As Giving Tuesday approaches, many nonprofits are turning to fundraising platforms such as GoFundMe and Crowdfunding.com to seek donations from past and new donors alike. Giving Tuesday occurs the Tuesday after Thanksgiving and encourages holiday shoppers to make donations to charities around the world. Aiding nonprofits to reach their fundraising goals is Snowball (formally @Pay), a fundraising software that makes it easy for nonprofit organizations to collect donations.

In Use:

Snowball has many features that make it easy for a nonprofit to maximize donor contributions. Features include, online donation pages, recurring gifts, Text-to-Give, and dedicated support. Unlike GoFundMe, Snowball is a CRM (customer relationship management) solution so users can update and track gifts while also managing staff and volunteers. Auctions are also available for nonprofits to utilize.

Snowball features four subscriptions plans that range from $0 to $999 per year. The basic subscription gives users access to the CRM dashboard, unlimited accounts, event registration, and reoccurring gifts. The Premium Bundle Tier is $799 per year and includes the ability to host an auction, Text-to-Give, unlimited campaigns, and ability to customize donation pages. Finally, the Enterprise subscription is $999 per year and includes Enterprise support and custom integrations.

Technology Used:

Snowball is web-based and can be used by both iOS and android devices. Their dashboard enables nonprofits to track and manage their donations. The dashboard also gives users the ability to analyze their data to understand who is donating to their charity.

Ease of Use:  

Snowball is known for being very easy and simple to use. The company also employs bi-lingual U.S. support for all subscriptions both online and over the phone.

Recap:

Snowball is a CRM and a fundraising platform that helps nonprofit organizations fundraise. Perks of using Snowball includes Text-To-Give, offline donations, Auctions, event registrations, and customer support. Users are able to use the platform for event ticketing and registration. Because it’s also a CRM, the software offers all users a dashboard where charities can manage their donations and analyze their results.

Advantages:

• Ease to use
• Features such as Text-to-Give and event registration
• Free basic subscription
• Ability to host an Auction

Disadvantages:

• Not very robust when it comes to other CRMs like Bloomerang and DonorPerfect – best used as a fundraising platform
• Auction subscription is pricey as well as the Premium bundle that comes with Text-To-Give and unlimited events and ticketing

My Opinion:

I appreciate that Snowball offers a free version of their tool with the ability to grow as the charity grows. However, I think the really cool features like auctions and unlimited events and ticketing are locked behind a $799 yearly fee – that many nonprofits can’t afford.

With this switch to a more virtual world – having the ability to host an auction will really help nonprofits secure funds. It’s also a fun interactive way to get donations while connecting with the community.

As for being a CRM, they technically are because they offer a dashboard and analytics to their customers – but they have a long way to go before their compete against nonprofit CRMs such as DonorPerfect and NeonCRM. That’s being said – I could see it being perfect for a small nonprofit who are just interested in managing donations.

Fundraising is a critical component of any successful nonprofit organization. While it may be essential, it is also time consuming. Reaching out to donors takes time. Often, the end result falls flat. SimioCloud (owned by Moore, a provider of performance-driven marketing solutions), recently announced their newest solution, SimioAudience in hopes to cut down the time an organization needs to fundraise by providing a list of prospect donors that have given to similar nonprofits in the past.

In Use

Touted as a next-generation cooperative database designed specifically for nonprofit fundraising – SimioAudience aims to deliver real-time insights on donor information. According to Doug Kaczmarek, the Chief Data Officer of Moore, SimioAudience is a co-operative database that is able to identify new perspective donors using machine learning capabilities to develop predictive models. Unlike their competitors who only have access to transactional information – SimioAudience can provide their clients with distinct donor history to get more accurate results. This means a nonprofit more time marketing to those that statistically have a better chance of donating to their cause.

To get the most out of the solution, SimioAudience is geared towards mid-large level nonprofit organizations and they recommend each nonprofit have at least 5 thousand donors with a robust growth plan. Interested parties rent the list from SimioAudience as a “one time” which Kaczmarek states is industry practice. The platform charges nonprofits $65 per 1,000 names.

Ease of Use:

SimioAudience is easy to use because clients receive a report of targeted donors that are highly likely to engage with the charity.  There’s no dashboard or back-end platforms that the clients have to manage. SimioAudience will analyze the data on the backend and send their clients a curated list full of donors that are more than likely to donate.

