4Creative Fundraising Strategies for Animal Shelters

Guest post by Gingr

The ASPCA estimates that roughly 6.3 million dogs and cats enter animal shelters annually in the U.S. As an animal shelter manager yourself, you know how overwhelming it can be to keep up with the intake of new animals, offer them quality care, and adopt them out to loving forever families. Your shelter may be overcrowded, understaffed, and underfunded more often than not. 

However, fundraising can alleviate some of these challenges by providing your shelter with much-needed resources from animal lovers willing to help. As Gingr’s guide to pet industry trends highlights, Americans spent more than $147 billion on their pets in 2023—and that number is expected to grow. What can your shelter do to carve out a place in their budgets?

Take advantage of this growing industry with these creative fundraising strategies that will help you reach potential donors and inspire them to give.

Organize fun, relaxing events

A survey conducted by the American Heart Association found that 95% of pet owners rely on their animals for stress relief. Help your supporters soothe away the stress from upcoming exams, a rough week at work, or a hectic move across town by organizing calm events with your shelter’s animals!

Have supporters pay to attend events such as:

• Puppy or cat yoga: Hire or partner with a yoga instructor to lead the class and let the cats or dogs roam freely. Pets may curl up on the yoga mats for a nap or perch on attendees as they flow through a cat-cow sequence or push up into a downward-facing dog. Not only will your supporters get some relaxing movement, but they’ll also be surrounded by adorable, adoptable animals.

• Cat cafe: Convert a room in your facilities into a cat cafe for an afternoon (or long-term if you have the space) and allow attendees to book time slots. Offer drinks and snacks and allow people to work, study, or just hang out with the adoptable cats in the cafe.

• Kitten and puppy cuddle sessions: These sessions allow you to socialize your kittens and puppies, secure funding, and relieve stress all in one. They are the perfect event for worn-out college students, frazzled new parents, and anyone else who needs a quiet moment with a fuzzy baby animal.

If you can, consider holding these events weekly or monthly. In addition to helping you raise money, they’ll serve as informal adoption events that allow supporters to bond one-on-one with your animals.

Start a Pet of the Month subscription program

Recurring or monthly giving programs are an excellent way to secure reliable revenue and foster deeper relationships with supporters. Supporters simply agree to donate a fixed amount each month, meaning your shelter doesn’t have to put in hours of work for each donation.

Get creative with your recurring giving program to keep supporters engaged. Frame it as a monthly subscription through which they sponsor a specific pet or pets in need. Depending on the size of your program, you might:

• Select one high-needs animal per month for your recurring donors to support. For example, perhaps you take in an injured dog in need of extensive veterinary care. If you pick that dog as the pet of the month, all of your monthly donors’ contributions will go toward that dog’s surgery, medication, and rehabilitation.

• Select multiple “pets of the month” and allow members to sign up for a specific pet they’d like to sponsor. Each pet might have two to three spots donors can claim. This keeps donors looking forward to each new month and eager to know about their animal’s progress.

Provide regular updates to your monthly donors to show them the impact of their contributions. Highlight the specific medications, care, toys, or bedding that their support provided, and share photos and videos of the animal’s progress.

Additionally, strive to attract new recurring donors by marketing these services across digital marketing channels. During the busy spring season, for instance, you might post photos of new mother cats and their litter of kittens on social media, urging followers to sign up for the program and sponsor them.

Work with local businesses

Local businesses and corporations in your area may be interested in partnering with your shelter for  corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. CSR is the concept that companies should consider their social, economic, and environmental impacts and strive to better their communities.

By forming relationships with these companies or simply spreading awareness of corporate philanthropy, your shelter could enjoy the benefits of CSR programs like:

• Matching gifts: When an employee donates to a charitable cause, like your shelter, their employer will match their donation. Matches are typically offered at a 1:1 ratio, meaning that a $50 donation could become $100 without any added expense for the donor.

• Volunteer grants: Companies may also make financial contributions to the organizations employees volunteer with frequently. Spread awareness of these programs to your volunteers, help them track their hours, and encourage them to seek volunteer grants from their employers.

• Corporate sponsorships: The company partners with your nonprofit to support specific campaigns or events. For instance, a local running store may sponsor your charity 5K in exchange for featuring their logo on event signage.

• In-kind donations: These non-financial contributions may include items, equipment, or pro bono services (e.g., a dog groomer providing free baths, haircuts, and nail trims to your shelter’s dogs).

Additionally, CSR programs may incentivize volunteering by offering volunteer time off (VTO). Similar to paid time off (PTO), VTO is time off reserved specifically for volunteering—in other words, employees can spend the time they would normally be working volunteering at your shelter. As Double the Donation’s guide to VTO explains, taking advantage of these programs provides a larger pool of support, opens the door to long-term partnerships, and allows you to devote more time and resources toward mission-critical work.

Hold percentage-of-sales donation day fundraisers at pet businesses

Speaking of local businesses, consider pairing up with a pet business like a dog daycare or kennel, pet groomer, dog training, or pet store to hold a percentage-day (or week, month, etc.) fundraiser. These businesses share a core value with your shelter—a deep passion for animals and their well-being. 

During the fundraiser, a portion of the store's proceeds will be donated to your shelter. For the best results, your shelter and the pet business should jointly promote the campaign in advance, encouraging supporters to patronize the business while the campaign is in effect. When pitching this idea to local businesses, let them know what is in it for them—increased foot traffic, higher sales, and maybe even new customers!

To maximize these campaigns’ impact, you could also incorporate a donation drive. Put out a bin at the business to collect in-kind donations, adding a sign with your logo. Ask staff at the pet business to encourage customers to donate. Ensure you get the items you need most by auditing your nonprofit’s current inventory and creating a wish list.

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It’s no secret that people are passionate about animals. These fundraisers could attract first-time donors to your shelter who are primed to become long-term, loyal supporters—as long as you cultivate relationships with them. Be sure to thank them for their support with personalized, donor-centric thank-you messages, share regular updates about your shelter, and recommend other ways to support your cause.

7 Simple Steps to Running a Successful TapKat Sweepstakes Fundraiser

Guest post by TapKat, a DonationMatch Partner

As a nonprofit leader, you know how important it is to keep your initiatives funded so your organization can continue doing the good work that you do. Running a TapKat sweepstakes is one of the most effective ways to keep money flowing into your organization on an ongoing basis throughout the year, and fortunately, it’s not rocket science!

**A quick note on the legal classification of sweepstakes fundraisers for nonprofits: Unlike raffles, sweepstakes are not classified as "gaming” or gambling because there is an "alternate method of entry" (AMoE), i.e., someone can enter your sweepstakes for free, and TapKat takes care of this process for you. Typically, the vast majority of entrants make a donation to enter and AMoE entries amount to a very small percentage of the total sweepstakes entries. Since sweepstakes fundraisers are not classified as gaming there are no requirements for a state gaming license or quarterly reporting, making this a simpler, more straightforward fundraising experience.

Check out these seven steps to running a successful fundraising sweepstakes for your nonprofit.

Step 1: Set Your TapKat Sweepstakes Goal

Every fundraising effort should be created with a specific goal in mind, and sweepstakes fundraisers are no different. The best goals are realistic and take into account the size of your nonprofit, how active your donor base is, and how long you will run your sweepstakes.

Here are some examples of great goals to set: 

Set a goal for how much money you want to raise. The key to setting an attainable fundraising goal is to consider the size of your nonprofit, the duration of your sweepstakes, and how active your donors are currently.

If your nonprofit is just getting started, consider setting an attainable yet meaningful goal. On the other hand, if you have an active and large base, and are planning on running your sweepstakes for 3-5 months, maybe $100,000 is a good goal, like the Colorado Music Festival, which just raised $116,800 with a Taylor Swift Eras Tour experience as a prize.

