Fundraising software is essential for today’s nonprofits. Fundraising platforms have a range of features and specialties, and each tool can help your nonprofit generate the revenue it needs to fulfill its mission.
Above all, fundraising software can eliminate the confusion of disorganized spreadsheets and filling cabinets. Whether your organization is a charity, hospital, or school, fundraising software can streamline your operations so you can focus on your mission and not hunting down files.
In this guide, we’ll touch on five ways fundraising software can cut through chaos of running a growing nonprofit and the top tools to look for.
1. Automates data collection.
The more data your nonprofit has, the better you’ll be able to connect with your supporters. Host fundraisers they’ll respond positively to, address them with personalized messages to build relationships, and identify prospective major donors.
Fundraising software can aid in your data collection practices. For example, when a supporter fills out a donation form, they provide data your fundraising software gathers and stores for later use.
Top tool: Donation forms aren’t the flashiest fundraising tool, but they are essential for actually bringing in donations. Choose a platform that creates intuitive forms donors can complete quickly and allows you to customize your forms so you can collect the data you need. Just be careful not to overwhelm donors with questions when they’re trying to make a gift!
2. Streamlines the giving process.
Fundraising tools let supporters give in a variety of ways, from chipping in during a crowdfunding campaign to donating to a friend for a peer-to-peer campaign to supporting a child’s read-a-thon fundraising journey with a pledge gift.
However, no matter the fundraiser, the donation process should be as easy as possible. Your fundraising software should streamline giving by:
- Asking simple questions. Fundraising tools should use plain language questions, ask for only necessary information for completing a gift, and require as little effort on the donors’ part as possible.
- Being intuitive to navigate. Fundraising software should naturally lead donors from one part of the giving process to another. Usually, this is accomplished by page design. For instance, some donation forms are formatted as checklists that donors can quickly skim through, while others are a series of short one-page questions that encourage donors to continually submit their answers and move on to the next step.
- Processing quickly. After clicking submit on a completed donation form, your fundraising software should process the gift in seconds. In contrast, donation methods like mailing checks are protracted processes, and donors need to check their bank or wait for mailed confirmation to be sure their gift was accepted.
Some donation tools make the giving process even simpler with features like conditional logic, which uses a donor’s answers to earlier questions to fill in later ones. For example, an event registration form might ask attendees if they have any dietary restrictions. If they answered no, the form would stay the same and allow them to move on. If they answered yes, the form would expand with questions asking them to elaborate.
Top tool: User-friendliness is key for any fundraising platform your donors will interface with. When it comes to streamlined giving, 99Pledge’s fundraising platforms guide advises being extra careful when it comes to pledge fundraising software. These tools allow your supporters to collect donations on your behalf. However, this means participants will need to manage donation pages, and individual donors will need to submit gifts.
As such, look for a pledge fundraising tool that can support a variety of fundraisers and even set up fundraising pages for them. For instance, all your fundraising participants should really have to do to create their pledge drive page is just log in to your software.
3. Improves hybrid and remote teamwork.
Staying in touch can be a major challenge for nonprofits with remote team members. Fortunately, fundraising software keeps your remote or hybrid team in the loop by providing one easily accessible source of truth for all goings on at your organization.
With fundraising software, your team can:
- Work together in the same tool. Software allows for collaboration, no matter how far apart your team is. For example, one team member might log in to your pledge drive software to view participation rates while another tweaks the participants’ donation page template.
- Get alerts about recent developments. Many fundraising platforms have workflow management features, like alerts and reminders. Have team members set reminders so they never forget specific fundraising-related duties.
- Maintain security. Instead of carrying sensitive donor information back and forth through printouts or emailing files, your team can ensure all data stays secure in one system without hindering team member access. Set up logins for each team member, leverage tools like two-factor authentication, and set administrator permissions based on each employee’s access level.
Many fundraising software solutions use Cloud-storage technology. This means that when one team member makes a change, it will be automatically updated in everyone else’s instances of the platform. This is vital for keeping fundraising databases up-to-date.
Top tool: Virtual meeting tools have a range of use cases for both fundraising and maintaining internal organization. Use conferencing software to check in with remote team members and host virtual events that bring all of your nonprofit’s supporters together.
4. Creates holistic donor profiles.
Earlier, we mentioned how fundraising software can help gather donor data. Fundraising tools also help you manage and leverage that data by creating comprehensive donor profiles.
Donor profiles are a record of all of the information you’ve gathered on a donor. At a minimum, this usually includes basic information, like their name, contact details, and donation history. The more you engage and interact with a donor, the more information these profiles will have.
360MatchPro’s guide to nonprofit data collection shows off what a thorough donor profile might look like:
With this information, you can further enhance your fundraising efforts. Send donors personalized messages to deepen their connection to your cause, identify major and planned giving candidates, and encourage eligible donors to pursue corporate giving opportunities.
Top tool: A constituent relationship management (CRM) system is the go-to tool for donor data management. All of your other fundraising software should connect to your CRM so your team can construct robust donor profiles and leverage their data with ease.
5. Automate communication.
Even small nonprofits likely have too many donors to message each one individually. With fundraising software, you can maintain relationships with donors and build loyalty without needing to hand-craft thousands of unique messages.
Look for communication software that can aid in your fundraising efforts by:
- Reacting to triggers. Determine what actions that supporters take will result in an email. For instance, a completed donation is a common email trigger. This ensures you can stay in touch with your supporters across their entire donor journeys.
- Storing templates. Create templates for a range of messages and audiences. For instance, you might have two thank-you message templates: one for first-time donors and another for long-time supporters. This lets you respond to a range of situations with a personal touch.
- Populating personalized data. Use your donor profiles to fill in information about each message’s individual recipient. Address supporters by name, reference their past donations, and thank them for the number of years they’ve supported you.
Automated communication ensures a donor touch-point is never missed, helping your nonprofit bring in more fundraising revenue.
Top tool: Email platforms are essential for regular nonprofit communications. Find a tool that integrates with your CRM so you can use your donor data to inform your outreach strategy.
Fundraising software can transform your nonprofit’s operations for the better. Assess your needs and invest in tools that systemize your operations, make donor outreach simple, and set you up to build strong supporter relationships.