Technology Needed:

What sets SimioAudience apart from their competition is that they are based in the cloud. Therefore, they have the advantage of having up-to-date donor information where other co-operative databases may only update their database once or twice a month.

SimioAudience also makes it a point to connect billions of data points through their machine learning and AI capabilities. This ensures their predictive models are equipped with making precise recommendations.

Recap:  

In a press release in late September, chief executive officer of Moore, Gretchen Littlefield explained, “SimioAudience identifies new and emerging donors using cloud-based processing, transactional data and machine learning technologies unlike any other data source. It’s truly the next generation co-op.” The platform works by collecting donor data so SimioAudience is able to provide a concise report of potential donors to clients. By using predictive models, SimioAudience is able to predict which donors are most likely to respond and donate and which donors are not. This way nonprofits can spend their time and money marketing to the correct people. 

Advantages:

• SimioAudience is based in the cloud so their database is always updated with the latest donor pool
• They use predictive analytics, and many data points to predict which donors will likely respond and ultimately donate
• There is no dashboard or heavy lifting on the client’s part. They will receive a curated report that they use for their marketing initiatives.

Disadvantages:

• This is geared towards mid-large nonprofits. Nonprofits must have at least 5 thousand donors to participate
• There’s no guarantee that the donors in the report SimioAudience provides will actually donate
• You are expected to give your donor information to SimioAudience to contribute to the database

My Opinion

I think SimioAudience can provide great benefits to large nonprofit organization looking for a list of potential donors. Because they’re based in the cloud their information is constantly being updated. It’s also nice that there is no heavy listing on the nonprofit’s side.

As a data nerd I think it’s really interesting that they’re using predictive analytics and AI to predict potential donors. I think this is something that we’ve been seeing from tech companies and will continue to see more and more.  At the same time, I would still struggle with providing my donor data despite Kaczmarek assurance that all data is anonymized. 

Nonprofit organizations rely heavily on annual events and galas for the bulk of their donations. Since the pandemic – many nonprofits have had to cancel or postpone their events. Others have opted to switch to virtual events – but that comes with its own set-backs and learning curves. Ujama, a predominately mobile app hopes that their application can change the way charities set up and carry out their annual events.

In Use:

Ujama was founded in 2016 by CEO, Hugh Molotsi. The mobile app was originally started as a way to bring parents together - to “alleviate the burden of challenges” such as transportation, pick up time, and after-school activities. Since its inception four years ago, the app has expanded into a tool that nonprofit organizations can utilize to promote virtual events and silent auctions. The app is currently free for nonprofits to use and consists mainly of a chat function. One nonprofit, Assisted Animal Happiness uses this feature to place items up for bid that donors can purchase on the app.

Ease of Use:

Because Ujama is mainly a message board it is pretty easy to maneuver and bid on items. Ujama also acts as an app to bring parents together in the community – so it may be confusing at first for a donor. I recently spoke to Vicki Amon-Higaof, co-founder of Assisted Animal Happiness located in the Bay Area. She realized she could use Ujama to post items for their silent auction prior to their Virtual Evening at the Barnyard Fundraiser – an event that they usually host in person. “We have been able to put the URL on our website and other material and send people right into the chat,” she explained after hearing about Ujama from Michelle Molotsi who is also on the Board of Directors at Assisted Animal Happiness. So far, Vicki is impressed with the results. She noticed that some people join the chat and come back often – bidding on and watching items that they’re interested in.

Technology Needed:

Ujama is a free mobile app that is available on both Android and iPhone devices. When purchasing items or bidding in a silent auction – users purchase the item through the app itself. When asked about security concerns – Molotsi explained the app uses Stripe to process payments. “Buyers are charged the payment fees and not the recipients, so nonprofits keep all the money they raise.” Molotsi added, “Ujama does not make any money on payment fees.”

Recap:

Nonprofit organizations can use Ujama, a mobile app for chat features, and virtual silent auctions where donors can bid and purchase items in lieu of an in-person event. A charity can send a link to a potential donor to download the app and participate on the platform. As of now the mobile app is free for charities to use.

Advantages

• It is a free mobile app that nonprofits can use for silent auctions
• Easy to navigate
• Donors can bid on items and purchase them through the app
• Ujama uses Stripe – a secure payment processing tool

Disadvantages

• Could be confusing since the app was originally made for parents to connect
• No “Help” button within the app

My Opinion

Ujama recently rolled out their mobile app to nonprofit organizations. At the moment it just consists of a chat functionality. That being said - Assisted Animal Happiness has had success using the tool for their silent auction and is happy with the app.

