Ann Fellman, Author at Bloomerang https://bloomerang.co/blog/author/ann-fellman/ Thu, 19 Sep 2024 12:47:25 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 https://bloomerang.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/cropped-favicon-update-1.png Ann Fellman, Author at Bloomerang https://bloomerang.co/blog/author/ann-fellman/ 32 32 15 Silent Auction Software Tools to Power Your Events https://bloomerang.co/blog/silent-auction-software/ https://bloomerang.co/blog/silent-auction-software/#respond Thu, 19 Sep 2024 12:37:55 +0000 https://bloomerang.co/?p=117497 Your nonprofit’s annual silent auction may be your most crucial recurring fundraising event. Silent auctions, whether online or in-person, bring your community of supporters together to fund your mission and celebrate your cause. Because these events have significant fundraising potential, you must ensure they go off without a hitch. That’s where silent auction software comes …

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Your nonprofit’s annual silent auction may be your most crucial recurring fundraising event. Silent auctions, whether online or in-person, bring your community of supporters together to fund your mission and celebrate your cause.

Because these events have significant fundraising potential, you must ensure they go off without a hitch. That’s where silent auction software comes in handy.

Silent auction software is a type of nonprofit software that organizations can use to help procure items, map out event layouts, manage checkouts, and conduct other essential planning activities.

To help narrow down your search for the right tools, we’ve rounded up the top silent auction software solutions to make the planning process a breeze:

  • Qgiv by Bloomerang
  • OneCause
  • Handbid
  • SchoolAuction.net
  • Winspire
  • ClickBid
  • Snowball Fundraising
  • Silent Auction Pro
  • AccelEvents
  • Charity Auctions Today
  • Auctria
  • Givebutter
  • Greater Giving
  • BiddingOwl
  • ReadySetAuction
  • GiveSmart

Host dazzling auctions without the stress of paper bids or long checkout lines. Click here to learn about Qgiv’s silent auction software.

Qgiv by Bloomerang

Overview

Qgiv by Bloomerang is a modern auction platform that takes the stress out of the auction-planning experience. Say goodbye to paper bid sheets, long checkout lines, and payment reconciliation issues—Qgiv prioritizes efficiency and facilitates positive experiences for auction planners, volunteers, and donors alike.

Most helpful features

List of Qgiv + Bloomerang’s silent auction software features (explained in the list below)

 

  • Mobile bidding, including app and web-based options.
  • Attendee engagement features, including the ability to create a watch list for their favorite items or opt into notifications to alert them when someone has outbid them.
  • Guest management features, such as ticketing options to register individuals or groups, the ability to assign guests to specific tables, and a drag-and-drop editor to help strategize table layout.
  • Ability to accept donations during event registration to drive greater support for your cause.
  • In-app purchases for additional revenue streams like merchandise or raffle tickets.
  • Simplified checkout process that allows guests to pay for auction items won, donations, and other purchases in a single transaction.
  • Reporting features to review all event-related data in a customizable dashboard.
  • Direct integration with Bloomerang’s donor database to track all attendee and donor information easily and follow up with supporters to foster long-term relationships.

Qgiv’s silent auction software is represented through a gala event page and bidding app screenshot

Price

Qgiv’s auction platform costs $259 per month. The package includes auction event planning tools, app-based bidding, donation forms, and email and live phone support.

Save time, reach more people, and raise more with our silent auction software. Click here to book a Bloomerang + Qgiv demo today.

OneCause

The OneCause silent auction software product page

Overview

OneCause’s silent auction software streamlines the attendee experience. It’s a flexible, user-friendly, all-in-one event platform.

Most helpful features

  • Express check-in with QR codes
  • Scoreboards and slideshows to help drive participation
  • Customizable online sponsorship packages

Price

Packages include Professional, Enterprise, and Nationals (multi-chapter fundraising) options. Visit the OneCause website for more information.

Handbid

Product image showing Handbid’s silent auction software app

Overview

Handbid offers software for auction and event managers to plan more impressive auctions that drive giving. This solution mitigates common auction issues, from long wait times to lack of engagement.

Most helpful features

  • Ability to capture guests’ credit card information before the event begins
  • Push notifications to encourage bidding
  • Ability to livestream via the Handbid app and event website

Price

Pricing starts at $1,396, with single and multi-event packages available.

SchoolAuction.net

An example of a Spring Social fundraising event page created through SchoolAuction.net’s platform

Overview

SchoolAuction.net is an auction platform for schools looking to raise money through auctions.

Most helpful features

  • Templates for kickstarting multiple fundraising campaign types, including crowdfunding, memberships, and more
  • Mobile bidding and email/text outbid notifications
  • Text-to-give functionality

Price

The smallest plan is $79 per event. Head to the SchoolAuction.net website for more pricing information.

Winspire

Screenshot of the Winspire website homepage

Overview

Using Winspire’s platform, nonprofits can browse and select curated travel packages to auction off. Packages range from memorable event experiences like the Kentucky Derby to tropical vacations.

Most helpful features

  • Ability to offer unique experiences to donors while keeping costs low
  • Templates, kits, and eBooks to facilitate the event planning process
  • Opportunity to build long-term donor relationships with curated travel experiences

Price

Nonprofits purchase experiences after they successfully sell them to winning bidders. The Winspire website explains the payment process in more detail.

ClickBid

Overview

The ClickBid website homepage

ClickBid is a user-friendly charity auction platform. Organizations can use this solution to plan in-person or online auctions, collect recurring donations, plan raise-the-paddle events, and more.

Most helpful features

  • Custom landing pages to engage donors and increase event registrations
  • Access to a dedicated event advisor to help plan your auction
  • Accessible mobile bidding software that allows supporters to bid from any location

Price

Pricing starts at $795 annually.

Snowball Fundraising

Homepage for Snowball Fundraising, a silent auction software platform

Overview

Snowball Fundraising empowers event planners with fundraising auction software that allows them to plan unlimited auctions. Additional functionality, such as outbound text messaging and CRM tools, helps cultivate long-lasting donor relationships.

Most helpful features

  • Customizable event pages with options to add up to five photos per auction item
  • Text-to-bid functionality
  • Automated emails updating supporters on whether they won the items they bid on

Price

Plans that include auction functionality start at $849 per year.

Silent Auction Pro

The homepage for the Silent Auction Pro website

Overview

Silent Auction Pro’s platform facilitates auction planning with mobile bidding, event management, and ticketing capabilities. Plus, marketing and communication features help spread your message and event information to a broader audience, driving registrations.

Most helpful features

  • Gamification features to add excitement to your event
  • Customizable event promotion landing pages
  • Ability to sell multiple ticket types, including admissions, raffle tickets, sponsorships, merchandise sales, and more

Price

Plans start at $899 per year.

Accelevents

Product image for Accelevents showing the silent auction software platform on a computer and mobile device

Overview

Accelevents facilitates stress-free event planning with ticketing and registration software, event check-ins, a website builder, and other useful tools.

Most helpful features

  • Fully branded event pages
  • Option to provide special guests with access codes to VIP experiences
  • Additional revenue streams, including merchandise, products, and other packages

Price

Pricing starts at $5,000 for a single event.

Ready to host an auction that's a huge success? Get prepped with our free Auction Planner! Click here to download the planner. 

Charity Auctions Today

Product image for Charity Auctions Today, a silent auction software tool

Overview

Charity Auctions Today helps simplify event fundraising with solutions for attendee management and long-term supporter engagement.

Most helpful features

  • Mobile bidding
  • Fast guest check out with credit card pre-registration
  • Outbid notifications

Price

The free plan includes 5% platform fees and 3% + $0.30 processing fees. Visit the website for more details.

Auctria

Product image for Auctria, showing the platform on computer and mobile screens

Overview

Auctria makes it easy to run fundraising events, whether in-person or online. You can raise event awareness with a branded website, leverage social media to spread the word, and incorporate images and videos to tell your organization’s story.

Most helpful features

  • Ability to sell tickets to individuals, couples, and full tables
  • Sell sponsorships on your event website
  • Generate printed materials for your auction as needed, such as an item catalog

Price

Auctria offers a free plan; paid options start at $350 annually.

Givebutter

Homepage for the Givebutter website

Overview

Givebutter’s auction functionality provides seamless planning capabilities to make auctions more enjoyable for planners and attendees.

Most helpful features

  • Trust & Safety team that reviews payouts for fraud and runs multiple safety checks
  • Real-time auction updates to enable participants to see new bids and items as they go live
  • Create custom item categories to help bidders find items faster

Price

When you enable the option for donors to add tips, Givebutter charges no platform fees. However, the platform charges 2.9% + $0.30 processing fees.

Greater Giving

The homepage for Greater Giving, a silent auction software platform

Overview

Greater Giving equips nonprofits with software for live and online fundraising events, including silent auctions. The platform also enables year-round donation collection.

Most helpful features

  • Event sponsor management, tracking, and promotion via your event website
  • Option to livestream your event
  • Ability to track, display, and announce fundraising results in real-time

Price

Visit the Greater Giving website for information about their packages.

BiddingOwl

Overview

BiddingOwl’s auction software facilitates in-person and virtual bidding, admission ticket sales, simple donations, and more.

Most helpful features

  • Ability to create a personalized event website with a custom URL
  • A secure payment processor that integrates with Stripe and PayPal
  • Automatic bidder notifications

Price

BiddingOwl offers the ability to pass fees onto supporters. Visit the website for more information about their pricing structure.

ReadySetAuction

Homepage for the ReadySetAuction website

Overview

ReadySetAuction offers cloud-based auction software to run events smoothly. This software is built for nonprofits, schools and universities, faith-based groups, sports teams, workplace giving campaigns, and more.

Most helpful features

  • Options to email and print donor receipts
  • Ability to track tickets sold and RSVPs
  • Donor leaderboard

Price

Pricing starts at $1,099 per year for the Essentials plan.

GiveSmart

Homepage for the GiveSmart website

Overview

GiveSmart’s silent auction platform helps organizations exceed their fundraising goals with mobile bidding and event planning functionality.

Most helpful features

  • Personalized text communications with donors
  • Interactive live auction display with a leaderboard
  • Simplified self-checkout payment process

Price

Learn about GiveSmart’s pricing plans on their website.

Features to look for in silent auction software

As you can see, most of the top auction platforms share many of the same features. When looking for the right tool for your organization, prioritize solutions that offer these essential features:

Features to look for in silent auction software (explained in the list below) 

  • Mobile bidding, including the ability to create watch lists for top items and receive outbid notifications
  • Guest management, including multiple ticketing format options and seating assignments
  • Mid-auction donation appeals to gather additional support throughout your events
  • In-app purchases for additional items like raffle tickets or merchandise
  • Simplified checkout with in-app purchases and receipts
  • Reporting tools to track registrations, purchases, donations, and other key metrics

Many organizations find it helpful to leverage a unified giving platform that offers auction management, online fundraising, and relationship management tools in one system. Consider your organization’s overall digital and event fundraising needs to explore whether switching to a robust unified solution will help drive greater fundraising results.

How to get started with Qgiv + Bloomerang

It’s easy to get your silent auction software up and running when you choose a robust, user-friendly platform like Qgiv + Bloomerang.

Want to know what it takes to get started in our comprehensive auction planning, fundraising, and CRM platform? You’ll simply follow these steps to plan and carry out your most successful auction yet:

Steps to get started with Qgiv + Bloomerang’s silent auction software (explained in the list below) 

  1. Procure auction items. Use our CRM platform to reach out to current and prospective donors and corporate sponsors to acquire auction items for your event. Using our built-in DonorSearch integration, you can scan your supporter database to identify top prospects who are most likely to be interested in and capable of donating big-ticket items to your event.
  2. Create an auction event page. Build a customized event page with an item catalog and descriptions and configure your bidding options.
  3. Promote your auction across multiple marketing channels. Leverage communications integrations, including email and social media, to share your auction registration form.
  4. Ensure bidding goes smoothly. After your event kicks off, keep an eye on the bidding process with Qgiv’s monitoring tools. Evaluate real-time reports and analytics to assess your event’s effectiveness.
  5. Facilitate the checkout process. Close out your event by answering attendees’ questions and notifying item winners.
  6. Review auction metrics. Use our reporting tools to assess your event’s return on investment (ROI) through registration, donation, and bidding reports.
  7. Thank supporters. Show appreciation to silent auction donors with our integrated email solutions and silent auction acknowledgment templates.

Request a demo today to get started with our easy-to-use silent auction and fundraising software.

Wrapping up

Silent auction planning doesn’t have to be complicated. With the help of a robust auction software platform on your side, you can keep your event organized, engage with attendees, and pave the way for long-term support.

Looking for more tips to run your best auction yet? Start with these additional silent auction planning resources:

Try the silent auction software trusted by hundreds of nonprofits. Qgiv by Bloomerang simplifies auction planning to create a better experience. Click here to schedule a demo today.

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Event Management Software for Nonprofits: 23 Top Solutions https://bloomerang.co/blog/event-management-software-for-nonprofits/ https://bloomerang.co/blog/event-management-software-for-nonprofits/#respond Tue, 16 Apr 2024 14:11:59 +0000 https://bloomerang.co/?p=113208 As a nonprofit event planner, you know that any successful event needs a clear blueprint, volunteer and staff support, and strong attendee engagement. Event management software for nonprofits brings all planning elements together in one place, streamlining your preparation and saving your team time and stress.  Research shows that over 85% of event planners use …

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As a nonprofit event planner, you know that any successful event needs a clear blueprint, volunteer and staff support, and strong attendee engagement. Event management software for nonprofits brings all planning elements together in one place, streamlining your preparation and saving your team time and stress. 

Research shows that over 85% of event planners use event management software to bring their events to life. But the key to smashing event success is finding the right tools that suit your nonprofit’s needs.

This guide offers advice on how to approach the event software research process and the top tools to consider. We’ll discuss the following topics:

Let’s start by defining event management software and exploring key considerations before investing in a new platform.

Your event management software should support your donor engagement strategies. Learn how Bloomerang’s tools can help.

What is event management software for nonprofits?

Nonprofit event management software is any technology tool that helps nonprofits plan, execute, and report on events. These solutions typically include features to support event planning and scheduling, volunteer and attendee recruitment, check-in, communication and marketing, attendance tracking, and other tools needed to keep your event running smoothly.

What should nonprofits keep in mind when browsing event software?

Your event management software should help you efficiently check items off your planning to-do list. The right tool will integrate with your nonprofit’s existing software, offer an intuitive user interface, and, most importantly, not break the bank.

