ThankView makes it easier to acknowledge your donors after an event, volunteer activity, or a donation. Throw away your “Thank You” cards, use your stamps on another project, and put your pen back in the cupholder. ThankView is an effortless way to express gratitude to the donors that are supporting your mission.

In Use:

ThankView is a platform where nonprofit organizations can create and send “Thank You” videos to their volunteers. It can be created in minutes; branded with a university’s logo, and emailed or texted.  The software is geared towards charities, colleges, and hospitals to raise funds; thank volunteers; or for marketing purposes. The idea came about when co-founder JD Beebe got married. He didn’t want to write wedding notes but wanted to show his guests how truly appreciative he was that they were able to attend. The platform which has been serving nonprofits for over three years has been widely accepted by universities, charities, and hospitals alike. “The reception has been pretty phenomenal,” Beebe states. 

Not only can customers record videos, but they can choose from a variety of fonts, colors, and “call to action” buttons. The software automatically edits the video and clients can record a personalized introduction video and then cut to a more generic video; saving the customer the time it would take to continuously record the same message again and again.

Subscriptions start at $2,000 a year and increase depending on the customer’s needs. All subscriptions include cloud-based video storage; and the ability to schedule when they want to send out a video. Subscriptions also come with the ability to include a “Call to Action” button.

In today’s society it’s very important that a customer has insight to metrics. ThankView gives the customer the option to track data using a dashboard that can map who opened the video, who clicked on the call action, and other important information.

Technology Used:

ThankView works on all tablets and phones whether it’s a Mac or Android. Integrations include iMovie and Adobe Premiere. The platform is also compatible with CRMs such as Blackbaud and Salesforce.

Ease of Use:

Beebe wanted to ensure that any client could use ThankView without having to read a manual.  To do that he had to make sure that the platform was easy to use. If nonprofits do run into trouble they can speak to their Customer Success Manager who can answer any questions a nonprofit or university might have.

Recap:

ThankView is a software that allows nonprofit organizations, hospitals, and colleges to record “Thank You” videos to send to donors and volunteers. The videos can also include a “Call to Action” button that nonprofits can use for marketing purposes. These videos can not only be branded but personalized with the recipient’s name - adding a personalized touch. ThankView also comes with a robust dashboard that includes the ability to track how many downloads a video received, who shared their video, and who opened it.

Advantages:

• While ThankView will work with corporations, they mainly focus on nonprofit organizations, universities and hospital.
• While $2,000 may seem like a lot of money- it only equals out to be about $166 a month. While the smallest nonprofits may not be able to afford this- many medium to large charities can.
• ThankView videos have an average of 60% open rate
• Ability to create a personalized introduction and then cut to a generic message

Disadvantages:

• Ease of use when it comes to creating and branding the video
• What if the video goes to the donor’s spam box?

My Opinion:

ThankView isn’t your average “Thank You” note. It’s a fun, innovative way to connect with your donors or incoming students while branding and marketing your organization. While many charities use the platform to send out “Thank You” notes – the software can also be used for marketing purposes such as “Call to Action”, a due-date reminder, or a case study that the organization can use for outreach.

My only hesitation with email greeting cards is the chance that it could go to the recipient’s spam. To counter-act this ThankView works with the client to make sure that the list is clean so they can have a minimal amount of emails that bounce back. Because of this the company has seen an average of 60% open-rate.

As a financial management software, Sage Intacct is used by nonprofits from all different industries whether a faith-based organization, educational nonprofit organization or nonprofit health organization. The site boasts that it allows nonprofits the ability to aggregate transactions and real time analytics. For most nonprofits who rely on accounting to manage donations and keep their 501© status- it’s important that they purchase a reliable accounting platform.

In Use:

“Sage Intacct was the first accounting system built in the cloud,”Joan Benson, Director of Nonprofit Industry Marketing at Sage Intacct confirms. While other accounting systems had to figure out how to make the delicate transfer from on-premise software to the cloud; Sage Intacct was created and built for the cloud. Benson points out that trying to move to the cloud presents issues regarding configuration not to mention information can be lost in transition.

