With a modest investment in the right technology, you can improve your fundraising; enhance the effectiveness of your development program, increase your operating efficiencies; and strengthen your community outreach.
As a nonprofit professional, your goals are clear. You have to make sure funds are available to support your mission, whatever the source – individual donors, corporate sponsors, foundation grants, and/or government support. You also have to operate effectively to maximize your financial efficiency ratings. And you need your community to rally behind and support your mission. The right technology can help you do all these things and this technology can be both easy to use and affordable.
But remember, while technology can help you a lot, it absolutely can’t replace human interaction.
But it can enhance it and with the right nonprofit software you can see results like 35% increases in annual donations and 40% increases in staff productivity
There are lots of technologies out there. This article focuses on database software. A good database will allow you to manage your constituents (everyone that touches your organization); track your donations (all types including one time and recurring); provide fundraising tools (for solicitation, events, and auctions); and manage your organization’s workflow.
There are two types of databases. There are flat files like excel spreadsheets and relational databases. A good way to think of a flat file is like a flat piece of paper – a row for each constituent and then columns for all the information you want to track. A tool like Excel can support 256 columns which might seem like a lot until you really think about all the things you’d like to capture on that constituent like preferred method of contact, who they’re related to, each donation they make, and so much more. This type of database quickly becomes very cumbersome. The second type of database is a relational database which has many separate tables or groups linked by a common identifier such as a constituent. This allows for powerful data analysis and reporting.
A relational database built specifically for nonprofits can do so much for you. First, it will allow you to DO WHAT WORKS best for your organization again and again. This will improve your fundraising.
One example of this is setting up your database to take your development staff step by step through what they need to do to move a prospect to make a major gift or to get a sponsorship from a local business. Every organization is different, so a cultivation tool lets you pinpoint what processes work best for you and then makes sure all staff members repeat these effective processes. With tools like dashboards and forecast reports, you can track the progress of your efforts, change things that aren’t working, and accurately know how much money you can expect to bring in and when.
Other reports allow you to accurately track the effectiveness of your cultivation processes, your campaigns, and your appeals so you can REPEAT WHAT WORKS.
Another way to improve your fundraising is to use a relational database to INCREASE YOUR EFFICIENCIES. Some database software can be used to create, mass produce, and send direct mail and email solicitations. It will literally take you minutes instead of hours or days. You can even do online fundraising quickly and efficiently. Some database software will allow you to create and send a solicitation email or enewsletter and embed a link to the donation page on your website. The prospect receives the email, clicks on the link, and is taken to a donation page to make a secure online donation. When he/she has filled in all the information, they click send or submit and their credit card transaction is automatically processed, the donation information automatically appears in your database, and a thank you letter or thank you email is even automatically created and sent.
INCREASING EFFICIENCY also means being able to easily (with the click of a button) analyze your trends and track your successes and even your failures so you’ll do things differently the next time.
Another way good database software helps to improve fundraising is by allowing you to BE PERSONAL.
This means customizing your approach to each constituent. You might sort or segment your constituents into categories or groups that are meaningful to you like giving levels, membership clubs, affiliations with your organization, events they attended, and more.
BEING PERSONAL means knowing the people who know your constituents. Good database software provides tools to track all types of personal, professional, familial, and social relationships and allows you to link one constituent to other constituents in the database. A good database also provides tools that make honor and memorial donations easy and will never let you forget to thank donors or send acknowledgements to an honoree or family member.
In this economy, some donors are more willing to make smaller recurring donations over time rather than a larger lump sum donation. This could mean a lot of work for your organization but your database software can do that work for you – from automating data entry, thanking the donors, and generating reports for you, to processing credit cards when pledge installments are due and sending reminders.
Don’t spend hours entering and tracking donations. Ever try to find a copy of a check in a stack of papers when a donor calls? Good database software will allow you to scan checks and store images with your donation records. Automated look up prevents duplicates and auto-fill features save lots of manual data entry time.
With the right database, you can MAKE YOUR DATA AVAILABLE to everyone in your organization. Use your database as the central repository for your organization’s data. Good software will have role and rights based security which means that you can keep your data secure and control what each user can see and what user can do. With a central database, think of how easy it will be to create your board reports – no matter what they want to see or how they want to see it.
Nonprofits juggle so much and it’s so easy to have things slip through the cracks. The right database can make sure you DON’T FORGET. Software can help with built in schedules and tasks with automated reminders.
The right database software will also help you STRENGTHEN YOUR COMMUNITY OUTREACH. Use the built in word processor, mail merge, and email tools to create personal, high quality pieces like e-newsletters to communicate your message to local businesses. Your current donors can be excellent fundraisers for you. Give your current donors and supporters easy to use tools to bring in new donors. It’s called social networking or friend-raising and it’s very effective.
The right relational database will make a difference for your organization. Use the technology that is available today to help you raise more money, operate more efficiently, and communicate more effectively with your community.
We hope you found this information to be helpful and informative. If you are in the market for database software, check out DonorPro. DonorPro is easy to use and affordable database software built by nonprofit professionals. Call toll free 866-935-8281 or visit the online DonorPro Product Tours at www.towercare.com/content/product-tours.