understanding fundraising software 1 · 2018-04-04 · fundraising software refers to any software...

UNDERSTANDING FUNDRAISING SOFTWARE

CLEAR AND COMPLETE GUIDE TO FUNDRAISING SOFTWARE

What is Fundraising Software?

What is Fundraising Software?

Fundraising software refers to any software solution that was built specifically to facilitate nonprofits’ fundraising efforts. These platforms make the fundraising process more successful by enabling nonprofits to build individualized donor stewardship strategies and by optimizing the donation process, data management, marketing and communications, and other efforts.

Why do Nonprofits Use Fundraising Software?

Without software, fundraising is a disorganized and mostly unsuccessful process. Fundraising software houses all nonprofit efforts under one roof, simplifying and informing the process so that organizations can see better results. Software helps nonprofits keep their data organized and develop more effective fundraising and engagement strategies.

What Are Other Names for Fundraising Software?

The following are all names for donor management solutions, nonprofits’ central fundraising platform!– Nonprofit CRM– Donor database– Nonprofit software– Donor management softwareThese terms vary slightly in meaning, but each can be used to describe similar systems.

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What Types of Fundraising Software Are There?

Donor Management Features

Fundraising Features

Comprehensive Donor ProfilesCreate a profile for each donor, including biographical and contact information, relationships, interests, and more. Make your profiles more unique to your organization by adding custom fields and notes.

List Segmentation Target donors more effectively by segmenting them into different lists based on one or more criteria, including affinities for certain causes, demographics, donation history, giving capacity, and more.

Centralized Constituent Data Donor management software isn’t just for keeping track of donors! You can manage data and organize the efforts of all important contributors, including members, volunteers, staff, and anyone else who’s associated with your organization.

Relationship Tracking Automatically record each historical interaction a constituent has had with your organization, including donation history, event attendance, and more. Track relationships among all constituents in your database for deeper insights into how they relate.

Gift Processing Accept all types of donations and a wider variety of payment methods for a more flexible donation experience. Automatically link gifts with donor profiles to track donation history and get to know your donors’ habits and preferences.

Automated Recurring Gifts Donor database software simplifies the process of accepting recurring gifts by automating data entry, reminders, payments, and follow-up thank you notes. With automated recurring gifts, you and your donors will have one less thing to worry about!

Automated Pledges Automate emails to send out at a set time, reminding donors to make good on their pledges. Set reminders for staff to reach out to donors who have yet to fulfill their pledges.

Major Gift Development Identify major gift prospects with wealth screening integration, plan every step of your appeal with detailed workflows, and run cultivation reports to predict when major gift donors might give.

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DONOR MANAGMENT SOFTWAREDonor management software, also know as nonprofit CRM, donor or constituent

relationship management software, or simply donor software, provides nonprofits with one convenient platform for tracking their donor data and relationships. It

centralizes once disparate data sources, so they can inform each other to give your organization the most complete picture of your donors.

Understanding Fundraising Software | What Types of Fundraising Software are There?

Features

Branded Donation Pages Build branded donation pages and customize them to your campaign’s unique needs. Pages seamlessly integrate with your website to provide an intuitive online donation experience.

Mobile Responsiveness Online donation software uses a responsive technology framework, automatically generating a mobile-responsive version of your donation pages. Now donors can use their smartphones and tablets to give anytime, anywhere!

ONLINE FUNDRAISING SOFTWAREOnline fundraising software enables organizations to accept donations online, making the donation process significantly more convenient for them and their

donors. With this type of software, nonprofits can accept all types of online donations with ease and seamlessly collect the data they receive through

digital donation channels.

“Donate Now” Buttons Attention-grabbing “Donate Now!” buttons can be incorporated into your emails, so donors don’t even have to leave their inbox to make a donation! When the donation process is so easy, you’re sure to see more online gifts.

Secure Payment Processing Secure payment processing ensures that your donors’ contributions and sensitive information are always safe, giving both you and your donors peace of mind.

Automated Acknowledgements Never forget to acknowledge a contribution with automated thank-you emails and donation receipts. Emails and receipts can also be customized to your organization’s needs.

Easy Integration Easily integrate your online fundraising software with your donor database, so all transactions are automatically tracked in your donor profiles to give you the most complete insights into your donors’ giving habits.