Sage Intacct allows nonprofits to manage all their financials in one software. Some of the benefits that comes along with a subscription to Sage Intacct is that charities have access to both accounts payable and receivable; deprecation tracking; inventory management; and 1099 Support. As an AICPA recognized organization, nonprofits can be sure that their fiscal documents are secure.

Technology Used:

There’s not much technology needed on a charity’s end since Sage Intacct is housed on the cloud. The platform has many different analysis and reporting capabilities – so a nonprofit who is familiar with data visualization tools will find the tool easy to maneuver.

Sage Intacct offers numerous integrations for a seamless process. In the nonprofit sector; Sage Intacct integrates with numerous CRMs and donor registration softwares.

Ease of Use:

With 35% of all of Sage Intacct’s business made up of nonprofit organizations it’s critical that the software is easy to use. Sage Intacct offers customer webinars; on-sight learning, and classes for their customers to learn the software. Sage Intacct conducts an annual conference entitled Advantage that includes training for all users. Advantage 2019 will be taking place in Las Vegas between October 21^st and October 25^th.

Recap:

Sage Intacct is a financial software that runs solely on the cloud. The platform integrates with numerous CRMS and donor management software to make it easy for nonprofits to manage their finances and assets. Among the different capabilities that Sage Intacct helps charities with are; spend management; purchasing; and reporting and analysis.

Advantages:

• AICPA certified
• The software is capable of helping nonprofits with numerous financial issues such as spend management and accounts payable
• Many customers site that Sage Intacct is easy to use and the dashboards are user friendly.
• With 35% of all businesses, nonprofits; Sage Intacct has a good understanding of the types of financial information nonprofits need to excel

Disadvantages:

• According to some customers- tracking capabilities and functionality can be improved
• Other customers site slow customer service as a source of improvement

My Opinion:

I think Sage Intacct is a great option to meet all of your financial and accounting needs. Benson had a very good understanding of the issues that nonprofits face in the financial world.  Along with Sage Intacct, Benson and her team  are trying to implement strategies and tools to help nonprofits succeed. If you are unhappy with your current financial software or are looking to purchase your first one- I would at least speak to a customer service representative and consider watching a free demo.

“[MemberSuite] came into this space with the premise of providing software as a service to the member base organization space and provide new technology,” explained Natalie Cheney, CEO of MemberSuite. While association management software isn’t new (according to Cheney it’s been around since the 90s), MemberSuite is a fresh take on a relatively unchanged industry. MemberSuite was able to disrupt the space by providing cloud-based capabilities that their competition didn’t have.

In Use:

Association management softwares (AMS) are platforms that companies use to manage day-to-day business. Whether for-profit or nonprofit, AMS can benefit all organizations. MemberSuite offers tools and services to benefit all aspects of a nonprofit. Software consist of a robust CRM, an e-marketing tool where users can design and create a variety of emails; and services such as data migration.

Ease of Use:

MemberSuite offers customer service in the form of ready-to-help experts and webinars along with educational assets such as data sheets and infographics. These assets help users familiarize themselves with the products. While some reviews state MemberSuite software is easy to use and intuitive others have found it hard to use and confusing.

Technology Used:

One of the reasons that MemberSuite disrupted the industry is that their product was cloud-based from the beginning. Many of their competitors had to adapt to the cloud space which created numerous growing pains and networking issues. MemberSuite provides nonprofits with numerous capabilities. From donor portals to finance tools and analytics. On the donor-facing platform, donors can renew their membership, pay for a donation, or sign up for a fundraising event allowing members to self-service on everyday activities. “All of these actions are happening 24-7 by clicking on a few buttons, providing capabilities so staff can engage their members,” Cheney states. With these self-service tools, nonprofits can go back to helping their constituents and worry less on the day-to-day responsibilities of running a nonprofit. Cheney refers to industries such as e-commerce and airlines who adopted a similar self-service module. “Consumers are demanding it from nonprofits and it’s expensive. It is up to us to provide that technology,” Cheney said of MemberSuite.

Recap:

MemberSuite is an association management software platform with numerous capabilities to assist nonprofits to manage their business. In fact, CEO Natalie Cheney acknowledged that nonprofits need an AMS but often don’t have much money to spend on one. Most of the nonprofits that purchase MemberSuite are positioned in the middle and upper market with revenue of around $2 million. Cheney noted that other nonprofits that fall into the $1 million range take advantage of MemberSuite through a monthly solution.

