nonprofit tips

Improve Event Registration: 4 Tips for Volunteer Managers

Guest Blogger

Your volunteers keep your nonprofit running, but events often showcase just how vital volunteers can be. At virtual, in-person, and hybrid events, volunteers handle responsibilities that often go overlooked but can make all the difference in how your nonprofit’s supporters view your organization. 

Event registration is one of those key components of effective event management that often goes unnoticed when done well but can leave a bad impression when done poorly. Guests who get caught in long lines or experience extensive waiting times likely start your event with negative feelings that can affect their entire experience. 

Thankfully, with proper volunteer management, you can avoid this situation almost entirely. When armed with the right event registration software technology, your volunteers can improve your event registration process for your guests. The information collected from your registrations can also be used to inform how you manage your volunteers, creating a better experience that will encourage them to help out at your next event. To help your nonprofit make the most of both your registration software and your volunteers, this article will explore how to:

  1. Streamline Online Registration Processes 
  2. Staff Volunteers at Registration Tables
  3. Volunteer Check-in 
  4. Use Registrations to Organize Your Volunteer Approach 

How you implement these tips will depend on your event’s size, your volunteers’ specific needs and skill sets, and whether your event is virtual, hybrid, or in-person. Consider your upcoming events and adapt these practices to meet challenges and rise to opportunities relevant to your situation. Let’s get started. 

1. Streamline Online Registration Processes 

Online registration for virtual events is often a two-step process. Guests first sign up on your website, then are formally checked in at the beginning of the event to gain access to your event. Both steps of this process can be streamlined to improve guest experience, and your volunteers can help.  

Your registration software can carry over key information from your guests’ initial sign-ups on your website to your event software. Software that automatically syncs information from the initial sign-up stage to check-in at your event reduces data entry and allows volunteers to quickly access everything they need to get attendees registered quickly and efficiently. 

For example, if you’re hosting an event at a campsite, National Park, or other location that requires a waiver, your volunteers will need to find specific waivers to confirm each guest has correctly signed the appropriate documents. With hundreds of guests (or even just large parties arriving at the same time), online waivers that require an online search dramatically outpace the speed of sorting through piles of paper waivers by hand. 

Practices like the example above help guests get to your event faster, and they place less of a burden on your volunteers. Remember, while you’re trying to create a positive experience for your guests, you also need to create a positive experience for your volunteers. 

Events that have unnecessary busywork or result in guests venting their frustrations to volunteers reduce the chances that your volunteers will want to come back for your next event. 

2. Staff Volunteers at Registration Tables

No one likes long lines, especially at registration and check-in tables. If you’re hosting in a small event space, long lines not only frustrate guests trapped in them, but they also cause other guests to have to walk around them to reach other parts of your event. 

Fortunately, you can prevent this problem with a simple solution: staff more volunteers at your registration tables. For smaller teams, consider staffing more of your volunteers at your registration tables during the beginning of your event when you’re likely to have the longest lines, then transition them away to other responsibilities once lines become more manageable. 

However, it’s not enough to just sit your volunteers down at a table and tell them to start helping guests. You can create a more professional experience for your guests and help your volunteers feel prepared by: 

  • Holding a volunteer orientation. No matter what they’re doing at your event, all of your volunteers should attend an orientation before joining into your nonprofit’s activities. Orientations allow you to set expectations and outline basic responsibilities and practices that all volunteers should know when interacting with donors. If volunteers have questions, this is also an opportunity to answer those inquiries, identify potential holes in your volunteers’ knowledge, and find solutions before the event begins.
  • Training volunteers how to use your software. If you need your volunteers to use your registration software, teach them how to use it. To streamline the process, you can create virtual training materials and check in with them afterwards to answer questions. Remember to explain both normal processes and warn them in advance of any technical issues that might occur to prevent potential panic later on. 
  • Stationing a supervisor nearby. Visible volunteer managers let your volunteers know that your nonprofit cares about their contributions, while also providing a lifeline if anything does go wrong. This is especially important when interacting with donors because any problems that arise need to be addressed both quickly and professionally. For example, if a volunteer can’t locate a guest’s information in your system, calling in a supervisor to smooth over the situation is always better than leaving a volunteer to struggle. 

Remember to thank your volunteers for all of their hard work throughout your event. Retaining volunteers can lead to a sustainable base of reliable supporters you can call on in the future. Volunteers who have worked at multiple events will also be more familiar with your nonprofit and can help lend new volunteers a hand if your volunteer manager is preoccupied. 

3. Volunteer Check-in 

Like your guests, your volunteers need to be accounted for, too. Checking in your volunteers is more than just taking a headcount as it gives your volunteer managers an opportunity to review and keep track of everyone working with during the event. 

As Regpack’s guide to virtual event registration explains, virtual registration software isn’t just for your attendees, but for your team as well, especially during virtual events. Volunteer managers need to have a way to stay in close contact with volunteers. The challenges presented by remote, virtual events can be overcome by starting your event with a personal check-in of every volunteer to make sure they’re ready and can easily get in touch with their supervisor. 

Oftentimes, volunteers also need certain information tracked, such as their hours. Some volunteers need hours tracked in order to earn tax breaks or for other responsibilities that require a certain amount of volunteer time. However, your organization can also benefit from logging volunteer hours if your volunteers are eligible for volunteer grants. 

Volunteer grants are donations made by your volunteers’ employers in response to their charitable work, making these grants essentially free money your organization can earn after your events. 

While some corporations require volunteers to work a certain number of hours before becoming eligible for a volunteer grant, according to Double the Donation other companies offer grants per hour worked, meaning you can earn grants from all of your eligible volunteers after a single event. Record your volunteers’ hours, help them discover if they qualify, and provide any assistance they need for to fill out their grant applications. 

4. Use Registrations to Organize Your Volunteer Approach 

While some guests may first register when they arrive at your event, the majority will register ahead of time. Some events are even pre-registration only, requiring guests to sign-up by a certain date. 

