Whatever we call organizations in the nonprofit sector — charities, foundations, social enterprises, and so on — the point is that their paths to growth and success are based on strategies similar to those used by for-profit companies. Like these companies, nonprofits and charities require strong leadership, vision, and innovation, along with the right people and tools, to give their causes the visibility they deserve.

Here, we’ll examine some of the key strategies that nonprofits can use in order to garner support and increase their impact.

1. Know your donors

The most successful charities truly know their donors. In the corporate world, this principle is called “knowing your customer.” But whether you’re referring to customers or donors, the underlying message is that it’s important to look beyond the numbers and learn more about what attracts individuals to your organization.

A forward-thinking nonprofit will always stay focused on the things their donors care about, where their preferences lie, and how much they’ve given in the past. Sophisticated organizations can even use this information to predict (with surprising accuracy) how much those donors will give in the future. This is a huge advantage, as it takes a lot of the risk out of strategic planning.

How do these organizations do it? It’s a combination of the right instincts, the right tools, and the right processes. Interact with your supporters at any opportunity, invest in a comprehensive donor management solution, and make market research an ongoing part of your operations. You’ll be amazed at what you can achieve when you have a better understanding of your audience.

2. Personalize every connection

When it comes to effective donor management, you cannot overestimate the importance of building relationships and personalizing every communication. The people who are giving to your charity need to know that they’re making a difference. They also need to feel that their efforts are acknowledged and appreciated.

Hold on. But they’re giving for the cause, not for themselves, right?

Of course, that’s a nice thought, and it may be true for some donors. But overall, that’s not how the business of nonprofit management works. Ask any successful for-profit business about the importance of personal relationships. They’ll tell you that building and maintaining those relationships is crucial to their success.  

The same thing applies here. In fact, in the nonprofit world, creating these meaningful relationships is even more important, because the donor is giving you their money without receiving a product or service in return.  

To maximize donor retention, treat each donor like they’re your biggest supporter. Every email, outreach and check-in call should be personalized and informed by their previous interactions with your nonprofit, their giving history, and the things they care about.

3. Leverage digital tools

Your donors are online and digitally active. For many younger supporters, it’s the best way they know of to learn about your nonprofit, see the work you’re doing, and plan their future giving.

Just as for-profit companies use technology to strengthen their brand, connect with potential buyers and manage customer relationships, your organization should do the same. At a minimum, this means you should have a well-maintained website and a strong social media presence.

From an internal perspective, cloud-based apps are great for providing your team with a shared workspace, a centralized dataset, and mobile access to essential information. For instance, nonprofits can leverage donor management software to:

• Send out personalized email communications
• Organize large-scale marketing campaigns
• Manage interactions with donor leads — and more.

4. Centralize your administration

Many nonprofit organizations consist of a network of local branches across the country, each operating as its own entity. Each one of those local entities has administrative expenses for supplies, technology, and staffing — and those expenses add up quickly. This arrangement is a recipe for duplication and inefficiencies.

There’s a real opportunity for centralization here. For example, the umbrella organization or head office can buy supplies in bulk for cost savings. A shared software solution can also be used to assist individual branches with standardizing administrative tasks. When each branch of a nationwide nonprofit is using the same programs, it promotes consistency in data management, campaign development, and donor communications.

5. Get the right data

Robert McNamara, former Ford Motor Company executive and former US Secretary of Defense, had a set of maxims for leading large organizations. One of them was “get the data.” Indeed, McNamara was one of the first advocates of data-driven management.

Just like private sector businesses, charities need metrics to assess their performance. These key performance indicators (KPIs) help paint a picture of how your campaigns are working and how engaged your supporters are. Important KPIs for nonprofits might include:

• Month-over-month and year-over-year financials  
• Donor acquisition cost: How much do you have to spend to acquire a new donor?
• Retention rate: What percentage of donors who gave last year gave again this year?
• Donor lifetime value: How much value do you obtain from a donor’s lifetime involvement with your organization?

When it comes to strategic planning, the scene at a nonprofit shouldn’t look that different from that at a private company — a group of smart people gathered around a conference table, looking for answers to complex questions and planning the way forward. Your KPIs should be an important part of that strategic process.

Using technology to promote best practices

Every nonprofit best practice — from knowing your donors to collecting essential data — can be supported by the right technology. Nonprofit-specific software can help organizations streamline many aspects of their day-to-day operations, including donor relationship management, donation tracking, email marketing, and reporting.

