When we think of nonprofits, we think of the paper run charities that utilize the help of volunteers to raise funds for a cause. This description is still true, for the smaller nonprofits that are just starting. But today, utilizing modern technology both digital and the infrastructure itself is changing the way nonprofits work.
Running a nonprofit organization is virtually identical to running a business, wherein you have to “market” your cause, generate leads to attract donors, and providing results to your benefactors. Businesses utilize as much technology possible as the returns of these tech strategies are too effective to cast a blind eye to. Nonprofits do not share the same budget cap that big businesses do, but there are a few ways wherein low budget nonprofits can utilize technology with high efficiency and effectivity.
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Digital Donations
Nonprofits are now able to utilize online donation platforms like Causes, Crowdrise, or DonateNow by creating profiles and allowing new or current donors to donate online much more conveniently. A small percentage for every donation will be allocated to the online donation platform, but this allows low budget nonprofits to reach more volunteers and donors in a wider market. Take some time to look and study which digital donation platform is best for your nonprofit, as each have their own pros and cons. Moreover, there are third party solutions like Donorbox that allows nonprofits to integrate customized donation forms on their website.
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Social Media Presence
Online marketing of your nonprofit can be done without much financial investment needed, as long as you spend some time learning how to utilize them well. With Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter being free social media platforms, you can easily spread the word of your cause through these free to use platforms, and linking your posts to your digital donation website.
Social media posts are shareable, and your links to your website will also be attached to whatever post you make, thus sharing your posts increases your marketing value exponentially. The social media route is definitely changing how nonprofits voice out their causes to the masses.
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Metrics and Analytics
Paper-based data collection and analysis are both meticulous and time-consuming, preventing nonprofits from focusing on gathering more volunteers and donors for their cause. Using digital donation platforms and social media platforms make data collection and analytics so much easier. Digital donation platforms collect your donors’ details before allowing them to donate to your cause, which provides you with email addresses or phone numbers that you can revert to when you want to invite your donors to events or to send them gifts. These platforms also allow you to track how much each benefactor sends to you in any specific amount of time.
Social media analytics are readily available by just locating the insights or analytics page of your social media platform. This page allows you to track how many views, clicks, shares and other statistics that your posts have gained. Using these analytics data to fine-tune the marketing strategy will not only allow nonprofits to identify what type of post to focus on but also to find out what demographic is being reached by their message and cause.