Set a goal for how many donors you want to add to your database. 99% of TapKat sweepstakes bring in new donors — it would be difficult not to add new donors to your database!  Sweepstakes are naturally so exciting that people love to share them through word of mouth, intentional promotion on social media, advertisements, and email channels. However, if you know that your primary objective in running a sweepstakes is to attract new donors to your list, make it specific: How many new donors do you want to add to your list? Who are these people? Through which promotional channels will you reach them? 

One of our nonprofits, The Shelby American Collection, started their first sweepstakes with around 800 donors on their mailing list. Nine years and ten sweepstakes later, their list now exceeds 65,000 names! That list is gold, and it’s a major reason why they have continued to be so successful at raising money every year with their TapKat sweepstakes.

Set a goal for re-engaging lapsed donors, or energizing members. Some nonprofits, like The New Jersey Audubon, are membership organizations that advertise their sweepstakes strictly to their members. Their goals are more about invigorating the current membership base, and less about adding new people to their list. That’s great, too! A sweepstakes is a very effective tool for energizing a membership base. 

Your goals will inform much of the decision-making around your TapKat sweepstakes. Which prize you choose, where and how you promote the sweepstakes, the duration of your sweepstakes, and more.

Step 2: Understand Your TapKat Sweepstakes Audience

Who, exactly, are you trying to reach with your sweepstakes, and where do they hang out? It’s fun to think about the types of people who you want to add to your donor database!

This step is important because it will help you select the right prize for the audience you want to build. For example…

Maybe you run an outdoor motorsport adventure nonprofit and your donors love rugged offroad vehicles. It might make sense to offer a prize like a dirtbike, teardrop trailer, or 4x4 that's geared toward outdoorsy types.

• The Desert Roads and Trails Society recently raised $29,600 with a Rock Buggy — perfect for their demographic of outdoor motorsport enthusiasts!

Suppose your nonprofit focuses on supporting communities in a certain area of the world, and your donors are passionate about revitalizing specific regions. How about something travel-related, like a bucket-list trip to Bali, Africa, or historic Europe? 

• The Good Work Foundation recently raised $30,450 with a luxury African escape for 2, including a safari experience. The prize specifically appealed to donors who care deeply about education efforts in South Africa. 

Say your nonprofit is a car museum that gets a lot of foot traffic and has a large base. You might decide to go big with a hot new sports car, or a classic vehicle.

• The Cobra Experience recently raised $961,275 with Carroll Shelby's personal Daytona Coupe. 

When you know your audience — and know the audience you want to attract — you can make good decisions about choosing a prize that your audience will find irresistible and raise significant funds for your organization.

Step 3: Select Your TapKat Sweepstakes Prize

Here comes the fun part! Successful TapKat sweepstakes prizes come in all shapes and sizes, but there are two main things to consider when selecting your prize: 

1. Your prize must be highly desirable, 

2. And it must appeal to the base you want to attract.

When we say a prize must be “highly desirable,” that doesn’t necessarily mean hugely expensive, although it can be. In the world of sweepstakes prizes, we’ve seen nonprofits give away camper vans (like the Robin's Home Veteran Services), hot new Corvettes (like the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum), concert experiences (like the Dear Jack Foundation), and even Taylor Swift-themed racing helmets (like Women in Motor Sports North America). 

All of these prizes were perfect for the nonprofits because they met the needs of the organization and appealed to their donor base.

We’ve written extensively on choosing the right prize for your TapKat sweepstakes. Read more about it here.

Step 4: Use Consignment to Get Your Sweepstakes Prize

Chances are, the perfect prize for your nonprofit sweepstakes won’t be one that is conveniently donated (but if it is, perfect – go with it!) 

The whole point of a sweepstakes fundraiser is to raise money, so buying an expensive prize up front makes no sense — that puts you in the hole before the fundraiser even begins. Instead, we recommend sourcing your sweepstakes prize on consignment, which eliminates any kind of risk from your fundraiser.

When a prize is on consignment, it means that your nonprofit isn’t obligated to purchase the prize until you have raised the money to pay for it. If you don’t raise enough money to cover the cost of the prize, your TapKat sweepstakes will award a cash prize instead. The winner gets a big fat check at the end (no one has ever complained about that!)

Curious about how to get a prize on consignment? Check out this blog post for more insight.

Step 5: Launch Your TapKat Sweepstakes!

Once you’ve secured your prize, it’s time to launch your sweepstakes site. This is easy to do on the TapKat platform. Once you’ve applied for an account and been approved, you’ll be walked through a series of steps to create your TapKat sweepstakes website. It will include: 

1. Uploading photos of your prize, 

2. Entering descriptive text of your prize, 

3. Uploading photos and text about your nonprofit so people can see where their donations are going.

In all, the process should take under an hour. When you’ve uploaded everything and feel happy with it, it’s go time! 

Step 6: Promote Your TapKat Sweepstakes Fundraiser

Once your site is live, it’s time to share it with the world! We recommend focusing on a few important promotional outlets to get started, though once you start marketing, you are likely to find other channels through which you can share your sweepstakes: 

1. Add your sweepstakes to the homepage of your nonprofit website. 

2. Share your sweepstakes fundraiser with your donor base on a regular basis through email marketing. 

3. Post regularly on social media channels, inviting your followers to enter. 

4. If you have any live events coming up, look for ways to encourage attendees to enter the sweepstakes. 

5. Ask your sponsors and corporate partners to spread the news, as well!

The more people that know about your sweepstakes, the more money you will raise — so do everything you can to get the word out. You’ll be building your donor list along the way, as well! 

Step 7: Draw Your TapKat Sweepstakes Winner

Seven days after your sweepstakes closes, it’s time to draw your winner. This is easy to do on the TapKat platform: We have created a built-in random number generator that will select the winning number for you. Plus TapKat automatically creates a fun “draw the winner presentation” video that you can share on social media on the big day. 

So, there you have it! Seven simple steps to running a successful fundraising sweepstakes. Throughout the process, remember to have fun! The more fun you have with your sweepstakes, the more fun your donors will have!

If you’d like to learn more about TapKat sweepstakes, please click here. If you’re ready to schedule a demo with one of our team members, click here.

Tracking Donated Goods: Nonprofit Inventory Management Tools

Guest post by ThriftCart

Picture this: Thanks to your nonprofit’s recent marketing efforts, you receive an influx of donated goods to support your operations and programs. While your team is incredibly grateful to your donors, you find it challenging to keep track of all the items. As a result, you overstock some products and run out of others. You even let some perishable goods slip through the cracks until their expiration dates are long past.

Accepting non-monetary (or in-kind) donations can significantly free up your nonprofit’s budget and provide your organization with the resources to expand its community impact. Without tools and procedures for managing these donated goods, however, you dilute their impact and risk letting the generosity of your donors go to waste.

Organizing, tracking, and using in-kind donations doesn’t have to be complicated or intensive. Let’s explore what inventory management software is and how it can help your nonprofit seamlessly incorporate donated goods into your mission-critical activities.

What is inventory management software?

Typically included as part of a point of sale (POS) system, inventory management tools provide a clear and accurate bird’s eye view of your nonprofit’s inventory. According to ThriftCart, a cloud-based inventory solution allows your team to monitor stock levels from anywhere in real time, so you’re always updated on what’s coming in and out.

Why do nonprofits need inventory management tools?

Nonprofits typically accept and use donated goods for various purposes, from stocking a thrift store to providing high-quality items at an auction. You may have a highly organized team, but without the right tools, managing your organization’s inventory can cut into your already limited time and energy.

State-of-the-art inventory management software allows you to:

• Enhance efficiency. Inventory tools provide an easy and consistent workflow for your whole team — even volunteers — to follow, with minimal training required. Barcode and labeling systems enable you to sort and process items quickly, reducing human error.

• Minimize waste. With precise tools for tracking donated goods as they come in, you avoid misplacing or completely losing track of them in your inventory. As a result, you can put all contributions to their best use, whether you’re distributing food items well before they expire or providing winter clothing to constituents.

