
Donor segmentation features allow you to send targeted communications to donors, but the best platforms will also offer ways to communicate with those segments directly from your software solution.
Nonprofits have higher email open rates than for-profits on average, meaning a platform that offers email blasts is a surefire way to streamline your communications and increase the chances your message is read. With communication capabilities, fundraising software can send different emails to the following groups:
- Prospective donors
- New donors
- Long-time donors
- Lapsed supporters
- Volunteers
Using these segments, your pre-made email templates, and automation capabilities, you can even schedule email messages to be sent automatically from your fundraising software. For example, you might schedule a welcome email for new donors immediately after they make a donation and a thank-you email to volunteers 24 hours after they serve.
4. Event Management
For the best use of your time and money, look for software that offers event management features. The specific tools you need depend on the type of event your nonprofit plans to host. For example, Snowball’s guide to auction software recommends looking for the following features:
- Ticketing and Registration: Streamlined event registration allows you to easily register attendees who are already part of your database, regardless of whether you’re hosting virtual, hybrid, or in-person events.
- Online and Mobile Bidding: While bidding is a form of participation unique to auctions, the donor experience should be streamlined no matter what type of event you decide to host. Online and mobile capabilities are highly engaging and simple ways for donors to interact with your fundraisers.
- Check-Out and Donations: Any campaign will raise more by simplifying giving. Remember to also look for secure payment processing to reassure donors that their sensitive information is safe.
- Donor and Attendee Management: Add to your donor database automatically with the information collected from your fundraising event. All data will be centrally stored in your software solution as soon as you sell your tickets.
Many of the menial tasks associated with event management could easily be automated with the right software solution. Investing in a tool that offers these features will free up hours of staff time that can be spent doing outreach, securing funding, and improving donor relationships. This way, your investment in better fundraising software can actually help you earn more.
5. Easy Reporting
Since the purpose of fundraising software is to help you track data and run more effective fundraisers, you need to be able to measure the success of your fundraisers and communications. Find fundraising software that will eliminate as much manual work as possible when it comes to analytics and measuring the campaign’s effectiveness.
For example, let’s say you want to determine how your websites inspire action from donors. Getting Attention’s guide to Google Ad Grant rules emphasizes the importance of engagement metrics such as click-through rates (CTR) and conversions. A solution with an easy and comprehensive reporting system will enable you to identify which donors are engaging and in what ways, as well as save this data for future reference.
When you’re able to measure each campaign and compare it to others, you’ll have the information needed to determine what areas can be improved in your next campaign.
6. Software Scalability
While it’s obvious that you need to find a platform that fits your current needs, your fundraising software’s capabilities should also match where you see your organization several years from now. As your nonprofit grows, your solution should account for:
- Increasing donor base: As your nonprofit’s reach scales up, so will your supporter base. Choose fundraising software that can manage an increased amount of donor data.
- Concurrent fundraising campaigns: Currently, you may look for a platform to host one fundraising campaign at a time. However, as your nonprofit’s resources grow, you’ll be able to host multiple campaigns concurrently to raise more. Invest in fundraising software that can handle multiple campaigns at a time. For example, the platform should be able to manage a text-to-give campaign during your auction fundraiser.
- Integrations: While it’s best to streamline your fundraising management by minimizing the amount of tools your organization uses, you may use several tools for different operations. Invest in a platform that allows for robust integrations so that all your tools can work together.
There may be features that you won’t currently use but could be useful in future projects that you want to make sure you have. When picking your fundraising software, try to keep a forward-thinking approach and don’t limit yourself.
John Killoran*
John Killoran is an inventor, entrepreneur, and the Chairman of Clover Leaf Solutions, a national lab services company. He currently leads Clover Leaf’s investment in Snowball Fundraising, an online fundraising platform for nonprofit organizations.
Snowball was one of John’s first public innovations; it’s a fundraising platform that offers text-to-give, online giving, events, and peer-to-peer fundraising tools for nonprofits. By making giving simple, Snowball increases the donations that these organizations can raise online. The Snowball effect is real! John founded Snowball in 2011. Now, it serves over 7,000 nonprofits and is the #1 nonprofit fundraising platform.