Advantages:

• All-in-one software that includes finance, event registration, and donor management software
• Customer support and educational tools to help charities comprehend the software
• Monthly services and yearly subscriptions are available to meet nonprofits needs
• Dedicated in providing nonprofit with the technology they need to run their organization

Disadvantages:

• Too expensive for small nonprofits
• Users state that it’s not user friendly and the interface could use a facelift.
• Reporting capabilities could be more robust

My Opinion:

Often when I review a software that is used by both for-profit and nonprofit organizations, nonprofits are just an afterthought. That was not the case when I talked the CEO of MemberSuite, Natalie Cheney. She was dedicated in creating a software that had the capabilities that nonprofits need to run their organizations. While it may be too expensive for small nonprofits, medium to large charities can benefit immensely from the numerous different tools and products that MemberSuite offers.

Personify is a software suite that is compact with tools and products that enable nonprofits to manage their donors and grow their organization.  Through their various products, charities can connect with their donors and grow their reach. For This review will be focusing solely on Personify360- a robust constituent management software for nonprofits and charities.

In  Use:

With Personify360, charities can manage their constituents, drive revenue, and expand their reach.  With backend dashboards and reporting capabilities, nonprofits can track metrics that can help them with future campaigns.

Nonprofit organizations can take advantage of Personify360’s four key features.  Nonprofits can see their constituent information using the Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) tool; get strategic consulting services and support through eBusiness; browser-based client through PersonifyGO; and analyze statistics and map trends through their Analytics feature.

Ease of Use:

It does take some time to familiarize yourself with the software. It has been described by some users on Capterra as clunky and not so user-friendly. Other reviews have had no problem maneuvering around the platform. It may essentially come down to how techy savvy one is.

Technology Used:

Charities can roll their needs into one sophisticated platform. Need to get in touch with constituents? Need to analyze constituents’ wants and needs? Having trouble understanding how to manage your constituents effectively? Personify360 can get a nonprofit organization on the right track to solving issues that arise when managing a nonprofit.

Recap

According to Personify360, a nonprofit’s first focus should be on their constituents. With their products and solutions they hope to enable a charity by giving them access to technology that will help their organization thrive.

Advantages:

• Free demo to see if the platform is right for your organization
• All-in-one tool that lets your streamline your organization- you don’t have to constantly switch between software to manage donors, constituents, and run reports
• Analytics capability to track metrics and statistics

Disadvantages:

• Platform has been described as clunky and not user friendly

My Opinion:

I think nonprofits will like the fact that the software is all in one. It’s time consuming to have to constantly switch from one software to another. With Personify360 they can manage their constituents, track metrics, and get advice using the same software. Personify offers a free demo, so I would encourage any charity who is interested in growing their reach among their community to give the demo a try.  My only hesitation is that it’s been described as hard to use and clunky. It appears that it will take some time to get use to the software. A nonprofit has to make sure they have time set aside to learn the tool in order to get the most out of it.

Multinationals have been embracing blockchain for years. In the next five years, corporate blockchain investments will exceed $60 billion. Big nonprofits aren’t far behind. Blockchain has proven to be more secure than centralized ledgers. It’s immutable records ensure paper trails are always audit-ready. Smart contracts - the self-fulfilling agreements at the heart of blockchain - reinforce trust across an organization.

The Typical Nonprofit ‘Arc’

To understand how smaller nonprofits could benefit by leveraging blockchain, it helps to understand the typical “arc” of most small nonprofits.

Generally, they start from the heart. A family member, friend or loved one goes through some unpleasant experience and a well-meaning founder reacts by asking, “What can I do to make sure no one else has to go through with this?” Their answer is to start a nonprofit.

Their hearts may be in the right place, but often founders have little or no money - nor any idea how to launch and market a nonprofit. So, the nonprofit settles for old-school solutions like purchasing mailing lists and sending out flyers via snail mail in hopes of capturing attention. This is far from efficient.

For big, fully established charities, this is rarely a concern. High-profile charities are top of mind for most givers, even though only a percentage of annual contributions may actually go the cause itself. The rest can be swallowed by the massive infrastructure needs that come with running a globally-recognized nonprofit. 