In the future, if Ujama is serious about making this a tool for nonprofits – I would like to see more tools that nonprofits can utilize instead of just the chat function.

After numerous privacy and security concerns many nonprofit organizations had second thoughts about employing Zoom as their go-to video conference platform. But with Covid-19 showing no signs of letting up – charities couldn’t just eliminate their contract – they had to make sure they had another video-conferencing platform set up.

Many of these nonprofits turned to Boardable – a board management software designed specifically for nonprofits in mind. While the software offers many other capabilities – they recently introduced their newest tool – Boardable Meetings with Video to alleviate customers’ needs for virtual meetings during the pandemic.

In Use:

Boardable software was developed by CEO and Founder Jeb Banner in 2016 after realizing that there were no board management platforms catering to nonprofits. He remembers managing board of directors trying to utilize tools that weren’t solving the core issues that his boards were facing. Instead of complaining, Banner decided to take a leap of faith and build an initial version of what is today known as Boardable.

While Boardable existed well before the pandemic - Boardable Meetings with Video came about as a direct result of many nonprofits forced to work remotely. Banner hopes that with Boardable Meetings with Video, he can “bring board experience to board members where they are digital living.” 

While some businesses use Boardable, it’s priced to where nonprofits whether they are small or large can utilize the platform. Pricing starts at $79 per month for 10 users and goes up to $299 per month for large, well established nonprofits. All companies wanting to try Boardable can access it free with a 30-day trial so they can test it before they use it – a big draw for charities hesitant about making the switch.

Technology Used:

Boardable Meetings with Video is located on the cloud. It also has an app for Android and iPhones so a board member can call in to a meeting virtually anywhere. When asked about security issues Banner assured me that one cannot “zoom” bomb a meeting – or pop into a meeting that he or she was not invited to. “You have to have a boardable account,” explains Banner. Authentication begins with an email address and if one does not have an account the host must add them to the meeting in order for the user to gain entrance.

Ease of Use

Customers think Boardable as a whole is easy to use so it makes sense that Boardable Meetings with Video is as well. Users can take advantage of the 30-day free trial to learn the system. Remember that this platform is very new so they may have to be patient as the platform works out the kinks in the system. Banner discussed how passionate he is about ensuring his customers benefit from the tool and is always eager to hear feedback whether positive or negative. Because of that he states that Boardable is always pushing out new releases to the software.

Recap:

Boardable is a board management software aimed at nonprofits. With boardable users can build agendas, record meetings, vote digitally, and store documents for ease of use. With the Covid-19 forcing volunteers and employees to work remotely Boardable introduced Boardable Meetings with Video which allows board of directors to get together digitally to hold meetings and vote. Affordably priced for charities – it’s an alternative to Zoom, WebEx, and other video conference platforms. Unlike other conferencing platforms, Boardable Meetings with Video has nonprofits best interests in mind – because it was built for them.

Advantages:

• Built specifically for nonprofits forced to work remotely due to Covid-19
• Different price-points for different size charities and nonprofits
• Free 30-day trial
• Includes more than just video conferencing – users can vote, e-signatures, save documents, and record minutes
• Mobile apps for Androids and iPhones

Disadvantages

• The video-conference tool is so new – they have not had time to figure out all of the kinks and fix them
• Compared to Zoom which is free to use – charities may opt for that

My Opinion

I have a confession. I hold a special place in my heart for software that’s created with nonprofit organizations in mind. Often times, nonprofits have to use outdated, cheap, and cumbersome tools because they don’t have the money to afford the latest platforms.

Boardable Meetings with Video is more than just a conferencing platform. With the monthly fees charities are also get the abilities to hold votes, save documents, and build agendas. It’s an interesting software to check out if you’re not satisfied with your current video-conferencing service. With a 30-day free trial – charities don’t have much to lose.

With 2020 coming to an end, planning for 2021 is now in the heads of many nonprofit leaders. But the uncertainty facing many industries might make fundraising seem impossible right now. However, with the right planning and mindset in place, you can turn the fortunes and make the best out of the coming year, despite the challenges that can spill over from this year. It all starts with planning a perfect fundraising event that will leave an unforgettable experience in the minds of the participants. Here are some fundraising event ideas that can help you plan for 2021.