With that in mind, here are several key considerations to discuss with your team before investing in event management software:

Event management software considerations (described in the list below) 

  • The size of your event. The scope and scale of the events your nonprofit plans to host matter greatly for the type of event management software you choose. It’s easier to manage small-scale events with more basic, free software solutions. However, larger events require much more coordination and cross-team collaboration, making it worth investing in paid solutions that offer a wider range of features.
  • Your budget. If you plan to invest in a paid solution, setting a clear budget is essential for ensuring your event can achieve a high return on investment (ROI). Consider your expected costs and anticipated event revenue to choose a solution that won’t exceed your means.
  • Your event’s format. Hybrid and virtual events have different considerations than in-person experiences. To host these events, you’ll need to find event management software with livestreaming capabilities, remote attendee engagement features, and other elements that make virtual events possible.
  • Technical support. Software support can be a major help when first getting up and running with a new system. Your event software should have a support portal, free resources, and chat or email support to answer any questions.
  • User-friendliness. Your event management platform should be intuitive for your nonprofit’s staff to use. Request demos from your top options and invite team members to join so they can understand how each system works.
  • Integrations. Event tools with robust integrations make it easy to transfer data seamlessly between platforms without the need for manual uploads or the risk of losing data. Understand whether your event management tool integrates with other solutions, such as your CRM and marketing platforms.
  • Software reviews. Your event management tool should have a variety of positive, unbiased reviews from real customers. Look up your top solutions on platforms like G2 and Capterra to review testimonials from current users.

Your organization may have unique event management needs that are not covered in this list. Compile those requirements and keep them in mind as you work through our list of top solutions.

User-friendly event management software tools

The following software solutions are user-friendly options with features to effectively manage events. Browse our list to find tools that align with your needs, budget, and event goals.

Bloomerang – Best nonprofit event software for donor experience

Bloomerang user interface

Bloomerang’s event fundraising tools put donor engagement first. This leading event management software helps turn events into stepping stones to long-term supporter engagement, with features that make the event experience more enjoyable for attendees and easier to plan.

Effective features of this event management software include:

Features of Bloomerang’s event fundraising software (explained in the list below) 

  • Simple event registration. Use sign-up forms that track attendance and event revenue. When attendees register, it automatically creates a touchpoint in their interaction timeline, helping you better track constituent engagement.
  • Constituent interaction timeline. All attendee interactions—like signing up for your event, opening emails, and interacting with your social media posts—are logged on a chronological timeline. This helps you understand each supporter’s involvement journey at a glance and personalize your future outreach.
  • Constituent engagement levels. Bloomerang analyzes past interactions to create an engagement level score, automatically identifying supporters who would be interested in your event and good prospects for other initiatives, like your fundraising efforts.
  • Advanced reporting. Track event insights, such as supporters who are your top event promoters, or those who just made their very first donation at your event. Leverage these insights to send thank-you messages and tailored marketing outreach.
  • Unlimited custom fields. Track and report on any constituent information relevant to your event planning, from dietary restrictions to communication preferences.
  • Attendee screening for giving capacity. Leveraging a DonorSearch integration, you can identify supporters with a rich history of philanthropic giving and a high giving capacity. Then, you can make tailored stewardship plans to invite these individuals to your events and build relationships with them.

In addition, Bloomerang’s plan offers unlimited users, free email and chat support, a mobile app, and unlimited donation pages to gather donations before, during, and after your fundraising event. Learn more about Bloomerang’s plans and pricing.

Engage donors through fundraising events with user-friendly tech. Schedule a Bloomerang Demo here.

Qgiv – Best event management software for fundraising events

Qgiv’s user interface for its event management software for nonprofits 

Overview: Qgiv is a robust online fundraising platform that also offers comprehensive event management tools. Qgiv simplifies event registration, reporting, and guest management to help plan and execute fulfilling, engaging experiences.

Stand-out features:

  • Customizable, branded event landing pages you can build with a user-friendly drag-and-drop editor
  • Flexible ticket packages for individuals, families, VIPs, sponsors, and exclusive events
  • Custom fields to gather attendee information that matters the most to your organization
  • A simple donation process attendees can complete while they’re registering
  • Event promotion tools for multiple platforms, including email, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter)
  • Reporting tools that enable segmentation and year-over-year comparisons

Price: Qgiv offers a free plan, and paid plans start at $25 per month or $60 per quarter.

Asana – Best nonprofit event tool for project management

Screenshot of the Asana homepage

Overview: Asana is a project management platform that nonprofits can use to manage event planning more efficiently and collaboratively.

Stand-out features:

  • Organize projects in a shared hub, with timelines, task roles, and task lists.
  • Create custom workflows and use automation to save time.
  • Add goals and report on progress with automatic updates.

Price: Asana offers a free plan, and paid plans start at $10.99 per user per month.

CiviCRM – Best open-source nonprofit event management software

CiviCRM homepage

Overview: CiviCRM offers an open-source CRM for nonprofits. They also provide a full suite of event management tools to simplify planning and management.

Stand-out features:

  • Registration pages for free and paid events.
  • Ability to import and export attendee data to and from other platforms.
  • Ability to set up recurring events and other activities.

Price: Free to download, use, and share.

Cvent – Best event software for unified data management

Homepage for Cvent, an event management software for nonprofits

Overview: Cvent is an event management tool that offers unique features for nonprofits, such as donor and volunteer engagement and fundraising reporting.

Stand-out features:

  • AI recommendations and customizable templates that help create branded and personalized experiences.
  • Robust reporting with interactive chats, live polling, and hybrid audience Q&A capabilities.
  • Combined donor and event data for a 360-view of your fundraising and marketing efforts.

Price: Contact for pricing.

EventMobi – Best tool for multi-event management

Product images for EventMobi, a nonprofit event management software option

Overview: EventMobi’s platform is used by associations, agencies, and corporations to plan and run professional events.

Stand-out features:

  • A mobile event app to help attendees navigate your event, access event content, and network with other attendees.
  • A virtual events platform for engaging virtual attendees and spotlighting sponsors.
  • Gamification functionality, such as challenges, rewards, and leaderboards, to increase attendee engagement.

Price: Request pricing on the EventMobi website.

Handbid – Best event management software for mobile bidding

Handbid’s homepage

Overview: Handbid offers nonprofit software for mobile bidding and auction events. Their software is tailored to organizations looking to ditch paper bid sheets and outdated auction platforms for a modern, user-friendly system.

Stand-out features:

  • Mobile bidding via the Handbid app or web-browser option.
  • Streamlined ticketing and registration by gathering credit card information before guests arrive.
  • Mobile auction management to allow event planners to manage event logistics from their mobile devices.

Price: Packages start at $1,396, with single and multi-event options available.

Google Meet – Best free event livestreaming tool

Google Meet screenshot

Overview: Google Meet is a free video-conferencing tool. Nonprofits can use this platform to livestream hybrid events or host small virtual events.

Stand-out features:

  • Breakout rooms for small-group discussions.
  • Interactive features for participants, like raising hands or reaction capabilities.
  • Virtual dry-erase board for simple collaboration.

Price: Google Meet is free, but users can sign up for a Google Workspace or Google One Premium plan for premium features.

RSVPify – Best event management tool for tracking attendance

RSVPify homepage

Overview: RSVPify simplifies the event management process from registration to event day. This software solution helps manage ticketing, virtual events, event website building, and more.

Stand-out features:

  • Ability to create an event registration form in minutes and embed it into your organization’s website.
  • Ticket add-on capabilities, such as merchandise or VIP access.
  • Simple event sign-in with a QR code, guest name, or confirmation number.

Price: Event pricing starts at $19 per month. Paid events incur a 1.95% + $.90 fee per ticket, item, or donation.

Brushfire – Best event management app for ticketing

Brushfire homepage

Overview: Brushfire is an online ticketing platform for online and in-person ticket sales.

Stand-out features:

  • Robust ticketing features including assigned seating and conditional registration forms.
  • Attendee support for customers.
  • Multiple integrations with leading payment processors, content management systems, and CRMs.

Price: Brushfire offers a pay-as-you-go model with a $1.50 + 1% per paid attendee or a flat $1 fee per free attendee.

Eventbrite – Best for customizable event pages

Eventbrite homepage

Overview: Eventbrite is a self-service event management and ticketing platform.

Stand-out features:

  • Customizable event pages to sell tickets online.
  • Event organizer app to monitor ticket sales and event check-ins.
  • A variety of marketing tools to spread the word about your event, including Eventbrite Ads and social media ads.

Price: Eventbrite offers a free option for up to 25 tickets. Paid options start at $9.99 per event.

Facebook Events – Best tool for marketing your event

Facebook Events information page

Overview: Facebook Events is a popular Facebook feature that allows organizations to create events and invite followers to RSVP.

Stand-out features:

  • Easily share event logistics with a robust information page.
  • Post photos and videos to your event page to generate interest.
  • Personally invite supporters to your event using Facebook’s messaging and notification tools.

Price: Facebook Events are free to create and share.

Zeffy – Top free event management software for nonprofits

Zeffy user interface for their event management software for nonprofits

Overview: Zeffy is a zero-fee nonprofit fundraising platform, with tools for event ticketing and donation management.

Stand-out features:

  • Scannable e-tickets for simple check-ins.
  • Ability to accept multiple payment methods, including all credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, ACH, and checks.
  • Customizable ticketing forms that allow you to add your nonprofit’s logo, colors, and a custom banner.

Price: Zeffy is free to use. The platform is powered by optional donor contributions.

Doubleknot – Best software for recurring events and programs

Screenshot of the Doubleknot homepage

Overview: Doubleknot’s event registration platform is best suited for nonprofit cultural organizations, such as zoos, museums, and botanical gardens.

Stand-out features:

  • Custom forms, fields, and registration types to gather the information that matters most to your nonprofit.
  • Flexible payments and promotions, with options for coupon codes and member discounts.
  • Mobile sales and check-in apps accessible via iPhones or iPads.

Price: Contact Doubleknot for pricing information.

Bizzabo – Best multi-use event management software for nonprofits

Homepage for Bizzabo, an event management software for nonprofits

Overview: Bizzabo offers customizable nonprofit event management software to grow mission awareness and increase fundraising.

Stand-out features:

  • All-in-one event management dashboard to view essential metrics and centralize team communications.
  • Personalized content journeys for attendees, including personal agendas and an on-demand content library.
  • Interactive audience experiences, including Q&As, polls, and chats.

Price: View plans on the Bizzabo website and contact for pricing.

Hopin – Best suite of event management solutions for community building

Hopin homepage

Overview: Hopin’s engagement tools are designed to help organizations build stronger supporter communities online. These tools include livestreaming and video recording, webinars, and an online community builder.

Stand-out features:

  • A professional livestreaming and recording studio that helps create clear, branded videos.
  • A webinar platform to host online educational events.
  • An online community for your supporters with channel discussions, a content library, and member groups.

Price: Pricing depends on the tool; visit the Hopin website for more information.

Additional software tools to support nonprofit events

These are additional solutions you can use to support your nonprofit’s events. While not all-in-one event management software tools, they’ll still provide much-needed support in areas like fundraising, marketing, event follow-up, and community building.

Bonfire – Top tool for event merchandising

Bonfire homepage

Overview: Bonfire offers a merchandise fundraising platform for nonprofits. If you want to design and sell or offer event merchandise as part of the ticket price, Bonfire is a user-friendly option.

Stand-out features:

  • Customizable organization page to share your event information and display fundraising stats.
  • Peer-to-peer fundraising capabilities to empower your community to promote your merchandise and raise funds on behalf of your organization.
  • Personalized thank-you emails to supporters from your campaign dashboard.

Price: Free to use, but nonprofits incur processing fees of 3.5%.

DonorSearch – Best prospect research tool

DonorSearch homepage

Overview: DonorSearch offers AI and custom fundraising solutions to help your nonprofit visualize data, identify prospective major donors, and enrich your database with external data. You can use this tool to screen event attendees for wealth and affinity markers that indicate they may be willing to make large donations during your event. Then, you can create a custom stewardship plan to engage these donors throughout the experience.

Stand-out features:

  • Machine learning algorithm to analyze donor data, identify patterns, and recommend useful next actions.
  • Philanthropic and wealth screening to identify likely major donors.
  • Most likely to respond score to identify highly engaged donors and create communication segments to reach out to them.

Price: Contact DonorSearch for pricing information.

Canva – Best graphic design software for event marketing

Canva’s nonprofit information page 

Overview: Canva is an online graphic design platform. Nonprofits can use this tool to create a variety of event marketing materials, including social media posts, email and website graphics, flyers, postcards, and other designs.

Stand-out features:

  • Simple, intuitive editor with 420,000+ templates and 75 million+ images.
  • Free online AI image generator and photo editing features.
  • Text animations for dynamic, engaging messaging.

Price: Eligible nonprofits can access Canva for free after applying through their website.

Gratavid – Best event tool for showing gratitude

Gratavid homepage

Overview: Gratavid by Gravyty is a tool for creating personalized video messaging to show gratitude to event attendees. Appreciation videos are a unique way to thank attendees and donors, leave a positive impression, and boost supporter retention.

Stand-out features:

  • Ability to record videos easily from any device.
  • Opportunity to create a custom branded landing page to host your videos.
  • Ability to send videos and gifs via email to ensure all attendees receive gratitude messages.

Price: Contact Gravyty for pricing information.

Smartwaiver – Best nonprofit software for event waivers

Smartwaiver homepage

Overview: Smartwaiver offers online waiver software. Waivers are essential for any events that require physical activity or have a risk of injury, such as bike-a-thons.

Stand-out features:

  • Add customizable options to your waiver, including flagged questions and safety videos.
  • Collect waivers in multiple formats, including a kiosk, email link, QR code, or embedded waiver widget.
  • Grant varying user permissions and access to increase security.

Price: The basic plan is $19 per month for up to 100 signed waivers. They also offer special pricing for one-time events.

BuildFire – Best event mobile app builder

BuildFire homepage 

Overview: BuildFire is a mobile app builder that enables users to create apps for iOS and Android. It’s a simple and intuitive option if you need a mobile app to promote your event and offer attendee engagement features.

Stand-out features:

  • Turnkey app development with a drag-and-drop editor.
  • Multiple use cases, including lecture notes, feedback surveys, polls, push notifications, and more.
  • Event schedule to help attendees stay organized.

Price: Plans start at $100 per month for the app development platform.

Slack – Best app for event team communication

Slack homepage

Overview: Slack is an instant messaging and productivity app. Event planning teams can use Slack to stay in touch and quickly access other planning apps like Google or Outlook calendars.

Stand-out features:

  • Channels, which are messaging groups designed to focus on specific subjects.
  • A workflow builder to help automate tasks.
  • Audio and video meetings.

Price: Slack offers a free plan, and paid options start at $4.38 per month.

Wrapping Up

It’s not an exaggeration to say that your event management software plays a significant role in shaping the nature of your event. It can help create a streamlined experience for event planners as well as guests, creating a positive impression of your organization. Plus, the right tool will support your events long-term, helping you build on each experience to reach a wider audience.

Looking for more event planning resources? Start here:

Ready to cultivate event attendance into lasting relationships? Bloomerang’s event fundraising tools build lifelong connections. Schedule a Demo here.

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33+ Raffle Basket Ideas to Wow the Crowd & Win Support https://bloomerang.co/blog/raffle-ideas/ https://bloomerang.co/blog/raffle-ideas/#respond Wed, 21 Feb 2024 19:13:15 +0000 https://bloomerang.co/?p=109948 A raffle is an easy way to increase fundraising revenue and engage supporters at events. The trick to hosting a successful raffle is ensuring that the raffle baskets and prizes you offer are enticing enough to encourage scores of ticket sales. In this guide, we’ll review the most effective raffle basket ideas in the following …

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A raffle is an easy way to increase fundraising revenue and engage supporters at events. The trick to hosting a successful raffle is ensuring that the raffle baskets and prizes you offer are enticing enough to encourage scores of ticket sales.

