11 Ways Nonprofits Can Maximize Tech To Reach More Donors
Technology can be a powerful tool for nonprofit organizations, and one of its most impactful applications is helping you reach more donors. Leveraging modern tech tools in this way can help boost your funding—a key factor in any nonprofit’s ability to support its mission.
Below, 11 members of Forbes Nonprofit Council explain how they’ve leveraged technology to boost donor reach and funding. From communicating directly with donors to investing in AI-powered fundraising tools, these strategies can help your organization maximize its impact.
1. Capturing Initial Interest In Your Organization
After capturing the interest of potential donors through technology, we always aim to set up in-person meetings to foster a deeper connection. This face-to-face interaction is essential for understanding, building trust and creating lasting partnerships. By using technology to open the door and then focusing on personal engagement, we can create a balanced and effective donor strategy. – Jessica Heffinger, Glory Baby Ministry
2. Optimizing Operations
Getting a technology needs analysis done for your organization—whether it’s pro bono or paid—will greatly help in determining the organization’s technology goals and in creating a feasible and phased plan for implementation, ensuring various functional needs can be addressed. The right technological solutions will optimize most areas of the organization, allowing for even more mission focus. – Neha Gill, Apna Ghar, Inc. (Our Home)
3. Telling Compelling Stories
We love using technology to tell stories to our donors and community, from provocative posts to firsthand stories of our impact. We have been able to multiply engagement, as well as educate and entertain our audiences. I highly recommend unleashing the creativity and power of digital storytelling. – Maureen Sedonaen, Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco
4. Sparking Ideas
Recommit to human involvement in any technological pursuit. With the advent of AI, many nonprofits are leaning too heavily on newfangled tech to crank out content. While AI can be helpful to spark ideas, the best tool for most jobs will invariably be a human. Unless you’re targeting robots, rely on humans to lead content creation, with only a gentle assist from tech. – Michael Bellavia, HelpGood
5. Increasing Logistics Visibility And Efficiency
Our project ensures access to lifesaving health products across 1,000 facilities in-country. Technology aids our end-to-end visibility, from public sector needs estimation, procurement, freight and storage to last-mile distribution. This enables supply chain transparency, accountability, quality data and cost-effectiveness. These efficiencies assure partners and safeguard the investment of donors. – Ladi Stephen, Chemonics International
6. Sharing Mission Moments
We have mission moments at board meetings. These are now shared on social media to attract new team members, board members, clients and donors. – Duana Patton, Ohio District 5 Area Agency on Aging Inc.
7. Engaging And Communicating With Donors
Social media remains one of the most powerful tech tools we have for successfully engaging donors. As long as we use the right platforms and see the difference in the division of media for an individual versus an organization, we can use it to share updates, tell a compelling and ongoing narrative and connect with allies. Instead of one-way communication, social media is a great engagement tool. – Patrick Riccards, Driving Force Institute
8. Maximizing Fundraising With AI
I just implemented a Salesforce donor interface that will connect to an external AI-powered fundraising platform that helps fundraisers triple their productivity and maximize dollars raised. I expect to see 30% this year. Technology isn’t cheap, but the first rule of business is you have to spend money to make money. Nonprofits are businesses, even though it is often taboo to externally act like a business. – Erin Davison, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwest Louisiana
9. Expanding Presence And Reach
There was a time when it was important for nonprofits to have a website. Today, you have to have a Web presence. Social media, blogs, boosts and podcasts provide a greater reach for nonprofits, making it easier to share your mission, strategies and values with a larger audience. Additionally, board members, sponsors, stakeholders and staff can become microinfluencers for the nonprofit’s brand. – Aaron Alejandro, Texas FFA Foundation
10. Exchanging Information With Donors
We use technology to help bridge the spatial divide. As a mission-driven nonprofit known for our deep understanding of our space, it is imperative that we stay connected not just to donors for funding, but also to our community for information exchange regarding the issues we work on. – Libbie Sonnier, Louisiana Policy Institute for Children
11. Making Optimal Use Of Your Tech Stack
If you are going to invest in technology, whether free or through subscriptions, be sure you have an assistant with technical expertise to realize the full value of your tech stack. Tech assistants can ensure your technology will provide the desired outcomes and apply necessary integrations to be sure your technology is aligned for efficiency, ensuring data integrity and utilizing the tech to its fullest. – Victoria Burkhart, The More Than Giving Company
Source: Forbes
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