Learn why so many organizations are using responsive fundraising strategies.

Why Leading Nonprofits Prioritize Responsive Fundraising

Year after year, fundraisers face the same dilemma: how to inspire more generosity from their donor base without adding hours of work to their day. What we can see from giving data over the past 10 years is that most nonprofits are struggling to find that balance, if not missing it entirely.

It’s clear that nonprofits need something new. A way to meet donor demands, connect more authentically at scale and see a better return on appeals. The answer, as leading nonprofits are finding out, is responsive fundraising. The 3-step model forces modern fundraisers to listen to donor signals, connect in ways that are relevant and suggest the next best steps based on what each individual cares about.

Responsive fundraising is more than just a new strategy — it’s an entirely different philosophy that the modern donor requires from your nonprofit. Here are a few reasons why responsive nonprofits have made the switch.

Responsive fundraising improves the donor experience.

They Want to Provide Better Donor Experiences

Giving is a personal decision. Each time a donor decides to support your work, it’s because they find it meaningful, relevant or important. Their generosity is the reason your team can do the work that you’ve dedicated yourself to. Unfortunately, nonprofits aren’t always great at reciprocating the kind of personal, meaningful experiences that show the levels of gratitude you feel for your donors.

With responsive fundraising, it’s much easier to identify what donors care about and what they might find meaningful. For example, traditional fundraising tactics dictate that a nonprofit sends a generic welcome email after a person gives for the first time.

Responsive nonprofits, on the other hand, know that adding a few personalized details will increase donor retention. By thinking about the donor’s experience, rather than the messaging your nonprofit wants to include in every communication piece, you’ll create a much more relevant experience for each and every donor. The outcome is better fundraising results.

Responsive fundraising helps nonprofits to create more effective appeals.

Responsive Fundraising Identifies the Right Asks

While we believe that all giving is deeply personal and selfless, not every gift is the same. Variations in size, frequency and form are important details to consider as a responsive fundraiser. Part of the incredible value Double the Donation provides is a way to earn more funds without asking for more money from individuals.

Using wealth data provided by Virtuous and the services of Double the Donation, responsive nonprofits are able to help donors increase their impact on the world without making an appeal that they feel is completely outside of their range. Add to that a giving page that displays dynamic gift arrays based on the visitor’s past gifts, and you’ll start to see improved fundraising over time thanks to targeted, specific and personalized appeals.

Check out the Double the Donation and Virtuous CRM integration to quickly implement the responsive fundraising approach.

Responsive fundraising enables organizations to connect to donors and to be more transparent.

Responsive Fundraisers Want More Transparency

One of the reasons nonprofits encounter obstacles while fundraising is because they aren’t able to identify the real reason for the disconnect with donors. It’s particularly confusing when we see reports that giving has grown steadily over the last decade. All signs point to everything being fine, but that’s not what fundraisers (or donors) feel.

Responsive fundraisers spend time collecting the data that will point them towards better donor relationships. It’s not enough to simply record high-level engagement metrics like email opens or RFM data. To be truly responsive and provide the kinds of experiences the modern donor needs, you need to constantly question the data. Push yourself to ask why and then ask it again. Instead of simply accepting the data and asking your team to do more, investigate what the information is telling you and what your donors truly need from you.

Responsive fundraising helps nonprofits to increase their impact.

Nonprofits Want to Do More Good

Ultimately, the reason that leading nonprofits choose to move towards responsive fundraising strategies is to be able to do more good in the world. Without generous, reciprocal relationships with each of your donors, you won’t be able to accomplish the change in the world that you’ve set out to make.

The truth is it is easier than ever for donors to give directly to causes and individuals that they feel connected to. And people want to. Between for-profit partnerships with charities and individual fundraisers across social platforms, each of us is one post away from giving to help others. As a nonprofit, it’s up to you to make the experience of being a donor the most meaningful and relevant so that donors stay committed to your organization. Responsive fundraising makes it easy.

Getting started with responsive fundraising is easy with the right tech toolkit.

Get the Nonprofit CRM Designed for Responsive Fundraising

To learn more about how you can implement responsive fundraising at your organization, including how to make your Double the Donation CTA more effective for donors, check out The Pocket Guide to Responsive Fundraising. Learn the data behind responsive fundraising, plus 28 plays you can use right now to grow giving.


Mckenna Bailey from Virtuous CRM is the author of this post on responsive fundraising for nonprofits.This post was contributed by Virtuous.

About the Author: Mckenna Bailey is a writer and strategist working to help nonprofits connect with their donors at scale.

Double the Donation Joins the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Ecosystem with Matching Gift Flow

Double the Donation is proud to announce a new connector to the Microsoft Dynamics 356 Nonprofit Accelerator. The Nonprofit Accelerator, announced at the initial Microsoft CXO Summit in April 2018 and initially released in November 2018 at the NetHope Global Summit, transforms Dynamics 365 into a one-stop solution for nonprofit success. The Common Data Model for Nonprofits connects the core Dynamics 365 Nonprofit Accelerator with solutions built on top of it to power all facets of nonprofit operations.