In this guide, we’ll review the most effective raffle basket ideas in the following sections:

Choosing the right raffle prizes for your audience will help add extra value to your nonprofit events, encouraging supporters to continue participating in your fundraising initiatives. Let’s start by answering a few frequently asked questions to understand how raffles function.

Want to sell more tickets, engage event attendees, and raise more for your cause? Find out how Bloomerang’s fundraising tools can help.

Raffle basket FAQs

How does a raffle work?

Supporters purchase raffle tickets, typically for a low fee. Each ticket purchase equals one entry into the raffle. At the end of the event or raffle entry period, one or more winners are chosen depending on how many prizes are offered.

Raffles often take place at fundraising events like galas or auctions. They can also be held virtually, and supporters can purchase tickets online.

Important note: Raffles are considered “games of chance” or a form of gambling, which is illegal in many states. Check your state’s gambling regulations, and consult with your legal team to ensure you can legally host your raffle. You may need to secure a permit or license and follow specific regulations for hosting and handling income made at the raffle.

Where can you get raffle baskets or prizes?

Connect with corporate partners and individual donors to ask if they’d be willing to donate raffle prizes to your fundraiser. Corporate partners are often happy to help out because of the benefits they receive from charitable involvement. For example, 77% of consumers want to purchase from companies with corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs.

Emphasize the positive publicity that corporate sponsors and individual donors can receive from donating raffle prizes to your event. Your nonprofit can publicly thank these donors using your social media, email, blog posts, and other event marketing materials.

How can you simplify the raffle planning process?

Hosting a fundraising event with a raffle can quickly get complicated as your nonprofit juggles event planning, invitations, and prize procurement. Stay organized with Bloomerang’s online giving and event management tools.

Ways Bloomerang can support your next raffle event (explained in the text below) 

Bloomerang’s solutions make it easy to find item donors, register attendees, provide a simple checkout process for raffle winners, and follow up with event attendees to strengthen relationships.

Hosting a raffle should be easy for your team and your donors. Bloomerang’s fundraising and event management tools make it simple to a successful event. Schedule a demo here.

Now, let’s dive into some of the most compelling raffle basket ideas to help engage your event audience and sell more tickets.

Items that may be included in a picnic basket raffle prize

Food and beverage raffle basket ideas

Foodies will be thrilled to participate in your raffle when they can receive an amazing food or beverage basket as a prize. Here are a few delicious ideas for food-related raffle prizes:

  • Wine basket. Fill a basket with a variety of fine wines, including whites, reds, and everything in between! Search for valuable vintage bottles or unique varieties donors may not have tried yet.
  • Charcuterie basket. Charcuterie boards are flat surfaces covered with meats, cheese, nuts, jams, crackers, and other appetizer snacks. Include all of these items in a charcuterie basket to help one lucky winner host their best dinner party yet.
  • Pastry basket. Partner with a local bakery to create a basket of fresh pastries, such as donuts, croissants, cookies, and muffins.
  • Gourmet chocolate basket. Appeal to the chocolate lovers at your event with a basket featuring unique or artisan chocolates.
  • Coffee basket. Include several coffee varieties, along with cute mugs, to impress the coffee connoisseurs in your audience. Consider also including gift cards to local coffee shops to allow the winner to try new spots in your community.
  • Local goods basket. Partner with a variety of local businesses and restaurants to fill a local goods basket. You may receive items like artisan olive oil from a local shop, fresh bread from a bakery, and handmade candles from a nearby artist.
  • Personal chef prize. This prize involves a free meal cooked by a local professional chef at the winner’s home. Connect with the head chef at a renowned local restaurant to ask if they’d be willing to donate their time to support your cause.
  • Tea time basket. This package could include a variety of teas, along with mugs and jars of honey. Add an electric tea kettle or vintage teapot to make this prize even more valuable.
  • Picnic basket. Provide everything supporters need to host a fun and relaxing picnic, including a blanket, tablecloth, plates, utensils, napkins, and flowers. Throw in a gift card to a local artisan grocery store so the winner can pick up food and drinks for their picnic.

Items that may be included in a spa raffle basket

Sports and leisure raffle prizes

The following sports and leisure-themed prizes make it easier for winners to participate in their favorite hobbies or relax and unwind after a stressful week:

  • Spa basket. Include bath bombs, facemasks, lotions, a cozy robe, and a voucher for a free massage at a local spa.
  • Sports-themed basket. Create different themed baskets for different sports. For example, a baseball basket could include a new glove, a baseball signed by a famous player, and tickets to a game.
  • Personal trainer voucher. Help supporters meet their fitness goals with free personal training sessions.
  • Autographed sports memorabilia. Offer a signed baseball glove, basketball, football, or jersey as an exciting prize for sports fanatics.
  • Streaming service package. There are so many streaming platforms to choose from nowadays, and many are raising prices. Offer a year-long subscription bundle of several different platforms, such as Netflix, Max, and Disney+, to help one winner offset these costs.
  • Pet parent basket. 66% of U.S. households own a pet, making a pet-focused basket the perfect raffle prize for your next event. Include pet toys, beds, leashes, and a voucher for a customizable collar.

Items that may be included in a board games raffle basket

Raffle basket ideas for kids and families

These family-friendly raffle prizes are perfect for school fundraising events or nonprofits that serve a youth population:

  • Board game basket. Create a bundle with popular board games like Yahtzee, Monopoly, Settlers of Catan, and Sorry!, as well as card and dice games.
  • Theme park passes. For the thrill-seekers in your audience, offer four to five theme park passes to a local amusement or water park.
  • Movie night basket. Bundle together gift cards for streaming services, popcorn, candy, and sodas to create the perfect movie night basket.
  • Craft kit. Inspire creativity among your audience by offering everything needed for a craft activity, including glue, construction paper, markers, watercolor paints, and other supplies.
  • Zoo or aquarium tickets. A day out at the zoo or aquarium is a useful gift for families with young children. Ask if your local zoo or aquarium would be willing to donate free tickets to your raffle.

Items that may be included in a harvest raffle basket

Seasonal raffle basket ideas

If your raffle is held during a seasonal event, such as a back-to-school block party or holiday market, it makes sense to offer seasonal prizes as well. Here are a few ideas for seasonal prizes at different times of the year:

  • Gardening basket. When spring rolls around, supporters will appreciate a gardening basket with vegetable and flower seeds, gardening gloves, and tools. You can also include a gift card to your local gardening store or Home Depot so the prize winner can pick up any additional items they need.
  • Fourth of July basket. Celebrate America’s founding with a Fourth of July basket that features marshmallows, beach towels, sidewalk chalk, patriotic lawn decor, and party poppers.
  • Back to school basket. Take some stress off parents’ shoulders by creating a back-to-school basket with notebooks, pencils, pens, a calculator, folders, and other school supplies.
  • Autumn harvest basket. Welcome the fall season with a harvest basket that includes seasonal produce like pumpkins and apples, along with decorative items like glass gem corn and Halloween decor.
  • Thanksgiving feast basket. Empower one lucky supporter to make this Turkey Day the best one yet with cans of cranberry sauce, charcuterie board items, sparkling cider, and a voucher for a free Thanksgiving turkey.
  • Hot chocolate basket. Help supporters stay warm in the chilly winter months with a hot chocolate basket with different flavors, marshmallows, mugs, and stirring sticks.
  • Ski trip. If you want to offer one big-ticket prize item, a ski trip is an enticing option! Secure ski passes and all-inclusive lodging to go along with this prize.

Items that may be included in a movie-related raffle prize

Inexpensive raffle prize ideas

If you’re on a tight budget, these inexpensive raffle ideas will help you save money while still providing valuable prizes for winners:

  • Gift cards. Let your local businesses shine by gathering several gift cards from around the community, such as gift cards for restaurants, gyms, clothing stores, and gift stores.
  • Movie tickets. Purchase movie tickets for an upcoming summer blockbuster. Bonus points if you can access an early screening of a new movie!
  • Lottery tickets. Allow supporters to try their luck with a lottery ticket basket with different ticket types.
  • Pro-bono services package. Connect with a local handyman, car detailing company, or lawn service to see if they’d be willing to donate their services as a raffle prize.

Hands holding a tablet, representing a tech-related raffle prize

Tech raffle prize ideas

New technology devices are released all the time, and your tech-savvy supporters may be thrilled to see that your raffle prize is a tech item like one of the following:

  • New TV. Set one lucky winner up with a sleek new TV. You can even throw in TV mounting services so the winner can install their new device effectively and safely in their home.
  • Smart home device. Amazon Echo, Google Nest, Ring Doorbell Cameras, and other smart home devices are revolutionizing the way people protect and manage their homes. A new smart home device can be a great prize for any household looking to up their technology game.
  • Video gaming system. The global pandemic, along with a worldwide chip shortage, made video game consoles like the PlayStation 5 extremely hard to come by. Because of these issues, many gamers still may not have access to the new systems they want. Offering a video game system like a PS5 can be enticing for supporters.
  • Noise-canceling headphones. Help supporters drown out excessive noise and be more productive with noise-canceling headphones.
  • Tablet. Apple iPads, Samsung Galaxy Tab, and Amazon Fire are a few of the most popular tablet varieties to consider for your raffle prize.

Dazzle event attendees and raise more for your nonprofit. Bloomerang’s powerful event management tools make raffle planning easy. Schedule a demo.

Wrapping Up

Hosting a raffle is an effective way to add more excitement to your fundraising events and give supporters the chance to win a valuable prize in exchange for their support. All of these raffle ideas will help boost ticket sales and secure more revenue for your cause.

And if you’re ready to take your event planning to the next level with user-friendly software to manage fundraising, Bloomerang is here to help. Contact us for support ahead of your next event.

Looking for more information to host a successful event? Start with these additional resources:

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Nonprofit Membership Software: Compare 10+ Top Tools https://bloomerang.co/blog/membership-software-for-nonprofits/ https://bloomerang.co/blog/membership-software-for-nonprofits/#respond Mon, 29 Jan 2024 20:54:04 +0000 https://bloomerang.co/?p=109097 Nonprofit funding comes from various sources—regular and major gifts, grants, in-kind donations, corporate sponsorships, planned gifts, and eCommerce sales are a few of the most common. In addition, some nonprofits also rely partly or entirely on memberships to support their missions. If your nonprofit offers memberships to engage supporters more deeply in your organization’s activities, …

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Nonprofit funding comes from various sources—regular and major gifts, grants, in-kind donations, corporate sponsorships, planned gifts, and eCommerce sales are a few of the most common. In addition, some nonprofits also rely partly or entirely on memberships to support their missions.

If your nonprofit offers memberships to engage supporters more deeply in your organization’s activities, you need robust software to keep your program organized. This guide will review the basics of membership software for nonprofits and the top solutions to consider. Here’s our roadmap:

Membership software is an investment, but it will pay for itself, allowing your nonprofit to expand its membership program efficiently and effectively.

Streamline workflows by managing donors and members from one platform. Schedule a Bloomerang Demo here.

What is membership software for nonprofits?

Nonprofit membership software is usually a platform organizations can use to manage memberships and engage participants to boost revenue and program growth. These solutions are similar to constituent relationship management systems (CRMs) but they manage member information rather than donor information.

Features of membership software for nonprofits

Membership management software unites all member data in one convenient location. This type of software usually gives you the ability to:

  • Track member information through a database. Store details about members’ demographics, professions, locations, networking connections, and more. Use segmentation tools to identify connections between members, such as those who work in the same field or live in the same area. Create groups to send more personalized communications to different membership segments.
  • Manage multiple programs and membership levels. Offer different membership tiers, each with its own benefits or level of access. For example, lower-level members might gain access to an exclusive membership newsletter and discounted merchandise, while higher-tier members receive invites to your nonprofit’s annual gala. Membership management software makes it easy to define and manage each tier, ensuring all members get the benefits they’re entitled to.
  • Enable potential new members to easily join online. Your website is likely the first place potential members will go to learn more about your program. Membership management software allows new members to easily join online using a digital form that only collects necessary information to make sign-up short and sweet.
  • Send multichannel communications. Keep members in the loop with communications on multiple marketing platforms, including email, direct mail, and text. Send invoices, welcome messages, newsletters, and more from one central platform.
  • Calculate members’ statuses and upcoming renewal dates. Your membership management software will automatically note members’ join dates to track renewal dates. You can send multichannel communications to members (including emails and letters) reminding them that their membership will automatically renew.
  • Automate annual renewals. With auto-renewals, members don’t have to worry about manually renewing their memberships. This can boost membership retention and provide greater convenience for members.
  • Track non-deductible membership fees. As a 501(c)(3) organization, some portion of members’ fees may be tax deductible. However, if you offer benefits to members in exchange for fees, such as special publications or events, the portion of the membership fee that covers these perks may not be tax deductible. Membership management software will keep these categories straight to avoid any compliance issues.

Membership organizations have unique needs when it comes to tracking member information, dues, and member renewals. Membership software for nonprofits helps automate communications and tracking, saving your staff time and preventing unneeded stress on your team members.

Benefits of membership management software

Most membership nonprofits find membership management software to be worth the investment because these systems allow you to:

Benefits of membership software for nonprofits (explained in the list below) 

  • Attract new members. By clearly articulating your membership tiers and benefits across multiple marketing channels, you can connect with potential new members who would be a good fit for your program.
  • Cultivate impactful relationships to increase retention. Using member data, personalize member communications and spotlight opportunities that align with your members’ interests and preferences. This builds stronger connections with members and shows them the value of your program.
  • Save time through automation. Spend less time tracking down late membership fees and sending renewal notices and more time interacting with your members and building genuine relationships.

Growing your membership base and retaining members starts with knowing who your members are and connecting with them in ways that resonate. Using membership management tools, you can create a personalized experience that exceeds member expectations.