• Talent show

Everybody loves entertainment, that is never an argument. While there are many ways you can entertain your participants, the best way is to offer them the best quality talent. You can do this by crowdsourcing entertainment and putting on a talent show.  The good thing about this is that you can make it as high-end or as low-key as you like and decide the kind of vibe you think suits your event and participants. With this kind of show, you can easily provide your supporters fun while expanding your network. If this is the right thing, go get a permit and organize a top-notch talent show that meets your expectations.

• Host virtual a race

Similar to a talent show, virtual races are also entertaining, and some people feel attracted. With these races, participants pay a registration fee for them to participate in the event. These races are scheduled to start at a certain date and time, but some of them are done any time or whenever it is convenient indoors on a treadmill. Allow these individuals to share photos through social media platforms such as Facebook or WhatsApp and prepare medals or prizes for those who complete the race to be awarded. An example is fundraising and giving away T-shirts and ensuring that all proceeds benefit a given course.

• Try a social media takeover

Social media is a platform that is slowly but surely changing the nonprofit landscape. As such, try different ways to enhance your social media presence, including media takeover and using hashtags. With social media takeover, you bring attention to your event or course by reaching out to sponsors, influencers or celebrities and ask if they are willing to post or “donate” their social media accounts to inform the public about your cause. The content they post in their social media accounts will lead traffic to your nonprofit’s website and increase donations for a particular cause. This ensures that you reach and educate a broader audience.

• Host a movie night

Many people like watching movies. As such, you can capitalize on this by hosting a film screening or movie marathon for a cause at one of the closest auditoriums or theatres. Sell tickets and snacks as well as drinks to those who attend the screening. The income from the sales can be used to fund a given cause. Also, ask relatives and friends to host their small movie nights on behalf of your cause and channel all the income to it. Speak about your mission clearly and make it understood by everyone.

• Host fitness lessons or events

The world is currently experiencing a fitness craze. Almost everyone currently wants to go to a gym and have a workout. Therefore, capitalize on this by focusing on a particular fitness such as yoga, self-defense, and weight lifting or tennis events. Look for local fitness experts who might be willing to help you in your cause by conducting the initiative. The participants can participate after paying a certain amount, all of which will go to a given cause.

Navigating a global pandemic wasn't in anyone's 2020 marketing plan. Business hasn't been proceeding 'as usual,' particularly for nonprofit organizations. It’s been a struggle to find the right balance within a marketing mix, especially when budgets are shrinking. Nonprofits that are having success are those creating personalized connections with the communities they serve and the donors they rely on. Leveraging data for creative and effective engagement is the key to their success.

We're all spending a lot more time online. The result is that our audiences are suffering through a lot of digital noise. Making a meaningful connection is harder today than ever before.

Recently, PFL published a report revealing multichannel campaigns that include direct mail have an 18% higher return on investment than those without direct mail. An overwhelming 84 percent of respondents indicated direct mail improves multichannel campaign performance. A multichannel approach is a must! But, many nonprofits still view, and operate, without combining digital and physical channels. 

Tactile Marketing Automation (TMA) delivers direct mail as part of a marketing campaign by orchestrating the delivery of tangible assets with an organization’s digital marketing efforts. TMA provides an opportunity unlike any other for nonprofits, especially those who have recently invested in CRM or Marketing Automation Platforms. Automating direct mail creates timely connections with donors, and less work for a nonprofit’s communications team. But, how should they go about implementing TMA into their marketing efforts?

Using versatile channels

Nonprofits need to prioritize the most effective marketing channel, direct mail, to create engaging campaigns for their audience. The best way to showcase a nonprofit’s mission is to tell stories, and the best way to tell stories is to create a connection with the audience. When nonprofits incorporate direct mail in their storytelling, it allows them to harness the moment of undivided attention the medium creates and maximize impact. TMA provides the connection nonprofits are looking for to cut through the digital noise keeping current and potential donors distracted today.

With physical experiences, nonprofits can connect with stakeholders on a more personal level — especially when face-to-face interactions can't happen this year. A transactional activity, like sending donation receipts and awareness collateral, can be made more effective thanks to the versatility of the channel allowing for more creativity. For example, nonprofits can send more immersive, “VIP” direct mail experiences. A kit can be created to help donors see their gift in action, include relevant information about a nonprofit and encourage donations or simply thank people for their contributions.