Why Nonprofits Should Leverage Blockchain

Blockchain can help reformulate this arc.

Blockchain, by definition, is decentralized, it means there is no single point of entry. No “home office” is required (except for tax purposes). So, for a relatively small investment, a blockchain-based nonprofit can have a regional, national or even global presence.

Since all entries in a blockchain ledger are recorded on a public ledger, it helps nullify any trust issues around how contributions are spent and who can access those contributions. A blockchain ledger can be audited at anytime, meaning  accountability is baked into the business plan.

Then there is efficiency, which is essential for every business. In the case of small nonprofits, efficiency often means managing the many intermediary costs that can drain a charity's coffers. 

But - as is often repeated -  blockchain “eliminates the middleman”. For nonprofits, the middleman are the bankers and payment processors who squeeze themselves between good samaritans and good causes. Blockchain makes bankers and payment processors unnecessary, allowing more of the contributions to go directly to those in need.

Perhaps the single biggest reason nonprofits should consider adopting blockchain is because doing so automatically expands the contribution landscape. 

Contributions can be completed in dollars, pesos or marks, but blockchain opens up the possibility of cryptocurrency contributions. For nonprofits, this should be  especially attractive because crypto - unlike traditional currencies - are cheaper to process.

The Future of Charitable Giving

Unprecedented transparency and efficiency tell only part of the story. Blockchain can also be used to get the word out. 

Right now, decentralized apps (DApps) are being built on the that can give these small, unsung organizations the visibility they need.

How will they work? Well, imagine waiting in line to buy a pizza. While waiting, the DApp on your phone identifies a nearby youth center or animal shelter in need. As you tap into your cryptocurrency wallet to pay for your dinner, you donate the spare bitcoin or ethereum to a good cause.

This isn’t some far off scenario. Thanks to blockchain, it’s a concept that will be here sooner than you know and, on behalf of small nonprofits everywhere, let me be the first to say “thanks”.    

Brad Robertson is the founder and CEO of Polyient Labs, a Phoenix-based, early-stage blockchain incubator created to help identify and foster blockchain innovations. He also helps run a Phoenix-based nonprofit aimed at helping children with autism and other developmental disabilities.  

It’s no secret that non-profits are typically operating on limited budgets since they frequently rely on donors to fund their various programs and services. In fact, 66.3 percent of non-profits have a budget of less than $1 million. For this reason alone, many non-profit businesses are cognizant of their spend and try to eliminate as many overhead costs as possible to ensure that a high percentage of donations are put toward core programs and high demand services. This is where effective spend management software comes into play.

For non-profits, it’s vital to success that spend visibility is in place so donations can be utilized effectively. A comprehensive trail of spend is not only desired for better results, but required by law. Donors want to know where their money is going, regulatory committees have policies in place to ensure various degrees of compliance and leadership wants a comprehensive view of budgets. Let’s dive into these top three reasons for spend visibility in the non-profit space:

Ensure regulatory compliance and donor spending transparency

Nearly every business deals with some form of government regulation or other compliance standards, and non-profits are no exception. non-profit businesses often face 501(c)(3) IRS code rules along with other regulations from state governments. In order to ensure compliance with these standards, reports are submitted and all donations must be accounted for. Spend management software solutions allow non-profits visibility from the moment a donation is collected to when it is allocated in a specific fund and eventually used. This information not only provides proof of compliance and effective use of donor funds, but also encourages repeat donations since the business has demonstrated that there are controls in place and donations will go to the proper programs.

Real-time budget and spend visibility

Sixty-nine percent of the population donates to non-profit or charitable organizations. That’s a lot of money coming in and out and a lot of donors who want to know where their donation is spent. Procurement software provides not only the non-profits and regulatory bodies with visibility, but also gives funders information on exactly how donations are being spent. This helps build trust and foster long-term relationships with those who give. Also, since non-profits have such tight budgets, real-time visibility and remote access improves the overall management of funds — for example, if a percentage of a donation is allocated to a different fund due to an increased demand for that service. Through the use of spend management software, employees would be able to access the system from any location and not only view the shift, but also approve the distribution.

