Software/Technology

Innovation, and in particular Web technology, is fueling improvements in fundraising. New technologies are helping nonprofits reach new donors in new places, tell stories more vividly, make giving easier, maintain more frequent and relevant communication, and lower costs and apply more money directly to causes. 

We reached out to top consultants, solution providers, software developers and nonprofits to get their take on the following question: How can nonprofits leverage technology to improve fundraising?

Thanks to a partnership with the Public Interest Registry, Heather Mansfield of Nonprofit Tech for Good was able to report live from the Nonprofit Technology Conference (#14NTC) last week in Washington, D.C. Empowered with a tablet and smartphone, one of Heather’s first priorities was to reveal the faces and expertise behind some our favorite nonprofit brands. The results are below and what you’ll hear are the responses to the question: “What is your number one piece of nonprofit technology advice for nonprofits?” You can view all videos at instagram.com/nonprofitorgs.

Connecting with your audience is harder than ever. How do you cut through the noise? How do you get donors to donate and supporters to take action? You make your messages relevant. Empathy Maps are powerful tools that help you reframe how you can connect with your audience.

The Empathy Map, developed by information design consultancy EXPLANE, helps you develop a better understanding of the environment, behavior, concerns and aspirations that affect your supporters. This understanding helps shape your communications with them so you can drive them to take the action.

Central to the debate on how fundraising will look in 10 years' time is our ability to look back. We need to reflect on the past 10 years, where mass participation events and online giving replaced door-to-door collections as the mainstays of local community fundraising. Innovating and trend watching are the tools in the kitbag of those local charities who have fared best over the past decade, and similar tools will be needed to survive the tough years ahead.

As an industry, let’s get out on the edge for once — start taking advantage of the shifts in donor behavior and leverage the technology that’s available to us. Here are a few ideas to help you along the path of beefing up your online fundraising efforts.

Blackbaud, provider of software and services for nonprofits, announced key technology trends that will have the biggest impact on the nonprofit sector in 2014. Top technology trends to watch include: Mobile will continue to play more and more of a key role, analytics will provide greater insight for nonprofit organizations, software will become smaller and more focused, the cloud will provide cheaper and more secure alternatives for nonprofits, and social media will become more integrated.

Startup companies are traditionally for-profit enterprises, but in recent years philanthropic ventures have begun adopting the technological know-how and scrappy mentality of startups to develop a new breed of lean nonprofits.

“‘Startup’ has always meant a for-profit company, but a charity can operate much like one,” agrees Y Combinator accelerator founder Paul Graham.

Yes, your nonprofit absolutely positively needs a drone. Of course, that’s a few years away. But that doesn’t mean you can’t — TODAY — start thinking like an organization that plans to use a new, radical technology. In Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal, Bret Stephens provided a road map of sorts for learning from the "Amazon Experience" that made Prime Air a reality. He applies his lessons to President Barack Obama, but they can be applied to nonprofits as well.

Nonprofit organizations are realizing the benefits of moving to the cloud and are starting to look more thoroughly into cloud options. Before you make the investment in cloud-based nonprofit accounting software however, you need to thoroughly examine your nonprofit’s needs and current processes. Does it make sense to move to the cloud? Is it a financially sound choice? How will it benefit your organization?

Ted Hart speaks with Blackbaud's Katie Beth DeSchepper, Tammy Radencic and Mark Davis, along with Rebecca Bramlett, director of annual giving at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, live from bbcon 2013 on his Nonprofit Coach radio show.