• Improve donor engagement. While donors don’t expect anything in return when they contribute items to your nonprofit, they deserve a “thank you” at the very least. Reliable tools for generating receipts and monitoring inventory allow you to follow up with the right donors at the right time and communicate the specific impact of their generosity.

Plus, if your nonprofit runs a social enterprise or thrift store to generate more funds, you probably stock your inventory with donated goods. Inventory management software makes it easy to log various items, their conditions, and repeat donations all in one place. These centralized capabilities keep your entire team on the same page when optimizing inventory, managing finances, and interacting with donors and customers.

No matter what you’re doing, using inventory management software enables you to focus less on manual administrative tasks and more on furthering your mission.

What inventory management features do nonprofits need?

At their most basic, inventory management solutions facilitate the process of monitoring and updating your nonprofit’s inventory. However, the top software solutions on the market come equipped with additional features for streamlining your donation tracking, such as:

1. Donation pickup

To secure more in-kind donations from both individuals and companies with a strong focus on corporate social responsibility (CSR), your nonprofit might offer scheduled pickup services. Look for inventory management software that gives you the ability to:

• Set pickup zones.

• Optimize pickup routes to conserve fuel.

• Make pickup reminder calls.

• Request item photos from donors.

At the same time, it should be effortless for donors to schedule a dropoff or pickup time with your organization online.

2. Real-time inventory syncing

For nonprofits that run physical and online storefronts, it can be challenging to synchronize new items and purchases promptly and precisely. A comprehensive inventory management solution provides real-time tracking that instantly updates your inventory so your team can avoid the stress of accidentally selling an item that is no longer in stock.

Plus, your system should automatically log online orders so you can remove items from your physical shelves if necessary.

3. Donor management

Inventory management is about more than the donated goods your organization receives. Some solutions come with tools for creating a convenient and rewarding experience for donors, allowing you to:

• Track donor information and interactions.

• Monitor repeat donations and thank these donors accordingly.

• Automate personalized emails and text messages.

• Give donors the option to choose between printed receipts or eReceipts.

By investing in donor retention and recognition, you build lasting relationships that you can rely on and boost your reputation in the community.

4. Reporting

A well-designed inventory management system streamlines your processes and helps you unlock new insights for future improvement. Your solution should have a built-in reporting hub that displays real-time data such as:

• Types of items donated

• Donation frequency

• Times of year with the highest donation volume

• Items sold

Your nonprofit can use this information to adjust marketing, staffing, and pricing strategies as needed. For example, if you notice a certain type of item selling well, you might increase the price to generate more revenue to power your mission. If another product appears to be falling out of favor with customers, you might temporarily stop accepting these goods as donations to avoid overstocking.

Inventory management tools can revolutionize how your nonprofit handles and follows up on donated goods. However, you must first find the right solution for your needs. As with any fundraising software, Double the Donation recommends creating a list of must-have features, consulting online reviews, and booking demos to hone in on the right choice for your organization.

Once you’ve made your selection, take the time to train your team and create a simple guidebook for using the software. With a strong foundation in place, you’ll be well on your way to making your inventory management processes more accurate and efficient than ever before.

5 Best Practices for Using Donor Data for DAF Fundraising

Guest post by Deep Sync

When nonprofits develop a fundraising strategy, they often overlook a major source of potential revenue: donor-advised funds (DAFs).

With DAFs, donors can contribute to their favorite causes through a specialized financial account. They receive immediate tax deductions and can use their accounts to grant funds to nonprofits over time.

In 2023, grants from DAFs surpassed $54 billion, and the average DAF account size increased by 9.2% between 2022 and 2023. DAF giving is on an upward trajectory, and nonprofits should actively take advantage of this immense fundraising opportunity.

To successfully tap into this revenue stream, you need a data-driven approach. We’ll provide five best practices for effectively leveraging your donor database and incorporating insights into your DAF fundraising strategy, empowering your nonprofit to earn more.

1. Send surveys gauging current donors’ interest.

Kickstart your DAF fundraising strategy by gauging current donors’ interest. After clearing up any misconceptions about DAF fundraising, send a quick survey that asks questions like:

• What is your preferred donation method?

• Have you ever contributed to a nonprofit using a DAF?

• Would you be interested in becoming a DAF donor?

• Is there anything else you need to know about DAFs before getting started?

Store survey results in your constituent relationship management platform (CRM) to keep clear records of donors’ willingness to participate in DAF fundraising. For donors who indicate interest, follow up with communications explaining the process in further detail and let them know how to get involved.

2. Conduct prospect research.

To identify more potential DAF donors, conduct prospect research. Prospect research is the process of determining potential donors’ capacity and propensity to give.

Nonprofits usually embark on prospect research to identify potential major donors. Considering the average DAF donation is nearly $5,000, prospect research is also a great avenue for finding DAF donors.

Most organizations work with a data provider or prospect research consultant to help them navigate the process and acquire all necessary data. Your prospect research partner will help you obtain two main types of third-party data:

• Wealth data. To determine potential DAF donors’ capacity to give, you’ll investigate information such as business affiliations, stock ownership, and home value.

• Philanthropic data. To establish potential DAF donors’ propensity to give, look into factors like personal information, past giving, and nonprofit engagement history.

Once you’ve identified potential DAF donors, reach out and help them determine whether DAF fundraising is right for them. You may review the main advantages of DAFs and the top considerations to keep in mind when opening a DAF for the first time.

3. Segment donors.

Once DAF donors contribute, segment them by giving level, history, or frequency. Then, based on these factors, tailor your communications and ask amounts accordingly.

During the donation solicitation process, using the right ask amount is the key to maximizing your revenue. If your ask amount is too high, you risk turning donors away. On the other hand,  if your ask amount is too low, you could miss out on additional funds donors are willing to contribute.

Basing your ask amounts on donor data ensures an appropriate request and encourages donors to keep contributing, ideally at slightly higher levels. For example, if a donor contributes to their grant in $2,000 increments, you may email them asking for a $2,500 donation.

You may also segment donors based on giving frequency. Donors who contribute through DAFs monthly are likely interested in hearing from your nonprofit more often than those who donate only once a year. Thus, you can adjust your communication strategy to reach out to more frequent donors regularly.

4. Report the impact of donors’ grants.

After you receive a donor’s grant, they’ll want to know that their funds are being put to good use. While it’s important to thank your donors promptly after they contribute through DAF fundraising, eCardWidget stresses the importance of centering donors’ impact in your donor thank-yous. You may consider automating more generalized emails to be sent immediately after donors contribute and following up later with more detailed information about their impact.

Your nonprofit can also create impact reports highlighting the programs and projects funded by DAF grants. When you use clear metrics to demonstrate how DAF donors have made a difference, they’ll feel confident in their choice to contribute to your cause and will be more likely to do so again.

Additionally, developing an impact report holds your organization accountable for using DAF funds responsibly. For instance, nonprofits cannot accept DAFs as payment for tickets to fundraising events, galas, or auctions if the ticket cost isn’t fully tax-deductible. With an impact report, you can verify that your organization follows this rule and other DAF guidelines.

5. Analyze donor behavior and interests.

Enhance your DAF donor data by recording information about their behavior and interests. You may survey DAF donors about their preferences, leverage information from your prospect research, or append missing demographic and lifestyle data.

Then, you can offer additional engagement opportunities based on their interests, building lasting relationships with your DAF donors beyond donation solicitations and contributions.

For example, if a particular DAF donor has been a dedicated volunteer at other charitable organizations, encourage them to join your volunteer network. You may also invite them to events, introduce them to advocacy opportunities, or gauge their interest in joining your board.

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Set yourself up for DAF fundraising success with a dedicated, data-driven DAF strategy. When you use donor data to find, solicit, and steward DAF donors, you’ll form long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationships with them that help you fulfill your mission and allow donors to feel proud of their impact.