Optimization of funds through valuable insights

Many non-profit businesses have multiple programs that operate on donations and grants. For example, the United Way has seven different core programs that cover everything from education to relationship building. Each program has a different budget. Spend management solutions help non-profits effectively allocate donations and create realistic budgets for each individual program. These systems also provide valuable insights into budgets in order to help optimize funds. In the case of United Way, if the education fund only used half its allocated budget in the month of May, but the relationship building program was strapped for donations, then executives could look to redistribute funding to create the most effective balance for their non-profit.

Non-profit organizations face a variety of challenges that traditional businesses never deal with. From limited budgets to relying on donations and grants for funding, spend visibility is key for success. Luckily, spend management solutions can ease concern by upholding regulations, optimizing funding and providing real-time access to budgets.

Stanton Jandrell, CEO of Fraxion

The gender pay gap is real and it becomes even more pronounced as women move up the ladder in their careers. According to research, men get paid more for the same job as women in many organizations.

Although some laws have been brought up with an aim of trying to ensure that both men and women get paid equally for the same hours and the same tasks, the difference still persists between the two groups. While this might occur as a problem in the corporate sector alone, the study conducted by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) state otherwise. AFP noted that gender contributes to 10 percent difference between male and females in terms of salaries in fundraisers. Their study was based on 10000 responses where the final result indicated that when it comes to contribution women make 10.5 percent less than their counterparts in the opposite gender. This research is supported by many other studies carried out in the past where almost all of them point out the unfair treatment of women when it comes to paying or rewarding them for work done. When women get paid less based on their gender, it is nothing short of a form of gender discrimination and it is not only illegal but unfair as well.

Many studies have shown that the gender gap has not narrowed despite the laws which have been laid down to aid alleviate this issue. For instance, AFP reported that the gender pay gap has not been narrowed for the last 18 years as women continue getting less than their male counterparts by 11 percent.  However, a study conducted by Pew Research Center women working in the US made 84 percent as much as men. Another research by Statistics Canada found out that for every dollar earned by a man, women get 87 cents. Regardless of this, many male-dominated industries tend to have higher wages than those industries or occupations whose majority of employees are women or female. In most of the occupations, women receive billions less as compared to what men receive. A perfect example is women working as physicians and surgeons who are paid about $20 billion less annually collectively than men in the same field.

In fundraising just like many other sectors, for instance, women are also not doing better when it comes to equitable pay. Although they might be doing better in this sector compared to others, there is still a long way laden with challenges. As such, there is a need for education and awareness about the necessity for equity and issues that lead to a lack of it. These aspects serve as a foundation for the approach of this topic in the future. For instance, understanding the size of the gap which exists in men and women and issues that cause lack of equity in the determination of salaries is helpful in the development of salaries and coming up with other mechanisms of closing these gaps.

Although women make up a majority in many industries, they also contribute to a majority of those subjected to poor pay and other unfair treatments in their respective places of work compared to their male colleagues. For example, for women to earn the same annual salary as men, they must work 44 days more than men. Equally, men, although they are the minority in places of work, occupy higher positions while women settle for categories such as childcare. Even in the job categories that women make a majority such as child care, men still earn more wages for the same jobs as women.

Although progress has been made in addressing pay parity between the two sexes over the years, there is still a long way to go in order to achieve equity. Until the gap is closed, we will not be having equity in society any time soon.

Philanthropic giving is constantly on the rise and a big reason behind that is the carefully thought out strategies applied by nonprofits in order to raise funds for the various causes they support.

The world has already gone mobile. Accessibility, convenience and higher levels of engagement are a few reasons that drive the growth in popularity of mobile phones in all walks of life and fundraising is no exception to it.

According to the 2018 global trends in giving report, 74 percent of all donors are inspired by digital communications to embark on their donation journey. The importance of technology on non-profit fundraising thus cannot be undermined.

Rise in altruism and moral righteousness fuel the quest to make this world a better place. Mobility solutions simply make it a frictionless experience.

Mobile and other digital channels are constantly revamping how the donors engage with nonprofit organization which exemplifies the need for innovation and novel application of technology within this niche.  Here is a list of ways nonprofits can incorporate mobility solutions in their fundraising strategy

1. Online donation

Online fundraising is one of the most popular ways for nonprofits to raise money. All you need is a connection to the internet and you are ready to give. The most common method of online donation is via the nonprofit’s website or online donation page.