Collecting this information ahead of time allows your event planners to distribute and organize resources based on your expected number of attendees. Volunteer managers should also use this data to help determine how they’ll organize and prepare volunteers by considering:

  • How many volunteers are needed. If you have more guests, you’ll need more volunteers to help run your event. This may seem rather obvious, but it becomes more complicated when hosting virtual and hybrid events. For example, at a hybrid event, registration data will inform you how many guests are attending virtually and in-person, requiring your volunteer manager to divide volunteers to adequately assist both groups. 
  • What training volunteers need to receive. While many details of your event should be decided before opening up registrations, headcounts can give your nonprofit a clearer understanding of your event’s scope. From there, volunteer managers can determine how many volunteers need to be trained on which tasks and plan accordingly. 
  • How volunteers want to contribute. Volunteers want to give, but they also want to help in a way that’s meaningful to them. Registration data can inform your nonprofit if you have the freedom to let volunteers pick and choose what activities they want to help with, or if you’ll need to take a more structured approach to ensure all aspects of the event are covered. 

If your nonprofit or association has a membership program, you can collect even more specific data about your guests to help organize your volunteer approach. Some membership software allows organizations to send surveys to their members, meaning you can directly ask guests if they prefer a hands-on or hands-off approach for various activities. This will help inform your training strategies for volunteers. Guides like this one can help provide a starting point for understanding how to make the most of your membership software to support both your events and volunteer managers. 

Your volunteers are one of your nonprofit’s most valuable support bases, and with proper management they can improve nearly every aspect of your events, starting with your registrations. Keep in touch with volunteers from check-in to check-out at your events, and always remember to say thank you afterwards!

About the Author: Asaf Darash

Asaf Darash, Founder and CEO of Regpack, has extensive experience as an entrepreneur and investor. Asaf has built 3 successful companies to date, all with an exit plan or that have stayed in profitability and are still functional. Asaf specializes in product development for the web, team building and in bringing a company from concept to an actualized unit that is profitable.

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6 Ways to Strengthen Your Relationships With Supporters

Aly Sterling

As a fundraising professional, you’ve heard countless pieces of advice about why and how to connect with your supporters: say thank you, write handwritten notes and be sure to do it all as swiftly as possible.

Most of the time, these discussions are rooted in a desire for increased donations. And this is understandable—after all, you rely on donations to drive your mission forward and make the world a better place.

But supporter relationships should be more than just a means to an end. While it’s true that stronger connections lead to more successful fundraising, your donors will be able to sense your inauthenticity if you’re only pursuing a payday.

By cultivating relationships with intentionality and sincerity, you form a strong community that your nonprofit can depend on. 

At Aly Sterling Philanthropy, we empower organizations to engage their communities, fundraise more effectively and plan for the future. Through our work as nonprofit consultants, we’ve compiled a list of recommendations to deepen your relationships with supporters:

  1. Put the donor first.
  2. Offer diverse opportunities for engagement.
  3. Maintain campaign-level energy throughout the year.
  4. Leverage supporter data.
  5. Craft a compelling story.
  6. Consider a nonprofit consultant.

As you develop your stewardship plan, remember that every organization and supporter base is unique. These tips are general enough to be appropriate for most nonprofits, but you should always take the time to tailor your strategies based on what you know about your donors. A nonprofit consultant can help you develop a stewardship plan that works for your unique audience.  With that in mind, let’s dive in.

Put the donor first.

As any happily married couple can tell you, a successful relationship is a two-way street. This is true for your donor relationships as well.

To be fulfilled, both partners need to be able to give and take. Your supporter is already doing their part by dedicating their time or resources to your organization. Therefore, your nonprofit must also invest energy back into the relationship and put the donor first whenever possible.

This analogy stretches a bit then when you recognize that large nonprofits must cultivate relationships with thousands of individuals, but that doesn’t mean you’re off the hook.

Ensure a donor-centric approach is baked into the foundation of everything you do, from your communications efforts to your fundraising campaigns. 

Most importantly, confirm that you have a solid donor recognition plan in place. Your plan may include a physical display like a donor recognition wall, digital elements such as social media shoutouts or traditional handwritten notes. However you choose to thank donors, make sure your plan differentiates between giving levels for a targeted approach.

Then, even in communications that aren’t specifically intended to thank donors, you should continue to frame your supporters as central to everything you do. When you create your annual report or write your monthly newsletter, share your accomplishments from a plural perspective to inspire a feeling of community. The difference between “Our organization did this” and “We made this happen together” is a small but meaningful shift.

Offer diverse opportunities for engagement.

Supporters will feel more connected to your cause if they can take action in ways besides simply making a donation.

To further engage your community, offer diverse opportunities for interaction and connection, such as the following:

  • Volunteer opportunities. Give supporters a chance to contribute labor and energy to your mission. Depending on the nature of your organization, you may even be able to offer virtual activities for supporters to donate their time. 
  • Stewardship events. These events (like a virtual happy hour) give supporters the opportunity to bond and network with each other in addition to engaging with your team.
  • Social media campaigns. While you should always encourage supporters to follow and interact with you on social media, a specific campaign heightens the opportunity for participation.
  • Behind-the-scenes tour. Give supporters a glimpse of where the magic happens with a tour of your facility. You can do this via video conferencing or livestreaming if you aren’t able to host visitors in-person. 

If you aren’t sure what activities your supporters would like to participate in, it never hurts to ask! Consider putting together a survey that asks supporters to share their desires and preferences for interacting with your organization. Based on their feedback, you’ll be able to implement new programming that you already know will be in-demand.

Maintain campaign-level energy throughout the year.

During your biggest fundraising campaigns, you treat every activity with care and consideration. Each interaction, communication and ask are part of a broader plan. 

Extending this intentionality to your everyday operations will help you connect more deeply with your supporters.

At Aly Sterling, we call this attitude “campaign mentality,” and it essentially means you treat each day like you are in the midst of a capital campaign.

While this may sound exhausting, we believe wholeheartedly that this effort is worth it. Working with a campaign mentality will give your team extra urgency and purpose as you execute daily responsibilities. 

Additionally, a campaign mentality encourages you to prioritize stewardship rather than placing it on the backburner. And when you approach each conversation with a supporter with this heightened sense of commitment, your energy will be contagious. 

Leverage supporter data.

