Unlocking Donor Relationships: Why Donor Management Software Matters for Small Nonprofits
Benefits of donor data
An advantage of using data is that it helps nonprofit organizations steer away from a one-size-fits-all donor cultivation and donor stewardship strategy, and take a more customized approach which is generally much more effective. Thus, using a donor management software to house your supporters’ information is key to any nonprofit’s fundraising strategy. By having your data centrally located it will not only help secure your donor data, but will also keep track of those that make contributions of money, time or contribute in other ways. By having these details in one location, it can help improve your team’s ability to understand your donors better, and their giving intentions.
How can donor management software help build relationships?
Oftentimes we may feel like when we receive a gift from a donor that our work is done. However, by communicating with donors, we can increase their engagement with our mission. When we do this, we increase the likelihood that they will give to our cause again in the future, and can help build long-term relationships. Here are some ways that donor management software can help your organization build lasting relationships.
Streamlined operations: Donor management software can help nonprofits automate many time-consuming tasks such as data entry, sending thank you letters, and generating reports. For small organizations that may be using spreadsheets to manage their donor data, or a shared document, these tasks can become time-consuming as the amount of data grows. Software can free up staff and volunteer time, and allow your organization to focus on finding loyal supporters in your own database and start cultivating relationships.
Provides a comprehensive view of your donors. Donor management software allows your organization to use a data-driven approach to fundraising. It allows you to keep details on your donor’s giving history, keep track of supporters who contribute with volunteer time, or track the performance of fundraising campaigns allowing your organization to discover which campaigns resonate with donors, and those that do not. Your software can also provide insights that can lead to opportunities that help your nonprofit tailor its fundraising strategies and improve overall effectiveness.
Allows you to personalize donor communications. Using software allows nonprofits to personalize communications with donors and tailored messages can lead to higher engagement. Your donors are more likely to pay attention to messages that speak to their interests and needs. In many cases donor software can allow you to create segments, or groups of supporters that share similar interests or characteristics. This ability to segment can allow your team to create customized messages for a group of donors rather than customization for each individual donor. This strategy saves staff and volunteer time and can help smaller nonprofits be more efficient.
Can help improve donor retention. With features such as reporting dashboards, software can help you identify trends in your donors’ giving patterns. Your team can also keep detailed notes about interactions with donors that help your team get to know your donors better. Also, donor management software can automate the ability to send timely, customized gift acknowledgements that let donors know the impact of their giving. All of which can help boost your donor retention rates.
Helps succession planning of the organization. Your organization may have a long-time staff or volunteer that maintains many of the relationships. And if that person leaves your organization, key loyal supporters may be lost as well. Donor management software allows you to document key meetings and discussions. That way if a key staff member leaves, your data is organized and ensures donor information can be shared with other staff or board members to help maintain the relationship with the donor. And, in the future, you will be able to refer to your database for information on your donor’s interests or other causes they have given to.
Maximizing the benefits of your donor management software
Even though there are many benefits to donor management software there are activities that must be performed to ensure that you are making full use of your software.
Making sure your data is clean. The importance of clean data is that it helps your organization get the most out of what is entered in your database. It is important to take time to make sure that the individual records are accurate. Imagine trying to cultivate a relationship with a donor thinking that they have supported your organization with several gifts, only to find out that those records are duplicate entries? Ensuring that there are standards in place helps data be entered correctly in your database.
Regularly analyzing your donor data. Analyzing your donor data will help inform your organization’s donor engagement strategies such as preferred methods of communication (like email versus phone), or even deciding which fundraising events for your nonprofit will likely be more successful. Data can be a wealth of knowledge informing future decisions when analyzed regularly.
Leverage reporting. Many software tools offer automated reporting which can save your organization time. This is much less time consuming than trying to sort through data using a spreadsheet or a document. Also, many reports can be customized based on what your team wants to learn about donors and your organization’s fundraising progress. This information can significantly improve your team’s ability to reach fundraising goals, and support more efficient meetings.
Receive buy-in from the entire team. Sometimes there may be barriers to using software to help manage your team's fundraising data. Such as lack of time or technical expertise. Letting your leadership know the benefits of using data and how it can help your nonprofit be more efficient will help the team buy into a culture of data.
Implementing strategies that support your nonprofit’s fundraising goals can be made much simpler with the support of good donor management software. For many nonprofits, the use of simple, time saving software is key to helping both managing the efficiency of staff and volunteers, but also building a loyal base of donors. When your nonprofit can automate much of its fundraising work, that will allow your team to focus on the goals of your mission and ultimately the community you serve.