Understanding Fundraising Software | What Types of Fundraising Software Are There?

Get a Free Demo of Salsa’s Online Fundraising ToolsSee how Salsa’s online fundraising tools will haelp you connect and convert supporter interest into action through mobile-ready emails and beautiful online donation forms.

GET A FREE SALSA DEMO >

https://www.salsalabs.com/engage-online-fundraising

Features

Constituent/Legislator Automatch Match supporters with the leaders and legislators in their areas that can make a difference.experience.

Rep Tweeting Put a little public pressure on legislators by tweeting at them through integrated social publishing features.

ONLINE ADVOCACY SOFTWAREOnline advocacy software makes it simpler for nonprofits to raise awareness of their causes and help change legislation in ways that will further their missions. This type of software helps organizations put their supporters in touch with the right leaders

and otherwise mobilize them to reap political change.

Automated Form Submission Automatically fill out webforms on legislator websites, so supporters can send targeted messages to leaders by simply typing their names. Automate form submission, sending messages directly to leaders’ inboxes to increase the likelihood they’ll be seen.

One-Click Petitions Facilitate the process of effecting change with convenient, one-click petitions. Advocacy software enables your organization to build customized online petitions for multiple campaigns, collect virtual signatures, and send your petitions to legislators with ease.

Powerful Dashboards Gain quick insights with powerful dashboard tools that let you run a variety of reports on advocacy actions and advocates. Export reports into CSV files for deeper analysis.

Digital Marketing Integration Integrate digital marketing tools to build and schedule compelling campaigns that will keep advocates engaged and prompt them to take further action..


EMAIL MARKETING FEATURES

COMPREHENSIVE, ALL-IN-ONE, OR INTEGRATED FUNDRAISING SOFTWARE

Comprehensive fundraising software houses all of the features of donor manage-ment and online fundraising software in the same system. It also incorporates the added benefits of marketing and outreach features. Basically, with comprehensive

fundraising software, you can do it all!

Other Communications Features

Best Practice Templates Create professional-looking email newsletters with a range of eye-catching templates designed with best practices in mind.

High Deliverability Rates Ensure that your emails will always reach donors’ inboxes with a deliverability rate of over 99%.

Email Automation Automate any email message or campaign you might need: from individual emails to targeted drip campaigns to welcome campaigns that send when new subscribers join your email list.

A/B Testing With A/B testing, you can divide your list to send multiple versions of the same campaign. Test out subject lines and email bodies, then use your insights to hone your email marketing strategies.

Social Publishing Integrate your social media pages and post on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or other social media sites directly from the software platform.

Social Sharing Make it simple for supporters to share your posts with their social networks with user-friendly social sharing and “Tell a Friend” features.

Direct Mail Merge Built-in word processing lets you write letters and personalize them by autofilling fields from your donor profiles. Then, automatically generate labels with donor addresses listed in your database.

Social Matching Match supporters’ email addresses with their various social media pages. Incorporate those pages into their donor profiles to stay connected with them over social media.


Features

Event Microsites Create an online hub for your event by building event web pages. Pages seamlessly integrate with your website and include customizable forms that donors can use to register for your event.

Merchandise Storefronts Selling branded merchandise during your P2P campaign? Build online merchandise storefronts and incorporate them into your website, so supporters can buy gear as they register for your event!

PEER-TO-PEER FUNDRAISING SOFTWAREPeer-to-peer software provides nonprofits with the specialized tools they need to run

P2P campaigns. This type of software helps them to more effectively oversee fund-raisers’ efforts, pair their digital P2P campaigns with fundraising events, and simplify

the process for the participants raising money on their behalf.

Personal Fundraising Pages Give each fundraiser the opportunity to build a personal donation page that allows them to collect online donations with ease. Their pages are connected to your database, so you can oversee the campaign and track fundraiser actions.

Social Media Integration See how fundraisers are sharing your campaign with social matching features that link constituent profiles with personal social media pages. Social sharing features provide peers the opportunity to share fundraisers’ campaigns with one click.

Team Fundraising Pages Personalized donation pages are great for teams, too. Accept online donations and pledges to expand your fundraising and take teamwork to the next level.

Mobile-Responsiveness Event sign-up forms, online storefronts, and personal and team fundraising pages are all mobile-responsive, so fundraisers can raise money anytime anywhere.