A better understanding of your current supporter base and any prospective donors will make your relationships more meaningful and sincere. To deepen your knowledge of supporters, you can analyze your existing donor database or conduct additional prospect research.

First, consider the information you already have on file. This data can help you evaluate your current engagement tactics—for instance, do supporters respond more favorably to direct mail or texting campaigns? What was the participation rate for last year’s year-end campaign? What do you know about supporters’ interests and motivations?

Instead of looking only at individual-level data or a broad overview, use this information to develop donor segments. Utilizing segmentation in your outreach efforts helps you create targeted and relevant communications that will resonate more strongly with each group.

In addition to making use of this existing data, you can also gather fundraising-specific information on current and potential supporters through prospect research. According to Double the Donation, prospect research helps your nonprofit determine a potential donor’s ability and desire to contribute to your cause.

Prospect research data generally falls into two categories:

  • Philanthropic indicators. These data points represent a donor’s warmth towards and interest in your nonprofit. Key philanthropic indicators include previous donations to your nonprofit and others, history of board involvement, and background information like hobbies and interests.
  • Wealth indicators. These markers reveal an individual’s financial capacity to give, including real estate ownership, stock holdings, past political contributions, and known business affiliations. 

Both types of data are essential to forming a complete picture of each prospect.

With prospect research, you’ll be better prepared to initiate conversations and make fundraising asks without overstepping or damaging relationships. This helps establish a culture of trust and respect. 

Craft a compelling story.

How do you tell the story of your nonprofit? 

Hopefully, you have some powerful constituent testimonials or volunteer stories up your sleeve that spotlight your work. For your story to be persuasive, you must be able to convey why your mission is important as well as empower supporters to contribute to that mission. 

When you tell the story of your nonprofit, make your donor the hero. This doesn’t mean a cape-wearing superhero, but rather the protagonist in your mission’s story. Your organization is simply the conduit by which your supporters are able to reach your community and make a difference. By representing your donor as the hero, you can more effectively call them to action. 

In addition to your written story, you can include multimedia elements to further demonstrate your work. When possible, feature photos and videos of your supporters making a difference. Even though you won’t be able to highlight every one of your donors, their presence as part of your story will make it easier for other supporters to see themselves in your narrative too.

Consider a nonprofit consultant.

Since donor relationships are foundational to your success as an organization, it’s worth considering seeking the advice of an expert. An experienced nonprofit consultant can bring a fresh perspective and seasoned advice to improve your stewardship strategies.

While it’s possible to strengthen your supporter relationships without external support, a consultant can help to amplify and accelerate your existing efforts.

Specifically, a nonprofit consultant can assist your organization with:

  • Crafting a donor recognition plan.
  • Making recommendations to improve donor retention.
  • Conducting prospect research to better understand existing and potential supporters.

Just be sure to select a nonprofit consultant with the right area of expertise. In the Aly Sterling Philanthropy guide to hiring a fundraising consultant, we explore who should be part of the decision-making process, how to find and assess a potential consultant, and the questions you should ask to confirm an appropriate fit. With the right consultant, you’ll be well-positioned to fortify your connections with donors. 

Every moment that your nonprofit invests in supporter relationships will pay dividends as your organization grows. With a community that is dedicated to the success of your nonprofit, in good times and bad, you’ll be prepared to weather any storm. These recommendations should put you on the right path to strengthen those critical connections. Best of luck!

About the Author: Aly Sterling

Long before Aly Sterling founded her eponymous consulting firm, she was solving the unique yet similar problems encountered by nonprofit organizations.

Her decision to start her own business in 2007 was driven by her belief in leadership as the single most important factor in organizational success, and her determination to work with multiple causes at one time to scale societal change.

Aly’s expertise includes fundraising, strategic planning, search consultation and board leadership development for the well-positioned nonprofit. She is regularly sought for comment by trade and mainstream media, including the Chronicle of Philanthropy and U.S. News & World Report. She has contributed to publications of BoardSource and The Governance Institute, as well as the Toledo Chamber of Commerce and The Giving Institute.

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Rebuilding and Reframing for Volunteer Management – Post COVID

Stephanie Canfield

As we begin to consider what our new normal will look like, remembering the roots of volunteerism and adapting them the new world is crucial. This evolution is not just essential for the good of our agencies, but for our profession as well.

We must be forward thinking. WE have to be the leaders to promote our programs and prove the value of engaging the support of volunteers.

Our fundamentals are rooted in recruiting, screening, training and the placement of volunteers. Many volunteer managers haven’t stopped their work through COVID-19 but many must reinvent and recreate their programs. Listed below are some tips to getting back to basics as you begin welcoming your volunteers back!

Needs Assessment

The first step is to conduct a needs assessment. There are four points to consider. What are the community needs, the organizational needs, the needs of the volunteer services program and the needs of the volunteers? Where is the sweet spot where those four aspects intersect? Can your volunteers serve these needs virtually or within social distancing guidelines? If not, can you consider an out of the box solution to move your program forward?

Recruiting

Once completing your needs assessment, plan to reassess current volunteer placements. Collaborate with your organization’s staff and leadership to consider all aspects of your organization’s needs and how volunteers can help serve those needs.

Screening and Training

Through this pandemic, we have learned that screening and training can be completed virtually. It isn’t our first choice, but it can be done well. There are great resources to help support the implementation of virtual screening and training, many are free or inexpensive. One such example is the free online webinars offered by the Texas Volunteer Management Conference (https://texasvmc.org).

Placement

Consider the need for facemasks, gloves and social distancing for volunteer placements. Also consider your own agency’s requirement, local and state requirements. Many organizations have successfully created opportunities to continue volunteer involvement while maintaining healthy social distancing practices. Consider current legal requirements, taking temperatures, updating the volunteer handbook and creating a COVID questionnaire and waiver. Solicit support from HR and your peers in the volunteer management community.

Leadership

Create your plan and present the post COVID-19 volunteer management plan to your organization’s leadership team. It is imperative to have buy in from leadership. Now, more than ever, volunteer professionals must insist on having a seat at the table.