While online donations via websites has been around for quite some time now, the rise in mobility has necessitated mobile responsive website for a seamless user experience.

In 2018, more than half of all nonprofit website traffic came from tablets and mobile devices. Well designed websites that follow the principles of responsive design and employ UX/UI best practices boost the donor trust, improve accessibility and result in a better user experience which increases the chances of recurring donations.

2. Leverage mobile applications

Mobile apps take accessibility a notch up while simultaneously boosting donor engagement. Donating funds for a cause is a personal choice and mobile apps take personalization to another level through access to features like push notifications.

Here are the two ways you can leverage mobile apps for successful funding

1. Sign up with existing apps: You can register your nonprofit on apps like Google’s One Today and you get instant access to their vast donor base. Receiving funding is fast, hassle-free with no transaction fees in most cases. The downside is that your nonprofit has to stand out from the other competing ones to capture donor’s attention. Since you are registered on a third party application, you have no access to the native app features.

1. Build your own mobile app: While this is certainly the more cost-intensive option, it also gives you considerable freedom over app design and development. The process behind creating an app has the potential to expand your reach to a wider audience and promote engagement. Depending on your requirements, you can choose a drag and drop app builder or hire a custom app development company to design and develop your app.

Mobile apps can integrate multiple payment options while saving the basic user information so that the donors do not have to enter their personal information repeatedly, leading to a frictionless experience.

With mobile apps, you can also send out notifications to the donors in case of any fundraiser or related events like charity auctions or walkathons being organized leading to higher turnout and engagement.

Storytelling is an important part of fundraising and mobile apps and websites allow you to excel at that. You can also send out personalized push notifications intermittently to the consistent donors to promote recurrent donations.

3. Text-to-donate fundraising

Pledge texting is an innovative method of fundraising for nonprofits. The nonprofits have a designated mobile number which the donor needs to send a text message that contains a predetermined keyword. As a reply, a link to the nonprofit’s mobile responsive donation page is sent over. The donor just needs to fill up the details in the online form and proceed towards making the donation.

A number of different payment options including credit card and other digital wallets can be made available to the donors. There are a number of text-to-give providers that can facilitate this form of mobile fundraising.

Fundraising through text messaging is easy, fast and comes with a low learning curve. The only thing that has to be ensured is that a clear transmission of information about the steps that the donor needs to take in order to complete the process has to be given. The keyword has to be memorable and the information required to be input by the donor in the donation form should be minimal in order to make the experience hassle-free.

Safeguarding the personal information of the donors is the responsibility of the nonprofit. The design of the mobile responsive webpage also needs to follow the UX/UI design principles so that it invokes the feeling of trust.

Rahul Varshneya is the co-founder and President of Arkenea and Benchpoint. Rahul has been featured as a business technology thought leader in numerous media channels such as Bloomberg TV, Forbes, HuffPost, Inc, among others.

If you're like most people you use your smartphone for practically everything, but is going smartphone only an option for a nonprofit organization?

There are several reasons why you might chose to keep your landline. First, and foremost  is call quality with a landline you are almost certain to have good call quality. While with a cellphone there is a chance that your location has areas where calls can drop or not come through at all.

Also, depending on your location there maybe safety reasons why you need a landline, such as fire alarm, elevator phones or security systems.

With a landline or another unified system such as voice over internet protocol (voip) you can set-up a incoming message, voicemail messaging and directory service that is cohesive and onbrand. You can also easily transfer calls from extensions, and retrieve messages. However, if each employee has a cellphone there will not be a cohesive feel to their voicemail messages. Plus, it can be harder to forward messages from employee to employee.

Next, cost is a consideration depending on the type of cell phone packages you select and the number of employees it can be expensive to outfit each employee with a phone. Plus, you most likely will have to assign an employee to manage the cellphones i.e. issuing new phones, collecting phones from outgoing staff, repair/replacing for the inevitable lost or destroyed phone.

Plus, fundraising calls can contain sensitive financial information, that is perhaps best discussed in a quiet office, not the local coffee house.