Top membership management software for nonprofits

To help narrow down your search for the right membership software for your organization, we’ve compiled a list of top solutions to consider. Start by comparing the top options here:

Membership software Target audience Support Integrations Pricing
Bloomerang Small to mid-sized nonprofits Available via phone, email, and chat Maintains direct integrations with multiple popular nonprofit apps, including DonorSearch, QuickBooks, and MailChimp Starts at $25 per month
JoinIt Professional associations, nonprofits, gyms, HOAs, and other membership groups Available via email and chat Integrates with WordPress, Zoom, Zoho CRM, Slack, and other nonprofit management tools Starts at $29 per month for up to 500 members, with a 3% service fee for online transactions
WildApricot Organizations looking for complete association management Live chat is available for paid accounts and email billing support is available on weekdays Offers a WordPress plugin and single sign-on service to integrate an external site with your WildApricot site. Additional integrations via Make Multiple pricing tiers based on scale
Fonteva Trade associations, professional societies, and association management companies Documentation and training available online Partners with technology providers like Amazon Web Services, Cadmium, and Blue Sky eLearn Not available online
Doubleknot Nonprofits and cultural organizations, including zoos, aquariums, and museums Email support and an online help center are available ClearViewCRM, Connect API, and Raiser’s Edge Not available online
Raiser’s Edge NXT Organizations looking for robust association management software Online help center, case portal, and chat interface Integrations available via Blackbaud’s SKY API and Konektis Contact for a personalized quote
MemberClicks Associations, chambers, nonprofits, and association management companies Support is available via an online help center, support community, and phone, email, and chat support Other Personify membership products, including Personify CommUnity and Conference App $4,500 per year
MemberPlanet Associations, nonprofits, schools, booster clubs, and more Online support center as well as email and phone options N/A Free plan with a 4% platform fee and a 3% + $0.30 transaction fee. Paid plans start at $50 per month or $510 annually.
GlueUp Nonprofits, associations, chambers of commerce, and other membership organizations Support available via an online form QuickBooks, Xero, and Zoom. API access is also available. $2,500 per year
YourMembership Professional associations, nonprofits, and association management companies Available via phone or email Integrations available through the REST API Reach out for a personalized quote
Springly Nonprofits, clubs, associations, churches, professional organizations, and universities Help center and help forms available Partnership with TechSoup, integration with QuickBooks Springly offers a free plan or a free trial of their paid software. Paid solutions start at $45 per month for up to 250 contacts
Hivebrite Commercial enterprises, nonprofits, universities, and associations Resource library and email connection options Integrations available via APIs Not available online
Mighty Networks Professional development organizations, brands, health and wellness organizations, and nonprofits Online support community and help center Google Analytics and ConvertKit. Other integrations available via Zapier Pricing starts at $33 per month, paid annually

Bloomerang

Bloomerang’s user interface with a constituent profile showing

Bloomerang’s membership management system is tailor-made to help small to mid-sized nonprofits connect with their constituents and easily manage memberships. With Bloomerang, you can track member and donor relationships using the same core system. This provides a detailed overview of all supporter relationships.

Bloomerang’s membership tracking tools offer the following features:

  • Giving Summaries with Engagement Level and Generosity Score™. Identify your most engaged members and explore members’ giving capacities as donors.
  • Email marketing. Create email segments and send scheduled messages. Record correspondences on members’ profiles.
  • Online forms. Design an unlimited number of customizable forms to enable new members to sign up or renew their membership.
  • Smart reporting. Run reports on just members, rather than your entire supporter base, to assess trends.
  • Timeline highlights. View an engagement timeline with all member interactions, from emails they’ve opened to events they’ve attended.
  • Custom fields. Use an unlimited number of custom fields to track membership data on your terms.

With Bloomerang, you can access a wide range of benefits. The system:

  • Is easy to use, with a user-friendly interface and simple data filtering tools
  • Has the features that matter most to nonprofit membership programs, without unneeded functionality that could clutter or weigh down your member-tracking processes
  • Automates membership activities, taking stress and unnecessary tasks off your staff’s plate
  • Is built into the Bloomerang CRM platform, providing one centralized hub for all supporter data

Comparison of other membership software vs. Bloomerang’s membership software for nonprofits

Bloomerang is built by nonprofit professionals, for nonprofit professionals. We understand the unique challenges and opportunities presented to nonprofit membership organizations and ensure that our platform offers the functionality you need to take advantage of every member interaction.

Pricing

Bloomerang Membership Management starts at just $25 per month when included with the Bloomerang CRM. Effectively attract, retain, and engage members, convert them to donors, and streamline operations through a unified, comprehensive solution.

Try the nonprofit software trusted by over 15,000 organizations. Schedule a Bloomerang Demo.

JoinIt

A product image representing JoinIt’s membership software for nonprofits 

JoinIt’s membership management software is targeted toward professional associations, nonprofits, gyms, HOAs, and other membership groups. This platform offers organizations intuitive features such as:

  • Robust analytics, enabling multi-criteria search and enhanced sorting
  • Digital membership cards that members can store on their phones and scan at events for easy check-ins
  • A membership CRM that offers custom fields, admin-only fields, and complimentary migration services

JoinIt is an effective solution for nonprofits that have outgrown spreadsheets and want an easier way to track member data and payment requests.

Pricing

The Starter Package is $29 per month for up to 500 members, with a 3% service fee for online transactions.

WildApricot

Screenshot of the WildApricot homepage, a membership software for nonprofits

WildApricot offers cloud-based association management software that works for associations, nonprofits, foundations, and clubs. Membership organizations turn to this platform for features like:

  • A member database that makes managing member applications, renewals, and reporting a breeze
  • A website builder you can use to create a membership website from scratch or add membership widgets to your existing website
  • Simple payment processing that facilitates secure and easy payments, with Level 1 PCI DSS compliance

WildApricot’s platform is targeted toward organizations looking for complete association management. Nonprofits looking for just membership management might find the platform overly complex for their needs.

Pricing

WildApricot offers multiple pricing tiers based on your organization’s scale. Visit their website for more information.

Fonteva

Product image for Fonteva, a membership management software option

Fonteva is a membership management tool for Salesforce. This solution offers the following membership features:

  • Embedded dashboards with actionable member insights
  • Unified data analytics with real-time reports and customized KPIs
  • Searchable member directories to facilitate networking

This platform works best for trade associations, professional societies, and association management companies, meaning it may not offer the unique features nonprofit membership organizations need to manage their constituencies.

Pricing

Pricing is not available online; contact Fonteva for more information.

Doubleknot

Product images for Doubleknot, a membership solution for nonprofits

Doubleknot’s integrated software solutions are targeted toward nonprofits and cultural organizations, including zoos, aquariums, museums, science centers, botanical gardens, and so on. Using Doubleknot, these organizations can:

  • Increase donations through multichannel fundraising at admissions, outside museum exhibits, and by phone and email
  • Boost membership renewals by spotlighting benefits, such as members-only savings and discounts
  • Reward members with priority registration, members-only events, and free guest passes

If you run a nonprofit zoo, garden, aquarium, or museum, this type of platform can help manage member interactions to create a positive experience for all members and encourage new memberships.

Pricing

Pricing is not available online; contact Doubleknot for more information.

Raiser’s Edge NXT

Product image for Raiser’s Edge NXT

Raiser’s Edge NXT is Blackbaud’s nonprofit CRM system. Users can leverage an optional module called RE:Member to manage memberships. With this tool, organizations can:

  • Track multiple membership types and programs
  • Send membership communications regarding members who have lapsed, upgraded or downgraded their membership, or are ready to renew
  • Send specific mailings, such as membership cards and renewal notices

While Raiser’s Edge NXT does offer a wide range of features, many nonprofits find that the system offers more association management features than they need. This leads to questions on return on investment (ROI)—are you paying for a system that’s too large for your nonprofit’s more limited membership needs?

Pricing

Reach out to Blackbaud for a personalized quote.

MemberClicks

Example of reports available within MemberClicks, a membership management tool

MemberClicks is a system built for associations, chambers, nonprofits, and association management companies. With this system, users can leverage features like:

  • Customizable forms and templates with tailored questions to gather the information that’s most important to your nonprofit
  • Email marketing, with scheduling tools, segmentation features, and automation capabilities
  • Membership websites complete with member portals and event calendars

MemberClicks also offers a robust help center with training articles and videos to help guide your system set-up.

Pricing

Pricing starts at $4,500 per year.

MemberPlanet

Example of an organization using MemberPlanet’s membership software 

MemberPlanet provides membership management software for associations, nonprofits, schools, booster clubs, and more. This platform comes equipped with features such as:

  • Fundraising solutions, including donation microsites and peer-to-peer fundraising capabilities
  • A mobile app that offers payment processing, SMS messaging, and an activity feed for members
  • Customizable member database that allows members to update their information any time they wish

MemberPlanet also offers an interactive directory members can use to message one another and search for other members.

Pricing

MemberPlanet offers a free plan with a 4% platform fee and a 3% + $0.30 transaction fee. Paid plans start at $50 per month or $510 annually.

GlueUp

GlueUp’s membership management software interface

GlueUp is advertised as an “all-in-one engagement management CRM,” with solutions for nonprofits, associations, chambers of commerce, and other membership organizations. GlueUp offers a wide variety of tools, including:

  • Digital member applications that make it easy for new members to get involved
  • Automated renewals with email reminders and push notifications
  • Community engagement features, including messaging tools that allow members to communicate one-on-one

Plus, you can use GlueUp to measure member engagement through event and email marketing insights to make data-driven strategy adjustments.

Pricing

Pricing starts at $2,500 per year.

How can you build a passionate member base across all chapters of your nonprofit? Explore Insights from Over 300 Multi-Chapter Nonprofits.

YourMembership

Screenshot of the YourMembership homepage

YourMembership is an “all-in-one AMS” with solutions for professional associations, nonprofits, and association management companies. With the help of this platform, your nonprofit can:

  • Engage members with personalized messages and donation appeals
  • Integrate your member portal with your website
  • Manage volunteer communications as well as donor and member outreach

YourMembership’s tools prioritize community-building, whether through networking opportunities or a robust website with all need-to-know information.

Pricing

Reach out to YourMembership to request a personalized quote.

Springly

Screenshot of the Springly homepage

Springly’s software is built for nonprofits, clubs, associations, churches, professional organizations, and universities. Using Springly, organizations can gain access to features like:

  • Member profiles with comprehensive information, including membership level, past event attendance, and previous membership dues payments
  • An online store where organizations can sell merchandise to foster an additional revenue stream
  • Team collaboration solutions that allow you to delegate tasks to your nonprofit staff and work on campaigns simultaneously

Springly is best suited for small or mid-sized nonprofits looking for multifunctional nonprofit management software.

Pricing

Springly offers a free plan or a free trial of their paid software. Paid solutions start at $45 per month for up to 250 contacts.

Hivebrite

Screenshot of the Hivebrite homepage

Hivebrite is a community management platform with solutions for a wide range of organizations, including commercial enterprises, nonprofits, universities, and associations. The Hivebrite platform offers features such as:

  • Analytics to help track success across multiple areas, including email performance and member engagement
  • Integrations with many CRMs, directories, and social media platforms
  • Networking and interaction features, including robust member profiles, discussion forums, and direct messaging between members

Hivebrite helps empower your nonprofit’s chapters and groups to unite your community and help work toward your mission.

Pricing

Pricing is not available online; contact Hivebrite for more information.

Mighty Networks

Screenshot of the Mighty Networks homepage

Mighty Networks offers software and support to build an online community outside of the noise and clutter of the internet’s predominant social media platforms. Professional development organizations, brands, health and wellness organizations, and nonprofits turn to this solution for features like:

  • A welcome checklist that guides members through the process of getting started with your membership program
  • Multiple options for building member plans, including the ability to charge one-time or subscription fees, offer free trials, sell digital downloads, and more
  • Tools that initiate engagement between members, such as icebreaker suggestions, a feature that shows similarities between members, and one-on-one chat tools

Using Mighty Pro, you can create your own branded app to connect with members, grow your membership, and spread your mission.

Pricing

Pricing starts at $33 per month, paid annually. Mighty Networks also offers a 14-day free trial.

How to choose the right membership software

With all of these options available, how can you choose the right tool for your nonprofit’s needs? Consider the following before choosing a membership management platform:

 

  • Your budget. How much can you afford to spend on the platform? When assessing platform costs, factor migration fees and payment processing fees into your budget. If the platform is particularly complex, you may also need to hire a technology specialist to ensure a smooth transition.
  • Your needs and goals. What do you want to get out of your membership platform? Do you need robust association-level management tools, or just a few additional membership features to manage your nonprofit’s program on top of your donor management activities? Consider the scope of your membership management needs before committing to a platform.
  • Features. Evaluate the features of each platform, from its membership database and profiles to its reporting capabilities. Make sure the platform will fill a gap in your current tech strategy and make member management more convenient.
  • User-friendliness. Is the platform easy to use? Will your staff members be able to get up and running in the new system quickly? Search for a tool with a user-friendly, intuitive interface that even tech novices can navigate easily.
  • Available integrations. Does the system directly integrate with your other technology platforms, like your donor CRM, marketing platforms, and website CMS? Does the platform offer APIs or integrations through tools like Zapier? Integrations are essential for streamlined workflows and reducing data silos, so ensuring that your membership management platform can mesh seamlessly with your other tech tools is key.
  • Support options. Does the software provider offer a range of support options, such as an online resource or help center as well as live chat, phone, and email options? Having a representative available to answer questions can create a smoother onboarding experience, letting you get your new platform running quickly.
  • Data security and compliance. Does the membership solution have clear policies in place for maintaining data security and complying with privacy regulations? Keeping member data secure is critical for fostering trust with your audience. Check the product’s changelog to ensure that the tool is updated frequently with new features and security enhancements.

Request a demo from each of your top options and ask any questions you might have  during the walkthrough. In addition, read reviews on websites like G2 and Capterra for a deeper understanding of real customers’ opinions of each platform.

Tired of using separate systems to track donors and members? Bloomerang lets nonprofits manage all constituents in one user-friendly platform. Schedule a demo here.

Wrapping Up

Membership software is an effective tool for managing and growing your member community. Ultimately, you can use this solution to engage members on a deeper level and foster broader support for your nonprofit’s mission.

Looking for more resources to help manage your nonprofit’s constituent community? Start here:

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Choosing Donor Management Software: 9 Top Options for 2024 https://bloomerang.co/blog/donor-management-software/ https://bloomerang.co/blog/donor-management-software/#comments Tue, 12 Sep 2023 16:40:06 +0000 https://bloomerang.co/?p=72577 In today’s fundraising environment, personalization is key. 62% of consumers said they would no longer be loyal to a brand if it delivered a non-personalized experience. Donors want to feel seen and understood as individuals with unique interests and motivations. Nonprofits use donor management software to organize donor data, ensure its accuracy, and reach out …

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In today’s fundraising environment, personalization is key. 62% of consumers said they would no longer be loyal to a brand if it delivered a non-personalized experience. Donors want to feel seen and understood as individuals with unique interests and motivations.

Nonprofits use donor management software to organize donor data, ensure its accuracy, and reach out to donors with personalized communications. This helps build more genuine relationships with their supporters.

That makes finding the right donor management software solution for your organization crucial. In this guide, we’ll cover how your nonprofit can find the best solution to solve your most pressing needs. We’ll do this through the following points:

Let’s get started by exploring common donor management software features.

Grow your fundraising with relationship-focused donor management software. Schedule a Bloomerang demo here.

What is donor management software?

Donor management software is a tool that allows your nonprofit to collect, organize, and report on supporter data. Storing this data in one place lets you create a more effective fundraising and communication strategy and deepen donor relationships.

You may have heard this software referred to by a few different names, including donor management software, nonprofit CRM, donor database, donor software, and donor tracking software. Each refers to the same database used to manage supporter data.

Effective donor management software offers features like:

This image shows common features of donor management software, explained in the text below.

