Fundraising Technology & Integrations

3 Essential Online Tools for Nonprofits

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May 8, 2017

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Technology is helping businesses of all sizes improve their operations and grow revenue. Though nonprofits are traditionally slower to adopt new technology</a href>, it can really help to grow donations and create better relationships with donors.

Here are 3 essential online tools that every nonprofit should have:

Donation Form On Your Website

Traffic to nonprofit websites grew about 4% in 2016</a href>, which naturally, means more possible donors. However, this increase in donors will not just happen because you have more website traffic. One of the most essential parts of fundraising online is making it as easy as possible for your donors to give online.

Put yourself in your a new perspective donor's shoes: Would you go through two, or even three, different websites just to give $50 to a nonprofit you just discovered? Probably not, right?

The solution is to keep your donors right on your website. Pick donation software</a href> where you can embed a donation form right on your Donate page. That way, you control all of the branding, and the donor never has to leave your sight... or, site, in this case.

Donor Database

Just like other business-to-customer companies, keeping track of their donors (customers) is essential for nonprofits. Databases, or CRMs, give your nonprofit the ability to identify trends, such as when donors are most likely to donate. Getting to this deeper level of understanding of your donors will do wonders to optimize your fundraising efforts.

CRMs can also help automate previously manual processes. If you take time each day to upload a list of donors to a spreadsheet, the time savings from automating the process with a CRM can really add up.

Email Marketing Platform

Once you have more donors coming in and you've implemented an efficient CRM system, the next step is systematically reaching out to these donors. Key to this is a great email marketing platform.</a href>

Emails to donors are an amazing opportunity to drive recurring donations. By periodically updating prior donors on your latest initiatives, you let donors know that you're continually improving the world according to your mission. Staying top-of-mind with donors is essential when it comes something like end of year campaigns, where they will be inundated with donation requests.

About the Author
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Sarah Ellis leads Customer Success at Donately, bringing over 15 years of experience in fundraising, nonprofit strategy, and donor engagement. She holds a master’s degree in Integrated Marketing Communications from Purdue University and is passionate about helping mission-driven organizations grow through clear messaging and smart digital tools. At Donately, Sarah leads efforts to make online giving more effective, accessible, and aligned with the goals of modern fundraisers.

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