Increasing personalization

Personalization is key for nonprofit marketers as it encourages donations and increases mission awareness. Many nonprofits who insist they’re utilizing personalization best practices aren’t. Changing the first name on a piece of collateral isn’t personalization — not with the technology solutions available today.

By combining direct mail with a CRM/donor database, nonprofit direct mail campaigns instantly become more personalized. Tactile Marketing Automation leverages the CRM data and digital intent signals of donors to inform the content and timing of direct mail pieces. Leverage data representing how much donors have previously given, the result of their donation, event attendance, and website engagement history to build messaging that creates a more powerful, experience-driven touchpoint.

Deploying trigger-driven campaigns

Personalization isn’t just limited to the actual marketing collateral. Timing is critical when trying to garner donations. Many nonprofit marketing teams formulate big year-end or once-a-year plans to make a big splash within a short period of time. But, what if a donor isn’t ready to give at that exact moment? What if teams understood when a donor wants to give and provide that opportunity at the right time. Because, with giving, timing is everything.

When incorporating TMA and direct mail into multichannel campaigns, marketers don’t have to be limited or confined to a specific timeframe. Timing is personalized by using intent data and triggered direct mail initiatives. For example, if a potential donor has engaged with an email, or visited the nonprofit’s website, but not donated within three days, a piece of direct mail can be triggered and sent in order to re-target that one specific individual.

Open Doors USA has seen success when incorporating TMA into triggered re-targeting campaigns.

“One of our most successful direct mail use cases has been the implementation within our monthly donor retention journey,” said Zack Keahey, director of digital marketing for Open Doors USA. “We use a variety of emails and phone calls along with programmatic direct mail pieces to notify our monthly donors when their credit card has expired. We’ve seen amazing results with monthly donors updating their card on file resulting in increased donor retention.”

Tactile marketing automation allows nonprofit marketers to break through the digital clutter everyone’s experiencing now. Stakeholders can be easily engaged within campaigns because of the versatility, personalization-driven strategy and intent-focused tactics direct mail offers. Nonprofits can and need to harness those advantageous capabilities to garner donations and increase mission awareness — the goal of every nonprofit marketing team. Every nonprofit should incorporate tactile marketing automation into its marketing mix.  

Nick Runyon is an accomplished executive with experience developing and implementing marketing strategies that drive fast and scalable growth. As CMO of PFL, he helps marketers achieve unmatched results through direct mail orchestrated with digital marketing and sales.

This year has not been easy. The effects of the coronavirus pandemic have left almost every business struggling with little profits and with bills to pay. This has forced many organizations to enforce payroll cuts due to losses in revenue. Others have suspended operations, while some have closed completely as the virus continues to bite. As we head towards 2021, here are some things you should consider as you plan for a new year:

• Refocus your organization’s mission

Before the beginning of the year, ask yourself what your business should look like. Be clear on the mission of your organization because this will help you make sound decisions. Knowing what you want to do will help you adjust to your circumstances and know where you want to go. You must discuss these issues on all levels of your organization as it will impact everyone.

• Understand your organization

As a business owner, you must know your organization’s posture, strengths and weaknesses. This will help you understand how you will move on and how to respond to a crisis. It enables you to know when to shut down, scale down operations, increase operations, and cut expenses. Understanding the organization will improve decision-making and response to problems that emerge on the way. With the pandemic that has affected businesses for example, understanding an organization will make it easy to develop alternative working arrangements that will ensure people are socially distanced.  

• Poor customer service will chase your customers

Pandemic or not, customer service is always the king, or queen for that matter. Regardless of the challenges you are facing, you must always try as much as possible to ensure that your customers are satisfied. This needs to be a priority going into 2021. According to a research by Sprout Social, 49% of customers claim that they will unfollow brands due to bad customer service on social media. This speaks a lot about the view of customers on the importance of customer service. Moving forward, learn to listen to what customers say and do not ignore any questions and demands, whether online or offline. As you think of how you can improve your customer service going into 2021, take some time to evaluate past customer feedback and how inquiries are handled and note areas that can be enhanced.

• Invest in remote work

The coronavirus pandemic has shown us that we can do many things remotely and that we should not spend too much money on physical meetings, that can still be achieved through Zoom and other platforms. It has shown that remote meetings can serve as the best alternative to on-site meetings. These meetings can help reduce the cost of operations. As you head towards 2021, think for alternative methods of conducting meetings and doing work that will reduce the cost of operations. Consider Skype, Zoom and Google Meet, among other available options.

