Advanced Solutions International

One fundraising database for the whole organization — that crucially meets the specific needs of each department — is the best way to go.

On the face of it, CRM solutions in the cloud are the same as any on-premise solution, except they are hosted in a data center. But true cloud solutions can provide technology, economic and business benefits over the traditional on-premise solutions. The combination of these benefits is driving people to cloud-based solutions, and we will see them all over the next few months. But first, what is the technology case for cloud?

We might look at Borders and think that can never happen to our organizations — we’re far too savvy, right? But what are the lessons we can learn as nonprofits and fundraisers from this and other sad endings? Are our methods and technology threatening to make us the dinosaurs, while the Amazons of our sector plough ahead without us?

Cloud computing is the current “big thing” in the technology world. But guess what? Cloud computing isn’t new. Here’s a simple guide to help you see through the myths and make up your own mind.

What changes will we see in fundraising over the coming years? And what does that mean for the technology we use? Here are a few predictions.

Rather than using free social-networking tools such as Facebook as your main way for engaging donors online, have you thought about offering your donors a safer way to engage within the trusted confines of your website on a private social network?

Having observed more than 200 fundraising software implementations, I have seen what makes it successful — and some of it may be counterintuitive. Here are three tips for successful fundraising software selection and implementation.

Fundraising mavericks are those who have the right contacts, make inspired judgment calls, and play fast and loose with data-entry standards, but somehow the funds come in. Meanwhile, the rest of us rely on more prosaic techniques, or at least a blend of inspiration and perspiration, to win the support of our donors.

There is a growing number of apps in the app store that claim to provide some kind of fundraising benefit to nonprofits, and they approach the challenge from a variety of angles. But the most effective fundraising app of all may not even claim to be one: Facebook.

Here are four ways for fundraisers to manage their IT departments effectively and develop better relationships with IT staffers to achieve goals.