“Nonprofits using the Microsoft Dynamics 365 platform are actively looking for ways to maximize their fundraising through innovative solutions, and Double the Donation is one such solution,” said Erin Burchfield, Director of Microsoft Philanthropies, Strategic Partnerships, Tech for Social Impact. “We’re excited to welcome the Double the Donation integrated solution into the Microsoft ecosystem for forward-thinking nonprofits.”

Double the Donation has expanded the capabilities of nonprofits using Microsoft Dynamics 365 with workflows to help nonprofits manage their matching gift efforts and drive new matching gift opportunities to completion. These contributions to Microsoft Dynamics 365 come as Double the Donation continues to expand its integrations ecosystem across the nonprofit and education spaces.

“As a provider of solutions that integrate with dozens of other platforms in a variety of sectors, we understand the value of a common data model for busy nonprofit professionals,” said Adam Weinger, President of Double the Donation. “Our goal is to make matching gifts as easy as possible to integrate into every nonprofit’s greater fundraising efforts. Our contributions to Microsoft Dynamics 365 functionality are the next big step in achieving that goal for the organizations that rely on our solutions and Microsoft’s.”

With the newly released flow within Power Automate, Double the Donation has enabled a seamless data flow between nonprofits’ data center, Microsoft Dynamics 365, and their matching gifts automation hub. This connection combines the matching gift-maximizing operations of Double the Donation with the valuable data housed in Microsoft Dynamics 365.

Activate in seconds and start raising more from matching gifts

Activate in Seconds and Start Raising More from Matching Gifts!

Integrating Double the Donation with Microsoft Dynamics 365 is quick and easy, thanks to intuitive API key plug in. Nonprofits can get up and running in a matter of minutes and start raising more from matching gifts without worrying about complicated IT work.

Follow integration steps to get set up

Easily integrate into the Microsoft Dynamics 365  ecosystem with API key plugin.

The combined workflow is simple: When new gifts are registered in Microsoft Dynamics 365, those gifts are instantly registered in Double the Donation. The system then goes to work to identify matching gift opportunities and drive those matches to completion. This process happens automatically, so organizations can allocate their time and focus to the causes that matter most.

Easy integration with 360MatchPro

Let Double the Donation automatically drive matches to completion with custom email outreach and up-to-the-minute matching gift data.

Nonprofit organizations can set up automated emails to eligible donors to encourage gift matching and increase their organization’s fundraising revenue by double or even triple the amount of donors’ initial contributions. The process is easy, requires minimal effort from the nonprofit, and supports corporate philanthropy efforts. And when donors feel empowered by increasing their donation’s impact with a matching gift, they’re more likely to contribute a larger gift.

Looking to learn more? Check out our in-depth integration guide to get started!

Drive More Matching Gifts to Completion with Double the Donation!

 

Drive More Matching Gifts to Completion with Double the Donation Matching!

The Double the Donation flow integration with the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Ecosystem empowers nonprofits to identify match eligible donors, encourage them to initiate a match with their employer, and drive those matches to completion. The Double the Donation integration also features:

  • Identify more matching gift revenue opportunities: Double the Donation enables you to automatically collect matching gift eligibility from donors using email domains, within donation forms, on confirmation screens, or by email. The more matching gift opportunities Double the Donation discovers and shares with donors, the more matching gift requests your donors will successfully submit.
  • Drive more matches to completion, from form submission to corporate payment: Direct donors immediately to their matching gift forms after the donation process is complete. Then, provide the right information to the right donors at the right time with custom emails based on match eligibility. Target follow-ups drive more completed submissions than ever before, bringing exponentially more matching gift checks from companies through your door.
  • Reallocate your time from routine follow-up to your top opportunities: Your time is valuable, so why spend it chasing small dollar-value matching gifts? Let Double the Donation automate your matching gift outreach while flagging your highest-value opportunities, allowing your team to personalize follow-ups to the most valuable match-eligible donations. Rest easy knowing that Double the Donation can handle the rest.

Nonprofits interested in seeing how the integration works can request a demo today for a step-by-step explanation of the process from the team at Double the Donation.


About Microsoft: Microsoft Tech for Social Impact provides affordable, relevant and innovative solutions to empower every nonprofit and humanitarian organization to accelerate social good. Get started with your cloud solution today: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/nonprofits/

About Double the Donation:  Automate your matching gift fundraising with the industry-leading solution from Double the Donation. The Double the Donation platform provides nonprofits with tools to identify match-eligible donors, drive matches to completion, and gain actionable insights. Double the Donation integrates directly into donation forms, CRMs, social fundraising software, and other nonprofit technology solutions to capture employment information and follow up appropriately with donors about matching gifts. To learn more about Double the Donation, visit https://doublethedonation.com and request a demo at https://doublethedonation.com/get-a-demo/