• Get your budgeting in order

Forecast what lies ahead especially if you want to make changes in your expenditure or if you are thinking of taking a loan. While budgeting helps reduce unwanted expenditure, its purpose can also be to identify sources of money and how it is spent. Knowing the source of your money and expenses will be helpful in 2021 because it limits misuse of funds.

• Save some money

Regardless of the type of business you are operating, you must save some cash just in case you might need it. Saving some amount can help in many ways. First, you can always use the saved amount for emergency, that had not been budgeted. As we head into a new year, always keep some spare amount that you can run to when need arises.

I recently had the pleasure of asking two very different nonprofit organizations about ERP implementation projects they’ve completed since the pandemic. Farah Abbas, Director of Technology and Information Management at Oxfam, an international organization working to end the injustice of poverty; and Jennifer Noronha, Director of Strategic Initiatives at Canada’s Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO).

Why were you looking for a new ERP system?

“Oxfam wanted to reduce corporate silos and get better access to critical operational data. We had a plethora of fragmented solutions that didn’t talk to each other, some manual processes and pockets of Excel”, explained Abbas.

“We wanted an integrated solution in which the modules would talk to each other. So we worked with our entire corporation, not just HR and finance, but the programs team, public engagement, and fundraising, to look at it holistically, understand our pain points and address them.”

NWMO is a public entity, so accountability and transparency are very important to them. “We wanted better line accountability and collaboration between departments,” said Noronha. “We held several process workshops and found to our surprise that functional leads sometimes didn’t know how their own processes worked, never mind how the whole corporate process worked from start to finish.”

What worked well and what would you do differently next time?

NWMO has a very good procurement process and the project went well. “Next time I would spend more time with the executive team and functional leads to whiteboard any inefficient processes before engaging a vendor,” Noronha reflected. “I would try to leverage the experience of previous implementations among our own people and Unit4’s, especially around building the data control architecture.”

“We wanted to get up and running quickly,” said Abbas from Oxfam, “so we got 70 people in a room and did rapid-fire workshops to understand what works and what doesn’t and then create user stories. Then we actually got the vendor to demonstrate how those user stories would look in their ERP. This worked really well and helped us make decisions faster.”

How did you manage user expectations and involve stakeholders?

Oxfam called their project TOPS, which stands for Transformation of Processes and Systems to show it was about changing how they work. They involved cross-functional teams in system design: the employee lifecycle was the work not just of HR, but managers, staff, unions and finance so that all departments understood each other’s processes and knew what to expect. Abbas explained, “We have a saying, ‘We’re not a special snowflake’. There are lots of nonprofits out there who’ve done what we’re doing. I wanted to minimize customization and use the best practices the vendor could bring.”

This cross-pollination was important at NWMO as well. “To get people to let go of what they have, you have to show them what the new thing is and why it would be better,” Noronha advised. “I spent 30% of my time on communication. We used a variety of strategies to manage user expectations: town hall meetings, demos, training, and brainstorming workshops with different functional groups – some of whom had never been in the same room with each other before.”

What do you want from technology in the future?

“We don’t want to spend a lot of our time on the system,” Noronha pointed out. “We want the people in our vendor to help us keep up to par with cloud apps that make us more efficient, accountable, transparent and collaborative.”

Abbas would like, “A smartphone experience from ERP. Mobile apps so we can do our work anywhere. And Smart ERP that analyzes the processes as they’re being used and recommends how to make them more efficient.”

Chris Brewer, Global Sales Lead, Nonprofit, Unit4

You can now say “Alexa make a donation to_____” and have Alexa use your Amazon pay account to make a donation up to $5,000.  Currently, this program is only available to select charities that have been invited by Amazon. However, it is likely that this program will be a hit with both donors and nonprofits, so it is something that you should have on your radar for the upcoming year. 

Another high tech trend to watch for 2020 is the rise in giving via a blockchain platform. A blockchain platform is  a public ledger relying on globally distributed historical transactions to prevent tampering and fraud. 

Blockchain was designed to offer a higher level of transparency for transactions. Many donors wish to know that their donations are going directly to the charity that they have selected for the express purpose of funding a certain project. A blockchain giving platform can give them that piece of mind. 