What Are Some Common Fundraising Software Integrations?

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Find even more ways to stay in touch with your donors by incorporating online engagement features.

You can integrate your email application and social media sites with your fundraising software to send emails and make posts without ever leaving your platform.

This integration further centralizes all of your communications, so you can easily keep track of all the ways you contacted supporters and shared information with them.

See which methods bring you the most responses to get a better idea of your supporters’ preferred communication channels and to keep honing your outreach.

Prospect research and wealth screening platforms make the process of identifying major donor prospects much more focused and efficient.

These tools give nonprofits insight into both their donors’ giving capacities and their philanthropic affinities by providing organizations with a number of data sources, such as: Wealth indicators, Past donation history, Philanthropic motivation, Relationships with other prospective major donors and more.

Prospect research and wealth screening integrations allow you to track the data sources they provide directly in your supporter profiles to give you a deeper understanding of your prospects and to help you plan out every step of their cultivation.eir cultivation.

Matching gifts are an excellent way to double your fundraising results by exerting minimal extra effort. You just need to know where to look.

Luckily, nonprofit CRMs can be paired with matching gift software to give organizations a better idea of where they can find opportunities to double their fundraising results.

With matching gift software, donors can input their employer’s name to see if their company offers matching gift opportunities.

This information will automatically be recorded in your donor database, giving you insight into your donors’ professional relationships and where the matching gift opportunities lie.

PROSPECT RESEARCH AND WEALTH SCREENING

MATCHING GIFTS

DONOR MANAGMENT SOFTWARE

Understanding Fundraising Software | What Are Some Common Fundraising Software Integrations?

Nonprofits need clear financial documentation to help them obtain grants and keep track of their fiscal growth.

Above all, this documentation is what makes you a nonprofit in the first place, because it secures your status as a tax-exempt organization.

Your fundraising software processes donations and tracks all contributions, so it’s logical to integrate your financial accounting platform.

By centralizing these efforts in one place, your donors’ contribution histories can communicate with your accounting software, allowing you to generate more accurate and up-to-date financial reports.

Furthermore, you can improve donor outreach and engagement by generating annual

As we touched on earlier, one of the primary purposes of fundraising software is to simplify the online donation experience.

With integrated payment processing, you can automatically accept online payments submitted through your custom donation forms.

This data links up to your constituent profiles, letting you track donation histories alongside other data sources.

Automated tracking features allow you to get a better idea of your donors’ giving habits and preferred payment methods, so you can continue honing your fundraising efforts and make more relevant asks.

ACCOUNTING

PAYMENT PROCESSING

Understanding Fundraising Software | What Are Some Common Fundraising Software Integrations?

Learn about more types of fundraising software >

https://www.salsalabs.com/online-fundraising-software

FUNDRAISING SOFTWARE IN PRACTICE

What Types of Organizations Use Fundraising Software?

1Animal Rights Organizations

Public Health & Environmental Protection Organizations

Beaver County Humane Society

Environmental Working Group

Who Are They? Beaver County Humane society is a nonprofit shelter that handles adoptions, surrenders, and animal control. They take in about 4,000 animals in need each year. How Do They Use Fundraising Software?- Managing data and tracking relationships with people and pets.- Sending targeted emails to constituents in a more efficient way.- Posting new adoption opportunities on social media with ease.- Fundraising online for emergency needs.

The Results: Since they started using fundraising software, Beaver County Humane Society has doubled their online gifts, increased their adoption rate by 110%, and decreased their euthanasia rate by 50%.

Who Are They? Environmental Working Group is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that is dedicated to protecting human and environmental health. Their main focus is on raising awareness about the harms associated with toxic chemicals and strengthening regulations that pertain to these contaminants.

How Do They Use Fundraising Software?- Managing data and tracking relationships with people and pets.- Sending targeted emails to constituents in a more efficient way.- Posting new adoption opportunities on social media with ease.- Fundraising online for emergency needs.

The Results: Since they started using fundraising software, Beaver County Humane Society has doubled their online gifts, increased their adoption rate by 110%, and decreased their euthanasia rate by 50%.