As professional volunteer managers, the last thing that we want to see is the decline or elimination of opportunities to serve, opportunities to create advocates, opportunities to move the needle of our missions. Many of us have spent our careers being creative and constantly being problem solvers. We must continue to think out of the box with ways to connect our volunteers to the mission of our organizations.

While so much of this can be overwhelming, this is what we do. We adapt to the needs. The needs of the community haven’t stopped. In many respects, they’ve grown. Who’s hurting, who needs support? It might be our very own volunteers.

Disconnection and social distancing are unnatural to our work. At our core, we are connectors. How do we continue to connect our volunteers to meaningful work and our mission? While many of us have been paralyzed by fear, we cannot and will not give up!

Now, more than ever, we need to work together for the good of our profession and for the sake of those in need. There may be some uncertainty or even a bit of fear with the unknown future of volunteerism. That is precisely why we need to be leaders in our profession. We have the unique opportunity to be trailblazers, to CREATE the new normal for volunteerism. Our agencies and our volunteers are depending on our experience and our vision for the new face of service.

This is where peer support is imperative. Supporting each other professionally has never been more important. Together, we can overcome the challenges facing us. Let’s work TOGETHER to create what WE think the new normal should be for service and volunteerism.

Guest post by Stephanie Canfield, Leadership Community Advocate.

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Strategic Partnerships for Your Nonprofit

Isabel Reed

Many hands make light work! We’ve all heard the saying before, but have you ever thought about applying that philosophy within your organization? Volunteer program – check – right idea. Now what other areas of your organization can be better supported and strengthened with that philosophy in mind?

Take a look around you. Specifically, take a look around your community. What are other businesses or organizations that are positioned with complementary missions, teams, or resources?

If your organization is seeking a partnership, chances are that your organization is not the only one! Even if it is, partnerships are usually formed to be win-win for everyone involved, meaning that people within your community will likely be happy to discuss your proposition.

Where should I start?

Already have ideas bubbling for a no-brainer partnership? Well good news, that’s exactly where you start! Outline a partnership proposal and get crystal clear on the benefits that both your organization and theirs would receive. Come up with “the pitch” so to speak.

Then, schedule a chat with the person you’d likely be collaborating with in the partner organization. Next steps will likely reveal themselves by the end of that initial call. Rinse and repeat for any other partners you have in mind.

For most, however, first steps might require a bit of reflection and brainstorming. You’ll need to asses where your organization shines and where it need extra support. This will reveal what benefits you could offer in a partnership and what you’ll need extra support with from partners.

To identify your organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, pull out the good old SWOT Analysis rubric! If your organization has already conducted a SWOT Analysis, ask for a copy. Otherwise, draft up a quick one yourself. Take your time, but there’s no need to spend more than 30 minutes on this speed draft.

When you’re done, compare your strengths and opportunities to your weaknesses and threats. Your strengths and opportunities will shed light on what you have to offer in a partnership, and your weaknesses and threats will suggest who to seek out in a partnership. Leverage their strengths to support your weaknesses.

Volunteer Programs

Would you consider your volunteer program well established, or does it need some help getting off the ground? If there is another organization that is known for their growing, highly engaged volunteer base, consider reaching out to their volunteer coordinator to explore a volunteer exchange initiative, where volunteers are somehow introduced to the other organization’s volunteer program, fostering more volunteer interest for both organizations. (Check out what Stoneleigh Natural Garden did!)

For example, you might organize a joint event between your organizations. When large gatherings are safe and permitted once again, a collaborative volunteer appreciation event could be a great idea for a handful of partner organizations. Volunteers would feel the love while also becoming more familiar with other volunteer programs (and fellow volunteers!) across the community. (Relevant: “How to Move Your Volunteer Appreciation Week Event Online“)

Most organization’s volunteer programs also come with volunteer coordinators, volunteer program supplies, volunteer management software, and more. Discover which resources could be shared between/among organizations, then bask in the efficiency of many hands making light work.

Services & Programming

Most likely, your organization has some kind of service or programming offered. Once you’ve mentally identified those services, think about other nonprofit and for-profit businesses that offer services complementary to the ones your organization offers. This is where the opportunity lies to collaborate.

Your respective programs could continue running independently, if that works best for all parties. In which case, you’d collaborate with marketing and raising awareness of said programs. This usually becomes what’s known as a “referral program“. Similarly, you can also tout each other’s services as an “expansion” of the services your organization already provides. Both organizations gain a stronger presence in the community as a result.

If there is more in common than not between the respective programs, consider weaving them together in a few small ways that make sense. This will help to reduce spending on resources and scale the impact of the program. Celebrate that saved spending!

Resources

Each organization is equipped with its own incredible resources. In some cases, resources are material goods: vehicles, food, gardens, space, etc. Other times, an organization’s best resource is its personnel: the well-connected founder, the savvy lawyer, or the wizardly grant-writer.

As part of your SWOT analysis, examine these resources. Are there any you could exchange? Are there any you could share? Sometimes an act of true goodwill goes even farther than a proposed partnership. So if your organization’s van is unused on weekends, consider sharing it with another organization that is active on weekends.

Brand Recognition & Credibility

This is less of a tangible tip and more of a rule of thumb. The more your name appears (in a positive light) across the community, the more it will be perceived as established and reputable. Community engagement starts at the front door of your organization, but it certainly doesn’t stop there! 🙂

Recruiting many hands to make light work starts with one hand reaching out in partnership. Get your plans ready, then take action! You’re sure to save money, better utilize resources, and raise organizational awareness across your community.

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5 Strategies for Smarter Fundraising While Working from Home

Salsa Labs

Traditionally, the idea of working from home conjured images of lounging in sweatpants and less-than-stellar productivity. But as we’ve learned since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s possible to still accomplish key goals and drive missions forward outside the office.

With the right tools and processes, all kinds of organizations have been able to adapt to the work-from-home (WFH) environment with great success, and the nonprofit sector is no exception. Fundraising professionals have navigated uncharted territory to engage supporters, raise critical funds, and conduct day-to-day operations all from the comfort of home offices. 


As the year draws to a close, it’s time to take stock of your WFH plans and make adjustments to align with best practices. After all, the end of social distancing isn’t on the horizon anytime soon, and you don’t want to lose momentum. With powerful technology and data-informed strategies, you can still achieve your online fundraising goals while working from home.