Consignment Items: A Smart Solution for Nonprofit Auctions

Planning a nonprofit auction can be exhilarating, but it often comes with a common challenge: securing high-value, exciting items to attract bidders and maximize revenue. This is where consignment items come in. But what exactly are consignment items, and how can they help your fundraising efforts? Let’s break it down.

What Are Consignment Items?

Consignment items--sometimes also called No-Risk items, are auction packages provided by companies or vendors that nonprofits can offer at their events without upfront costs. Instead of purchasing the items outright, your organization agrees to pay a pre-determined cost only if the item sells. Any amount raised above that cost goes directly to your nonprofit, making consignment a low-risk way to include desirable items in your auction lineup.

Common consignment items include:

• Luxury vacation packages

• Exclusive experiences (e.g., hard-to-get reservations or tickets, meet-and-greets, or behind-the-scenes tours)

• Sports tickets and memorabilia

• Concert or theatre tickets and memorabilia

• Fine art or high-end jewelry

How to Use Consignment Items in Your Event

• Silent Auctions: Consignment items can create buzz and increase participation in silent auctions. Featuring unique and aspirational packages encourages guests to bid competitively, driving up the final sale price.

• Live Auctions: High-value items such as exotic trips or exclusive experiences are perfect for live auctions, where the energy and excitement can push bids higher.

• Raffles or Opportunity Drawings: Use consignment packages as grand prizes for raffles. This can be especially effective for smaller events where an auction might not be feasible or the prize is highly desirable, has a fixed value, and is likely to raise more through drawing ticket sales than a high bid.

• Online Auctions: If your organization hosts virtual or hybrid events, consignment items can attract a broader audience of bidders, ensuring engagement even beyond your immediate community.

Benefits of Partnering With Consignment Companies

• Access to Exclusive Items: Many consignment companies offer access to one-of-a-kind experiences and packages that would be difficult to secure through donations alone.

• Low Financial Risk: Since you only pay for the item if it sells, your organization avoids upfront costs and unsold inventory.

• Saves Time and Effort: Procuring auction items can be time-consuming. Consignment companies simplify this process by providing ready-to-use packages.

• Increased Event Appeal: Unique and high-value items draw more attention to your event, increase bidder participation, and can ultimately raise more funds for your cause.

IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS

It is important to note that companies offering consignment items may operate differently and have unique policies regarding what is included or not. It is always encouraged to review contracts carefully before committing to a specific supplier. Common questions to ask include:

• Is shipping & handling included, both to you and from you if items need to be returned?

• Is insurance included or offered at additional cost if anything is lost, damaged, or stolen or if experiences are interrupted?

• Are travel agency/concierge services included?

• What are all possible fees and costs to the nonprofit?

• Are there additional purchases, costs, or fees required by winners to fulfill this prize?

Maximize Your Fundraising Potential

Consignment items are a valuable tool to elevate your auction and ensure its success. By leveraging the expertise of consignment companies, you can offer standout packages that captivate your audience, all while keeping your financial risk low.

If you’re looking for ways to enhance your next fundraising auction, explore the many options consignment companies provide. With the right strategy, these unique items can help you achieve—and exceed—your fundraising goals.

Exploring the Benefits and Challenges of AI for Nonprofits

Guest post by DonorSearch

It’s no secret that tools powered by artificial intelligence (AI) have increasingly become part of daily life, from online chatbots to social media algorithms and even facial recognition. Similarly, AI use has become a trend in the nonprofit sector as organizations are discovering that machine learning and intelligent content generation can enhance many aspects of their management and fundraising efficiency.

While many of the available AI tools for nonprofits can benefit your organization, there are also real risks associated with using them improperly. If you’ve experienced pushback from leadership about implementing AI at your nonprofit, you aren’t alone!

However, if your team uses AI responsibly, its benefits significantly outweigh the risks. In this guide, we’ll discuss some of the advantages of AI for nonprofits before diving into some common challenges with these tools and ways to overcome them. 

Benefits of Leveraging AI at Your Nonprofit

Although AI tools can be used in many aspects of your nonprofit’s work, they tend to provide the most advantages when it comes to fundraising. DonorSearch’s AI fundraising guide lists seven general roles that AI plays in engaging donors and generating revenue for nonprofits’ missions, including that it: 

1. Saves time and money by allowing you to work smarter, not harder, on more targeted efforts.

2. Automates mundane tasks so you can focus on decision-making, relationship-building, and other activities that require human oversight.

3. Personalizes the supporter experience through segmented outreach, consistent follow-ups, and tailored fundraising appeals.

4. Provides accurate and actionable insights via detailed analytics and recommendations to maximize fundraising effectiveness, especially when it comes to identifying and cultivating major donors.

5. Levels up your marketing efforts by generating higher-quality content that resonates with your target audiences.

6. Taps into exciting new donation methods while also optimizing your existing campaigns to maximize donor engagement.

7. Measures your organization’s impact so you can identify strengths and areas for improvement in your fundraising strategy.

Of course, you can also leverage AI in other areas of your nonprofit’s work outside of fundraising—for example, generating content to promote your programs to beneficiaries or modeling financial data to inform the creation of your annual budget. Think of your AI tools as collaborators in your organization’s mission-driven success since using the best solutions in the most effective ways will provide you with new capabilities that increase your capacity to make a positive impact on your community.

Common Nonprofit AI Challenges (& How to Overcome Them)

As mentioned above, the risks of improper AI use are very real—they include data breaches, biased decision-making, noncompliance with legal regulations, and more. However, your nonprofit can prevent these risks while maximizing the benefits in the previous section by making a commitment to leverage AI responsibly.

Let’s dive deeper into a few of the challenges that many nonprofits face when implementing AI and how your organization can overcome each one.

Ensuring Data Privacy & Security

AI tools process and analyze copious amounts of data—some of which includes sensitive information about your nonprofit’s existing supporters, prospective donors, and beneficiaries. It isn’t surprising, then, that concerns about data protection with these solutions may arise both inside and outside your organization.

Fortunately, your nonprofit can keep community members’ personal information safe by taking similar precautions with your AI tools that you would with other software. As a start, Double the Donation’s donor data guide recommends taking the following security steps:

• Implement access controls. Ensure only team members who need to use AI-processed data for their jobs can work directly with it. Each of them should have their own login credentials with strong passwords that are updated regularly.

• Use reliable solutions. Look for AI tools with security features built in, such as encryption and multi-factor authentication. Some providers have also committed to promoting responsible AI use in the nonprofit sector (such as members of the Fundraising.AI Collaborative), so do your research before choosing solutions for your organization.

• Regularly update and patch systems. AI is constantly evolving and learning from new data, and new security measures are often rolled out as this happens, too. Ensure you’re always using the most up-to-date version of your solutions to maximize data protection.

Once you’ve implemented these measures, focus on being transparent with your nonprofit’s supporters about how you’re using their data for AI fundraising and allowing them to opt out if they wish to do so.

Preventing Unintentional Bias & Discrimination

Before they can produce useful outputs, AI tools must be “trained” to recognize patterns and draw conclusions from existing data. However, sometimes solutions are trained on biased data, or the algorithms they’re based on were designed (intentionally or unintentionally) in a way that perpetuates harmful biases and leads to discrimination.

To mitigate this problem, ensure your nonprofit’s responsible AI commitment includes the principle of inclusiveness. Monitor and evaluate your systems’ outputs to verify that the information is representative of your organization’s community, promotes equality, and allows you to make objective, fair decisions based on it.

Additionally, there are steps you can take to promote inclusiveness through your use of AI tools. For instance, if you use AI image generation tools, prompt them to create outputs that feature diversity. Or, if you create audio and video content with AI, ensure the solution generates a transcript and closed captions to make the finished product accessible to all audience members. Maintaining diverse and accurate data in your organization’s databases also gives your AI tools a more inclusive source of information to pull from in analysis and modeling.

Maintaining a Human Touch

AI is meant to assist your nonprofit’s team with content creation and data-driven decision-making. Organizations often run into problems when they let AI do the work for them.

