Did you know that automation can help nonprofits build lasting donor relationships and set their fundraising efforts up for long-term success?
In the ever-evolving nonprofit landscape, fundraising remains a vital aspect of sustaining impactful initiatives. However, traditional methods of doing so can be time-consuming and resource-intensive. That’s where technology comes in to increase efficiency and streamline day-to-day tasks and processes through fundraising automation.
And you may be able to automate more than you think, especially when it comes to fundraising! In this guide, we’ll explore seven key fundraising efforts that your organization should automate—including:
- Fundraising Appeals
- Donation Acknowledgments
- Matching Gift Reminders
- Recurring Gifts
- Writing and Content Creation
- Engagement Tracking and Reporting
By leveraging smart automation for fundraising, your internal team frees up valuable time and resources to focus on what truly matters: your mission.
Keep reading to find out how!
1. Fundraising Appeals Leveraging Automation
One of your first pieces of fundraising automation should include your donor fundraising appeals. This likely produces a key source of revenue for your team. And the right tools make it quick and easy to send mass—while still personalized—donation requests.
You can even segment your audience based on giving level, engagement history, channel preferences, demographics, timing, and more. This streamlines communication, increases response rates, and cultivates deeper donor relationships: ultimately boosting fundraising success.
What You Need: Marketing and communications tools that offer text and email messaging!
2. Donation Acknowledgments using Automation
After each donor gives, you don’t want to have to manually craft and send your acknowledgments, tax receipts, and thank-you letters—nor do you want to risk donations slipping through the cracks. Automating your gift acknowledgments is part of the fundraising automation process. This can ensure each supporter is promptly and personally thanked, even without your team needing to do it one at a time.
After all, one of the leading reasons for donors not giving to a cause again is a lack of acknowledgment of their previous gifts. Thus, keeping supporters engaged with your mission with smart and automated stewardship practices is a must.
What You Need: Online giving tools that offer automated tax receipts and thank-you letters!
3. Matching Gift Reminders
Corporate matching gift programs offer a powerful source of revenue for nonprofit fundraisers, but they go continually underutilized each year. This is largely due to a lack of donor awareness regarding the opportunity.
By utilizing automation, nonprofits can identify likely match-eligible donations and send applicable donors post-transaction matching gift information and reminders tailored to each individual’s company guidelines. These reminders prompt donors to complete the matching gift request process. This effectively doubles their impact, maximizes contributions, and drives increased revenue for your organization’s initiatives.
What You Need: A matching gift automation platform that integrates with your fundraising tools!
4. Recurring Gifts and Automation
Repeat donations are significantly more cost-effective to secure compared to multiple one-off gifts. One of the best ways to secure repeat gifts is by offering an easy way to collect automatically recurring donations!
You might be surprised to learn how many donors opt to establish a recurring gift when it’s an option on your donation form. And you don’t want to have to process each donation manually every month, either. This is where smart automation comes in handy for driving consistent and sustainable fundraising revenue.
What You Need: An online donation tool that offers easy recurring giving functionality!
5. Writing and Content Creation
Effective fundraising involves a lot of writing—from email and SMS messages to social media posts, donor newsletters, annual reports, website content, and more. Luckily, innovative automation (such as Artificial Intelligence tools) can assist in generating such content with ease. This allows your team to save time and maintain a consistent flow of information to supporters.
This helps better convey your organization’s impact and mission effectively, fostering a deeper connection and growing your relationship with your audience.
What You Need: A fundraising platform with built-in Artificial Intelligence functionality!
6. Engagement Tracking and Reporting leveraging Fundraising Automation
In order to benefit from a data-driven fundraising strategy, you must have a system in place to collect, track, and leverage information about your supporters, campaigns, and more. And once you have that information, it’s important that you have the tools you need to glean smart insights and conduct a thorough analysis of your efforts.
A smart donor relationship management system can leverage automation to do just that! This will empower your team to inform strategic decision-making and tailor your efforts for higher engagement and more effective fundraising campaigns.
What You Need: Moves management tools and a nonprofit-focused CRM!
By automating various fundraising efforts, organizations like yours can establish a sustainable and effective approach to securing the resources needed to fund your mission. Start with the tasks outlined above and see how much more your team can do in the long run.
Good luck!
To learn more about how Giveffect and integration partner Double the Donation can help you raise more in less time, schedule your demo today!