  • Donor profiles. Donor profiles show each supporter’s history with your organization. Each profile shows the donation history of each donor, their contact and demographic information, and every interaction they’ve had with your organization in the past (emails opened, calls-to-action taken, events attended, etc.).
  • Constituent timeline. The constituent timeline is a part of a donor’s overall profile, showing the interactions they’ve had with your organization over time. Examples of milestones listed in the timeline include emails opened and engaged with, gifts contributed, events attended, and other engagement opportunities. They’re listed in chronological order so your organization has an accurate record of each supporter’s engagement history.
  • Data segmentation. Once you’ve collected relevant data in each donor profile, you can create segments in your donor management software, organizing supporters and grouping them by common engagement histories or interests. For example, you might create a segment for first-time donors and another for monthly contributors.
  • Fundraising metrics. Your dashboard can provide insight into your most important fundraising metrics. For example, Bloomerang customers can track their donor retention rate on the main dashboard to see how well they’re engaging and building relationships with current supporters.

Every organization is different, so consider your nonprofit’s unique needs and the features that will help meet your specific goals.

How much does donor management software cost?

Donor management software pricing can vary widely, with some solutions charging a monthly or annual fee while others are free. Many solutions scale prices based on the number of records in your system.

When you demo different software options, ask about pricing as well as additional fees that could be hidden in the pricing plans. This will allow you to set aside the correct budget for your solution.

How can you find the best donor management software for your nonprofit? Download our free buyer's guide for help.

Benefits of donor management software

The primary goal of most nonprofit fundraising strategies is to build relationships with donors, encouraging larger donations and a better donor retention rate.

Because it’s so much less expensive to retain donors than to acquire new ones, nonprofits can save a substantial amount of money simply by building these relationships and incrementally increasing their donor retention rate.

How does donor management software make this possible? These solutions allow nonprofits to:

  • Create more accurate and effective marketing materials. You can create emails targeted to specific donor segments and individuals by referencing the data saved in your database. For example, you can auto-populate donors’ names in your email greetings. Then, you can send specific messages to segments that will respond best to the messages. For example, you might send a welcome series to your first-time donors, providing additional information about your mission.
  • Track fundraising campaign progress and grant application tasks. Track your fundraising progress throughout campaigns so you can make sure you’re on track to meet your goals. You can also track your organization’s tasks for grant applications, ensuring you take all of the necessary actions that you need to build relationships with grant funders and submit applications on time.
  • Identify major donors and personalize outreach. Your supporters with the highest giving capacity and engagement rates qualify as major donors. To cultivate these donors, you can use the data you’ve collected to personalize your interactions with them, organizing face-to-face conversations and meetings. You can also conduct targeted prospect research so you know exactly how much to ask for from these valuable supporters.
  • Pull reports highlighting opportunities for improvement. You can pull different reports to understand what your organization is doing well and where there’s room for improvement. For instance, you might create a report to assess your average donation amount and brainstorm strategies to boost your overall donation revenue.

This image shows the benefits of donor management software. Before, nonprofits faced disorganization and missed fundraising opportunities. With this software, they can use clean donor data and send personalized outreach.

Donor management software also increases your organization’s efficiency because it integrates with other key fundraising software. For example, when your donation pages integrate with your donor management software, you can automatically update and create new profiles for those who give online. Or, when your marketing solution integrates with your donor database, you can apply your donor segments to your marketing initiatives, making it easier to reach out to specific groups of supporters.

Let’s take a closer look at how donor management software integrations work in the next section.

Optimize your donor management software with integrations and fundraising software

The best way to maximize your donor management software is to look for a solution with extensive features that also integrates with the rest of your tech stack.

Your donor management system is the centerpiece of your nonprofit’s tech stack and strategy. Therefore, the more integrations you have with your other technology solutions, the more you can cut down on manual tasks, creating more efficient processes.

This image shows how integrations work. They enable seamless data transfer between your donor management system and your fundraising, marketing, and financial tools.

Look for integrations with solutions such as your:

  • Marketing solutions. Integrations with your marketing software should allow you to both automatically save new information to your donor management software and use the information in your database to inform marketing decisions. For example, when a donor opens, reads, and responds to your latest email, you can automatically save that information in your donor management system. Plus, you should be able to leverage segments and data in donor profiles to create personalized emails and messages before sending them.
  • Financial software. Your nonprofit should be able to record all of your supporter data from different solutions, including your financial or accounting software. Be sure all of your systems are connected so that you always have an accurate view of the financial health of your organization.

Even if your donor management system doesn’t have a native integration with all of your other software systems, you might still be able to connect them. Software like Zapier allows you to make further connections between your various systems.

Top 9 donor management software solutions

The first step to finding the perfect donor management software for your organization is to review potential solutions. Below, we’ll discuss some of the top donor management software systems as well as some supporting software solutions that can help you raise more funds.

1. Bloomerang

This image shows Bloomerang's donor management software.

Bloomerang is our recommended donor management software provider. Bloomerang’s powerful solution provides all of the essential tools you need to build lasting relationships with donors and raise more funds for your organization, with a strong focus on donor retention. You can track your retention rate and keep an eye on progress over time directly from your dashboard.

You’ll also have access to additional features like:

  • Constituent timelines to view each donor’s past interactions with your organization
  • Fundraising tools to collect online donations and automatically generate new donor profiles or add information to existing profiles
  • Engagement and generosity scores for each supporter that reveal their giving capacity and likelihood
  • Data segmentation capabilities to group donors based on shared characteristics and send tailored marketing messages to each group
  • Custom reports to dig into the metrics that matter most to your unique fundraising and marketing strategies

Because of a strong focus on donor relationships, Bloomerang users see a 10% higher donor retention rate than the industry average. The platform makes fundraising easier for both donors and your nonprofit’s team with a user-friendly, intuitive interface.

Bloomerang offers flexible, scalable pricing that adjusts as your nonprofit grows, making it an affordable solution for organizations at all levels.

Nurture stronger relationships with Bloomerang's donor management system. Learn more by scheduling a demo.

2. Excel

This screenshot shows the homepage for Microsoft Excel.

Most small or growing nonprofits launch and begin tracking their donor relationships in Excel. This system of cells organized by columns and rows allows new organizations to track basic donor information, including names, addresses, and any other important details.

Spreadsheets are a great and powerful tool to get started with because they provide as much space and as many configuration options as you need to collect key information about all supporters. But as your spreadsheet system continues to grow and evolve, it can become more challenging to navigate, which often leads nonprofits to invest in their first dedicated donor management software solution.

3. Little Green Light

This image shows the homepage for Little Green Light, a donor management software system.

Little Green Light is a lightweight, cloud-based donor management software system that allows nonprofits to track donations, communications, and other engagement opportunities with supporters. The customized dashboard provides real-time insights regarding your most important key performance indicators and metrics.

Little Green Light also offers customizable reports, goal tracking, and gift tracking.

4. Blackbaud eTapestry

This image shows Blackbaud eTapestry's user interface.

Blackbaud eTapestry is a donor management software solution that’s part of the Blackbaud ecosystem. If your organization uses Blackbaud for other purposes, this solution will integrate seamlessly with other products in the network.

eTapestry offers features that allow you to accept donations online, track how your content is shared, consolidate event management, and communicate with supporters.

5. EveryAction

This image shows Every Action's donor management software.

EveryAction provides a suite of nonprofit tools that you can use to increase your organization’s efficiency and help you build relationships with donors. You can invest in this CRM to manage donor data and use the fundraising tools to raise money, process payments, and manage events.

6. DonorPerfect

This image shows the homepage for DonorPerfect, a popular donor management system.

DonorPerfect is donor management software that provides a centralized location for your nonprofit’s important data. The platform offers features like unlimited users, email marketing, a mobile app, auction management tools, and automated workflows. To manage relationships, it allows you to personalize messages to donors, email official gift receipts to supporters, and sync your data to ConstantContact.

7. Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT

This image shows Blackbaud's Raiser's Edge NXT donor management software.

Another Blackbaud product that some organizations leverage to manage their donor relationships is Raiser’s Edge NXT. This solution provides integrated donor management and fundraising tools so that your organization can make the most of its donor relationships.

8. Virtuous

This image shows how the Virtuous donor management platform works.

Virtuous offers donor management software designed to simplify nonprofit processes and amplify fundraising and marketing strategies. You can save donor data such as campaign participation, donation history, engagement activity, and more in a centralized location. Plus, you can search, filter, and segment this information directly in your database.

9. Neon One

This image shows Neon One's donor management software homepage.

Neon One is a platform that helps power nonprofit growth and build supporter relationships. The CRM comes with standard features plus customizable fields so that you can record the supporter data that is most important for your organization’s mission.

How to choose donor management software

Whether you’re purchasing your first donor management software solution or switching systems, there are several steps you should take before selecting and investing in your new solution.

Alt: This image shows the steps of choosing the right donor management software, explained in the text below.

1. Conduct research to create a list of potential donor management software solutions.

The first step in finding your donor management software solution is to review the different systems that are available to organizations like yours. Use search engines and check review sites like G2.com to see what current customers think of each solution.

2. Determine the most important features for your organization.

After you have your initial list of software solutions, start narrowing it down based on your organization’s specific needs. Create a list of the must-have features for your organization and another list of nice-to-have features. Cross off the solutions that don’t have your must-have features.

Then, assess each remaining solution by asking these questions:

  • Does it meet your current needs?
  • Will it meet your future needs?
  • Is it within your budget?
  • Will implementation cost extra?
  • Do you have access to training materials?
  • What does customer support look like?

As mentioned, all nonprofits are unique and require slightly different features in their donor management software. Asking these types of questions for each of the solutions you evaluate will ensure your final choice will meet your specific needs.

3. Schedule demos for your final choices.

Compile a list of questions you’d like to know more about for each of your final donor management software options. As you demo each solution in your shortlist, ask these questions and take notes for each system. This will help you make direct comparisons after you’ve received a demo of each.

If you’re still unsure of which software to choose, consider getting a second demo of your favorite solutions. This will help you determine your final choice and allow you to make an informed decision.

4. Create an implementation and training plan for your solution.

After you’ve chosen your ideal donor management solution, create an implementation plan to ensure your entire fundraising team is set up for success. If you’re already using a different database or spreadsheet, you might need support to migrate the data saved in your system to the new donor management system.

You’ll also need someone to configure your new donor management software to reflect the most important information for your cause. Because every organization prioritizes different information, make sure your software will cover your priorities. For example, an animal shelter may want to record information about whether donors are cat lovers or dog lovers.

Ask the software provider about any additional educational resources they have to help your team continue making the most of the system. For example, Bloomerang offers resources at Bloomerang Academy for anyone on your team to continue learning about the system.

Wrapping up

Donor management software is the most essential tool in your nonprofit’s tech stack, allowing you to grow your fundraising efforts to new heights.

With the tips and steps in this guide, you should be well on your way to finding the perfect solution to serve your organization and develop deeper relationships with your donors and supporters. If you’re looking for more information on this subject, check out the following additional resources:

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14 Best Fundraising Websites For Nonprofits and Individuals https://bloomerang.co/blog/fundraising-websites-for-nonprofits/ https://bloomerang.co/blog/fundraising-websites-for-nonprofits/#respond Tue, 22 Aug 2023 11:44:24 +0000 https://bloomerang.co/?p=100273 Having a clear online fundraising strategy for your nonprofit, and the tools to bring it to life, is more important than ever, especially as younger generations gain more giving power. More than 75 percent of Gen Z and Millennial donors prefer giving online, meaning it’s essential to use fundraising solutions that help you better understand …

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Having a clear online fundraising strategy for your nonprofit, and the tools to bring it to life, is more important than ever, especially as younger generations gain more giving power. More than 75 percent of Gen Z and Millennial donors prefer giving online, meaning it’s essential to use fundraising solutions that help you better understand and connect with this audience.

You may also be looking for a fundraising website to help run a personal crowdfunding campaign, whether to raise money for individual expenses or to launch a new product or business. It’s equally important to find a fundraising tool that helps you raise support and quickly reach your goals.

However, it can feel like there are an overwhelming number of solutions availablewhere should you start when it comes to finding the best fundraising website?

In this guide, we’ll highlight top fundraising websites to help you determine which platforms will help you fundraise successfully:

  1. Bloomerang
  2. Qgiv
  3. Bonfire
  4. Fundraise Up
  5. PayPal
  6. Donorbox
  7. Classy
  8. Facebook
  9. Fundly
  10. Mightycause
  11. GoFundMe
  12. Patreon
  13. Kickstarter
  14. FundRazr

We’ll go over how these sites either enable your nonprofit to fundraise through their platform or allow you to incorporate fundraising tools into your website to better reach your audience. Plus, if you stick around at the end of the post, you’ll discover a few key tips for finding the right fundraising site for your needs.

Ready to start raising more online? Explore Bloomerang’s online fundraising platform.

1. Bloomerang

This image shows a donation form created using Bloomerang's fundraising website.

Bloomerang is the best all-around nonprofit fundraising resource because you get a donor management platform, online giving tool, marketing platform, and reporting resource, all in one system.

It’s trusted by over 23,000 nonprofits for its people-centric user experience that centers the tools nonprofit professionals care about most, which put donor relationships at the center of fundraising.

Bloomerang is designed to give nonprofit professionals more time back in the day by making data insights easy to interpret and act on. Fundraisers can view insights like donor engagement levels and giving capacity to prioritize top prospects.

Why Bloomerang is one of the best fundraising tools for nonprofits

By using Bloomerang for your nonprofit’s fundraising tool, you’ll gain access to features such as:

  • Robust, modern online fundraising tools. Bloomerang’s fundraising tools include customizable giving pages, peer-to-peer fundraising and crowdfunding capabilities, text-to-donate functionality, and more. Manage all online campaigns from one convenient system to monitor fundraising progress and donor engagement.
  • Retention-focused donor management system. Retain 10% more than the industry average of recurring donors using features such as a constituent timeline, wealth-screening functionality, an engagement meter, and segmentation capabilities.
  • Integrated marketing and engagement tools. Leverage an email marketing tool that’s built into your donor management and fundraising system. Send personalized emails and letters to form genuine relationships with supporters.
  • Seamless payment processing. Build trust with donors using Bloomerang Payments, a best-in-class payment processing platform. Bloomerang Payments leverages industry-leading anti-fraud measures and PCI compliance to protect donor data.
  • Mobile app. Bloomerang’s mobile app allows fundraisers to stay informed while on the go. Update donor profiles, track donations in real-time, and research supporters as needed, all from your mobile device.
  • Donor reporting and insights. Create customized, recurring reports for your team to understand how your fundraising and marketing efforts are playing out. Reduce time spent on manual reporting tasks by leveraging templates and at-a-glance dashboards.

Pricing

Bloomerang Standard is $119 per month. Learn more about Bloomerang’s scalable pricing.

Want to learn more about how Bloomerang can supercharge your fundraising? Request a demo

2. Qgiv

Qgiv is a robust fundraising platform for mission-driven organizations. This platform is designed to help nonprofits achieve a higher fundraising ROI through affordable tools and better giving experiences.