Your fundraising efforts will be most effective when they’re human-centered, even if AI also supports them. Use your content generation tools’ outputs as a starting point for donor communications, but edit the outputs to tailor them to your organization and audience before sending them off. Before you make any decisions based on machine learning models, discuss the results with your team and ensure they align with your nonprofit’s overall strategy.

Additionally, remember that as advanced as AI technology is, building genuine relationships with supporters is still a human activity. While AI can save time on data-gathering and preparation for donor interactions, it’s still up to your staff members to get to know each donor personally and use your understanding of their needs and preferences to inform their journey with your nonprofit.

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AI is the future of nonprofit work, especially fundraising. By committing to responsible AI use and investing in the right tools now, your organization will be well on its way to more effective decision-making, outreach, cultivation, and retention for the long term.

How to Make Your Marketing Messages More Donor-Centric

Guest post by Meyer Partners

The only way for your nonprofit to acquire donors, raise funds, and sustain your work is to effectively market your cause. But many nonprofits find it challenging to get donors’ attention with their donation appeals and outreach, making it difficult to earn donors’ support. 

If your organization struggles with marketing, it could be because you need to shift your focus. A common roadblock for nonprofits is that their messaging focuses too much on the organization itself rather than its donors. You can solve this problem by using these tips to make your messaging more donor-centric and therefore more appealing to donors:

• Ground your messages in data.

• Tell donor-centric stories.

• Make it easy for donors to act.

• Always incorporate gratitude.

Donor-centric nonprofit marketing is all about showing donors that they can play active roles in your nonprofit’s work to drive positive change. Explore these tips to learn how to celebrate donors’ impact as you invite them to engage with your nonprofit further.

Ground your messages in data.

To center donors in your marketing messages, you must first understand your donor base. The best way to get to know them, aside from talking with them directly over the phone or in person, is with accurate data.

Collect and organize data in your nonprofit’s CRM that gives you a better picture of who your donors are, what interests them, and how to grab their attention. Data that can help you understand your donors may include:

• Demographics: Donors’ ages, locations, and careers may give you insight into their interests and preferences. This data will not only help you understand your existing donors but will also help you target prospective donors with similar interests. 

• Giving levels: Supporters who give at higher levels warrant more personalized communications and different types of outreach. By segmenting your donors based on giving level, you can write tailored messages that better center each type of donor.

• Engagement histories: Analyzing how donors engage with your organization differently helps you send personalized invitations to the right people. Look at attendance data from past events and volunteer opportunities to find out what kind of activities donors like best.

• Personal and charitable interests: Note any personal interests you discover in conversations with donors, and pay attention to the types of campaigns each donor engages with. Then, segment donors by interests to suggest more relevant campaigns and events in your outreach. 

• Communication preferences: Part of centering donors is respecting the ways they want to interact with your organization. If you see that a group of donors only engages with direct mail, for example, focus your efforts there rather than on digital marketing.

To ensure the donor data you use to guide your marketing is accurate and up-to-date, practice good data hygiene by removing duplicate data and standardizing your data collection practices. Audit your data periodically to check for inconsistencies and update information as needed. This way, you can be confident that your data presents an accurate picture of your donor base, helping you appeal to them effectively.

Tell donor-centric stories.

Once you understand your donors, the next step is to craft messages that give donors a role in your nonprofit’s story. Using storytelling strategy is a great way to boost your marketing success since genuine stories appeal to readers’ emotions and help them visualize the impact of your cause. However, you can take it a step further by ensuring your donors play an active role in every story you tell.

Meyer Partners’ direct mail fundraising guide emphasizes that a key aspect of successful storytelling is relevance to the donor. To ensure your messages are clearly relevant to every donor, leverage these strategies:

• Use donor-inclusive language. As you tell stories to the donor, make it clear that you’re inviting them to join you in working towards your mission. Use language like “you,” “we,” and “our community.”

• Center the impact donors can make on your cause. Include details and concrete examples of the difference donors can make for your beneficiaries. For instance, you might say “Because of generous donors like you, John received a full scholarship, enabling him to complete his final semester of college and graduate.”

Remember to only tell genuine, respectful stories that represent your organization well. Always ask those involved for permission to tell their stories, and give them the option to remain anonymous.

Make it easy for donors to act.

You can also center donors by thinking about their perspectives and needs when writing marketing messages. 

For instance, think about where and when donors are likely to read your message. If you send a fundraising appeal via direct mail, they may open it when on their way out the door to run errands. Donors often read nonprofit emails on their phones while going about their days. Most donors are busy, and as much as they want to donate, they may not have time to track down your online giving page or search for information about your event. 

With this perspective in mind, you can center donors by making it as easy as possible to take action. Provide straightforward calls to action and clear next steps. Let them know exactly how they can help, and include links or QR codes that lead directly to your donation page.

Getting Attention's awareness campaigns guide provides a great example of a clear and compelling call to action from the nonprofit Color of Change: “Start a petition & amplify your cause.” On their Instagram page, Color of Change paired this call to action with a link to a page on their website that explains how to start a petition, giving readers everything they need to act.

Always incorporate gratitude.

Your nonprofit’s marketing should extend beyond only asking donors to give or engage with your organization. To truly make your messages donor-centric, they should also be infused with gratitude for your donors’ support.

Incorporating gratitude into your marketing strategy could look like:

• Sending a variety of thank-you messages after someone makes a donation, including emails, handwritten letters, and social media shoutouts.

• Thanking donors for their previous contributions in fundraising appeals.

• Expressing gratitude for all contributions to a campaign so far when you ask for donations.

• In year-end donation appeals, reiterating your thanks for all of a donor’s previous gifts that year or the year before.

These efforts will ensure that donors feel valued by your nonprofit every time you communicate with them. Plus, gratitude-focused messages can even help you acquire new donors by showing them that your nonprofit fosters a positive supporter community. 

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Centering donors in your nonprofit’s messaging can not only boost your marketing success but also improve your relationships with donors long-term. As you implement these strategies, keep an eye on your marketing engagement data and listen to any feedback you receive from donors. Don’t be afraid to adjust your strategy further as you learn more about your donors’ preferences. 

How to Maximize Your Nonprofit’s Event Success With a CRM

Guest post by DNL OmniMedia

For nonprofits, hosting an event is about more than raising funds; it's about building relationships, engaging supporters, and advancing your mission. With a constituent relationship management (CRM) system, you can streamline these tasks and ultimately drive greater impact for your cause. 

In this guide, we’ll explain how to harness the power of your CRM software to plan, execute, and optimize events. From efficiently managing event registrations and ticket sales to capturing donor data, these insights will help you enhance every aspect of your event strategy.

Leverage Integrations

Certain CRMs have built-in event management tools, allowing users to plan events and analyze their performance all in one platform. Other systems, however, may require users to integrate third-party software, including: 

• Event management software: Integrate your CRM or donor management system with event management software. This integration allows you to seamlessly manage event registrations, ticket sales, attendee information, and communication. It also provides tools for tracking attendance, managing check-ins, and collecting valuable data about your event attendees.

• Email marketing tools: Connecting your CRM or donor management system with an email marketing platform like Mailchimp can help you send personalized event-related emails. You can automate event reminders, updates, and post-event follow-ups, as well as segment your email list to ensure the right messages reach the right recipients.

• Payment processing systems: If your event involves ticket sales, donations, or merchandise purchases, integrating your CRM with a secure payment gateway is essential. This integration ensures that payments are processed smoothly, reducing manual data entry and potential errors.

If you need help integrating these tools, consider working with a technology consultant. Their expert teams will assess your technology infrastructure and identify compatible solutions. They can then configure and customize the integration, ensuring that data flows smoothly between your CRM and event-related tools.

Train your staff 

Training users on using the CRM before the event is crucial so that staff and volunteers are well-prepared to manage event-related tasks and interactions. It also helps prevent potential errors and confusion during event activities like registration, attendee tracking, and donor engagement. 