The 24/7 aspect of cellphones could also be an issue for your organization, do you expect your employees to answer their company issued cell phones even on off hours? If work/life balance is an important cornerstone to your organization, you will need to institute a policy on phone use during standard non-business hours.

Analytics are important to fundraising. Knowing how your donors like to give, in addition to when they give can help your organization keep your fundraising efforts on target.

CRM software like VirtuousCRM help your organization dive quickly and easily into your donor giving history, to make intelligence fundraising calls.

VirtuousCRM also alerts you to a potential donor lapse so you can prevent that from happening.

VirtuousCRM incorporates information from all three of your marketing channels, so you know exactly how your social media, email marketing and direct mail campaigns are working, which can help you tailor your next communication with your donors.

The software also lets you log each interaction with your donor and ensures that you timely and personalized follow ups.

The Virtuous app helps you complete your fundraising tasks even if you not in the office. You can use the app to find nearby donors, log notes and view donor to do items.

Along with helping you with your donor retention VirtuousCRM has additional features that allow you to take donations and control the flow of your marketing campaigns across all channels.

VirtuousCRM is a subscription based service and has tier pricing depending on the number of contacts you have and what additional modules you need. The most basic plan starts at $195/mo.

A ton of personal data flows through a nonprofit organization every day, from donor payment information to volunteers names, address and phone numbers.

Of course, your organization takes steps to protect that data: firewalls, 2 factor authentication, separation of duties and passwords, but criminals always seem to be one step ahead.

Even organizations with tight security can find themselves victims of a data breach. These breaches can take the form of malware, extortion, stolen identities or crashed servers.

The cost to recover from such a catastrophe can range in the tens of thousands of dollars along with the damage to your reputation.

Most standard insurance policies cover regular events, such as natural disaster or employee theft they don’t cover cyber crime events. There are policies that exclusively cover cyber crime.

Such policies can help offset the cost of data recovery, legal expenses, notification expenses and other cost incurred to recover from the data breach. The policy could even help you cover the expense of a marketing campaign to assure your donors that you’ve taken care of the breach.

There are several insurance companies that specialize not only in cyber liability insurance, but understand the unique needs of nonprofit organizations.

Small nonprofits usually have a smaller budget to spend on technology. So what are the ‘must have’ items?

The first is a good computer (or computers). Whether it is a laptop or a desktop, the computer is the heart of your organization.

Is your staff going to be working in the field or telecommuting? Then laptops are the way to go. If a majority of your work is done in the office then a standard desktop will suit all your needs.

Consider the size of the memory. If your organization does a lot of graphics work or needs to store a large amount of data locally you will need to invest in a computer with a large amount of memory.

If your organization has an exceptionally tight budget you can consider investing in refurbished computers. TechSoup is one source for refurbished computer equipment.

Next is a printer. Even if your organization is striving to be paperless there will always be certain items that must be printed.

Take a moment to consider exactly what you will be printing. A small desktop unit that prints both color and black and white is perfect for printing acknowledgement letters and other small print jobs, but if you are doing in house brochures or other marketing materials consider a larger unit.

It is no longer necessary to have a stand alone fax machine as most small desktop printers come equipped with scanner and fax capabilities.

Another hardware consideration is cellphones, your organization might choose to provide smartphones to your employees if they are out in the field or if they will be expected to deal with confidential information regularly via their smartphone.

Remote Desktop Protocol(RDP), a set of standards that allow users to connect to another computer over a network connection for remote administration, is being exploited by cyber criminals, reports the Nonprofit Times.

Read the article on Nonprofit Times

According to the Nonprofit Times, Microsoft has issued new security standards to protect users of Office 365 for Nonprofits from cyber attacks.

Read the article on Nonprofit Times

Benetech, a Silicon Valley nonprofit, is testing a social services platform that allows six Bay Area social service agencies to maintain a shared  database of local resources, reports Nonprofit Quarterly. The services database is maintained through an open-standards data exchange.

Read the article on Nonprofit Quarterly

Oklahoma Gas & Electric is making good use of its out dated tech equipment reports, the Oklahoman.  They donated about 160 desktop and laptop computers to two dozen local nonprofits.

Read the article on The Oklahoman