Top qualities of this fundraising website

  •  Create fully customized donation pages that help track essential metrics like conversions and new donor acquisition.
  • Foster donor retention and upgrades with recurring giving prompts.
  • Fundraise via text with user-friendly text-to-give tools.

Pricing

Qgiv offers a free plan for small nonprofits that are just getting started with online fundraising. Read more about pricing and paid plans.

3. Bonfire

This image shows an example of a t-shirt fundraiser created on Bonfire, one of the best fundraising websites for nonprofits.

Bonfire is a T-shirt fundraising platform that nonprofits can use to sell branded merchandise and raise awareness for their missions.

Why Bonfire is one of the best fundraising websites for nonprofits

  • Create a customizable organization page to tell your nonprofit’s story and share campaign highlights.
  • Allow supporters to create campaigns on your behalf and send them personalized thank-you messages using a Campaign Dashboard.
  • Receive direct payouts from the platform to reduce donation delays.

Pricing

Once your nonprofit is verified on the platform, processing fees are reduced from 8% to 3.5%.

4. Fundraise Up

Fundraise Up is a nonprofit fundraising platform that prioritizes boosting conversions through data-driven insights and recommendations. Their checkout process and payment methods are geared towards making the giving process as quick and painless as possible for donors.

Top features of this fundraising website

  • Machine learning tools that help generate the right suggested donation amount for each donor.
  • A fast checkout process with multiple popular payment methods, including credit and debit cards, Apple Pay, Venmo, cryptocurrency, and more.
  • A donor portal where supporters can change their giving amount and view their giving histories and receipts.

Pricing

Start with a self-managed option that includes a 4% fee per transaction, or reach out to the Fundraise Up team for custom package options.

5. PayPal

This screenshot shows features of PayPal, a top fundraising website for nonprofits.

PayPal is an online payment processing platform nonprofits can use to accept donations. PayPal is widely used for financial transactions, with 435 million active accounts.

Why PayPal is one of the best crowdfunding sites

  • Add a donate button to your website, social media posts, and emails, allowing users to make a one-time or recurring gift.
  • Use PayPal’s secure checkout as your payment processor.
  • Accept PayPal donations with a custom URL you can share on your website, email newsletters, and social media pages.

Pricing

The PayPal donate button features a small fee depending on the type of currency used. Visit the fees page for details.

6. Donorbox

This screenshot shows the Donorbox homepage, a top fundraising tool for nonprofits

Donorbox is a user-friendly online donation platform that aims to be accessible to everyone, regardless if you’re a donor or a nonprofit staff member. Beyond one-time donations, you can also use the platform to start a membership program to foster recurring giving.

Top qualities of this fundraising website

  • Let supporters manage their own giving experience by allowing them to stop, adjust, pause, or resume their donating.
  • Integrate your online giving process with many popular CRMs, payment processors, marketing tools, and more.
  • Track donor communications and receive alerts for important milestones in donors’ engagement histories, such as the anniversary of their first gift.

Pricing

The Donorbox Standard plan is free with a 1.75% platform free. Learn more about pricing.

7. Classy

Classy offers an online fundraising suite with multiple giving features, along with a few event management solutions.

Top qualities of this fundraising site

  • Create customized, mobile-responsive web pages that encourage recurring giving.
  • View reports such as campaign health metrics, recurring gift volume, and total donations.
  • Leverage peer-to-peer and crowdfunding capabilities to bring supporters into the fundraising process.

Pricing

Get in touch with the Classy team to learn about pricing.

8. Facebook

This is a screenshot explaining the purpose of Facebook’s fundraising tools.
With approximately three billion active monthly users, Facebook is the most popular social media platform. Facebook Fundraisers have gained traction as easy, convenient ways for individuals to show support for their favorite nonprofits. Nonprofits themselves can also use the platform to fundraise and interact with supporters.

Meta, Facebook’s parent company, also offers other fundraising tools on platforms such as Instagram.

Why Facebook is one of the best fundraising websites for nonprofits

  • Supporters can easily start birthday fundraisers, raising money for your cause on their special day.
  • Engage more deeply with supporters by connecting a Facebook Live video to your fundraising page.
  • Post continual updates for your fundraisers, including photos and videos, to give supporters an idea of how your campaigns are going.
  • Tag supporters in your posts to thank them for contributing.
  • Use the insights dashboard to review your campaign progress.

Pricing

Facebook Fundraising is free to use. Keep in mind that even though it’s a free platform, Facebook doesn’t share donor data, making it challenging to retain and steward donors.

9. Fundly

This screenshot shows an example of a donation page made on Fundly, a top fundraising website for nonprofits.

Fundly is an online donation platform for individuals or nonprofits looking to raise funds for a worthy cause. You can create a free fundraising page to promote your campaign and add blog-style updates to the page to keep supporters informed.

Top features of this fundraising website

  • Integrate your donation form directly into Facebook.
  • Customize your donation page with photos, videos, and other branded content.
  • Manage your campaigns using a convenient mobile app.
  • Help new fundraisers get their footing with a quickstart fundraising guide.

Pricing

Fundly has a 0% platform fee for fundraisers. Their payment processor, Stripe, takes 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction for credit card processing.

10. Mightycause

This image shows what Mightycause’s fundraising platform looks like.

Mightycause is another all-in-one donor management, fundraising, and marketing platform for nonprofits. Mightycause is perfect for organizations looking to scale up their fundraising efforts and gain greater insights into their donor bases.

Top features of this fundraising website

  • Create team and event fundraising opportunities to inspire supporters to get involved in peer-to-peer fundraising.
  • Design a fully branded and customized website to promote your annual giving day.
  • Access real-time donation reports to assess the effectiveness of your campaigns.

Pricing

Mightycause starts at $59 per month for a small nonprofit plan. Learn more about pricing.

11. GoFundMe

GoFundMe is one of the world’s largest crowdfunding websites, having helped raise over $15 billion since 2010. Nonprofits can create fundraising pages on the platform to start raising money online quickly. GoFundMe is also a highly effective platform for individual fundraisers, helping people raise funds for medical expenses, memorials, personal emergencies, and more.

Top features of this crowdfunding website

  • Individuals can start campaigns on behalf of your nonprofit, helping spread your influence without direct action needed from your fundraising team.
  • Reach many new audiences with the platform’s broad reach in the fundraising space.
  • Receive funds immediately through automatic donation transfers.

Pricing

It’s free to start a GoFundMe fundraising campaign, but the platform collects a 2.9% + $0.30 transaction fee per donation.

Shopping for new fundraising software? Download our free buyer's guide to cut through the noise.

 

12. Patreon

This screenshot shows the homepage of Patreon, a fundraising website nonprofits can use to sell exclusive content.

Patreon is a membership platform that nonprofits can use to share exclusive content or products with supporters. Patreon is designed to help supporters connect with their favorite content creators, and for creators to foster stronger online communities.

Why Patreon is one of the best fundraising websites for nonprofits

  • Share exclusive content with paying members, such as videos, podcast episodes, and other digital products.
  • Promote your nonprofit’s brand and develop a more loyal supporter base.
  • Foster a predictable and reliable revenue stream.

Pricing

Patreon is free to get started with. Learn about how pricing works on Patreon.

13. Kickstarter

Screenshot of the Kickstarter homepage, a crowdfunding website for individuals and nonprofits

Kickstarter is a crowdfunding platform geared toward helping individuals and organizations launch creative projects such as works of film, photography, art, comics, theatre, and music. The platform has funded over 255,000 projects and raised over $7 billion for creative work.

Why Kickstarter is one of the best crowdfunding websites

  • Nonprofits can use Kickstarter to fund creative projects that spread the word about their missions, such as short films, books, or long-form journalism projects.
  • It’s free to create a Kickstarter account.
  • Fundraisers can add plenty of details to their campaign pages, including FAQs, updates, and more.

Pricing

Kickstarter charges a 5% fee on projects that reach their fundraising goals.

14. FundRazr

Screenshot of the FundRazr homepage, a crowdfunding website for nonprofits and individuals

FundRazr is a crowdfunding website for nonprofits and individuals, allowing fundraisers to launch grassroots campaigns to raise money within their networks. This platform is useful for organizations or individuals who need to get their messages out quickly and raise funds for urgent needs.

Why FundRazr is one of the best fundraising websites for nonprofits

  • Organizations can launch a wide variety of campaigns, including peer-to-peer fundraisers, wishlist crowdfunding, microprojects, and more.
  • Access support features such as campaign templates and support from professional crowdfunding advisors.
  • Manage your campaigns from a central hub, with tools for updating campaigns and reporting on results.

Pricing

FundRazr has no platform fee but a 2.9% + $0.30 payment processing fee.

Bonus: Key Features to Look for in Fundraising Websites for Nonprofits

So, what’s the right fundraising website for your nonprofit? After reviewing our list, you may have a few top options in mind. Ultimately, the website you choose should:

As you research fundraising websites for nonprofits, use this checklist to find a solution that suits your needs.

  1. Work with your budget. Assess your budget to ensure that your top option fits within your means. Keep in mind that a free option might not be the best long-term solution for your needs. These sites may not offer the support, features, or flexibility you need to truly take your fundraising to the next level.
  2. Be flexible and scalable. Your fundraising platform should be able to grow and evolve with your nonprofit as you expand your fundraising potential. Look for features like flexible pricing and scalability that will allow you to not only collect donations but also steward and retain your donors.
  3. Offer quality support. It’s always helpful to choose a fundraising solution that offers resources, best practices, and on-call support to help you achieve a higher return on your investment.
  4. Have positive reviews from real users. Browse through software reviews on sites like G2 for unbiased reviews from organizations using each platform.

Participate in demos for your top options and involve the team members who will be using the platform daily in the decision-making process.

Wrapping up

Ultimately, choosing the right fundraising or crowdfunding website for your nonprofit comes down to your unique needs. Determine which platform works for your budget and future aspirations, and ensure your choice is user-friendly for both your nonprofit’s team and supporters.

Want to dive into more resources for streamlining nonprofit fundraising? Start with these guides:

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[STUDY] The 2023 Fundraisers Outlook: 6 Strategic Themes to Drive Fundraising Success https://bloomerang.co/blog/study-2023-fundraisers-outlook-6-themes-to-drive-success/ https://bloomerang.co/blog/study-2023-fundraisers-outlook-6-themes-to-drive-success/#respond Mon, 01 May 2023 12:47:38 +0000 https://bloomerang.co/?p=92222 How do you measure success in a given year? In fundraising, we look at the ability to raise funds, how many new donors we gained, how many donors gave again, and the performance of specific fundraising tactics. It seems like there are always challenges in any given year, so we wanted to understand the challenges …

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How do you measure success in a given year? In fundraising, we look at the ability to raise funds, how many new donors we gained, how many donors gave again, and the performance of specific fundraising tactics. It seems like there are always challenges in any given year, so we wanted to understand the challenges that surfaced in 2022 and how this impacts fundraisers’ outlook for 2023. We partnered with the Institute for Sustainable Philanthropy to conduct our Fundraising Planning and Climate Report: Outlook for 2023.

With the help of Dr. Adrian Sargeant, Harriet Jones-Day, James Barratt, and Kathryn Edworthy from the Institute, we surveyed more than 1,000 nonprofit professionals from small and medium-sized nonprofit organizations. The findings uncovered 6 internal factors that will affect fundraising in 2023. Here’s our take on these factors with key data insights from the report:

1. Capacity

Fundraiser fatigue is real. Many respondents say that their team’s capacity–or lack of capacity–is one of the most important factors in determining their fundraising performance. While 74% of our survey respondents noted they are confident they will meet fundraising goals this year, capacity, specifically in the form of understaffing or downsizing makes this a tall order.

Many organizations find themselves understaffed and overworked not only on the fundraising side, but also across the organization. Fundraising roles remain unfilled and deliberate downsizing or attrition contributes to fatigue from being overworked and overburdened. This is not new, but it does highlight the importance of self-care, as well as having conversations on what is realistic given budget and capacity constraints.

2. Board Support and Engagement

It’s a necessity for the long-term success of a nonprofit that its Board is engaged and committed to supporting its needs. If Board members are not giving, then it’s time to rethink. Many nonprofit professionals said they had a hard time getting their Board members to engage, noting 56.5% of Board members did not support any form of fundraising activity, and 20.8% had board members who did not make a gift to the organization.

Dr. Sargeant emphasizes that it’s not about the size of a contribution, rather it’s the idea that you have the full support of the Board–knowing that they are committed and stand behind the organization. Only about half of the respondents indicated an “acceptable level of engagement” from the Board. So, on top of capacity constraints, nonprofits are also trying to figure out how to influence their Boards to engage more.

3. Leadership

Respondents expressed their concerns about frequent changes in leadership and its effect on the organization’s ability to fundraise. Roughly 33% of respondents (1 in 3) rate internal support for fundraising as below average in 2022, and they indicate that support from leadership has room to improve.

Experts say a culture of philanthropy from leadership defines behavior. On a panel at AFP ICON 2023, Kishshana Palmer, Bloomerang Board Member and CEO of Kishshana & Co., added that it’s critical to spend more time determining what your mission is and what you are trying to accomplish with fundraising and philanthropy. Get to the heart of why you’re doing the work and understand the funds needed in order to operate.

4. Strategy and Planning

You can’t fulfill your mission without a plan in place. Yet, the report revealed a whopping 57.1% of respondents don’t have a written fundraising plan. Rachel Muir, Nonprofit Founder & Fundraising Consultant shared that not having a fundraising plan of how you’ll meet your goals by revenue source and strategy is like hiking in a snowstorm in the dark with a broken compass.

Without a written fundraising plan no one is accountable, progress from year to year cannot be evaluated, and no measurable goals for the future can be set.

Despite fundraisers showing high optimism for achieving their 2023 goals, the question then becomes: How do you create a culture that embraces planning and data-driven decision-making? It starts with a plan, but you also need a culture that supports fundraising. Fundraising must be embraced as the vehicle to fulfill the mission. There is a fundamental tenet organizations need to embrace: Fundraising shouldn’t be treated as an expense, but rather an investment in the future.

See how our donor management software can empower your fundraising strategy.

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5. Communication

Many acknowledge a need to improve communications with donors in relation to making a case for support. Recent data from The Fundraising Effectiveness Project shows a decrease in donor retention, which has been a major theme in the nonprofit community. According to our findings, some of the top external factors impacting fundraising included the COVID-19 pandemic, economy, and loss of older donors.

If nonprofits are preparing to retain donors, they need to form a strategy for re-engagement, based on both the stage of life of each donor and on meeting donors where they are.

The lines of communication come in different forms. Our survey highlights where many organizations will be shifting and devoting efforts to meet donors where they are at in 2023:
Chart: Increases in Fundraising tactics for 2023

Teams know they need to address these challenges but lack the resources to figure out how to structure better communication with limited staff and time constraints.

6. Budgeting & Finance

Looking ahead in 2023, most respondents say the budget is dedicated to keeping existing donors: 67% of their fundraising budget is dedicated to stewardship/renewal and 33% of budget is dedicated to new donor recruitment. In addition, results show that around 40% of organizations set their fundraising budgets in line with the resources they feel necessary to achieve their income targets. This is positive, however there are still many fundraisers struggling to get the financial support needed to authentically cultivate positive relationships with their donors.

