Nonprofits are always on the lookout for ways to improve their fundraising efforts, whether by trying out new fundraising ideas or keeping up with the latest trends. While exploring new ideas, however, you may be missing out on the difference you can make with the fundraising tools you already have.
Specifically, your organization’s constituent relationship management (CRM) software can be a fundraising game changer. Your CRM enables you to develop deeper donor relationships, better understand fundraising success, and so much more.
If you haven’t yet explored how your CRM can improve your nonprofit’s fundraising efforts, let’s take the time to do so now. We’ll walk you through four key ways to use this impactful tool to boost your fundraising results. Let’s dive in!
1. Leverage your data to personalize outreach.
Your CRM houses plenty of useful data about the donors, supporters, and prospective donors your organization interacts with. In fact, Redpath’s guide to Salesforce for Nonprofits explains that the top benefit of using a robust CRM like Salesforce is that it centralizes your donor data, giving your nonprofit a 360-degree view of each supporter in your database.
When you see a donor’s demographic information, involvement history, and recorded interests altogether, you can glean new insights about their preferences and use that information to personalize outreach and fundraising appeals. This enhanced personalization helps you connect with donors, strengthen relationships, and ultimately raise more funds.
For example, say that you’re looking at a donor profile in your CRM for a woman named Shirley. From here, you can see that Shirley:
- Attended four of your fundraising events last year.
- Donated a total of $500 to your recent community housing campaign.
- Sent a branded charity eCard to a friend after making her most recent donation.
- Provided feedback on a post-event survey about how much she enjoyed an auction.
With all of this information in mind, you might decide to send Shirley a personalized invitation to your upcoming fundraising event along with an email about a few high-value auction items the event will feature. In your next fundraising appeal, you can thank her for past contributions to your housing initiatives and highlight the additional impact she can make for unhoused individuals by donating again.
2. Use reports to understand your successes.
Along with tracking donor data, nonprofit CRMs track and analyze important fundraising metrics for your organization. These reporting capabilities can help you improve every aspect of your fundraising strategy by showing which efforts are most successful and helping you identify gaps.
In particular, pay attention to your CRM’s reports on fundraising metrics like:
- Donor retention rates: This metric measures how many donors continue giving to your organization year after year. Lower-than-average retention rates can indicate that you need to give existing donors more attention to retain their support.
- Average gift sizes: Discover the average donation size for specific campaigns, groups of donors, and even individual donors. This information helps you suggest more relevant gift amounts and steward donors to higher giving levels over time.
- Fundraising appeal conversion rates: Analyze which email and direct mail appeals most successfully encourage donations. Then, use this data to identify the best appeal strategies and emulate them in future solicitations.
- Matching gift metrics: According to 360MatchPro, analyzing matching gift metrics like match completion rate and average matching gift amount can help you predict matching gift outcomes and raise more from this lucrative fundraising method.
Use this data to guide future fundraising strategies and tailor your approach to what resonates most with donors. For example, average gift sizes and per-campaign donation totals can help you identify which fundraisers are most profitable, allowing you to focus your efforts on the campaigns that bring in the most fundraising revenue going forward.
3. Tap into your CRM’s automation capabilities.
Nowadays, many nonprofit CRMs offer automation features that can simplify work for your team and drive better fundraising outcomes.
For instance, some CRMs enable you to create automated email streams triggered by donors’ actions. With these automations in place, every donor who registers for an event or signs up for your monthly giving program will receive a series of tailored emails designed to strengthen donor relationships and keep them engaged.
Automation features like this can help your nonprofit boost efficiency, take advantage of more opportunities for connection, and create personalized communications faster. All in all, automation capabilities allow your organization to achieve better fundraising results while spending less time on menial tasks.
Explore your database and conduct research to discover any automation features your CRM may have that you’re not yet taking advantage of. This might include automated donation tracking, marketing automation, automated workflows for stewarding donors, and more.
4. Work with a nonprofit tech consultant to discover new strategies.
Finally, don’t hesitate to tap into extra professional resources when needed. Nonprofit technology consultants who specialize in working with organizations like yours are uniquely qualified to help you leverage your technology in new ways to improve fundraising results.
If you’re unsure about the best ways to use your CRM—or you’re looking for a new, more robust solution—technology consultants can be a great help. The right tech experts can:
- Analyze your technology usage and identify any gaps. With your specific needs and goals in mind, they’ll analyze your entire technology stack and find ways to improve it to meet your needs.
- Suggest new tools that would work better for your organization. Your consultant might recommend moving to a more scalable CRM or investing in integrations that will help you fundraise more efficiently.
- Implement and customize new technology for you. If you want to invest in a new solution and migrate your existing data, a technology consultant can handle the entire process and ensure a smooth transition.
For the best results, look for a nonprofit tech consultant with experience with your specific CRM system. They’ll know the platform’s ins and outs and be familiar with common challenges and opportunities for improvement.
While most nonprofits have a CRM that houses their most valuable data, not all use it to its full potential. These strategies and tips will help you make the most of your CRM and enable you to reach new fundraising heights—all with the tools you already have.