Take these steps to train your employees and engage them in the process of data management: 

• Customize training for roles and responsibilities. Not all staff members will use the CRM system in the same way. Tailor your training sessions to each staff member's specific role and their level of interaction with the CRM. For example, event coordinators might need to focus on managing attendee data and communications, whereas a fundraising committee may be more interested in payment processing. 

• Implement hands-on training and real-life scenarios. Instead of just theoretical training, prepare your staff for the event with hands-on training exercises and real-life scenarios. Allow staff to interact with the CRM system directly and practice using it in a controlled environment. Create simulated scenarios based on common event-related tasks, such as registering attendees, tracking donations, or sending out event communications. 

• Provide ongoing support. Learning how to use a CRM system effectively takes time, and staff members may encounter questions or challenges as they start using it. Even after the formal training period ends, offer ongoing support and resources, such as user guides, video tutorials, or a dedicated point of contact for CRM-related inquiries. 

After the event ends, schedule a check-in meeting in which staff can share their experiences and learn from one another. Gather feedback to identify any pain points that may require additional training or system improvements.

Personalize Outreach

Outreach plays an important role in building relationships, increasing attendee engagement, and ultimately enhancing the overall event experience. For the greatest impact, use the data stored in your CRM to personalize outreach based on:

• Engagement level: Leverage historical data to recommend events that align with an individual's past participation or interests. Include this information in your invitations to pique their curiosity and encourage attendance. For example, a major donor might be invited to an exclusive gala, while a new donor receives information about an upcoming welcome luncheon. 

• Behavioral triggers: Implement automated workflows to trigger personalized responses based on user behavior during the invitation phase, such as sending additional event details immediately after someone registers.

• Participation: After the event, thank supporters for their participation and contributions. To make the follow-up communication relevant, mention the specific sessions they attended or interactions they had during the event.

Keep in mind that your CRM data must be up-to-date and accurate for your personalization efforts to be effective. Implement data validation tools and procedures to verify email addresses, phone numbers, and postal addresses. This helps prevent inaccuracies and ensures that communication reaches the intended recipients. Additionally, enhance your database by adding missing information, such as social media profiles, job titles, or organization affiliations. 

Track Attendee Interactions

By monitoring attendee interactions, you can gather insights into which sessions or activities were most popular, which marketing strategies were effective, and what areas need improvement for future events.

Here are a few different interactions to take note of in the CRM:

• Event attendance: Record which events (fundraisers, workshops, seminars, etc.) attendees have participated in. This helps you gauge their level of engagement with your organization and identify their interests.

• Audience questions: Record questions asked by attendees during live or virtual sessions and capture poll responses provided by attendees during the event. Analyze the results to gauge attendee sentiment and areas for improvement.

• Donations: Track all donations and contributions made by attendees, including one-time donations, recurring donations, and in-kind contributions. Knowing how much and how often attendees donate helps you assess their financial support and identify potential major donors.

• Communication engagement: Monitor how attendees engage with your organization's communications, such as emails, newsletters, and social media. Track metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and response rates to tailor your communication strategy to their preferences and interests.

Throughout this process, implement robust security measures to protect sensitive data like credit card numbers, demographic information, and personal opinions. Contact your CRM provider or work with a nonprofit consulting firm to encrypt data and conduct a security audit to identify potential vulnerabilities. 

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Whether you're organizing a charity gala, fundraising auction, volunteer recruitment drive, or any other type of event, a CRM can be your greatest asset. We encourage you to dive deeper into your system’s features and adapt your approach based on real-time data. Doing so will help you host successful events well into the future.

Pay Transparency: What Nonprofit Orgs Need to Know

Guest post by RealHR

There was a time when compensation discussions were reserved for offer letters and annual performance reviews, but as with so many other aspects of the employer-employee relationship, things have changed. Today, pay transparency is top of mind for both employers and employees.

Legislative mandates have driven some of this focus, but a growing number of employers across all industries are recognizing that openly discussing their compensation practices can benefit their organizations—building more meaningful connections with their workforces and improving bottom lines. 

Nonprofit organizations are not exempt from this sea of change, and in this article, we’ll introduce three concepts to jumpstart your thinking about pay transparency:

• Defining Pay Transparency and the Law

• The Benefits of Pay Transparency in the Absence of Legislation

• Things to Consider When Implementing a Pay Transparency Strategy

With these themes in mind, you will be able to begin the process of determining how and to what extent pay transparency will work in your organization.

Defining Pay Transparency and the Law 

Pay transparency is the idea of sharing compensation policies, practices, and strategies with job applicants, your existing workforce, and, to some extent, the public. This can be accomplished in various ways, but the most common way is to include such information in job postings. 

Several states and municipalities have enacted legislation requiring employers to provide pay ranges in job postings. The details vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but every law focuses on making pay data available during the hiring process. 

Determining if one of these laws applies to your nonprofit is more complex than identifying your business headquarters. For example, employers with five or more workers in Jersey City must comply with the city’s pay transparency law, even if this location is not their primary place of business. 

Other localities do not require an employer to have a physical presence in their state or city, extending their law’s reach to remote workers (e.g., Colorado and Washington state). If an organization meets the requisite number of employees working in these states (and the number may be as low as one), the employer must disclose its pay ranges. 

Also, some of these legal schemes encompass an employer’s existing workforce. In these locales, employers must provide pay scale information if an employee requests it for their current position.

Pay transparency is rapidly developing, with new laws being introduced regularly. For example, both the U.S. Congress and the state of New Jersey have bills pending on this very subject. So, it is important to consult with legal counsel or other HR professionals with expertise in this area to stay up to date.

The Benefits of Pay Transparency in the Absence of Legislation

Aside from any legal requirements, being straightforward about your compensation package is a best practice that garners several organizational benefits. By embracing a pay transparency model, you will:

• Build trust with your prospective and current employee populations

• Identify pay gaps

• Erode barriers by addressing inequities

• Foster a positive, inclusive culture 

• Improve your public and employer brand

• Engage in more effective recruiting by attracting salary appropriate candidates 

• Improve retention rates 

By sharing pay practices, employers and nonprofit leaders provide candidates and current employees with an accurate picture of their compensation. Empowered with this knowledge, individuals will make better employment decisions based on accurate information. 

Pay transparency also engenders trust and a commitment to your organization and its mission. People want to associate with, work for, and support forward-thinking nonprofits.

Things to Consider When Implementing a Pay Transparency Strategy

Entering the world of pay transparency is more than just publishing pay ranges in job postings. Proper preparation and planning are necessary for a successful implementation, so it is important to invest the time to think through the process.

Key steps to take before rolling out a pay transparency program include:

• Defining your pay philosophy and strategy

• Comparing your pay structure to the competition and adjusting as appropriate

• Reviewing current salaries to ensure they are fair, equitable and defensible

• Identifying and remedying disparities

• Communicating effectively and often

• Share pay data in a manner and to an extent that fits your culture and moves your objectives forward

• Formalize communications for your existing workforce about what pay information you will release and the timing

• Establish channels for employees to access supervisors so they may ask questions, express concerns, and receive prompt answers

Nonprofits often struggle to compete with for-profit employers solely based on compensation, and revealing pay ranges may generate additional conversations or negotiations regarding the right salary level for given individuals. To effectively respond, it is critical to focus compensation discussions and communications—to both candidates and employees—on a total rewards approach. 

In addition to stating pay scales, highlight the value-added benefits you provide. As a nonprofit, emphasize your culture and the work you do for the community. For many seeking nonprofit employment, the mission is a key consideration. When they can connect that mission to your pay strategy, the attraction to join your team and stay with the organization is reinforced. 

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Pay transparency can be something imposed on you or something you champion as a guiding principle. If you accept it as a best practice, developing your strategy will result in an improved compensation philosophy, better connections with candidates, and increased workforce satisfaction. 