At SalsaLabs, we specialize in helping nonprofits leverage technology to work more efficiently and boost their fundraising potential. We’ve seen how nonprofits in the field incorporate innovative tools into their WFH routines with great success. So, we’ve compiled a list of tips to help drive your virtual fundraising efforts forward:

  1. Use data to drive more effective communications.
  2. Explore diverse revenue streams.
  3. Host engaging virtual events.
  4. Leverage machine learning technology.
  5. Make use of marketing automation. 

While a remote work environment may not facilitate in-person conversations, there are still plenty of opportunities to connect with supporters through virtual means. Technology can help you build on your existing donor data for time-saving and informed outreach, which can create even more effective fundraising processes. Let’s jump in.

1. Use data to drive more effective communications.

When you can’t connect with your community in person, your online communications are even more critical. If a donor’s primary touchpoint with your nonprofit this year is via email, your messaging needs to make each individual feel recognized, appreciated, and capable of making an impact.

The best way to accomplish these goals is to leverage supporter data when crafting your campaigns. Instead of sending impersonal emails to everyone on your mailing list, you can target groups or even individuals for a more relevant and personalized message.

You can use available donor data to:

  • Create segments of donors. Create segments, or groups, based on key characteristics, then use these groups to send targeted messages. Studies show that segmentation can lead to up to a 760% increase in revenue! While the options for categorizing donors are nearly endless, you can sort groups by engagement type, giving preferences, or demographic information. For instance, you could start a campaign specifically targeting Gen Z supporters, or craft separate end-of-year thank-you emails to address volunteers, major donors, event attendees, and first-time donors in different ways.
  • Personalize messages to individuals. Adding a personal touch to outgoing messages can help your supporters feel seen and recognized. While adding the donor’s name to the subject line or greeting is a great start, you can go even further. Try incorporating details like a recent donation amount, event attendance history, or information specific to your mission (like a pet’s name if you work with an animal shelter). Marketing automation tools (which we’ll discuss in further detail later in this article) allow you to address each individual supporter without anyone needing to manually write in the information on individual messages.

These strategies allow you to take advantage of the valuable information in your donor database software for more engaging messaging and fundraising appeals. However, make sure you’re only using clean and well-organized data to execute these tasks. An email subject line addressed to the wrong supporter is worse than a generic one!

2. Explore diverse revenue streams.

This era of social distancing and economic uncertainty has proven the importance of diversifying your nonprofit’s revenue streams.

If you only rely on one fundraising platform, like an in-person event or a handful of major donors, you’ll be more vulnerable to unexpected changes.

A diverse range of revenue streams will help ensure your fundraising strategy is resilient, sustainable, and less susceptible to risks.

A few creative options worth exploring are:

  • Recurring gift campaign. Encouraging supporters to schedule recurring gifts can help you create a predictable stream of revenue. You may even consider providing branded items as a thank-you for their ongoing support as part of a membership program.
  • Grant opportunities. In the wake of COVID-19, grant-seeking institutions and corporations have both pledged to make funds more readily available to nonprofits. You can conduct research to look for opportunities in your area or look for large-scale programs by national funders.
  • Corporate philanthropy. Matching gifts programs are a remote-friendly way to maximize revenue from your supporters. According to this Double the Donation roundup of matching gift statistics, between $4 and $7 million dollars in eligible matching gifts go unclaimed every year! By focusing your efforts on matching gifts, you’ll unlock new opportunities for funding without much extra work for your team. To do this, you can create a campaign to spread awareness about matching gifts among your supporters, manually screen donations for matching gift eligibility, or use a comprehensive matching gift automation platform to streamline the process.
  • Peer-to-peer fundraising. Even though you can’t get together in person, your supporters can still use virtual strategies to share your organization with family and friends. This strategy allows you to leverage the networks of your supporters and reach an even larger audience.

By incorporating one or more of these strategies alongside your current fundraising efforts, you’ll be more prepared to survive if one of the streams dries up.

3. Host engaging virtual events.

While you may not be able to gather donors together in person, you can still create an exciting and community-focused virtual event. 

Not only can virtual events be powerful fundraisers, but they’re also opportunities to share your work with supporters, foster connections between supporters and your mission, and encourage supporters to form bonds amongst themselves. 

As this guide discusses, virtual events are often more economically feasible and widely accessible. Therefore, your organization will be able to engage even more attendees for a lower cost, boosting your profit.

You can host a fundraising-focused event like an online auction or virtual walk, or you can host virtual stewardship events. Any kind of virtual event can be used for stewardship if you don’t charge an admission fee—consider a virtual happy hour, book club, or dinner party as a few potential ideas.

While the primary goal of a stewardship event won’t be to raise money, it’s still an important component of a relationship-based fundraising strategy. Forming deeper connections now will prepare you for making more effective asks in the future.

If you decide to host a virtual event, be sure to plan ahead for potential technical issues. Share connection information with supporters well in advance, provide plenty of tech support for potential questions, and troubleshoot your virtual event platform ahead of time.

4. Make use of marketing automation. 

Marketing automation has been a growing nonprofit trend in recent years, and for good reason: it enables teams to work more effectively with limited resources. Marketing automation can help you level-up your remote fundraising efforts.

While marketing automation isn’t a substitute for a solid foundation of data, it unlocks the ability to contact the right person with the right message at the right time—without a staff member needing to hover over the send button. As long as you start with a solid understanding of your supporter base, automation can help you accelerate your outreach.

You can automate many aspects of your marketing strategy, including posting to social media, capturing leads via your website landing pages, or sending emails. One of the most popular ways to utilize automation technology is through an email stream, also known as a drip campaign.

Here’s how an email stream would work, with the example of a potential donor named Jack:

  1. Jack lands on your nonprofit’s website and signs up for your email newsletter.
  2. Jack receives a “welcome series” of emails once per week with more information about your nonprofit’s mission, current programs, ways to get involved, and how to donate.
  3. The series runs at a specified cadence until Jack completes the desired action (making a donation) or until a certain period of time has elapsed.

