Fundraisers play a most crucial role in the functioning of a nonprofit. Quite simply, without funds the organisation will be unable to deliver its mission and do any good. But while it’s critical, the fundraising function should also be as lean and low-cost as possible. You want the funds to go to services, not administrative costs.
The good news is that technology in the shape of fundraising platforms has dramatically reduced the costs and staff time needed for fundraising. These platforms and websites can be a powerful weapon in the arsenal of a nonprofit. Some of these platforms work as an all-in-one tool. Others provide specialist functions. If you run or work for a non-profit it’s worth knowing what’s out there and how it could help make the work easier and raise funds faster.
The distinction between nonprofit and donor facing apps
There is a difference between nonprofit-facing apps and donor-facing apps.
Non-profit facing
These are apps used by the staff of nonprofit organizations. They mainly help in organizing fundraisers, managing donors, and help with everyday nonprofit activities.
Donor facing
These are apps that cater for donors. They are designed to help ease the task of giving. Donors can use these apps during events or campaigns to donate to your cause.
The 10 best fundraising apps for nonprofits
Here are the 10 best fundraising apps.
Donorbox
A powerful all-in-one tool with a blazing fast setup process, Donorbox comes with powerful but easy-to-use features. Thousands of nonprofits use Donoxbox. You can create customized donation forms and start a campaign in minutes. Donorbox works for both donors and nonprofits. An example would be how nonprofits can use it to make campaigns and donors can use it to set up a recurring giving system. It has loads of features designed to ease your burdens and help you maximize the effect of your campaigns.
Bloomerang
It comes with a fundraising dashboard to make life easier and what’s more, you can access all your donor data from anywhere. Bloomerang is a comprehensive tool in the guise of a platform. It is one of the most powerful donor management platforms. With custom features to help you with donor retention, Bloomerang is one of the best platforms you can access. It has a custom toolkit that allows you to track your staff’s work and streamline the flow. You also get access to a lot of donor data.
Qgiv
An app built to help fundraisers record and accept donations, Qgiv is a brilliant platform for nonprofits. Through Qgiv, you can track donations, allocate donations to specific funds, provide receipts, and accept e-checks. It’s a tool that can be used on every mobile phone. Each member of your staff can use it during fundraising events. It is incredibly helpful as it simplifies a lot of processes. Qgiv also helps automate in-person donations so that you do not have to waste precious time keeping track of it.
OneCause
A platform that is optimized for mobile and can empower your staff to collect funds and gather information even before an event kicks off, OneCause is vouched by a lot of nonprofits. They are the perfect companion for a fundraising event.
Perhaps the standout feature of OneCause is the fact that it can be used as a mobile-bidding platform. This means you can use OneCause to effectively conduct online auctions. This can also be used during in-person events. There are features such as seating help, outbid notifications and instant checkout. It is built for mobile and can be incredibly helpful to organizations.
Pathable
An app that is built to help you organize events on a large scale. They have a plethora of features to help you with networking, managing attendees, and even organizing speakers. Event organizers love Pathable as you get access to real-time updates, a complete dashboard for the event, and the right metrics. The attendees also get a lot of help through Pathable. They get event maps, meeting schedules, and a personalized agenda.
Eventbrite
An application in two parts, Eventbrite is built for both attendees and nonprofits. The first part of Eventbrite is to help attendees find fundraisers and events nearby. They can purchase tickets based on the events they like. The second application is designed for nonprofits. It gives them relevant data such as the number of people for the event, revenue, and more. Eventbrite offers you features such as marketing and promotion on their app along with other ticketing features.
Fundraise Up
An easy-to-use application, Fundraise Up can be accessed from any platform and is designed to ease the burden on donors. It is a neat application that makes the giving process seamless. Donors get features such as recurring giving, and amount suggestions. Nonprofits can also get real-time donor data and can help you send timely notifications. Fundraise Up gives donors a lot of freedom and flexibility, and most importantly it makes the donation experience smooth.
Boardable
This is an application designed to help you manage board meetings and helps your leadership communicate effectively. It is inexpensive and can be utilized by nonprofits of all sizes. You get meeting-specific features such as an agenda builder, task manager, member directory, and a polling option. Its features are some of the best you can get in any nonprofit application.
Trello
A project management application, Trello is something that should be used by every nonprofit. They can help plan fundraising projects as well as projects that will come off the fundraising money. Trello is a very visual tool. It helps you take a look at the project in terms of a flowchart. You get cards that help you with the progress of the project. Trello works on both mobile and desktop, allowing you to access it from anywhere.
Hootsuite
A tool that helps you improve your nonprofit’s social media outreach, Hootsuite is designed to help you get the best out of your social media profiles. They have a holistic management toolkit that improves your interaction with donors, schedule posts, get analytics, and set up ad campaigns. You can also use it to secure your accounts as it can be set to give access to particular team members.
Conclusion
All of these applications come with unique features. There is no single app we can recommend over the other. Each has its strong points and it is up to you and your organization’s requirements to decide what is right for you. Most will provide a trial free or low-cost period. Whichever fundraising app for nonprofits you choose, you will supercharge your donor management and your nonprofit’s functionality.