Human Rights OrganizationsAchieva

Who Are They? ACHIEVA supports over 14,000 individuals who struggle with disabilities each year. Their goal is to help disabled individuals work in their communities and overall live more self-determined lives. How Do They Use Fundraising Software?- Tracking pledge and reporting activity during capital campaigns.- Sending targeted email campaigns and sharing social media posts.- Building forums where their supporters can engage with them online.- Overseeing online engagement to hone their stewardship efforts.

The Results: Since they started using fundraising software, ACHIEVA has been able to expand their facilities and services significantly and reach more individuals with disabilities. Their annual fund has also seen a 10% growth year over year.

Fundraising Software in Practice | What Type of Organizations Use Fundriaising Software?

How Do Nonprofit Organizations Use Fundraising Software?

For Fundraising

For Outreach and Advocacy

Tracking Constituent Data Fundraising software allows organizations to centrally track all donor data, from basic biographical information to complex interaction histories. Since sources can communicate with each other, you can gain deeper insights into your donors and target them with personalized approaches to make your efforts more compelling.

Planning and Overseeing Fundraising Campaigns Fundraising software houses modules to help you with any effort imaginable. With all efforts centralized, your organization can plan highly sophisticated campaigns and stewardship plans and see how each aspect of your campaign communicates with each other to gain a holistic view of your fundraising strategies.

Accepting Online & Mobile Donations Fundraising software enables you to collect and process donations online and over mobile, providing your donors with a more flexible and convenient giving experience. All transactions are recorded in the platform, giving you a comprehensive view of your organization’s fiscal progress.

Organizing Efforts Across Key Stakeholders Plan out complex, multistep efforts among multiple staff members, board members, volunteers, or other stakeholders. Fundraising software provides your staff with universal information access and allows you to build detailed workflows and automate task reminders, so your efforts always run smoothly.

Building Compelling Email Campaigns Build compelling email campaigns for any purpose imaginable. Best practice templates and high deliverability rates ensure that your content always looks professional and lands in your donors’ inboxes. Plus, since email marketing lives in the same platform as your donor data, it’s easy to target your outreach.

Planning Fundraising Events Big and Small With event-planning modules, your organization can plan events of all shapes and sizes. Since all logistics are centralized, planning and managing sophisticated events has never been easier. Create online registration forms, manage RSVPs, and communicate with your donors about the event all from the same platform!

Facilitating Social Media Activities Whether you’re running a peer-to-peer campaign, hosting a giving day, or simply wanting to communicate with your supporters over social media, fundraising software can help. Social publishing and sharing features allow you to easily promote your content and spread it throughout your and your donors’ networks.

Advocating for Legislative Change Advocacy software helps organizations target the right leaders and legislators to ensure their donors’ voices are heard. Once you’ve identified the right leaders, online petitions, rep tweeting, and automated letter writing features make it possible to systematically reap the change you seek.

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Fundraising Software in Practice | How Do Nonprofit Organizations Use Fundraising Software?

Donor Identification and Targeting In order to approach each donor with a personalized outreach experience, nonprofits must first get to know them.

The primary function of fundraising software is to help nonprofits gain a much deeper understanding of their donors.

Software does this by housing all donor data under the same roof. This centralization enables all sources to communicate with each other, so you get the most complete and accurate pictures of your donors.

You can store a number of donor data sources, including: Demographics and contact information, Relationships, Interests and affinities, Interaction history, Customizable fields and more

When you get to know more about your donors, you can approach them with individualized strategies that are more likely to engage.

How Fundraising Software Can Strengthen Donor Relationships

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Fundraising software can help nonprofit organizations build deeper and more enduring relationships with their donors.

That’s because fundraising software houses all data under one platform, allowing each data source to communicate with other data sources to give nonprofits the most complete pictures of their donors.

Nonprofits can then use the insights they receive from their data to personalize and target their outreach through every step of the relationship-building process.

In this section, we’ll take you step-by-step through each step of building relationships with your donors—from identifying prospects to donor retention—and show how fundraising software can make each part of this process more successful.

Use the navigation on the right to jump down to any part of the process you’d like to learn more about, or read through the section to learn about the entire process.

The Stages of Building Donor Relationships

Donor Identification and Targeting

Donor Engagement

Donor Conversion

Donor Stewardship and Retention

STEP

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Fundraising Software in Practice | How Fundraising Software Can Strengthen Donor Relationships

Donor Conversion Now that you’ve successfully targeted your prospects, it’s time to convert them into donors through action. In this case, that means making a donation!

