How to Use Fundraising Software For Nonprofits to Boost Your Donations
Nonprofit organizations have the power to make a real difference in the world, but they can only do so with strong fundraising strategies in place. By establishing effective methods of fundraising, your organization can achieve its mission and create a positive impact. With the amazing advances in technology, there is now fundraising software for nonprofits that unites everything in one place and streamlines your fundraising while maximizing your impact. A constituent relationship management (CRM) system built for nonprofits is your toolbelt for fundraising. In this article, we will explore how you can use fundraising software for nonprofits to increase your donation dollars.
The Fundraising Power of a Nonprofit CRM
Before diving into strategies, let’s discuss what makes nonprofit CRMs unique. Unlike commercial CRMs, nonprofit CRMs are specifically designed to manage the complex web of interactions between nonprofits and their various stakeholders. This includes donors, volunteers, employees, beneficiaries, and community partners. They offer a comprehensive approach to managing relationships by integrating a range of functions into one platform, including donation processing, campaign management, volunteer coordination and more. With the proper system in place, your nonprofit has the tools to take action and put your efforts where they are needed most.
Watch our recent webinar: Moving On from Raiser’s Edge Fundraising with MISSION CRM on Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit
Simplify Prospect Research
Finding the right people to support your organization is essential for any nonprofit looking to make the most of its marketing and fundraising efforts. However, the time and resources spent during prospect research are often better used elsewhere. This is where fundraising software for nonprofits can help simplify your day-to-day. A CRM designed to help nonprofits succeed allows you to streamline the prospect research process with
- centralized data management
- enhanced donor segmentation
- interactions tracking
- giving patterns
- automating tasks
Together these features allow your organization to identify and engage potential donors more effectively, ultimately leading to increased fundraising success.
A CRM allows you to keep everything in one platform, minimizing your risk of siloed data, and allowing you to engage with your potential donors more effectively, ultimately leading to increased fundraising success.
Donations On The Move
As many organizations know, having the flexibility to access your data at any time, even on mobile devices, is a must. Whether you are at an important event, a meeting or simply away from your office, having the right donation process set up and accessible to potential donors could be the difference between a new relationship or a lost donation. A mobile-friendly CRM allows you to provide event sign-ups, configure donation pages, create peer-to-peer donation options and more through a configurable online platform.
The best part is that allow of this information flows seamlessly into your CRM, allowing you to collect, acknowledge and receipt donors in real time. This information remains in your CRM for you to build a strong relationship with donors, even those you meet at events.
6 Key Features of Nonprofit CRM Fundraising Software
With so many options for fundraising software for nonprofits, it’s important to know which features will be the most impactful. For each nonprofit, this may look different; however, some key features non-profits find useful to enhance their fundraising efforts include:
Donor Management
Having a 360-degree view of your donors, including their giving history, preferences, and engagement levels, allows you to create strategic outreach campaigns, understand your audience, increase donor retention and more.
Segmentation and Targeting
Personalized communications keep donors engaged and allow your messaging to resonate with your different donor profiles. With proper segmentation and targeting, you can target communications to the right audience making the biggest impact.
Donation Processing
Ensure swift, secure and accurate recording and acknowledgement of donations. This not only saves time and resources by automating back-office tasks such as receipting and transaction record-keeping but also enhances the donor’s experience by providing immediate confirmation and gratitude for their gift.
Moves Management
Being able to guide potential donors through the stages of engagement, from initial awareness to making a major gift, is essential for successful fundraising. A CRM with moves management allows you to plan and track tailored interactions with each prospect, ensuring that communications and solicitations are timely, personalized, and aligned with the donor’s interests and readiness to give.
Easy Integrations
Having everything in one place is one of the many benefits of a CRM. Having the ability to integrate with leading nonprofit software will bring all of your data together. Important nonprofit software such as Microsoft Volunteer Management and Volunteer Engagement or Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Insights for email marketing is easily integrated with SylogistMission to create a seamless transition to your new CRM.
Reporting and Analytics
Having the right information will allow your organization to make data-driven decisions with your fundraising. SylogistMission will give you a holistic view of your fundraising performance in PowerBI reports allowing you to present and share the information with your relevant stakeholders.
Best Practices for Implementation and Management
Invest in Data Management
Data is your biggest asset in making fundraising and organizational decisions. However, you need to be able to trust your data to make meaningful decisions. Working with a company that will ensure proper data migration and management is essential for any nonprofit organization looking to make data-driven decisions.
With SylogistMission, we help you trust your data again, not by being a new “home” for your data but by helping you re-envision your data to unlock the potential of a new shared, central database.
Find the Best Integrations
Using the right integrations will allow your organization to make successful fundraising decisions. Each organization is different, which is why having integration options is so important. Given its reputation for reliability and Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit, integrations with Microsoft are non-negotiable for a Nonprofit CRM.
SylogistMission not only integrates but was built for the Microsoft platform, allowing you to integrate with Outlook, Teams, Sharepoint and Excel. This keeps all of your data in one place and allows you to automate many of the tasks necessary for fundraising success.
From speaking with many nonprofit organizations over the years, these are the top integrations:
- Outlook, teams, SharePoint and Excel
- AI – Co-pilot and ChatGPT
- Intelligence solutions: PowerBI, OneLake
- Azure
- Payment providers
- Ticketing
- Donor research tools
- Volunteer Management and Engagement
Establish and Monitor KPIs
Keeping track of your success allows you to make strategic decisions with stakeholders. Identifying key performance indicators (KPIs) early will help you measure the success of your CRM implementation based on your initial objectives. Regularly monitor these KPIs to assess the impact of your new fundraising software and make data-driven decisions for continuous improvement.
Foster a CRM Culture
Establishing and nurturing a culture that understands the importance of a CRM in your fundraising and encourages its use in day-to-day operations is crucial. Consistently communicating about the advantages and accomplishments of the CRM can facilitate the maintenance of user engagement and adoption. Modelling proper use of your system and providing training for employees will encourage them to make the most out of your CRM.
In the competitive world of nonprofit fundraising, a Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) system is more than just a tool to manage donor information. It is a strategic asset that can take your fundraising efforts to the next level. A nonprofit CRM helps to optimize donor retention strategies and harness the power of prospect research to craft a fundraising strategy that is both effective and efficient.
Remember, the goal of utilizing a nonprofit CRM is not just to boost fundraising in the short term but to build a sustainable fundraising model that supports your organization’s mission for years to come. By leveraging the full potential of your nonprofit CRM, you can not only meet your fundraising goals but exceed them, ensuring your organization continues to make a positive impact on the world.
Ready to take the next step? Connect with SylogistMission to assess how we can elevate your donor management and fundraising.
