Advances in technology are changing the way we fundraise. Are you in a position to reap the benefits?
For a nonprofit organisation, one of the top priorities is raising money through grants, promotions, door-to-door collections, or any other number of methods in order to support the beneficiaries of the organisation and to keep operations running.
What if I told you that there are four new technologies that could help you raise more money from your supporters?
In this blog post, I will outline each of these new technologies and show you how to use them to improve your fundraising efforts.
1. Responsive website design doubles donation dollars on mobile devices.
Responsive website design is an approach aimed at providing an interactive, optimal viewing experience across a wide range of devices, from mobile phones to desktop computers.
This is important because recent reports by Marketing Land show that nearly 40% of our time on the internet takes place via a mobile device.
As a nonprofit, this has big implications for you.
It means that your clients and donors are using mobiles and tablets to visit your website and potentially make donations. You need a site that is aesthetically pleasing, user-friendly, provides a good experience for the user and makes the donation process simple.
Still sceptical on the importance of responsive website design? DonarDrive recently completed a study on several nonprofit organisations and found that, on average, the organisations that had a mobile and tablet responsive website increased their donation dollars by a whopping 96%!
That is massive. How much is your old website hampering your fundraising capacity?
Related: Five Reasons Why Your Nonprofit Must Prioritise the Mobile Web in 2014
2. Mobile fundraising apps give organisations more reach.
There are presently a suite of mobile fundraising apps that innovative nonprofits can use to increase fundraising. Because they encourage interaction and communication, nonprofits can utilise these apps to build stronger relationships with supporters and encourage them to spread awareness for their cause, thereby increasing potentiality for raising more money.
Microsoft’s continued commitment to the nonprofit sector has benefitted greatly from their HelpBridge mobile application. The app is utilised by thousands of users who support various nonprofit organisations. By having a presence on the app, you can reach potential supporters who can quickly and easily donate to your organisation via a simple text message.
Related: 5 Mobile Fundraising Apps for Do-Gooders and Nonprofits
3. Custom-branded donation pages increase donations by 600%.
Do you have a donation page on your organisation’s website? Is it branded with your logo and mission or is it generic and vague?
A report by The Network For Good Digital Giving Index recently found that nonprofits with branded donation pages raise six times the total amount of donated dollars than nonprofits with generic donation pages.
That’s a huge difference!
In Australia, there are two options I recommend for branded giving pages. Firstly, everydayhero is a platform that allows nonprofits to create a donation page, personalise it with their brand logo and colours and share it directly with clients and donors.
My next recommendation is causevox. This is a platform I have personally used and is my preference for its beautiful results and simple setup. You have full control over your fundraising page’s design, which is customizable to include your logo, colours and mission. The administration backend is so simple to use that even those who are not so tech-savvy can handle it.
Everydayhero charges a $400 membership fee and a 6.5% admin fee on gross donations. Causevox charges $49 per month and a 4.25% fee on gross donations.
Imagine the level of success you could achieve if you implemented a custom-branded donation page. I challenge you to set one up today. It doesn’t take long at all - less than 60 minutes - and the results will surprise you.
4. Integrate digital wallets into social networks.
Your donors are spending an increasing amount of time engaging with peers and organisations on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. To your benefit, a Waggener Edstrom report found that 55% of people who engage with nonprofits via social media are inspired to take further action.
If you are using the power of social media correctly, which includes interacting with followers and other organisations and groups, as well as posting frequent updates, polls, surveys and any other method of engaging potential donors, the number of people following your organisation will exponentially increase along with the potentiality for donations.
So if your donors are engaging with you on these platforms, how can you encourage them to take further action?
Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are working on their own ‘digital wallets’ that will be a useful tool to help support nonprofits’ fundraising efforts. These platforms are still in the early stages of development and testing, but keep an eye out for when they become available to the masses. In the meantime, I recommend using the Donation Application on Facebook, which offers a convenient way to add a fundraising tab to your Facebook page.
Technology is changing fundraising
It’s obvious that new technologies are positively affecting the ways in which we interact with our favourite companies and organisations online, and nonprofits are no exception. Your donors are looking for new and exciting ways to engage with your cause and take action, through donating or spreading the word about your organisation, using these new technologies.
I challenge you to implement one of the four recommendations I’ve made in this blog post. Start taking advantage immediately of these new technologies to improve your fundraising capabilities.
Do you need help picking out the right technology?
R & G Technologies is an IT support and IT consulting firm that specialises in helping nonprofits select and implement new technologies for their organisations. If you are looking to take advantage of any of these new technologies and need professional advice, please reach out to us on 1300 562 886 or via our website.
Interested to learn more? I recommend these blog posts:
- 14 Must-Know Stats About Fundraising, Social Media, and Mobile Technology
- 5 Nonprofit Technology Trends to Watch in 2014
About the author:
Tony Nissen is the National Solutions Manager for R & G Technologies. He has consulted to some of Australia’s largest and most successful nonprofit organisations. Tony is a sought-after speaker, presenting at conferences such as Connecting Up, Third Sector and other NFP events.