By investing in key tools right from the get-go, your organization will be well-equipped to capture new leads, turn those leads into donors, and execute campaigns to keep donors engaged for the long haul.

The post 5 Best Practices for Running a Nonprofit appeared first on Method.

While personalized letters to your donors are highly meaningful, it takes a lot of time to write and send them. During busy periods like the holiday fundraising season, it can be challenging to keep up with these thank you letters alongside your other activities. Anything you can do to improve the efficiency of your letter writing process (while still maintaining a personal touch) will help to ensure the success of your current and future fundraising efforts.

Here are nine tips to help nonprofit organizations write and send great donor thank you letters.

1. Integrate a CRM for nonprofits into your operations

During busy fundraising seasons, your team can quickly become overwhelmed by administrative tasks. This makes it impractical to write and send each thank you letter manually. Thankfully, you can streamline this process from start to finish with the tools in a CRM designed for nonprofits. A good CRM system not only helps you organize your donor and donation data, but it can also automate the process of sending a thank you letter to each donor. As a result, you’ll save time and effort without compromising on the quality of your donor communications.

2. Mind the time

In an age of instant gratification, it’s important to send your thank you letters within 48 hours of receiving donations. This quick turnaround time ensures that your donors feel their contributions were acknowledged and appreciated by your nonprofit. Rapid responses also demonstrate that your organization intends to use the funds promptly. In the end, when you mind the time in sending out your thank you letters, you keep your donors engaged with your nonprofit and its mission to help.

3. Set reminders

Upon receiving a donation, the clock quickly starts ticking down, demanding that you act fast in sending out your letter. To make sure you stay within the optimal window, set reminders to keep you on track. This is another great opportunity to make use of your CRM: as soon as you log a donation, schedule a related task to send the thank you letter. You can then refer back to your to-do list at convenient points during the day. This system will help you create and send your thank you letters well within the 48-hour period.

4. Make your letters specific

As you diversify your fundraising efforts, avoid sending generic “thank you for your donation” letters to all donors. Instead, your thank you letters should always refer to the specific initiative supported or event attended. These detailed letters will remind your donors of their personal involvement in your community. As part of this process, make sure to also highlight the impact that each donor will have on your organization’s work. You can do so by explaining how the money will be used to directly fulfill the mission of the specific fundraising campaign.

5. Create reusable templates

As the fundraising season ramps up, your team will have little time left in the day for crafting and sending the engaging letters described above. Streamline the process and make sure everything gets done in a timely manner by creating reusable thank you letter templates. You’ll want to create a template for each fundraising campaign and event you run. Download and modify free templates available online or build on those available in your CRM system. As time goes on, you can work even more efficiently by basing new templates off of old ones.

6. Personalize every message

When you use templates to create your thank you letters, it’s important to personalize each letter with the donor’s name. Include details about their donation as well, especially if you can describe the impact the donation will have on your nonprofit’s operations. When you include these personal touches in your thank you letters, your donors feel more connected to your mission and more invested in the results you achieve with your fundraising campaigns.

7. Track donor history

The way your donors interact with your nonprofit offers key information that you can incorporate into your fundraising strategy. Beyond name and donation amount, personalize your thank you letters further by referencing individual donor history. You might personally thank new donors for taking an interest in your mission, for example, or applaud existing donors for their long track record of support. The key is to track as much donor data as possible using your CRM or favorite spreadsheet program. These details can strengthen the success of your fundraising campaigns by helping you speak directly to your donors.

8. Send tax receipts

Since you need to send tax receipts anyway, make them an integral part of your thank you letter process. Within your thank you letter template, include a message to explain that the donation is tax deductible (if applicable). Then, use the automation tools in your CRM to print or email your letters and tax receipts simultaneously. Your donors will appreciate the streamlined correspondence, especially if they’re in the habit of making regular donations.

9. Include an invitation

It costs more to attract new donors than retain existing ones — so don’t let your generous supporters lose interest in your mission. Your thank you letters should always encourage ongoing engagement with your nonprofit. Within each template, include an invitation to attend an event, follow your social media channels, or support an upcoming fundraiser. You can also encourage donors to share these invitations with family and friends to increase awareness and support for your nonprofit.