The more convenient it is for donors to contribute, the more likely they are to do it.

That’s where software comes in. Fundraising software makes processing all kinds of donations easier, so donors can give the way they want.

When it comes to online donations, software provides you with a platform to build customized donation forms. Then, you can easily incorporate these forms into your website and link to them in your email and social media campaigns, so donors know exactly where to contribute.

When your donors need to pay in person, software allows you to accept a wide variety of physical payment methods, too.

With the most flexible and convenient fundraising experience out there, you’re sure to convert more prospects into donors, since they can donate on their terms.

Donor Engagement When you know your donors more personally, you can target them with the most relevant content through their preferred communication channels. For example, those in a younger demographic might favor more casual language communicated through social media.

Your major donors, on the other hand, might prefer being approached more intimately through one-on-one phone calls or handwritten letters.

Sending these two very different groups the same impersonal message will do little to further your fundraising. The difficulty that most nonprofits face, however, is that they have no efficient way to execute multiple outreach strategies.

Software allows you to segment your supporter list into different groups, so that it’s easier to build individualized engagement campaigns.

When you approach prospects with the most relevant communications, they’re more likely to take the next steps and become contributors.

Donor Stewardship and Retention The better you know your donors, the more prepared you are to keep them in your donor pool, giving for months and years to come. Fundraising software tracks your every interaction with supporters, allowing you to note any changes in giving patterns and habits.

These insights can help you keep reaching out and engaging your donors through targeted strategies to build more enduring and valuable relationships with them.

For example, if you see that a donor who loyally gives $100 a month has recently started giving larger gifts more frequently, you might do some research to learn whether this supporter has the potential to be upgraded to a major gift donor.

Without fundraising software, you’d have to research this donor’s giving history manually and consult multiple sources. But with fundraising software, you can simply type in the donor’s name and access their entire giving and involvement history!

The more in-tune you are with your donors’ habits and preferences, the better able you’ll be to transform your donors into recurring givers who contribute for years to come.

STEP

2ST

EP 3

STEP

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Fundraising Software in Practice | How Fundraising Software Can Strengthen Donor Relationships

How Fundraising Software Can Improve International Operations

Increased Efficiency

Since software centralizes all of your organization’s efforts in one place, it can make your work more efficient.

No longer will your staff have to waste time switching between multiple platforms and inputting and exporting data.

Instead, all data is tracked in the same platform, allowing you to draw off of this data to inform all of the efforts you’re running without leaving the system.

More Staff Time

Fundraising software can automate many of the more routine tasks that nonprofit staffs have to complete.

Robust platforms come with a range of automation features that take care of everything from cleaning your data to sending out drip email campaigns.

Not to mention, since all of your data is centralized, your staff will spend less time handling data, learning new interfaces, and switching between these interfaces.

Accessible Data

Isolating your organization’s efforts in separate systems can limit the success of your internal operations, since staff won’t be able to see how their duties fit into your overall strategies.

By using fundraising software, your organization will have a centralized place for storing your data, making all of your data universally accessible across your staff.

Universally accessible data reduces room for error and increases the chances of success!

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Fundraising Software in Practice | How Fundraising Software Can Improve International Operations

BUYING FUNDRAISING SOFTWARE

Understanding the Software Buying Process

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Step 1: Determine Your Organization’s NeedsTo choose the appropriate fundraising software, your organization will first need to evaluate your needs and do some research into different vendors. To learn more about this step, jump down to the next section!

Step 2: Contact the VendorOnce you’ve narrowed in on a vendor whose software seems like it could adequately address your needs, get in contact! You can either give your vendor a call or request a demo by submitting your information on the vendor’s website.

Step 3: View a DemoOne of the best ways to determine whether or not the fundraising software you’re considering is a good fit is to see the software in action. Most vendors offer free demos during the buying process, so take advantage of it!

Step 4: Consult a Second OpinionAnother way to help decide if the software is right for your organization is to consult a second opinion. Look at online reviews and user forums, and ask your vendor if they can put you into contact with some current users who would be willing to serve as references.

Step 5: Select Your Vendor!Granted that you’re happy with the software and the vendor, all that’s left is to ask any lingering questions and sign the contract!