Despite the challenges that nonprofits face, fundraisers continue to be optimistic about overcoming difficulties to reach their goals. Mindset, agility, and leadership support are needed to create and foster the giving culture, and strategic donor engagement by the entire organization will be important drivers for success.

Uncover more insights

Download the full 2023 Fundraising Planning & Climate outlook report now!

Download the Report

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10 Best Corporate Volunteering Platforms for Businesses https://bloomerang.co/blog/corporate-volunteering-platforms/ https://bloomerang.co/blog/corporate-volunteering-platforms/#respond Fri, 24 Mar 2023 00:47:53 +0000 https://bloomerang.co/?p=94783 ...They make it easy to track volunteer hours, shifts, and jobs. With this platform, volunteer managers can: Identify volunteer availability and match volunteer skills to open shifts Track volunteer hours...

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As a business owner or leader, you may be thinking of expanding your corporate social responsibility or volunteer program. According to America’s Charities, 6 in 10 workplace donors say they want to work for companies with cultures that support giving and volunteering. A corporate volunteering platform is one of your most powerful tools for keeping your corporate social responsibility initiatives on track. 

Employer-supported volunteering plays a significant role in helping employees feel satisfied and engaged in their work. Volunteer management software keeps your volunteer information organized, makes communicating with employee volunteers easy and helps you track volunteer hours.

In this guide, we’ll review the basics of corporate volunteering platforms as well as a few top options for your business. We’ll cover:

Let’s dive in to learn more about launching your corporate volunteering program, the benefits of an organized program and some great software options for helping you reach your goals.

Corporate Volunteering Platform FAQs

Before we dive into the features of top corporate volunteer platforms, let’s first review what a corporate volunteering program is and the benefits of starting one for your business.

What are corporate volunteering programs?

Corporate volunteering programs are employer-supported programs that encourage and inspire a company’s staff members to donate time towards community causes. In other words, they are corporate philanthropy initiatives that engage employees in volunteerism. These programs can be done either on company time or through other initiatives outside of work.

What are the benefits of starting a corporate volunteering program?

There are many benefits to starting a corporate volunteering program. A well-organized corporate volunteering program can boost employee engagement and personal development.

Why does your company need a corporate volunteering program, and how is it beneficial for you? We’ve compiled some of the top advantages of creating a corporate volunteer program:

  • Better engagement with employees. The more your employees volunteer, the more likely they are to be engaged within your company. This results in greater productivity, satisfaction and higher team morale. A study by Project ROI found that offering employees a corporate responsibility program can reduce turnover by up to 50%, increase engagement by 7.5% and boost productivity by 13%. When your employees feel like the work they do matters, determination and engagement increase, resulting in higher employee retention.
  • Boost your business’s charitable reputation. Having your own corporate volunteering program makes you stand out from other businesses. It shows others in the community that your company not only focuses on corporate goals but also encourages its employees to make a positive impact in the community.
  • Train your employees in relevant skills. Your employees learn so much in the workplace, but corporate volunteering programs provide even more opportunities to grow. Volunteering gives employees new learning opportunities that can enhance their current skill sets and open their eyes to new perspectives, stimulating their creativity.

Starting a corporate volunteering program not only benefits your company but also makes a huge impact on nonprofit organizations and those in need!

What are corporate volunteering platforms?

A corporate volunteer platform is a type of volunteer management software that helps businesses manage their employee volunteer programs. These platforms include features such as:

  • Recruitment tools, including branded sign-up forms and an online application process
  • Volunteer scheduling tools to manage and update shifts
  • A volunteer database to keep track of volunteer information
  • A mobile check-in app to streamline the volunteer check-in process
  • Reporting features to measure the impact of your corporate volunteer program

These platforms are equipped with various tools for communicating with your volunteers, helping them stay organized and tracking the success of your program. Businesses typically invest in these platforms when they’re ready to take their corporate social responsibility initiatives to a higher level and take a more formal, focused approach to running their volunteer programs.

The Top 10 Corporate Volunteer Platforms

Having the right corporate volunteer platform equipped with all the features to help your company’s volunteer initiatives thrive is essential. Here is a list of some of the best volunteer management software options that provide simple solutions for companies like yours:

1. Bloomerang

Bloomerang helps connect and empower employees with meaningful volunteer opportunities through a single corporate volunteering platform. Using Bloomerang, organizations can increase employee engagement and retention by offering their employees easy access to personalized volunteer opportunities that match each individual’s skills, location, availability and interests.

Using Bloomerang’s corporate volunteer platform, your business can:

These are the features of Bloomerang's corporate volunteering platform.

  • Offer tailored volunteer opportunities. Collect important employee information like skills and preferences to offer volunteer opportunities that match their interests to boost participation.
  • Facilitate easy employee self-sign-up. Empower your employees to review and sign up for the volunteer opportunities and shifts that work best for them.
  • Keep employees engaged. Easily share new volunteer opportunities, personalized impact reports, shift reminders and more through Bloomerang’s comprehensive email and communications features.
  • Equip your team with a mobile app. Give your employees access to their personal volunteer schedules, shift details, two-way communications and real-time notifications right from their mobile devices.
  • Track employee volunteer hours. Track volunteer hours by individual volunteer, group, program or date. Collect volunteer hours with Bloomerang’s shift check-in system or volunteer hour submission and approval process.

Bloomerang makes creating and managing a corporate volunteering program easy with its flexible framework, comprehensive features and advanced reporting functionality. For more information on how Bloomerang can help you manage your corporate volunteer program, explore the features page or reach out today.

2. Get Connected by Galaxy Digital

Get Connected is a volunteer management platform that helps build stronger communities and improve the lives of those in need by partnering passionate volunteers with charitable organizations.

Here are a few stand-out features of this corporate volunteer platform:

  • Precise volunteer hour tracking with automated tools
  • Group volunteer engagement through streamlined team management tools
  • Event management tools such as customizable landing pages

This software is great for everyday use. The Get Connected app helps increase volunteer engagement, build long-term relationships and boost retention.

3. Benevity

Benevity empowers companies to create a purpose-driven culture and encourage their employees to make a meaningful volunteer impact through a straightforward, engaging technology platform.

Here are the top three features that their software provides:

  • An employee volunteering platform that offers personalized volunteer opportunity recommendations to participants
  • Tools to manage donations and matching gifts
  • Automatically-generated reports that help assess volunteer impact easily and quickly

Benevity’s software helps companies measure their actions and impact with instant reports to see how many people are taking part and how many hours are contributed.

4. Millie

Millie helps organizations craft simple and flexible social impact programs. They are dedicated to helping companies create sustainable matching gift programs that don’t break the budget. They offer features such as hour tracking to allow your organization to gain insights into your volunteer impact.

A few stand-out features of this corporate volunteer platform include:

  • Employee donation matching
  • Management tools for remote or in-person company volunteer events
  • Employee recognition through gifting charitable donations

Millie helps bring teams together to create a purposeful, engaged company culture with both in-person and virtual volunteer opportunities.

5. GivePulse

GivePulse offers a seamless application process and communication features to enhance the volunteer experience. They also help administrators keep track of volunteer attendance and impact.

Here are the top three features that their software provides:

  • Tools for tracking, sharing and measuring impact
  • Event pages that allow you to manage community events and assess their success
  • A relationship management database that allows you to track and connect with employee volunteers

This software is great for allowing volunteers to oversee their own accounts and manage their own schedules and sign-ups.

6. Volunteers for Salesforce

Volunteers for Salesforce provides tools for volunteer managers to efficiently organize their corporate volunteer programs. They make it easy to track volunteer hours, shifts and jobs.

With this platform, volunteer managers can:

  • Identify volunteer availability and match volunteer skills to open shifts
  • Track volunteer hours and measure success using volunteer reports and dashboards
  • Leverage engagement tools that offer personalized reminders, confirmations and volunteer appreciation

This is a great option if your company uses Salesforce for its customer relationship management system since you can easily integrate your corporate volunteering system into your other operations.

7. isolved Giving & Volunteering

isolved Giving & Volunteering helps businesses appeal to accomplished candidates who want to engage with their communities through charitable donations and volunteerism. They offer software for corporate giving, providing employees and employers with seamless methods for managing donation programs, filtering charitable gifts and reporting their social impact.

Here are the top three features that their software provides:

  • Talent acquisition features to help attract and manage purpose-driven employees
  • Payroll integration tools that allow you to easily process employee donations
  • Recognition tools that allow you to commend employee volunteer milestones

isolved Giving & Volunteering allows administrators to streamline hiring and employee engagement processes with customizable solutions.

8. YourCause from Blackbaud

YourCause from Blackbaud is focused on connecting corporations and their employees with worthy causes. With their CSRconnect platform, they strive to help businesses create a company culture that infuses volunteerism and charitable giving into their organization’s DNA.

Check out the top features of this corporate volunteering platform:

  • Track and record collective impact within a centralized platform
  • Global connection capabilities that help you make a much larger impact
  • Empower employees with multiple ways to give

CSRconnect helps organizations and companies manage volunteer events, global volunteer campaigns or skills-based volunteer initiatives, all within one platform.

9. Submittable

Submittable is a user-friendly social impact platform that offers a full range of corporate social responsibility tools for businesses. The platform provides the solutions needed to help create, manage and measure the impact of your corporate volunteer program.

Here are the top three features that their software provides:

  • An employee volunteer platform with a personal impact dashboard that shows information such as how much volunteer time off an employee has remaining and their upcoming volunteer opportunities
  • Grant and community investment management tools that make it simple to run a corporate grant program
  • Employee giving and matching gift tools that help employees maximize their charitable giving

Submittable’s reporting tools make it simple to assess what’s going well with your program and what needs improvement so you can make impactful changes to your strategies.

10. Selflessly

Selflessly helps businesses build a more socially-conscious brand with a simple platform for finding local volunteer opportunities and tracking volunteer time off. This is a great platform for businesses looking to move away from tracking volunteer information in spreadsheets or Google Forms.

Selflessly offers effective features such as:

  • The ability to create volunteer events that are open to your full team
  • A centralized volunteer history dashboard that makes it easy to see the top organizations and causes that employees care about
  • Access to local and national volunteer opportunities, along with virtual experiences for remote teams

This platform also offers features for businesses looking to get more involved in employee giving and matching gifts, saving companies time and effort.

Wrapping up

There are many benefits of starting a corporate volunteering program for your employees since their support and contributions make a positive impact on your community and employer brand. Use your corporate volunteering platform to schedule team-wide volunteer opportunities, track employee volunteer hours and impact and stay in touch with employee volunteers.

If you’re looking for more information on how to engage with volunteers more effectively, review these additional resources:

Bloomerang's corporate volunteering platform helps connect passionate volunteers with engaging opportunities. Click here to schedule a demo.

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How To Fundraise Effectively When Your Nonprofit’s Success Stories Include Sensitive Or Triggering Content https://bloomerang.co/blog/how-to-fundraise-effectively-when-your-nonprofits-success-stories-include-sensitive-or-triggering-content/ https://bloomerang.co/blog/how-to-fundraise-effectively-when-your-nonprofits-success-stories-include-sensitive-or-triggering-content/#respond Wed, 15 Feb 2023 10:00:00 +0000 https://bloomerang.co/?p=84452 One evergreen piece of advice often given to nonprofit fundraisers is to share feel-good stories about their mission. They’re encouraged to talk about their mission, introduce the clients they serve to supporters, and share tangible actions they were able to take because of their donors’ generosity. That’s great advice—and we stand by it, too. But …

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One evergreen piece of advice often given to nonprofit fundraisers is to share feel-good stories about their mission. They’re encouraged to talk about their mission, introduce the clients they serve to supporters, and share tangible actions they were able to take because of their donors’ generosity.

That’s great advice—and we stand by it, too.

But what about the nonprofits that work with heavy subject matter? What if the feel-good stories are still sensitive or have the potential to further fatigue donors or supporters who are tired of hearing about the challenges we’re facing in the world today?  

For example, maybe your organization works to combat online child sex abuse, fights to provide hope for those struggling with suicidal ideation, or advocates for children who’ve experienced abuse or neglect. 

Your mission is so important, but the reality is that those topics can be difficult to bring up in casual conversation.

In short, you don’t want to scare supporters away. Because if they throw away or delete your appeals, that’s a missed opportunity to win their support. 

Don’t lose hope if you’re facing this issue! In this post, we’ll share how to connect with supporters while still honoring the work you do.

1. Strike a balance between feel-good content and sensitive content.

Just because the work you do exposes you and your supporters to sensitive topics doesn’t mean that you can’t share some lighter content with your supporters and potential donors. 

So, what does balancing out the tough content look like? 

  • Highlighting your staff. Celebrate team members who make your work possible. Who are the people on the frontlines? What keeps them engaged in this work? What do they want supporters to know about themselves or the work that they do? Showing this insight into who carries out your mission internally will likely inspire supporters to get more involved because they’ll feel like they can make a difference on an individual level, just like your team members do.
  • Elevating the wins. When the stakes are high, the wins are even more significant. Spotlight a client success story, how your work touched supporters, or a big funding win. Solidify in their minds that, despite the dark days, there is a light at the end of the tunnel—one you will continue to strive toward. 
  • Bring the why to the center. Your supporters may know what you do, but do they know why you’re doing it? Again, this is a chance to humanize your work. What does it mean when your organization accomplishes a goal? What does the impact look like when client or organization outcomes are achieved? How do those things play into your why?

2. Share content or trigger warnings when appropriate.

Like we said, we don’t want you to stop sharing the important statistics and somber stories you have on hand. These things communicate the seriousness of the work you do, and you need donors to take you seriously. You also, however, need to prime them to hear sensitive or serious content. 

Your staff is likely aware of the realities of the work you do and what it means to think about those things every day. But what events equate to just another Tuesday at the office for you can be triggering for your audience. That’s where content warnings come in.

A content warning is a sentence or two that lets your audience know you’re about to share something that some readers may find heavy or upsetting. It can be as simple as saying, “The post below contains content related to domestic violence.” Readers can then choose to engage with the content or not. 

It’s best to separate the warning from the post and make it the first thing readers see so they don’t skim over it and miss the heads up. This simple gesture can protect readers who might be triggered by the information, which lets them know you respect their space. If they feel respected, they will be more likely to engage with your content in the future.

3. Evaluate your content with people’s feelings in mind.

One way to ensure the information that you share is balanced and your content warnings are thoughtful and accurate is to prepare. This isn’t the kind of thing you want to throw up on your blog, out on social media, or in a direct mail appeal without thinking about it. Or, rather, the messaging around the information you share needs to be especially sensitive to your audience’s potential feelings.

This may require your team to spend more time or put more energy into sharing these messages. Most fundraisers we talk to are short on both—but trust us when we say it’s worth the cost. 

Why? This preparation lays important groundwork. 

