Using technology to sustain relationships + reach year-end fundraising goals for nonprofits

Team Gravyty

Setting a year-end fundraising goal is only the first step toward achieving results. To ensure success, you need a fundraising plan that details the steps you are going to take to get there. At the core of your fundraising efforts lie the people in your community without whom you will be unable to raise the funds you need to carry out your mission. As such, your community and how well you connect with them and build relationships should be at the heart of any fundraising strategies you create.

This blog post will cover some ways to grow and expand an engaged community around your organization. We’ll also discuss fundraising tools that you can use to make it easier for your organization to work towards attaining its end-of-year fundraising goals. For a deeper dive, check out our full case study here.

Creating a comprehensive fundraising strategy

A detailed, step-by-step fundraising strategy will ensure that you stay on track to achieve your goals. Share your strategy with everyone in your organization so that achieving your goals can be a team effort. While your exact strategy will differ depending on the goals and nature of your organization.

Here are some steps you can take:

Review the performance of your existing and past fundraising campaigns
Decide on your goals for the next campaign
Select relevant technologies to help you
Make a plan for thanking and stewarding donors
Plot out your campaign roadmap
Choose and track specific fundraising campaign KPIs

Top tips to help you reach your year-end fundraising goals

The seeds for your year-end fundraising goals must be planted as early in the year as possible. Every single interaction you have with donors and potential donors from January 1st onwards will influence whether you are able to achieve your goal or not. Remember that an engaged and happy donor who feels a genuine connection to your organization and the fundraisers they have contact with is much more likely to dig deep all year round (and at year-end) than one who has been effectively ignored until the year-end fundraising campaign rolls around.

Year-round engagement

Here are some ways to engage donors throughout the year:

Keep in regular contact – Whether it’s an official newsletter or a short update about some new initiative, send your donors regular messages so they remember you exist and have some idea of what you’re up to.
Make sure your donor is informed – Make sure you write to your donors (or send a video update) every now and then so they know how things are going. Don’t ever wait until they have to chase you for information—this is a surefire way to lose their confidence!
Send personalized messages – You’ve got a database, so use it! Even if you’re sending a donation request, make sure you get the wife and kids’ names in there (or some other personal detail) that shows you see the person you’re reaching out to as a real person. The more personal, the better.
Say thank you promptly – If someone took the time to give you a donation, you must take the time to thank them promptly- ideally within 48 hours. Never let an opportunity to say thank you on time slip by.
Acknowledge special occasions – Aside from the obvious birthday, anniversary, and seasonal greetings, keep a record of other important milestones in your donor’s lives so you can reach out more personally. Did they have a major achievement in their professional life, lose a loved one or win an award? Keep note of this information in your CRM and be sure to use it when reaching out so you can really up the ante in your relationship building.

Get personal

Donors are people too, with their own preferences and proclivities. While some people care deeply about the state of the environment, others are more interested in solving world poverty issues or stamping out animal cruelty. Whatever projects and initiatives you run, it’s very likely that some of them will appeal more to certain donors than others. The more you tailor your donation requests to your donor’s interests and values, the more success you are likely to have in your fundraising campaigns.

Paying attention to the ways in which donors like to be contacted will also help you make each outreach attempt more powerful. If you know a donor hates the phone, don’t even go there. Send them lovely personalized emails instead and watch their appreciation soar. Use the data you’ve gathered about your community members to make sure that you deliver the right messages to the right people at the right time and in the right way.

Get a little help: Use technology wisely

We live in an age of technology where forward-thinking organizations are investing in tools to help them get their jobs done faster, more efficiently, and better than before. Dedicated fundraising tools can help your organization boost its fundraising capacity and achieve its year-end goals without necessarily hiring additional staff. The fundraising suite from Gravyty is ideally suited to nonprofits, healthcare organizations and corporations looking to boost their fundraising capacity and achieve their fundraising goals with greater ease and efficiency.

Here’s a quick breakdown of how the Gravyty fundraising suite can help:

Raise

AI-based fundraising tools like Raise are a boon for fundraisers looking to build strong personal relationships with donors without spending unnecessary hours on research and outreach activities. While effective donor stewardship is one of the most critical activities when it comes to successful fundraising, it is also one of the most difficult and time-consuming and, therefore, the one that many organizations fail to carry out effectively. Raise accesses your company’s CRM, plumbing it for the personal details that help lift your donor communications and make them warmer and more genuine.

Community

Turn your donor database into a lively and engaged online community by adding your community members to a designated community platform. Use your platform to inform, inspire and offer your people the chance to be part of a community that shares their values and interests.

Gratavid

A video creation and curation platform that helps your organization reach out to donors in a more personal way. It’s not always possible to pick up the phone, but a personal video recorded by a prominent member of your organization (or recipient of a donation) can go a long way toward creating a meaningful bond with your community.

Want to learn more? Book a consultation now.

Fundraising