4 Effective Budgeting Strategies for Nonprofit Organizations

Guest post by Jitasa

In the nonprofit sector, an essential question that many organizations face is how to accomplish ambitious goals with limited resources. Different nonprofits try to solve this problem in various ways, from making their fundraising efforts more efficient to carefully prioritizing the programs and projects that further strategic growth.

However, a key tool that your organization may overlook in this process is your annual operating budget. As the master financial plan for your entire nonprofit, this document allows you to gain a deeper understanding of your organization’s available resources and properly allocate them to cover all necessary costs.

To help you get started, this guide will walk through four foundational strategies for creating your nonprofit’s annual operating budget—let’s dive right in!

1. Set Clear Goals

As with the other plans your nonprofit makes (strategic plans, fundraising campaign plans, etc.), starting with clear goals is essential for your operating budget to be as useful as possible. When setting these goals, Jitasa’s nonprofit budgeting guide recommends ensuring they include:

• Defined activities. Review your organization’s current strategic plan and meet with your team to determine what mission-related activities you’ll prioritize during the year. Each of the line items in your budget—both revenue and expenses—should either be related to these activities or to other essential aspects of running your nonprofit, such as maintaining operations or saving for the future.

• Comprehensive timelines. While your full operating budget will cover one fiscal year, you also need to consider when different expenditures or revenue-generating activities will take place. This will help you avoid spending money you don’t yet have, keep up with deadlines for payments and grant applications, and ensure your team isn’t spread too thin when you run concurrent activities.

• Realistic, measurable metrics. Once you know what your organization is doing when in terms of its finances, you can attach dollar amounts to each activity. This process is most effective when you base your decisions on your nonprofit’s recorded financial data (more on this later!).

These features of an effective nonprofit operating budget line up well with the SMART method of goal-setting—i.e., ensuring your goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound—which can be a helpful framework for presenting your goals to your team.

2. Review Past Financial Data

Since budgets are future-focused documents, the numbers in them predict your organization’s spending and revenue generation for the coming year. To make more accurate projections, it’s helpful to look back at your nonprofit’s actual numbers from the past few years. Some resources you can use to do this include your organization’s:

• Transaction records, which should be stored in your accounting software and kept up-to-date by your nonprofit’s bookkeeper.

• Financial statements, which organize and summarize data so you can more easily draw actionable conclusions from it.

• Nonprofit audit reports, which detail your auditor’s objective perspective on your organization’s financial situation.

All of these resources should help you figure out how much revenue your nonprofit can reasonably raise from various sources and which of your expenses are most vital to your organization’s success.

3. Organize Expenses by Function

Once you’re ready to start drafting your nonprofit’s operating budget, it’s best to start with the expense side since it’s typically less flexible. Most nonprofits organize their projected spending based on how it furthers their mission—i.e., by function.

The three categories of functional expenses are as follows:

• Program costs are directly related to your mission and vary widely from organization to organization. For example, an animal shelter’s program expenses would likely include its rescue pets’ food and veterinary care, while a nonprofit art museum’s might include the costs of acquiring and maintaining collections of paintings.

• Administrative costs are necessary for your organization to operate day-to-day and range from utility bills to office equipment purchases to staff compensation.

• Fundraising costs are the upfront expenses associated with revenue-generating activities, such as event planning, marketing, and fundraising software fees.

You might have also heard the term “overhead expenses,” which refers to your nonprofit’s administrative and fundraising costs combined. While there are various recommendations about how much of your organization’s revenue should go toward your programs versus your overhead, the exact breakdown will look different for every nonprofit. Just remember that although some overhead is necessary to run your organization, you should put as much funding toward your programs as possible to further your mission effectively.

4. Categorize Revenue by Source

By first establishing your nonprofit’s total expenses for the year, you’ll know how much revenue you need to generate to cover those costs. Using this projection as a guide, determine where this funding will come from and categorize it accordingly so you can set accurate goals for various fundraising campaigns.

To boost your organization’s financial stability, include a variety of revenue sources in your budget, including:

• Individual donations. These make up the bulk of most nonprofits’ funding and include small, mid-sized, and major monetary gifts, as well as event revenue and in-kind contributions of goods, services, and non-cash assets such as stocks.

• Corporate philanthropy. This category includes all charitable contributions from for-profit businesses, such as sponsorships, matching gifts, and volunteer grants.

• Earned income. Although this revenue stream isn’t typically associated with nonprofits, your organization can legally earn income by offering memberships, selling branded merchandise, or charging fees for services provided.

• Investments. This is also a relatively uncommon nonprofit revenue stream and isn’t the most lucrative for short-term fundraising. But as Infinite Giving’s cash management guide explains, investing in low-risk vehicles like mutual funds and money market accounts is an effective way to grow and steward your organization’s long-term savings.

• Grants. Whether they’re provided by government agencies or foundations, grants are often critical for funding your nonprofit’s most important programs and projects. Since most grants are specialized and competitive, look for grants that align closely with your organization’s needs and make sure to submit well-written proposals by their deadlines.

A common misconception about nonprofit budgeting is that because nonprofits by definition can’t turn a profit, their operating budgets have to break even every year. In reality, your total projected revenue can—and should—exceed your predicted expenses if possible. Combined with diversified funding sources, this surplus provides a safety net in case your projections shift throughout the year and makes it easier to plan for future growth.

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Although you’ll create your nonprofit’s operating budget from scratch once a year, effective budgeting isn’t a one-and-done process. Check in with your budget at least once a month to see if you’re on track with spending and fundraising, and make any necessary adjustments to keep your organization on the best possible financial trajectory.

The Future of Corporate Philanthropy: 3 CSR Trends to Watch

Guest post by Double the Donation

Now more than ever, businesses are clamoring to align their brands with corporate social responsibility (CSR). After all, publicized CSR practices result in new customers, engaged employees, and a positive reputation in the media. 

For nonprofits, new trends in CSR mean new opportunities to tap into corporate giving. While not all CSR programs involve donations to nonprofits, Double the Donation’s breakdown of trends in corporate philanthropy shows that many businesses looking to upgrade their CSR strategy are ready to partner with organizations like yours.

To help you understand and take advantage of these opportunities, this guide will explore three CSR trends we expect to see grow in the coming years. 

Trend 1) Increased Focus on Sustainability

Carbon neutrality, ethical supply chains, and reduced waste during production are all major talking points when it comes to social responsibility. As such, many businesses are looking to fund environmental-focused nonprofits. 

If this description fits your nonprofit, now is the time to emphasize your commitment to a more sustainable, equitable world. Part of securing corporate support involves framing your nonprofit’s mission in such a way that it aligns with your potential partners’ philanthropic values. Reflect on your mission and how it relates to sustainability causes to receive increased attention from corporations.  

Trend 2) More Action from Small and Medium Businesses 

Large corporations have the funds to make the biggest impacts on nonprofits, but they’re not the only organizations in the for-profit sector interested in CSR. Recent trends point to more small and medium-sized businesses experimenting with philanthropy programs that impact their local communities. 

For nonprofits in their area, these small businesses are much easier to access than massive enterprise corporations, allowing you to negotiate deals and form long-lasting partnerships. To capitalize on this trend, we’ve seen a few winning strategies, which include:

• Build relationships. Businesses want to support nonprofits they know will do good work year after year. This provides a reliable reputation boost and allows them to make a greater impact by investing in specific projects long-term. To court these partnerships, establish a solid relationship first. Start with smaller requests, such as a one-time donation to your annual fund, a corporate volunteer day, or an event sponsorship, before proposing ongoing support. 

• Offer accessible sponsorship packages. Not all businesses can support your nonprofit to the same extent. At the same time, managing unique deals for each business part can quickly become complex. To keep partnerships streamlined, many nonprofits offer sponsorship packages businesses can choose from to determine their level of support. When crafting these packages, consider what benefits adequately correspond to the donation amounts you’re asking and if the businesses you plan to approach have the budget to fulfill your requests.