Support your fundraising campaigns with superb thank you letter practices

Your donors will be more likely to support your future fundraising campaigns if you acknowledge their current support. If you’re struggling to keep up with sending thank you letters, consider adopting some of the tips described above. In particular, using a CRM designed for nonprofits can help with many aspects of preparing these letters, from templates to timing to tax receipts. By sending heartfelt notes of gratitude in a timely manner, you’ll strengthen the bonds between your nonprofit and its donors for years to come.

The post 9 Tips to Help Nonprofits Send Excellent Donor Thank You Letters appeared first on Method.

Conversely, the months following the holidays tend to bring in fewer donations as people tighten their purse strings and balance their budgets. This means it’s important for your nonprofit to put plenty of thought into the fundraising campaigns you run during the busy season.

Luckily, the holiday season offers a wealth of great ways to attract new supporters to your nonprofit. And since the holidays are fast approaching — the time to start planning is now! Whether you want to throw one massive gala or run a variety of smaller events, the following list of fundraising campaigns has something to suit every nonprofit this holiday season.

1. Charity or silent auction

Everyone loves an auction, and there’s a great reason for any nonprofit to try this fundraiser – it’s all profit! Ideally, items are donated to the cause by local businesses in exchange for free publicity.

On the day of the event, the auction structure is flexible. You might arrange a traditional “live” affair with an auctioneer or a silent auction where attendees can add their bids to a list until a pre-determined end time. In either scenario, you can streamline the event logistics using mobile bidding software. Beyond the auction itself, you can even combine this fundraiser with a dinner or cocktail party, making it a large-scale event that your donors and volunteers can look forward to and enjoy.

2. Holiday gala

A formal holiday gala allows your nonprofit to make the most of the giving season while celebrating the past year’s accomplishments. Such an event typically includes dress attire, elegant dining, and a beautiful location. In addition to the money raised through ticket sales, you might incorporate an auction, a raffle, or live entertainment to bring in additional funds. Beyond the fundraising potential of the event, a gala can also provide an excellent opportunity to publicly thank long-time supporters or volunteers for their hard work and generosity.

3. Casual dinner party

If a fancy gala is too extravagant for your nonprofit, a smaller dinner party can also be an excellent fundraiser. The guest list for this more intimate event might include your board members, biggest donors, and most dedicated volunteers. You can also use low-budget advertising methods like email and social media to promote the event in your community. By keeping the event smaller and more low-key, it can be as much a holiday celebration for your inner circle as it is a fundraiser.

4. Good old-fashioned benefit event

There are about a million ways to run a benefit event. Often these events have several types of fundraising happening at the same time. You might include a silent auction, split-the-pot raffle tickets, and various holiday-themed competitions (like snowman building, gingerbread house decorating, or an ugly sweater showdown). Rather than culminating in a fancy dinner like a gala does, your benefit might center around a performance or artist showcase.

5. Holiday-themed sales

The various holidays in November and December offer plenty of options for holiday-themed fundraiser sales. Baked goods and candy sales are well-loved, but don’t forget about inedible items! Ideas might include wrapping paper, decorations, wreaths, Christmas trees, or fresh garland and mistletoe.

These sales can run for several weeks leading up to the holidays, with volunteers taking orders at in-person events. You can also leverage your online donation pages to run the sales 24/7.

6. Holiday-themed services

Rather than focusing on material goods, the holiday season is a great chance to offer helpful services to your community. This can be a one-day, multi-day, or even multi-week event, depending on the size of your volunteer roster.

The services you offer will depend on the weather in your area at this time of year. For instance, you may not want to plan an outdoor car wash in a location where the temperatures typically dip below freezing! Seasonally-appropriate services might include gift wrapping, holiday decorating, and even snow removal.

7. Polar bear plunge

Jumping into a freezing cold body of water in the middle of winter is probably one of the more eccentric ways to raise money. In spite of the hypothermia risk, these events have become popular and well-liked liked fundraisers for many nonprofits.

Much like a walk-a-thon or charity run, donors sponsor the individuals who plan to leap into the lake or river. To raise additional funds, you can also sell promotional apparel for the event. Participants will surely appreciate having a toasty new sweater to throw on when they emerge from the water!

