Finding the right online fundraising Platform for your Non-Profit
Non-profit organizations must evaluate the fundraising tool or website that is best for them. We have a document in our Resources that helps to evaluate different choices for fundraising clients, we wanted to discuss the best way to go about making this decision.
Do your homework
The majority of nonprofits have staff or volunteers who make the final determination about a client. These are usually the people with the most time constraints. This is a crucial decision that should not be made lightly. It’s much easier to join an existing fundraising website than the one you’re currently using. Contact your people in the world of nonprofits. Organise meetings with various fundraising platforms and develop a list of questions for each. Making sure you are well-informed will help your nonprofit increase online donations in the years to come. Look at this website to discover a full report about free fundraising platforms for individuals.
Evaluate your finances
Deciding how much you can and would like to invest in the tools for fundraising is an essential first step in determining which one is the ideal fit for your organization. When looking at prospective clients, think about the long-term as well as shorter-term costs. Some fundraising websites offer lower fees at the beginning, but they cost more per donation. Other fundraising websites don’t include the processing cost for credit cards within their estimates at first but add on the cost later. While the cost of the product could be more expensive, you could spend more long-term on another car.
What is the most important thing to your organization?
Your fundraising site should assist you achieve the short-term goal of allowing volunteers to make a donation and the long-term plans that you’ve got. The decision should not be taken in a vacuum. Think about where your organization is heading. What are your goals for the long term? What will be the most important initiatives your business is planning to take over the next three years? Do you wish to improve mobile continuity for your website? These questions will help you determine the effectiveness of your fundraising tools.
What is important for your volunteers?
For some organizations this is an issue that is more crucial than the internal priorities. The platform you select must be compatible with your current volunteer base and the individuals you’d like to attract. If you’re hosting a peer-to-peer fundraising event where 60% of your attendees use Yahoo email addresses, you must ensure that your fundraising platform allows them to upload their list. Yahoo email address, make sure that the fundraising platform you choose allows Yahoo email users to upload their mailing lists.
If you have the time to evaluate the results, ask your customers what they’d like to know the most. Do they want to be able to create a page to raise money on behalf of you? If you are hosting an event planned, do they want to be able to sign up multiple people at once? Do not think you’re in a position to determine the requirements of the volunteers.
Check the fine print
When you believe that you’ve settled on a fund-raising platform, ensure that you or someone who has a legal/contract background examine the contract to make sure that you’re not signing something that’s not sustainable, or might increase in cost. It is important to remember that there is lots of change in the online fundraising business so make sure you’ve looked over the contract to ensure that you have any contingencies that could arise in the event that the business you’re hiring is sold.