Buying Fundraising Software | Understanding the Software Buying Process

What Should Nonprofits Consider When Buying Fundraising Software?

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WHAT ARE OUR REASONS FOR BUYING NEW SOFTWARE?Is your organization buying software to address an aspect of your organization that

you’d like to fix or improve? Are you currently using a platform that doesn’t fully address your needs? To figure out which fundraising software solution might be right for your organization, it’s important to determine your major reasons for shopping.

Here are some of the most common.

Easier To Use?Your current software is too complicated. You want something that’s easier to use, so your staff can utilize the platform more effectively.

Better Reporting and Insights? Your disparate platforms are making it difficult to get a holistic picture of your fundraising efforts. You need more insights and reporting capabilities to improve your efforts and continue honing them.

Better Support? The support that comes with your current product is insufficient. You need a platform with support that’s either cheaper, quicker, or more frequently available.

More Scalability? Your organization is growing quickly. You need a software platform that has room to grow with you and can evolve as your needs change.

A More Affordable Platform? Your organization is growing quickly. You need a software platform that has room to grow with you and can evolve as your needs change.

Improved Organization? Your data is messy. You need a more logical way to organize constituent information and oversee multi-step efforts that require many contributors.

Improved Efficiency? Your organization isn’t optimizing staff efforts. You want to automate tasks to free up staff time, to reduce your room for error, and to overall make your operations run more efficiently.

Consolidated Operations? Your organization is growing quickly. You need a software platform that has room to grow with you and can evolve as your needs change.

More Comprehensive Features? The platforms you use currently don’t have all of the features to help you with your efforts. You need a more comprehensive software solution that has a wider feature set.

Buying Fundraising Software | What Should Nonprofits Consider When Buying Fundraising Software

WHO WILL USE THE SOFTWARE?


Campaign Support | Donor Stewardship and Outreach | Online and Mobile Giving Organizing & Tracking Volunteers | Advocacy Actions | Writing and Managing Grants

Peer-to-Peer Campaigns | Event Planning & Management

Development Associates | Director of Annual Giving | Major Gift Officers Grantwriters | Database Administrators | Marketing Associates

Planned Giving Officers | Membership Coordinators

� Campaign Support �Donor Stewardship and Outreach�Online and Mobile Giving�Organizing & Tracking Volunteers


WHAT GOALS DO WE HOPE TO ACHIEVE WITH OUR SOFTWARE?

The price of fundraising software is often partially influenced by how many people can use it. Before you buy, take a headcount of all of the people who might be

using your software. You’ll want to buy a solution that not only accommodates ev-eryone who needs to use it, but that also includes the feature set your various staff

members need to complete their jobs.

Ideally, your fundraising software should be helping your organization reach your goals faster and more effectively. Look towards the future and think about what you

hope to achieve with your software. You’ll want to buy a solution that can not only help you meet your current goals, but can also grow with you. So, what does your

organization want from fundraising software?

Increased Donor Acquisition? Expand your reach, convert more prospects into donors, and grow your base.

More Cause Awareness and Advocacy Action? Inform more people of your cause and work to encourage more advocacy and support.

Higher Fundraising ROI? Get the most out of every dollar you put into your fundraising efforts, so you’ll spend less to raise more.

Increased Retention Rates? Turn more one-time donors into recurring donors to build a more loyal and valuable base.

More Successful Donor Development? Cultivate the donors you already have into major gift donors and overall increase your average gift size.

Higher Online Engagement? See higher engagement levels from digital donor outreach channels, including email, social media, and online forms.

WHAT MAJOR EFFORTS DO WE NEED OUR SOFTWARE FOR?There are many, many different types of fundraising software out there, and all were

built to address certain specialized efforts. You’ll need to determine which major efforts your software must assist you with so you can pick the type of solution that

will be the best fit. On the right, we’ve listed out just a few of the many efforts that fundraising software can optimize and facilitate.

Buying Fundraising Software | What should nonprofits consider when buying fundraising software

WHAT’S THE TRUE COST OF THE SOFTWARE?Because fundraising software is so customizable, it’s often difficult to determine its true

price. There are many different factors that can influence the price of software, so it’s important to know what you should be aware of during the buying process. Here, we’ll

break down the price of fundraising software, so you’ll know what to look out for.