This can be as simple as making a plan at the start of the week or month about what to share and determining what content warnings might be necessary. Put yourself in your audience’s shoes. What is normal to you but may not be normal to them? How will this make them feel? Will it decrease or increase the chances of them responding to your appeal?  

If you’re not sure how to do this, ask your audience. Survey some of your community members to see what messages are working and which ones could use polishing. 

Along that note, it’s also crucial that you honor what your constituents want. If someone doesn’t want their photo, real or full name, or situation shared in your marketing or fundraising appeals, listen to them and withhold that information. There are plenty of ways to share stories without giving out identifying information. Make sure you get their approval ahead of time so you’re not wasting your valuable time and energy.

Your audience wants to engage with you and the work you do, even if it’s heavy. We hope these tips help you feel more confident in sharing nonprofit success stories in a thoughtful way

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Q&A: Bloomerang Welcomes Dennis Fois As CEO https://bloomerang.co/blog/qa-bloomerang-welcomes-dennis-fois-as-ceo/ https://bloomerang.co/blog/qa-bloomerang-welcomes-dennis-fois-as-ceo/#respond Thu, 05 Jan 2023 15:00:00 +0000 https://bloomerang.co/?p=83850 Today we announced that Dennis Fois has joined the Bloomerang team as our Chief Executive Officer. Dennis will add a new dimension of leadership that will usher in Bloomerang’s next phase of growth and strengthen the company’s support for the nonprofit community.  In this Q&A style conversation, we get to know Dennis and talk about …

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Today we announced that Dennis Fois has joined the Bloomerang team as our Chief Executive Officer. Dennis will add a new dimension of leadership that will usher in Bloomerang’s next phase of growth and strengthen the company’s support for the nonprofit community. 

In this Q&A style conversation, we get to know Dennis and talk about his experience and vision and why he chose to join the Bloomerang team. 

Welcome, Dennis! So tell us, why did you choose Bloomerang?

Well, now that I am further along in my career, I have a strong desire to find ways that  have a more positive impact on the world around us. I love to work, so combining doing good with continuing to improve others and myself seems to me like the “Holy Grail.” And, I have found that with Bloomerang. The team, the mission, and the opportunity to help nonprofits do more and do better is tantalizing. This is not just about building great software; this is an opportunity to help strengthen an industry and set the pace. Nonprofits are challenged on many fronts–resources, staffing, visibility, and so on. Imagine what we can accomplish if we help improve the outcomes for nonprofits. More funds raised, more time back in their day, and all of that will flow more effectively to their mission–together we can make a huge impact!

Bloomerang’s vision is to make fundraising easier, foster authentic donor relationships, and help nonprofits thrive. And, you’re no stranger to the customer relationship management (CRM) and Customer Experience software markets. Tell us about what you learned from your past experience and how it led you to Bloomerang.

That’s right. I’ve had the privilege of developing and leading high-performing multicultural teams at both startups and public companies in the technology, customer experience, relationship management, and financial services sector. Most recently I served as CEO at Copper CRM, and I’ve spent quite a bit of my career leading organizations in the relationship management and customer experience sectors, such as NewVoiceMedia and Rant & Rave. My customer-focused experience pairs nicely with Bloomerang’s leadership role in the nonprofit ecosystem. I’m excited to help expand the impact that Bloomerang has made in the nonprofit community through elegantly simple solutions for the busy nonprofit professional. As you’re probably aware, CRM technology is notoriously complex, and our role here at Bloomerang is to make it easy and give nonprofits time back in their day. We want them spending time on fundraising and furthering their mission. 

We want Bloomerang to be known as the organization that has set the bar and the pace for the nonprofit industry for achieving higher impact and realizing their missions. I would love for us to be seen as lifting up the industry and applying business best practices to the nonprofit world to help them execute better with the best technology available.

Bloomerang’s mission, vision, and values are part of our everyday culture and central to how we choose to not only help customers thrive, but also how we work to help the entire nonprofit community thrive. What changes can nonprofits expect now with a new CEO? What message do you want customers and the broader nonprofit community to hear when they learn this news?

I think that nonprofits can expect that Bloomerang will continue to evolve but the essence will stay. It’s important that we evolve our thinking as we broaden our understanding of the nonprofit community and what they need. For example, today our current language is very focused just on fundraising, but you can already see that Bloomerang operates much broader than that. A seemingly small change is a huge shift in thinking and what we pursue to solve for nonprofits. 

We take great care and pride in our mission, vision, company culture, and values, and as such we are very, very intentional about them. We will work to stay true to those, but as with any growing company, we can expect them to evolve. And, as we grow, our culture will develop with it–it’s not static. Each of us at Bloomerang is responsible for working together as one team to realize Bloomerang’s vision and help all nonprofits thrive. 

Bloomerang has seen tremendous success over the past ten years, and I am excited to help carry the company’s momentum forward and support the team that customers have grown to love. Today, we have a great responsibility of serving more than 23,000 nonprofits, and we take pride in ensuring that customers are well taken care of and have access to the best technology and resources in the industry. We will work to keep that central to everything we do. I want customers and the broader nonprofit community to know that we’re not just building software. Rather, we are working to help them create lasting change. 

Dennis, we’ve talked about vision, leadership, and Bloomerang’s continued focus to help nonprofits thrive. So to wrap up, let’s shift gears beyond professional experiences. Tell us a bit more about yourself and your interests outside of work.

I am self-made and someone who chose his own path. I was born in Sardinia, Italy, and as I entered my early teens our family moved from Italy to The Netherlands. I couldn’t speak the language and I had never seen snow before in my life–and it was winter. The first part of this adventure was tough. Kids picked on me and my brother; we were bullied. This shaped me. From this experience, I have developed a pretty good understanding of what it takes to communicate well and how to bring people together as a team–this is my passion.

All in all, I’ve worked and lived in 7 countries, and now live in California. And, I gave up everything to be with the love of my life (my wife). We have three wonderful daughters and a chihuahua named Coco. I grew up playing competitive tennis, developed an athlete-like mindset, possess very high levels of discipline, and want to win. Why is this important? It translates into how I lead. I will never ask someone to do something I wouldn’t do myself, and it’s very important to me that we win the right way, together. 

I know you might be thinking…wait he hasn’t worked at a nonprofit? While I haven’t worked directly for a nonprofit, I am personally involved with a number of nonprofits. I am very particular about the causes I support, and impact is critical to me. One of my favorite organizations I give my time to is through the Global Mentorship Initiative. This organization helps students from countries where employment opportunities are challenging. They’re paired with a mentor for 1:1 coaching and networking to help prepare and land a job or an internship. I am a mentor in the program and I tend to spend about 14 hours per student to help them on their way. Recently, I helped a young graduate from Ghana land an internship with a large financial institution. An opportunity like this is life changing–for him, for me, and his family and others in his community. It’s fulfilling to work with others around the world and create a positive impact.        

<< Learn More About Career Opportunities At Bloomerang >>                   

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Here’s Why Bloomerang Customers Have A Higher First-Time Donor Retention Rate Compared To The Industry Average https://bloomerang.co/blog/heres-why-bloomerang-customers-have-a-higher-first-time-donor-retention-rate-compared-to-the-industry-average/ https://bloomerang.co/blog/heres-why-bloomerang-customers-have-a-higher-first-time-donor-retention-rate-compared-to-the-industry-average/#respond Wed, 14 Dec 2022 10:00:00 +0000 https://bloomerang.co/?p=83285 Ready to see Bloomerang in action? Fill out this form and a member of our team will reach out to show you how you can use Bloomerang to retain more donors. As a fundraising professional, you know that it costs more money to acquire donors than to retain your existing donors.  You also likely know …

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Ready to see Bloomerang in action? Fill out this form and a member of our team will reach out to show you how you can use Bloomerang to retain more donors.

As a fundraising professional, you know that it costs more money to acquire donors than to retain your existing donors

You also likely know that it’s especially important to retain your first-time donors because the people who make that second or “golden” donation are more likely to continue supporting your mission in the future

In this post, we’re going to talk about donor retention rates for the nonprofit industry as a whole and the average first-time donor retention rate for Bloomerang customers. 

Keep reading to find out more and to see how Bloomerang helps nonprofits like yours build deeper relationships with supporters and secure sustainable revenue for years to come. 

Calculating your nonprofit’s first-time donor retention rate

Before we dive in, we recommend that you calculate your nonprofit’s year-over-year first-time donor retention rate

In order to help you do this, we’ve created a Donor Retention Calculator. Here’s how to find your donor retention rate: 

  1. Go to the Donor Retention Calculator
  2. Scroll down to the second prompt (Let’s talk about your donor retention rate).
  3. Look for the green text (Don’t know yours? Calculate your donor retention rate).
  4. Find the arrow next to it; the arrow will be pointing up. 
  5. Click the arrow and it will point down, revealing a green box with form fields.
  6. Enter your donor information in the fields.
  7. Look for the number that automatically appears at the end of the sentence that says “Your donor retention rate is.” That’s your donor retention rate!

Tip: We recommend setting aside time to look at donor retention by programs or campaigns. For example, if you have a monthly giving program, how many donors who joined the program in 2021 continued participating in the program in 2022? The more data you have on hand, the better! 

Bloomerang nonprofit customers retain donors at a higher rate than the industry average. How does your nonprofit compare?

According to research from the Fundraising Effectiveness Project, as of 2022:

  • The industry average first-time donor retention rate was 18.6%.
    • This is a decrease from the 2020 and the 2019 retention rates. 

Here’s a look at how Bloomerang nonprofit customers retained first-time donors:

  • The average first-time donor retention rate was 22.2%.
    • This is a 3.6 point increase over the industry average. 
  • When looking at the top 20% of their first-time donors, the average retention rate was 29.4%. 
    • This is a 10.8 point increase over the industry average.  

How does your nonprofit’s retention rate compare? Is it higher or lower than the industry average? Has that rate increased or decreased over the last few years? 

What about the top 20% of your first-time donors? What percentage of those donors did you retain and is that an increase or decrease over the previous years? 

How does Bloomerang help nonprofits increase their first-time donor retention rate?

If your first-time donor retention rate falls below the industry average or you’ve seen a decrease in that rate over the years, don’t despair—there are plenty of ways to increase the number of first-time donors you retain. 

Here are just a few examples of best practices and how Bloomerang helps you follow those:

  • Acknowledge the donation immediately. Donors want to know that their gift was successfully processed as soon as possible. One way of reassuring them is to send an automated acknowledgement email with a donation receipt.  
    • How Bloomerang helps: With Bloomerang, you can set up an automated email with just a few clicks. You can also personalize those messages to give the donor more information about your nonprofit or to share more about the impact their donation will have on your mission. 
  • Thank donors. One way to win a donor’s continued support is to show them how much you appreciate them. In addition to thanking them in your acknowledgement email, you should reach out and thank them in a more personal way. 
    • How Bloomerang helps: You’ll receive a notification when someone makes a donation for the first time. Because you have this data on hand, you can easily add them to a segment just for first-time donors and engage them in a meaningful, personalized way. You’ll also receive reminders to call first-time donors.   
  • Keep donors informed about their impact and your work. Donors gave once. That’s great! But how do you get them to give again? You show them what their support has helped your nonprofit accomplish and how an additional donation will help you in the future. 
    • How Bloomerang helps: With Bloomerang, you can create and schedule a series of emails that will educate donors about your mission and inspire them to give again.  

In conclusion

Bloomerang’s features and tools can help you increase your donor retention rate. Fill out this short form to request a Demo and a member of our team will be in touch shortly to show you how. 

Bloomerang’s donor management and fundraising tools can help you engage and retain donors.

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Giving Tuesday 2022: Bloomerang And Kindful Nonprofit Customers Raise $42.4 Million https://bloomerang.co/blog/giving-tuesday-2022-bloomerang-and-kindful-nonprofit-customers-raise-42-4-million/ https://bloomerang.co/blog/giving-tuesday-2022-bloomerang-and-kindful-nonprofit-customers-raise-42-4-million/#respond Mon, 05 Dec 2022 10:00:00 +0000 https://bloomerang.co/?p=82868 We’re excited to share that Bloomerang and Kindful nonprofit customers raised more than $42.4 million on Giving Tuesday 2022. This kicks off another record Giving Tuesday as nonprofits move full swing into the end-of-year giving season. On Giving Tuesday 2022, donors were even more generous than they were in previous years. Better yet, the number …

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We’re excited to share that Bloomerang and Kindful nonprofit customers raised more than $42.4 million on Giving Tuesday 2022. This kicks off another record Giving Tuesday as nonprofits move full swing into the end-of-year giving season.

On Giving Tuesday 2022, donors were even more generous than they were in previous years. Better yet, the number of donors increased too.

According to the GivingTuesday Data Commons: “[Giving] in the United States alone totaled $3.1 billion representing a 15% increase compared to GivingTuesday 2021, and a 25% increase since 2020. 37 million adults in the U.S. participated in GivingTuesday in some way, a 6% increase from 2021, contributing much-needed and critical support to causes, communities, and non-profit organizations as they kick off the giving season this year in the face of substantial economic challenges and continued volatility.”

Bloomerang and Kindful customers raised more funds than in previous years.

In a year that showed that donors will support the causes they care about even during difficult times, the results from Giving Tuesday 2022 also proved that to be true:

  • Bloomerang and Kindful nonprofit customers raised $42.4 million on Giving Tuesday 2022, a 51% increase in total donations since 2020. Donors were generous with an average donation size of $331.
  • On the Bloomerang platform, we saw a 15% increase in the average donation size compared to Giving Tuesday 2021.
  • Bloomerang employees gave $24,022 to 334 causes.

“It’s exciting to see the impact that Giving Tuesday has had on the nonprofit community,” says Bloomerang CEO Ross Hendrickson. “During such a challenging time, we’re encouraged to see an increase in donations and in the number of people who are committed to building a world inspired by giving.”

Building that world means providing donors with a better giving experience—something Bloomerang is built to help nonprofits do.

“By fostering deeper relationships with their donors, nonprofits are better positioned to thrive for years to come,” says Ann Fellman, Chief Marketing Officer at Bloomerang. “Over the past year, we’ve made a number of enhancements to our product that make it easier for fundraisers to do just that. With the right tools in place, we know nonprofit customers will continue to attract new donors and retain existing donors—as well as grow the average donation amount over time.”

Some recent enhancements to the Bloomerang product include a refreshed dashboard and user-interface updates designed to save time and help nonprofits monitor their fundraising campaign performance. Fundraisers now also have the ability to create and send thoughtful tribute letters without ever leaving Bloomerang.

Additionally, we launched mobile apps for iOS and Android, making it easier to raise funds anywhere and in real time and to provide meaningful insights that improve constituent interactions. As fundraisers get back into the field with in-person meetings and events, they can access the data they need to process donations on the go, increase productivity, and engage in real-time donor engagement activities—all from their phone.

Resources

Make the most of the end-of-year giving season with these free resources:

Raise more funds and retain more donors with Bloomerang.

If you’re looking to raise more funds and move your mission forward in 2023, fill out this form and a Bloomerang team member will be in touch shortly.

Donor management software provides the tools to build relationships with major donors.

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