Nonprofit software is any system, program, or application that helps nonprofits manage and track their day-to-day operations. Also sometimes called fundraising platforms or fundraising tools, nonprofit software can assist individuals and teams on multiple levels and can include any function from administration to donor communications, fundraising, donor relations, marketing, accounting, and much more. By making use of nonprofit software, you can maximize the efforts of your organization in terms of outreach, donor engagement and communication, fundraising, and overall productivity.
While nonprofit software has numerous benefits to help you run your organization, choosing the right one can be overwhelming. In this blog post, you delve into the world of nonprofit software, what to look for, and a look at how monday.com Work OS could help you raise more money. Armed with this knowledge, you will be fully equipped to choose a software solution that works for your nonprofit organization.
What are the benefits of nonprofit software?
As mentioned before, there are many benefits to choosing nonprofit software for your organization. By making the right choice, you can soon reap the benefits of these intuitive systems and boost your fundraising, communication, and marketing efforts in the most effective and efficient way.
One example of these benefits is the ability to manage and cultivate relationships with donors, contacts, and volunteers through various outreach campaigns, communication, marketing materials, and automated responses. Nonprofit software features also help you stay organized and running efficiently by reducing the need for multiple platforms for storing, tracking, and repoting your most important data and information.
Many nonprofit technologies boast premium features like accounting and data management, allowing you to reap the benefits without prior know-how. The dashboard is easy to understand, which means onboarding and training are a breeze. This will help you not only maximize your impact and reach your fundraising goals but improve productivity and efficiency within the organization.
What types of nonprofit software is available?
There are several types of nonprofit software available, each designed to meet the specific needs of nonprofit organizations, from fundraising to donor relations and management. Software for nonprofit organizations usually falls into three main categories, namely:
- Fundraising
- Marketing
- Management
Below we’ve detailed some information about each of these categories and why they are important for your nonprofit organization.
Fundraising
This is software that assists in the process of raising funds through outreach and donation processing. These types of programs can typically help organize peer-to-peer fundraising initiatives, which also help donors connect with like-minded individuals who also support your organization’s mission. Fundraising software makes donating to your cause an easy and intuitive process, and especially so if you can tie it into your online fundraising efforts.
Marketing
Marketing software includes applications and programs designed to help you get your message in front of the masses. In this way, you find new connections and partners to help take your organization to the next level. One of the most common marketing software is email marketing software, which allows users to organize, target, schedule, and automate responses and messages to their contacts.
Another important aspect of marketing is branding and design, which are two features that should be available within your nonprofit management software. A recognizable brand and user-friendly website are key to attracting partners, donors, volunteers, and other supporters and making the most impact for your cause. Some examples of marketing software include email marketing platforms like Mailchimp, website management systems like Wix or WordPress, graphic design software like Canva, and social media management software like Hootsuite.
Management
Management software works for a wide range of businesses and organizations, although they are incredibly valuable within a nonprofit context. An example is donor management software, which helps you organize donor data and outreach, ensuring you maintain strong relationships with current donors and make connections with potential partners and future prospects. Some management software includes donor management, membership management, volunteer management, event management, accounting software, and project management.
Crowdfunding software
Crowdfunding software lets people support causes they feel passionate about by setting up their own donation pages on behalf of the non-profit. Crowdfunding platforms allows supporters to customize their donation pages to suit their respective causes. This includes features like uploading pictures and videos, telling their stories and collecting donations in real time. It also creates a sense of urgency and is shareable, so people will likely post the crowdfunding link to their social media profiles. Crowdfunding software typically includes fundraising thermometers that allow you to see the amount of donations received at any point.
There is certainly a social aspect that aligns with the crowdfunding model, as you require the support of followers to solicit donations on your behalf. To capitalize on this, some software allows donors to share their personal details and comments once they’ve donated to your cause.
CRM software
CRM software refers to constituent relationship management software. This is software that maintains your organization’s important data and allows you to manage and streamline the process of data storage and access. CRM software can help you manage your donor profiles, develop and maintain membership programs, manage events and promotions, and send out targeted communications to your donors, among other features. With the help of CRMs, non-profits can easily handle any logistical processes while building stronger relationships with donors. As such, an fundraising or crowdfunding platforms should have the ability to integrate CRM software.
Peer-to-peer software
This is quite similar to crowdfunding software, although a few key differences can be noted. For one, peer-to-peer software allows any supporter’s donation pages to be directly linked to your non-profit. Whenever donations are received by the supporter, they are immediately processed and sent to the non-profit. Another difference is that non-profits usually have a fundraising goal in mind, which supporters will then use to set up donation pages on their behalf. This fundraising software can also be paired with events. For example, a race or walk can be arranged, with all money raised through tickets and sponsorships donated directly to the non-profit. Ultimately, peer-to-peer fundraising allows outsiders, whether individuals or fundraising teams to set up donation pages on behalf of a non-profits, with all proceeds going to the cause.