8. Host a charity run

The type of run you host will again depend on the seasonal temperatures in your area. Some organizations find that hosting a shorter outdoor run in lower temperatures can still attract quite a good turn-out. Others may opt to host their running or walking events at an indoor arena. In either case, adding a holiday costume component to the event can help to entice individuals who may not think they’re “athletic” enough to participate.

9. Sporting events

There are a wide variety of sporting competitions that can serve as good fundraising opportunities. These can include classic team sports like basketball or baseball or indoor sports from your gym class days, like dodgeball or floor hockey. You could also take a cue from the winter weather and invite your community to participate in a skating, sledding, or cross-country skiing event.

Sporting fundraisers often feature prizes for the winners, which helps to draw a crowd. You might also include food and drink sales as well as a raffle to supplement the funds from registration fees.

10. Bake/cook-offs

Sports aren’t the only activity that brings out healthy competition! Hosting a bake-off or cook-off can be a delicious way to raise funds for your nonprofit. Participants can pay a fee to compete while community members can buy tickets for the taste-test. The food in question can be a holiday classic like pies or cookies, or something more unique to your local culture and traditions.

Making the most of your holiday fundraising campaigns

Hosting an end-of-the-year event gives you a great opportunity to get the word out about your nonprofit while also raising valuable funds. To attract generous donations, your fundraiser should offer something fun for those who participate. You should also share all of the event details, photos, and acknowledgments on your social media channels to encourage repeat attendance in future years.

In the slower months following the holiday season, take advantage of the downtime to assess how well your holiday fundraising campaigns performed. Using a CRM for nonprofits is a great way to keep track of your new and returning donors along with their donations. It also speeds up the process of creating thank-you letters and tax receipts, which you’re sure to be sending a lot of! By taking an organized approach to donor management, you can develop an annual holiday fundraising strategy that will benefit your nonprofit for years to come.

The post 10 Great Holiday Fundraising Campaigns for Nonprofits appeared first on Method.

In this article, we’ll look at six guidelines for creating effective online donation pages. By following these tips, you’ll set your nonprofit up to secure the funding it needs to thrive.

1. Make Your Online Donation Page Easy to Find

Donating to your nonprofit needs to be nearly effortless for your website’s visitors. A big part of making it easy for visitors to donate is making your donation page easy to find.

Start by including a highly visible, brightly-colored button with text such as “Donate Now” on your homepage. Similar buttons should appear on every other page of your website. At various points throughout the text of your site, you can also include calls-to-action that link to your donation page.

Of course, you don’t want to overdo it and overwhelm your visitors with donation requests. However, visitors should be well aware that your donation page exists and it should be easy for them to navigate to it from any page on your website.

2. Provide Pre-Selected Donation Amounts

In addition to giving visitors the ability to enter a custom amount that they want to donate, your online donation page should offer the option to check off and donate a pre-selected amount. Allowing visitors to choose from pre-defined options streamlines the donation process by removing the obstacle of making a decision.

For this reason, most large nonprofit organizations include a number of common donation amounts on their online donation pages. On average, these pre-selected amounts range from $25-50 at the lower end to $250-$5000 at the higher end. Based on your organization’s historical donation data, you can identify the amounts that make the most sense for your donors.

3. Use a CRM for Nonprofits

To simplify the process of creating an online donation page, look for customer relationship management software that offers this functionality. CRM software for nonprofits is designed to simplify the fundraising process, making life easier for both donors and employees.

Method:Donor is a CRM for nonprofits that lets you embed an online donation page in your website. All donations made through this page are automatically synced to your QuickBooks file, eliminating the need for manual data entry. When a donation is entered, Method:Donor also sends a personalized “thank you” note to the donor and schedules a follow-up for your team.

For organizations that rely largely on volunteers, this type of automation is invaluable. This is because it makes the donation process simple enough for new users to learn quickly, with minimal training. If you want to set up an online donation page that practically runs itself, using a CRM for nonprofits is an excellent option.

4. Offer a Variety of Payment Options

The more payment methods your website accepts, the more likely it is that a visitor will be able to find an option that’s convenient for them. You’ll want to consider accepting a wide range of debit and credit cards, as well as other online payment options such as PayPal and Stripe.

One large benefit of including PayPal as a payment option on your online donation page is that many PayPal users are automatically signed into their account no matter which website they visit. This means they can complete their online donation in just a few clicks without having to type in all of their credit card information.