Your series could be just a few emails or it can be 10 emails over the course of a few months. All of those messages are sent without anyone on your staff actually pressing the send button, and, if crafted in a compelling way, can generate significant funds for your organization.

Beware, automation can’t fix a message that’s not relevant or interesting to your audience! Make sure each element of your automated campaign is based on the data you have available. Incorporating some of the other tips on this list (like personalization and segmentation) will help you do this.

5. Leverage machine learning technology.

Another powerful way tech can boost your fundraising while working from home is through machine learning. Essentially, machine learning allows computers to make sense of large data sets (like the information in your donor database) to find patterns and make predictions.

For example, machine learning can help you to:

  • Identify potential major donors.
  • Tailor ask amounts to a donor’s giving history.

One of the most advantageous aspects of machine learning is that it continues to improve over time. As more data is available, the analysis and predictions become more accurate. After all, it’s called machine learning for a reason!

To consider a specific example, Salsa’s SmartEngagement technology uses machine learning to power predictive analytics for donation pages. By taking into account all of the historical data you have on a supporter, the program can display optimized ask amounts on your donation form. This helps to increase conversion rates and to avoid the risk of missing out on funds from an ask that was too low.

If you have a large quantity of supporter data to sift through, consider looking for a CRM that offers machine learning capabilities so you can draw insights more efficiently. 

This year, nonprofit fundraisers have needed to adjust their plans and reinvent traditional strategies. While normal in-person fundraising is unlikely to resume for the time being, there are still plenty of ways you can raise money for your mission while staying safe. With these tech-savvy tips, your fundraising staff will be well-positioned for success. Good luck!

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4 Tips for Choosing Your Nonprofit Donor Database

Gerard Tonti

Choosing a donor database is a lot like hunting for the right romantic partner with online dating tools.

You are likely working from a long list of characteristics and browsing potential matches from brief descriptions and a few images. If you find something (or someone) that checks many of your boxes, you may schedule a demo—kind of like a first date. If the date goes well and the conditions are right, it could lead to wedding bells and a happy union between your sustainable nonprofit and a powerful CRM.

While choosing a donor management solution may not be an “until death do you part” level of commitment, but it’s still the first step in a long and successful relationship.

At SalsaLabs, we take on the role of matchmaker by helping nonprofits leverage powerful technology to meet their goals. To help you find a donor database that can be your team’s “other half,” we’ve compiled the following list of tips:

  • Create a project team, plan, and timeline.
  • Evaluate core functionality.
  • Consider compatibility with the rest of your tech stack.
  • Determine what additional features are essential for your organization.

The right donor database will support many aspects of your organization, from fundraising to volunteer management. So before tying the knot, make sure it’s meant to be!

Create a project team, plan, and timeline.


Selecting a software solution is no small undertaking. This is true for any type of software, but considering the immense impact that your supporter database has on your organization and mission, it’s especially important to follow an organized procedure.

Before diving into the decision-making process, you’ll probably have a general idea of the features your nonprofit is looking for—after all, there’s a reason you’re in the market for a donor database!

Establishing a plan upfront will give you clearer guidelines for evaluating the available databases and ultimately narrowing down your options to a few top contenders.

Assemble a team. Make sure you have all of the right people on board to make the decision. Depending on the size of your organization, you’ll want to invite anywhere from 2 to 10 people to weigh in on the decision. You’ll want to include the individuals who are directly impacted by the new system, the biggest consumers of information from the system, and anyone else who will have valuable input. The team reviewing the software will also help determine who will be using the software, which, depending on the system you choose, may factor into the budget decision.

Set a budget. Donor databases are built with a range of organizations in mind. Consider data like your number of donors, annual fundraising capacity, and major gift revenue to come up with a price point that makes sense for you. Be sure to establish this financial metric early on so you don’t waste time considering tools that are out of reach. However, if you’re a small nonprofit, you should choose a donor database that can scale up as your organization grows. Finally, it’s important to look for any additional customization or implementation costs when evaluating the price tag of each option.

Create a requirements document. You’ll want to develop a list of major functions and features that the donor database needs. As you create this document, try to limit yourself to the essentials and stay away from hyper-specific items. In general, it’s best practice to focus on what you need to accomplish rather than exactly how. The rest of this article will outline some characteristics you may want to consider.

As you go through this process, insist on defining your project plan in writing. This will ensure you stay on track and find a donor database that meets your needs and expectations.

Evaluate core functionality.

When considering expectations for your potential donor database, there are some core features you should look for.

You’ll want to keep the following core features in the back of your mind throughout the process, even if your primary focus is more specific:

Donor profiles and contact information. In addition to standard fields like name, address, and geographic location, look for a system that allows for custom fields. This will ensure you can record details that are specific to your organization’s audience; for instance, if you’re looking for a donor database for an animal shelter, you may want to record whether each supporter is a dog or cat person as well as the names of their current pets.

Analytics and reporting. The goal of your donor management software is to be able to store and use data effectively. While virtually all CRMs will offer reporting and visualization features, the complexity and flexibility of these can vary. This one place where your project team will have invaluable input since the people who need to access these reports should be represented.

Both of these functions will come standard in most of the donor databases available on the market, but with a wide range of variation. The size of your organization and the required detail level of your donor profiles will help you determine how you need these features to operate. Consider what your organization needs to accomplish to decide the scope of features you need from a solution.

Consider compatibility with the rest of your tech stack.

Your donor database should integrate with the other tools your nonprofit relies on. If it’s incompatible with the other elements in your existing nonprofit technology ecosystem, it may not be a good fit for your organization.

Your donor database should track every engagement metric you have with supporters. As such, you’ll want to consider the systems that track different types of engagement opportunities. For instance, if a supporter signs up to attend an event and donates to your most recent event, you’ll want to be sure all of these metrics are recorded and analyzed by your nonprofit. While some databases may have one or more of these functions built-in, others will require separate solutions.

Consider whether your organization uses the following tools, and if they are compatible with the donor database of your choice:

Fundraising software. Since one of the core purposes of your donor database is to inform your fundraising strategy, you’ll want a software solution that integrates seamlessly with your fundraising software. As this article explains, some fundraising systems pair well with CRMs, and some don’t, so you’ll need to consider the capabilities of your fundraising software as well.