• Emphasize benefits. Businesses participate in CSR because of how being socially responsible benefits them. When approaching potential sponsors, emphasize how a partnership could help boost employee engagement or connect them with new customers through your support base. 

When researching local businesses, consider their past philanthropic activities, their stated CSR goals, and their potential to give. Focus on organizations with values that align with your mission and available resources to give to increase your chances of forming a relationship.

Trend 3) Renewed Focus on Employee Giving

Increasing employee engagement is a top reason why many businesses launch CSR programs. Employees appreciate employers who give back to their communities, and initiatives like employee giving programs allow workers to have an active hand in making a difference and even choose which causes receive support. 

Nonprofits can leverage this trend by spreading awareness of these programs and encouraging supporters to check their eligibility. 360MatchPro’s employee giving guide provides an overview of the most common types of programs to be aware of:

• Matching gifts. In a matching gift program, when employees donate, they can submit a request to their employer to match their contribution. Encourage employees to check if they’re eligible to receive matching gifts, and consider investing in matching gift software to make the application process easier for donors. 

• Volunteer grants. Some companies will make donations to nonprofits where their employees volunteer. Usually, these donations are based on the number of volunteer hours an employee performs at the nonprofit. 

• Paycheck deductions. Paycheck deductions are automatically taken from employees’ earnings and donated to a nonprofit. Often, the organizations for this type of program are decided by the employer, meaning you’ll likely need to establish partnerships with businesses before accessing this employee giving method. 

• Employee grant stipends. Rather than asking employees to spend their paychecks, some employees provide what are essentially vouchers that employees can use to make donations.

Send emails to donors, create a page on your website about employee giving opportunities, and even add information about employee giving on your donation page to inspire them to take action. This increases the chances that employees will leverage their companies’ CSR programs to help your nonprofit. 

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CSR trends are continually evolving, and these trends are just the start. Consider how your nonprofit can benefit from business partnerships, and look for organizations with values that align with yours, whether they’re related to equity, advocacy, sustainability, or any other cause your nonprofit fights for.

Top 5 Tried-and-True Tips for Rethinking Your Donor Approach

Guest post by eCardWidget

For new nonprofit professionals, fundraising can be uncomfortable. Asking someone to give up their hard-earned money for your cause can feel like asking someone for a big favor. However, it’s essential for you to reach out to donors to retain their support. Learning how to do so effectively will fuel your nonprofit’s mission.

Our favorite fundraising advice is this: Don’t ask your donor to give you their money. Instead, offer them an opportunity to be a part of something important.

To revamp your donor approach, we’ve compiled a list of tried-and-true tips to help you reach donors more effectively and encourage them to lean into their giving spirit. Let’s get started!

1. Empower outreach officers with knowledge about the donor.

Make sure your outreach officers have the knowledge they need to connect with donors on a personal level. Even if they have had personal relationships with certain donors for years, there may still be pertinent information that they are not aware of, such as the donor’s history of charitable giving. 

To provide your stakeholders with the most accurate information, update your donor database regularly. Double the Donation’s guide to donor data recommends collecting and storing a variety of donor information, such as:

• Full and preferred names

• Contact information

• Employer information

• Preferred communication channels

• Donation history and average gift amount

• Wealth indicators

• Other involvement with your nonprofit, such as volunteering

Armed with this information, your outreach officers will feel more prepared to navigate a conversation about soliciting a financial contribution to your nonprofit. They’ll be able to leverage this information to make informed decisions on donors to target and what to discuss in those conversations.

2. Equip outreach officers with the appropriate language.

Being philanthropic makes people feel good—it elicits a chemical response that makes donors feel more at ease and connected to others. As a result, supporters may feel more connected to your cause after making a gift. 

Initiate potential supporters’ connection to your cause by giving your outreach officers talking points and language to fall back on. Remind them that instead of making a request for a financial transaction, they are offering someone the chance to be a part of the great work of your organization.

Phrases like “join us,” for instance, can help put the donor in this mindset. Instead of asking the donor to “give” something, you could ask them to “be” something: be a member of the patron program, be a co-chair of an event, be a leader in a campaign, or be an advocate for important work.

Remind your staff members that the strategies that apply to general nonprofit marketing can be used in donor outreach as well. Include calls to action (CTA) that make it clear what action you would like donors to take. In this case, staff members will likely be encouraging supporters to contribute monetarily, but you can specify this action further by including what their donations will enable you to accomplish.

For example, your CTA may be “Join us in our effort to support children’s literacy.” This CTA uses language that offers donors a chance to help support your mission, rather than focusing on the financial transaction itself. 

3. Keep outreach focused with specific tasks.

Depending on where you are in the donor cultivation process, provide instructions to help guide your staff members in setting up and engaging in a conversation with the donor. Think about the type and level of ask you’d like them to make.

Ask yourself: Will they be soliciting recurring gifts? Event participation? Or campaign gifts? Is there a range that they should be asking for, or do you want them to leave it entirely open? Having set guidelines will help steady them if they get nervous about initiating a conversation about money.

To set your outreach officers up for future success, consider developing scripts or templates for different types of asks. That way, they can personalize their donor outreach to different initiatives without having to do so on the spot. Additionally, you can save your team time so they don’t have to start from scratch each time they make a new ask. 

For example, you may develop ask guidelines and scripts for one-time donations, in-kind donations, recurring donations, major gifts, event registrations, capital campaigns, and crowdfunding campaigns.

4. Thank your donors for their contributions.

If you don’t already practice proper donor appreciation, you’re missing out on an opportunity to build stronger relationships with your donors. Plus, there are many different ways you can show donors how important they are to your organization, so you’re sure to find one that works for your nonprofit.

For example, a traditional donor appreciation method is the handwritten thank you letter. Sending one of these to a donor demonstrates that you value their support. Start with a personalized greeting that addresses the donor by their preferred name. Then, reference their donation amount, and explain what that donation will enable your organization to accomplish. For example, a $100 donation to an animal shelter may allow the shelter to replenish its pet food supply.

To ensure your thank-you letter is engaging, include a story or testimonial that brings the donor’s impact to life. Reach out to your beneficiaries to see if any of them are open to being featured, and request quotations that illustrate how your nonprofit’s support has changed their lives.

You may also include other ways for your donors to get involved with your organization. Avoid asking for additional donations, but mention upcoming events or volunteer opportunities your donors may be interested in.

For major donors, go above and beyond with your donor appreciation by sending gifts. Branded merchandise, such as t-shirts, hats, and mugs, is a great way to show your gratitude. Plus, major donors who wear their merchandise act as ambassadors for your cause and may bring in additional support.

5. Show stakeholder appreciation.

Just as your outreach officers thank your donors for their contributions, make sure you thank your outreach officers for their hard work. Doing so will empower them to continue their donor outreach and all their other efforts that support your cause.

For board members, volunteers, and other outreach staff, eCardWidget recommends using gifts to show your appreciation. Examples include gift certificates, office accessories, and awards. These physical reminders of your appreciation will show your outreach officers that you recognize their commitment to your nonprofit.

Another way to thank these individuals is by hosting an appreciation event. Bring all your outreach officers together to celebrate their achievements. Invite their families to join, and provide food, music, and activities to liven up the event.

Lastly, you can create a thank-you video to show your outreach officers how much you care about them. Demonstrate how certain teams or roles impact your organization, and make it clear that you wouldn’t be able to further your mission without them. As opposed to a simple email, videos are an engaging way to review how stakeholders have contributed to your nonprofit in the past year and properly thank them for their hard work.

When stakeholders feel appreciated, they’ll be more motivated to continue working with your organization to help your beneficiaries.

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When organizations struggle with soliciting gifts, it’s likely due to the fact that they don’t have a donor outreach plan, or they need to transform their current plan in order to be effective. While it can be difficult to ask donors for their support, there are ways to build genuine relationships with donors while also making it easier for stakeholders to request donations. Plus, having a more robust strategy for donor relationships can lead to increased retention, securing your nonprofit’s future and ultimately earning more for your cause.