BitGive’s GiveTrack is an example of one such platform. BitGive shares detailed real time information about the financial and project status of the charities that they work with that are accepting donations via GiveTrack.

Global Giving is a crowdfunding platform designed to help small nonprofits raise awareness and money. Global Giving is also a nonprofit, which means it understands what nonprofits need to run a successful fundraising campaign. 

Global Giving also understands that small nonprofits don’t have a large budget, so there is no application fee to join the  Global Giving platform. There is no monthly subscription fee, however Global Givings has a 3% transaction fee along with a sliding scale support fee of 5-12% of collected donations. 

The site offers a host of training and support options for nonprofits that join the platform. There are webinars, training libraries, workshops, one on one phone consultations or site visits.  The platform has tools like gamification and incentives to increase donations. 

The platform offers all the standard fundraising campaign tools, including metrics, donor engagement, social media integration. What it also offers is opportunities to partner with large companies for matching grants, or specific giving programs with the company.

know your audience in order to determine if live streaming is right for your nonprofit. The people you want to engage through a live stream have to be savvy enough to access your video feed so that they aren’t overwhelmed or frustrated by the experience. Beyond this point, your decision should come down to value—both to the viewer and to your organization.

If your organization is exploring adding a livestream to your next event there are a few things that you should consider. First, is your event the type of event that makes for a good livestream. 

The purpose of the livestream is to generate enthusiasm and excitement from those who are unable to attend in person. The event you are live streaming has to be visually interesting enough to keep your online viewer engaged. The most successful live streams are based on events that have an element of excitement to them. Is your event a fashion show? Will there be cute animals?--you can never go wrong livestreaming cute animals.  Also, if your event includes a celebrity guest that you know people who were unable to attend in person would love to see, 

After determining if your event is right for a livestream, it’s time to consider if your intended audience is right for a livestream. If your audience is comfortable using Twitch, YouTube or social media, if you chose to livestream via Facebook than live streaming is a good idea. If your audience is not comfortable with those platforms it doesn’t mean that you can’t do a livestream it just means that you may not get a huge return from the event. 

Next, it’s time to plan your livestream events content. Think of your live stream as the modern equivalent to a charity telethon-except instead of broadcasting on TV your using the internet. A telethon doesn’t consist of a single still shot of the action and neither should your livestream. 

Create a content script. If your are doing a fashion show consider doing interviews with the models or designers (or stores that donated the fashion). Have a host roving the audience,anything to spice up the broadcast. Remember you want to keep the excitement going. 

Many livestream apps allow your organization to collect donations directly from the livestream platform, so make sure your call to action is clear. 

EveryAction wants to be everything to every nonprofit. This cloud based platform offers fundraising, advocacy, organizing and digital all in one package. 

For fundraising, you can use the platform to create a simple donation page for your website. You can also use the platform to track major gifts, pledges and other donations. And, you can run an online auction with it as well. 

Get all your advocacy done with social matching and listening which lets you monitor and track influential supporters and it has an advocacy module that makes it easy for you to turn your advocates into donors. 

Organize your supporters with the built in tools to manage your volunteers and coordinate your canvassing or phone bank events. 

The digital portion lets you build multi channel ad campaigns. The platform includes data visualization tools so you can make use of all the various data sets that your organization accumulates. 

Nonprofits can make the most out the remaining giving days in the year, reports The Nonprofit Times. 

You’ve survived Giving Tuesday – and hopefully come out of it with a nice boost of donation revenue for your nonprofit.

Read article on The Nonprofit Times

New Story, a nonprofit that focuses on using tech to build affordable housing, plans on having 50 new homes erected a Mexico community by the end of 2020. 

A giant 3D printer built two houses in an impoverished, rural part of Mexico last week, breaking ground on what will be the first 3D-printed neighborhood in the world.

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According to the Biz Tech Magazine, integrated giving is one of several technology trends that will impact nonprofits in 2020. 

Nonprofits have a lot on their plates. Charitable giving took a hit last year, declining for the first time since the Great Recession, forcing organizations to do more with less.

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Mobile friendly devices help contribute to the success of #GivingTuesday, reports Biz Tech Magazine.  

Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday are all behind us, but the long Thanksgiving weekend isn’t over yet. Many will be digging deep into their pockets again today, but not for themselves—this time, it’s for Giving Tuesday. 

Read article on BizTech Magazine