5. Limit Your Form to One Page

Ideally, the form you use to collect information from your donors should only be one page long. Requiring donors to go through multiple pages to complete the donation process simply gives them more opportunities to click away.

Naturally, limiting your donation form to a single page may mean that you aren’t able to collect as much information from your donors. While donor data is valuable, you have to weigh the value of this data against the value of successfully securing a donation. In the end, making it as easy as possible for visitors to donate should take priority over collecting large amounts of information from them.

6. Remind Visitors Why They’re Donating

Ideally, the homepage of your nonprofit’s website should thoroughly explain what the organization’s mission is. It should also provide details about the good things you’re doing with the online donations you receive. However, that doesn’t mean your online donation page should jump right to the payment form. Instead, take the opportunity to remind your visitors once again why it is that they should donate. Include a couple of touching photographs if possible, as well as a few lines of heartfelt text describing the positive difference their donation will make.

Remember, people want to feel good about making a donation, and it’s your job to provide them with that feeling. Just be sure to keep it short and sweet — you want to remind people why they’re donating without distracting them from actually doing so.

Conclusion

A well-structured online donation page can very easily tip the balance between your nonprofit having all of the funds it needs versus struggling to stay above water. By following the tips outlined above, you can create an online donation page that speaks powerfully to your donors. And when it’s easy for your donors to give, it becomes easier for your nonprofit to make a positive difference in the world.

The post How to Create Effective Online Donation Pages appeared first on Method.

A quick backstory: once upon a time, Method was known solely for its flagship CRM — a customer relationship management system that integrates seamlessly with QuickBooks. But that changed in 2014 when the Method team won Intuit’s QuickBooks Connect Hackathon with an app designed for nonprofits.

You see, we knew that nonprofits could benefit from connecting their contact management and their accounting. But we also knew that nonprofits have unique needs that weren’t addressed by our existing CRM. So we took our winning idea and ran with it.

After surveying hundreds of small charitable organizations, collaborating with nonprofit accountants, and executing a successful beta, we launched Method:Donor in 2015. Four years later, it’s still going strong, and we love hearing how it helps nonprofits work more efficiently. If you’re in the market for donor management software, here’s an overview of what Method offers.

What is Method:Donor and how can it help my nonprofit?

If you work at a small nonprofit, your donor and donation data is likely scattered across email accounts and spreadsheets. You’re probably also spending a large portion of your day just trying to keep up with administrative work and reporting.

Enter the solution: mobile-friendly donor management software for nonprofits using QuickBooks. With Method:Donor, you can organize all your donors, follow-ups, and donation history in one place and access them anytime, on any device. This allows you to efficiently carry out fundraising best practices, including personalized thank-you letters, timely receipting, and regular follow-ups.

Method also has a two-way, real-time integration with all versions of QuickBooks. This means you can enter donations in Method and they will automatically sync to QuickBooks, eliminating the need for double data entry. Your accountant will love this! Plus, with complete and accurate data in both Method and QuickBooks, reporting will no longer take hours each month.

Method:Donor is also 100% customizable, allowing you to streamline workflows unique to your nonprofit.

How does Method:Donor work?

Let’s say you have a new volunteer starting today – welcome, Betty!

You’re busy with an upcoming event, so you’d like Betty to enter a stack of checks and send tax receipts. Luckily, Method:Donor’s simple user interface is so intuitive, your new volunteer can get going within minutes — no training necessary!

Here’s how easy it is for Betty to record a donation from Errol, who has sent a nice letter and a $500 check:

1. Because Errol is a first-time donor to your organization, Betty quickly enters his contact info into the donor management software.
2. Betty then enters the donation and splits it between two of the organization’s programs, as requested in Errol’s letter.
3. Behind the scenes, Errol’s contact details and donation automatically transfer over to QuickBooks (just the way your accountant likes it!).
4. With one click, Betty sends Errol a personalized ‘thank-you’ email and tax receipt directly from Method.
5. Lastly, she schedules a reminder in Method to follow up with Errol in two weeks to start building a long-term relationship.

And there you have it. With Method:Donor, your team regains hours each week and you can cultivate stronger relationships with your community of donors. Most importantly, you’re spending less time on data entry and “pushing paper” and more time on the work that matters most.

The post Why Should You Use Donor Management Software That Works with QuickBooks? appeared first on Method.