Volunteer management software. If a supporter volunteers regularly with your nonprofit, you want to record that information alongside your other donor data. To avoid manual input, look for a donor database that syncs with your existing VMS.

Matching gift software. Corporate matching gifts can be a huge source of revenue for your organization if you know how to take advantage of the programs. According to Double the Donation, an estimated $4 – $7 billion in matching gift funds goes unclaimed every year. If you connect your donor database with matching gifts software, you’ll be better able to identify supporters who are eligible for matched contributions.

Event registration tools. Whether you’re hosting in-person, online, or hybrid events, you’ll want accurate records of every attendee. It’s helpful to have CRM and event solutions that are well-integrated. Then, you’ll be able to segment and target supporters more specifically based on whether or not they attended a past event.

Communications technology. Make sure your CRM can integrate with the tech you’re using to connect with supporters. This includes more traditional methods like email marketing as well as newer practices such as texting and social media outreach. If your communications platform and CRM are well-integrated, you’ll be able to automate outreach based on other interactions in the database, ultimately increasing supporter engagement.

When all of your supporter data can flow freely throughout your tech stack, you’ll be equipped to build well-rounded relationships with each donor. Take stock of your existing software systems and find a donor database that pairs well with each, then add that information to your requirements document.

Determine what additional features are essential for your organization.

Once you move past core features and software integrations, you’ll want to start on a list of features that are critical to your nonprofit’s operations. This list will be the most important part of your search, but it will also take the most thought to develop.

Consider what processes you have in place that are a drain on your team’s time, then look for a donor database that allows you to automate them or even skip steps completely.

Here are a few examples of tools from Salsa’s nonprofit CRM to give you some ideas of additional features that may save your team time:

Communication tools. Fundraising campaigns and other outreach efforts are more efficient when they can be accomplished directly from your donor database.

Automation and scheduling. Automated marketing tools allow you to contact the right supporter, with the right message, at the right time.

Comprehensive donation tracking. You’ll likely want a donor database that can manage both online and offline donations, avoiding manual input.

Smarter engagement strategies. Based on the interaction data you have available, your CRM can recommend optimized engagement methods. These can even be queued up automatically with automation tools.

Of course, your organization’s needs are unique, so your project team should brainstorm and collaborate to determine your must-have features and add them to your requirements document.

With so many options available, choosing a donor database to meet your needs can feel like an arduous and overwhelming process. A CRM solution will help you get organized and better engage your supporters, so it’s wise to invest the time and energy upfront so you can reap the benefits for years to come. With these strategies in mind, you and your donor management software will be able to live happily ever after. Good luck!

About the Author: Gerard Tonti

Gerard Tonti is the Senior Creative Developer at Salsa Labs, the premier fundraising software company for growth-focused nonprofits.

Gerard’s marketing focus on content creation, conversion optimization and modern marketing technology helps him coach nonprofit development teams on digital fundraising best practices.

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Developing Donor Relationships: Top 5 Best Practices

Jay Love

Nonprofits tend to have a bad habit of viewing their donors like piggy banks or ATMs, reaching out to them only when the organization needs funding for their newest project or impending shortfall. 

While your donors are happy to help a good cause, in order to advance your mission through effective funding, you need to take your interactions with donors to the next level by building relationships. This is especially important during the age of COVID-19. 

Continuing to show your supporters during difficult times (especially during economic hardship where they may not be able to contribute) that you still care about their well-being shows that you’re willing to stick by supporters’ sides through thick and thin. It’s the opposite of treating them like a personal piggy bank. They’re more likely to stick by your organization’s side for the long-haul in return. 

Why is it important to develop relationships? 

Developing relationships with your donors is the first step to enhancing your long-term fundraising strategy. 

Having a relationship with supporters will help you cultivate lower-level supporters for higher giving levels, show your appreciation for support, and collect feedback about your services. 

But how do you start this process? We’ve compiled our top five tips to developing relationships with your nonprofit’s supporters. These tips include:

  1. Get donors involved with organizational activities. 
  2. Keep track of key donor metrics. 
  3. Ask your donors for their advice. 
  4. Don’t always ask for money. 
  5. Keep interactions personal. 

The first step to developing effective relationships is investing in a donor database designed for enhancing engagement. This will help you compile a donor-centric strategy from the outset of your interactions with supporters. From there, you can dive deeper into our strategies for relationship development.

1. Get donors involved in organizational activities. 

Getting donors involved with the various activities and opportunities your nonprofit offers is our first tip to develop healthy relationships. It’s hard to build a relationship with an organization that supporters only interact with online. You miss out on heartfelt human interaction. 

That’s why it’s important to encourage this human connection as much as possible. Donors should meet your key nonprofit players, such as your major gift officer, volunteers, board members, and executives. 

To create these opportunities, we recommend that your nonprofit try the following strategies: 

  • Provide volunteer opportunities. Supporters are more likely to feel connected to your cause when they get to see it up close. Leveraging volunteer opportunities creates strong connections as supporters meet other passionate staff and volunteers. Plus, you’re accomplishing goals for your mission. 
  • Invite supporters to events. Pre-coronavirus events provided in-person opportunities to meet your team while everyone gathered together for a fun experience. Now, virtual events are all the rage! Your nonprofit can create these personal experiences and engage your supporters while they tune in from the comfort of their homes. 
  • Create engaging conversations. Simply talking to your donors is a great way to get them involved with your organization and help them feel more connected. We recommend calling your supporters so that they have a personal interaction and back-and-forth conversation with your team members. Ask for feedback, invite them to participate in virtual events, or simply inquire about their well-being in these conversations. 

Make sure to keep track of your interactions with your supporters to help guide future communications. In order to do this, you’ll need access to a comprehensive donor database. You should be able to build out donor profiles with information about their event participation, donations, volunteer hours, feedback provided, and any and all communications. This will help guide communications and opportunities promoted in the future. 

2. Keep track of key donor metrics. 

As much as we wish we could provide the same level of attention to each and every one of our donors, many times we must prioritize. There’s just not enough time in the day to frequently engage in one-on-one conversations with every single supporter of your organization. 