Text-to-give software
This software is incredibly convenient as it allows donors to quickly and easily make donations via their mobile devices. In today’s modern age, a large majority of people have access to smartphones, and using text-to-give software makes the job of soliciting donations more efficient and accessible than ever. For a supporter to make a donation via text-to-give software, they must text their donation amount to the number provided. They will then receive a link to an email, which must be sent to the organization to confirm their donation. First-time donors will need to include their credit card information as well. Once this is set up, donors can repeatedly send money via text, making this one of the most convenient mediums for fundraising available.
Volunteer Registration Management
Volunteers play an important role in nonprofits, even though they don’t contribute financially. Volunteers still have a major impact on the success of your organization. To ensure that you retain and attract volunteers, you should prioritize engagement through a volunteer management and stewardship strategy. Any nonprofit will benefit from volunteer management software, no matter how big or small the organization is. Gone are the days when staff was overworked and team members had to manually enter data into spreadsheets. These days, with the help of software, you can not only manage volunteers but automate processes and tasks to save time and resources.
Auction software
Auction software is beneficial when a charity wants to host an auction to raise funds. This is necessary for organizing fundraising events that require items to be auctioned off, with the funds raise being donated to the charity in question. Auction software lets non-profits streamline the process of fundraising through auctions, including event management, online auctions, mobile bidding, online ticketing and analytics and reporting. In essence, auction software manages the logistics or technical aspects of planning an auction event, engaging with donors and raising funds for your organization.
Matching gift software
This type of software allows you to share information with your supporters on how their gifts can be matched by other matching gift programs. In matching programs, small businesses typically match offers to charitable donations made by their employees. Corporate donations contribute millions of dollars to non-profits every year, although millions of dollars are also unmatched due to employees not knowing about their company’s matching gifts program. With the help of matching gift software, supporters can easily discover match gift opportunities and donate to a cause they’re passionate about. Once a donor is eligible, the software helps them complete a matching gift request.
Grant management software
Grant management software can also help you plan, track and measure your nonprofit efforts, from mapping food deliveries to donated supplies. With a grant management software, you can create a knowledge base with core documents related to grant programs, federal government reporting requirements, review processes, and grant applications. Your team will be aligned on tasks and communications from pre-award to post-award, such as grant money requested vs received.
Church giving software
This type of software helps members donate to and support the church communities in their area. It allows church-goers to allow contribute to the upkeep of the church and support programs that improve the spiritual journeys of church members. Church goers are often asked to donate a portion of their income to their church of attendance. In some cases, church members can also donate gifts. With church giving software, members can automate the donation process. Church giving software is also useful for larger churches with various campuses as it allows members to support a campus of their choosing. With the help of church giving software, churches can easily manage gifts arriving through multiple channels from church members and supporters from far and wide. They will also not need to be in the congregation in order to donate.
Payment processing software
Payment processing software allows organizations to collect donations online. It is managed by a third party payment processing company, allowing supporters to make online payments to the non-profit of their choice. The company also manages the donor’s credit card details so ensure the transaction is completed safely and successfully.
What is the best nonprofit software?
Every nonprofit organization will have its own unique set of needs and requirements, and not every nonprofit software application will be necessary for what you want to achieve. However, efficiently managing your organization is the cornerstone to success, and nonprofit software will help make the process more streamlined and effective. It will also save you time, money, and resources in the long run. For most nonprofits, it is essential to invest in some type of CRM software to maximize reach, build relations with donors and realize the full potential of your organization. With premier nonprofit software, you can ensure that your organization’s foundational needs are met while building towards future growth.
monday.com nonprofit templates
With monday.com nonprofit templates, you will enjoy a centralized platform for all your nonprofit operations in one intuitive place. You will be provided with all the tools and resources you need to better manage your organization while saving time and money and maximizing your impact. With monday.com, nonprofit organizations can:
- Meet your fundraising goals: The monday.com nonprofit platform lets you easily plan, track and launch fundraising campaigns to help you reach your goals faster. You can also engage with contacts, donors, and partners, access insights and trends, and create targeted messaging for your donor base. Other features include access to donation pipelines, managing grant applications, automating personalized communications, and tracking interactions with donors.
- Recruit and engage volunteers: Organize and coordinate volunteers in the most stress-free way possible with the monday.com nonprofit software. Create strategic plans and positive volunteer experiences that will attract interest and increase retention. Features worth noting include the ability to embed recruitment forms, assign volunteers specific tasks and shifts, automate communication, and manage volunteer availability and capacity.
- Project management: With monday.com, you can make use of top-tier end-to-end project management for everyday operations, event management and planning, marketing, and much more. In this way, you can ensure everyone is aligned and capable of collaboration and meeting your goals effectively. Features to note include automating routine tasks, assigning and tracking tasks, direct communication, creating custom workflows, and much more. With monday.com, your organization will run as smoothly as possible.
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