The Base Price The base price refers to the amount listed for the software on the pricing page of the vendor’s website. What the list price accounts for varies based on the vendor and their pricing system.

Integrations Oftentimes, for nonprofits to get the full functionality they want, their software will need to be integrated with an additional platform. If this is the case for your organization, be sure to factor in the cost of the necessary integrations.

Number of Users Fundraising software is often partially priced by how many users can access it. Determine the number of staff who need to use the platform to make sure you’re buying a solution that can accommodate everyone.

Number of Constituents The number of constituent profiles that a platform can support often also affects the price of fundraising software. Factor in the number of constituents you’ll need to house with a little extra room for growth.

Training To learn how to use your platform, your staff will need to go through training. Most vendors provide a couple of options: free, prerecorded training or customized training that comes at a cost. If you’ll need a more supportive training option, don’t forget to include the price in the overall cost of your software.

Payment Processing Fees If you’ll be processing any kind of monetary transaction with your software, you’ll need to consider the price of payment processing. Many payment processing services include associated fees of one kind or another.

Updates Chances are, your organization will need to expand or update your software as technology (and your organization!) grows and evolves. It can be hard to predict future costs, but keep in mind that you might have to pay for updates to your software down the line.

Support Chances are, at some point your organization will run into a technical difficulty with your software. That’s why vendors offer IT support! However, support can come with a price tag, too. Make sure to ask your vendor how much it costs as you’re calculating the price of your software.

Buying Fundraising Software | What Should Nonprofits Consider When Buying Fundraising Software

Should Our Organization Buy Free Software?

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Issue #1: Free Software Can’t Meet Your Needs

Wasted Staff Time Because free software doesn’t include as many automated features, the manual effort it takes to maintain your data is much greater than it would be with a specialized or integrated software. This also leaves more room for error.

Limited Insights Housing operations in separate systems limits your insights into your constituents and your overall performance, because your various efforts have no way to communicate with and inform each other. Additionally, you won’t receive the reporting and analytics features that can help you hone your strategies.

No Vendor Support When you use a free solution, you won’t have access to the support and advice offered by vendors who specialize in helping nonprofits manage their data. Chances are, you won’t be able to utilize your software and your data as effectively as possible.

It can be tempting to stretch the platforms you’re currently using to address as many of your needs as possible. And while free, generic software might do the job, it’s a poor substitute for platforms built to address the specific needs of nonprofits for a few reasons:

Issue #2: Free Software Won’t Last Very Long

Weak Training Your software won’t come with the same level of training that more generic software does. Without the proper training, new and current staff members might not be able to use the software to its full capability.

Limited IT Support Because only one developer built your software and fully understands how it works, only one person can address any technical difficulties that you might run into. If something goes wrong and that developer isn’t available, you might be left in a serious bind and, in the worst cases, lose your important data altogether.

Shorter-Term Solution Because you’re relying on the goodwill of a volunteer, you can’t expect the developer who built your software to continue updating it as technology evolves. That means you might be shelling out more for a new solution sooner rather than later.

Having a developer volunteer their time to build software just for you seems like it would be a dream come true. However, what many nonprofits don’t realize is that these solutions might be a little too specialized. Because only one person built the software, a few issues can arise:

Buying Fundraising Software | Should Our Organization Buy Free Software?

How Do I Convince My Board to Buy Fundraising Software?

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Highlight the Benefits Of course, your board is only going to

invest in software if benefits outweigh the costs. Make sure to emphasize all of the benefits that fundraising software can

provide your organization, so your board can see what an excellent investment it is.

Anticipate Questions Fundraising software is a complicated

thing, and your board is bound to have questions. Anticipate the potential

questions they might ask, so you’ll be prepared to address their concerns as

convincingly and eloquently as possible.

Outline the Costs To establish trust with your board, it’s

important to be transparent about all of the costs of fundraising software. Your board will be much more likely to give

you the backing if they have a clear and realistic understanding of the costs and

feel your case is being presented honestly.

Recruit an Advocate Your board is more likely to be swayed if one of their own is on board with the purchase. See if one of your influential board members would be willing to be

your advocate and back you up as you’re making your pitch to the rest of the board.

Buying Fundraising Software | How Do I Convince My Board to Buying Fundraising Software?




understanding fundraising software 1 · 2018-04-04 · fundraising software refers to any software...

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