That doesn’t mean your engagement strategy shouldn’t incorporate outreach to every one of your supporters. Your mid-tier and major donors may simply demand more of your attention and virtual face-time than lower-level donors.

To understand who your top-priority donors are, you need access to some key donor metrics. For instance, you may look at data in a donor’s profile to indicate metrics like: 

  • Donation growth. Look to see how a supporter’s engagement has changed with your organization over time. Has their donation amount increased as they’ve gotten more involved?
  • Engagement score. Some donor database software will provide an engagement score for each supporter, which takes into account their frequency of engagement, latest interaction, and more to show how involved they are with your nonprofit. 
  • Generosity score. A generosity score is calculated using prospect research. It provides an indication of the gift level a donor could reach based on wealth metrics like stock holdings, real estate, and business affiliations.
  • Average gift size. While the generosity score is great to measure prospective donations, you should also be sure to look at the current average giving level to better understand where they are in their giving now. 
  • Gift frequency. Even if a donor is only giving you $5 or $10, the fact that they are doing so multiple times a year, or even monthly as a part of a recurring donation program, is a stronger engagement metric than a single annual gift of an equal amount.

Keep in mind that your lower-level donors now might have more capacity to give in the future. Therefore, they shouldn’t feel forgotten. Set up engaging email campaigns and invite them to engaging, community-wide virtual events to keep them involved with your initiatives. 

Be sure to also conduct prospect research about your supporters. This will provide additional information that you can use to identify high-priority donors with great affinity to give. If you’re interested in learning more about research analytics that indicate a donor’s affinity to give, check out this guide. 

3. Ask your donors for their advice.

Donors give to nonprofits because they value the work that the nonprofit does. However, you can’t expect this value to be one-sided. Just as your donors value your nonprofit, you need to show that you also value your supporters. 

One key way to show that you value the input and opinions of your supporters is to ask for their advice and feedback. 

This helps supporters get involved on another level because they have a say in the internal operations of your organization.

Plus, you may have supporters with skills that will fill some gaps in your nonprofit’s strategy. Consider the following examples: 

  • If your donors have ample marketing experience, they may be able to provide advice about your nonprofit’s outreach campaigns. Just be sure to maintain your brand in these campaigns.
  • Maybe you have some tech-minded supporters who can help you revise and improve your website design for better visitor engagement. 
  • Donors may work as writers or designers, in which case you may recruit them to donate some time helping you edit promotional materials and communications for your nonprofit. 

Discover details like this in conversation with your supporters or by analyzing their business affiliations. When you learn about this supporter information, be sure to save the data in the donor profiles in your nonprofit’s CRM.

If you’re looking for fundraising software that goes past raising money and will help guide your nonprofit through this key information, check out this buyer’s guide by Bloomerang. 

4. Don’t always ask for money. 

When nonprofits consider their interactions with supporters, they frequently only think about the last time they asked for money. Asking for donations over and over again may exhaust your donors. 

When you’re reaching out to your supporters and really focusing on building relationships, you’ll have other goals for conversation besides just asking for more and more money.

Get creative with the types of communication you send to donors. For instance, you might choose to send messages about:

  • Success stories. Tell those who give to your nonprofit about the impact their involvement has made for others. Success stories appeal to the emotional connection supporters have with your nonprofit. 
  • Advocacy opportunities. Ask for a different type of involvement. By signing a petition or participating in a click-to-call campaign, your supporters are helping your nonprofit without dipping into their wallets. For a guide on advocacy, check out Double the Donation’s resource.
  • Relevant news. If there’s something in the news that directly pertains to your nonprofit’s mission, tell supporters about it! Make sure they feel good about supporting a nonprofit whose mission relates to a newsworthy cause.
  • Upcoming events. Remind your supporters about upcoming virtual events and activities. If you are hosting a virtual event, tell supporters about the unique experience it will bring and how they can access your live streamed video. 
  • Volunteer opportunities. Tell supporters about the opportunities you offer to contribute time rather than money. This is an especially important strategy to engage your Millennial supporters, who tend to view contributions of time equally valuable as monetary contributions. 

Asking for things other than money emphasizes to your supporters that your nonprofit prioritizes engagement first. It’s easy to view organizations that prioritize money as greedy or rapacious. However, those who focus on the engagement of supporters come across as more humane and caring about those who support them. 

5. Keep interactions personal.

When you get into the nitty-gritty of communication with your supporters, one of the best ways to show them that you care is to make sure all messages have a personal touch. 

This means that rather than sending the same message out to all of your supporters, you should make sure to include details in the communications that signal to the supporter that the message was intended specifically for them. Some strategies to incorporate these details include: 

  • Address donors by name in all communications. Make sure your software supports this idea. There’s nothing less personal than addressing a letter or email, “to whom it may concern.” 
  • Make personal notes about donors to pull into conversations. Keep notes in their profile in your donor database about family members, pets, and past interactions. This shows that you remember personal details about each individual supporter. 
  • Consider the trends in giving and marketing response so that when you reach out to supporters, you can offer them their preferred method of communication and preferred platforms for giving. 

Personal interactions are how you show your supporters that you care about their individuality. While sometimes supporters may overlook these little steps, they’re sure to notice if you miss the opportunities for personalized messages. 

Your supporters are much more than just piggy banks for your nonprofit. They provide the tools and support that you need to succeed. Building a relationship with them is a two-way street. Just as they work to get to know your nonprofit and your mission, you need to work to get to know them. 

With these five tips, your organization is on its way to better functioning relationships with donors. Good luck!

About the Author: Jay Love

Co-Founder and current Chief Relationship Officer at Bloomerang

He has served this sector for 33 years and is considered the most well-known senior statesman whose advice is sought constantly.

Prior to Bloomerang, he was the CEO and Co-Founder of eTapestry for 11 years, which at the time was the leading SaaS technology company serving the charity sector. Jay and his team grew the company to more than 10,000 nonprofit clients, charting a decade of record growth.

He is a graduate of Butler University with a B.S. in Business Administration. Over the years, he has given more than 2,500 speeches around the world for the charity sector and is often the voice of new technology for fundraisers.

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