Technology is a nonprofit’s best friend, offering new and innovative ways to manage your organization, connect with people who support your cause, and make your workflows more efficient.

Whether you’re a new organization or have been around for years, there are a wide variety of technology tools that can help your nonprofit grow. In this post, we’ll help you identify the solutions that can increase your reach and help you attain your goals. 

How Technology Helps Your Nonprofit Grow

Before taking a look at some different types of tools, let’s establish how technology can contribute to nonprofit growth. Here are a few reasons to embrace new technologies:

This image and the text below list four ways technology helps nonprofits to grow.

• Technology allows you to meet your donors where they are. Your nonprofit will be most successful when it is consistently connecting with donors on the platforms and technologies they use every day. For example, did you know that 85% of U.S. adults own a smartphone? This means your organization can more than likely reach its target audience by leveraging tools like text messaging, mobile apps, social media, QR codes, a mobile-friendly website, and more. 

• You can share your organization’s story in new, exciting ways. Everyone has different communication and storytelling preferences. For instance, you may prefer reading a book to watching a movie. Similarly, when you leverage various technology tools, you can share the story of your cause in a myriad of ways, whether you’re writing blog posts, creating videos on social media, or creating visually vibrant digital flyers, thus appealing to different audiences’ preferences. 

• Your organization can more easily track data and use it to make decisions. Digital nonprofit technologies often provide an easy way for your organization to track data, whether it’s donor demographics and giving preferences in your CRM or website traffic on a platform like Google Analytics. With this data on your side, you can make informed decisions to guide your growth strategy. 

• You can make your organization more efficient. No matter your nonprofit’s size, time is a precious commodity. The right tools help you streamline how your organization accomplishes everyday tasks and free up time for more important work, like building relationships with your supporters. 

To tap into these benefits, you’ll no doubt want to look into adopting a variety of different tools. In the next few sections, we’ll break down some of the most important ones to take into consideration as you build up your own technology stack! 

Marketing Tools

In order to increase appreciation and raise awareness for your mission, you need to create a buzz using marketing tools. Here are a few to consider weaving into your own marketing strategy: 

Low-Cost or Free Marketing Tools 

Your organization may not have a large marketing budget to spend on promotional activities. Not to worry—there are plenty of cost-effective tools you can use, such as: 

• A well-designed and informative website: Your website is the central landing zone for all potential donors and future supporters, and it can be an excellent marketing tool. All emails or social media accounts should link back to your website, which should have a clear and concise mission statement and explanation of your cause, as well as useful tools like an easy-to-use donation form. There are several free website-building tools you can use to design your website, like Wix, Weebly, and SITE123.

• Social media: According to the Pew Research Center, 77% of people believe that social media is effective for raising awareness about political and social issues. This means platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and X can all help spread your message and draw more attention to your nonprofit.

• Email: Email is an effective tool for opening the line of communication with donors, members, and other parties interested in your work. Through email, you can call on people to support your cause and reach out to future and prospective donors directly. To grow your email list, create an email newsletter sign-up on your website. You can link to this in other places, like in your social media posts. Then, deliver high-quality content in each email you send to keep your recipients engaged! 

Marketing Tools Worth Investing In 

While software tools will often require a bit of an investment up front, they can do a lot of heavy lifting for you when it comes to marketing. Consider the following:

• Gather Voices: Tap into the power of video using Gather Voices, the tool that allows you to reach out to your organization’s supporters, empower them to create quality videos on their own time, and then send them back to you. This tool makes it possible to create high-quality video assets like testimonials, volunteer spotlights, and more!  

• Buffer: This tool lets you schedule your social media content and posts, analyze their performance, and monitor your direct messages. 

• Mailchimp: Make email marketing even easier by investing in Mailchimp, the email automation tool that offers email templates, A/B testing, and even SMS messaging capabilities.  

• Awario: This tool searches the internet and social media content to help you find people who support your cause. It can also be used to find influencers and monitor your online presence and reputation by identifying what people are saying about and how they are reacting to your cause

• Moz: Moz is a search engine optimization (SEO) tool that you can leverage to analyze your website’s performance on search engines and work to improve it so that your cause is more visible online.  

Donor Management Tools

As you implement a stronger marketing strategy using the marketing tools above, you’ll need resources for managing the new donors you connect with (as well as those who are already loyal to your cause). That’s where a donor management tool, like a constituent relationship management (CRM) platform comes in handy. 

Think of a CRM as a database where you can collect and store all the information you have on your donors and other supporters. With all of this data in one place, you can easily tailor your marketing and fundraising efforts to your supporters’ needs and preferences and monitor how they engage with your cause.

There are a number of CRM options out there for you to choose from, but let’s take a look at two of the biggest providers: 

• Blackbaud: Blackbaud offers four nonprofit CRM solutions—Blackbaud CRM, Raiser’s Edge NXT, eTapestry, and Luminate. To choose the Blackbaud solution best for your organization, you’ll need to take into consideration your organization’s size, budget, and customization needs. 

• Salesforce: Salesforce is another popular cloud-based CRM provider that offers a tool called Nonprofit Cloud. Similar to Blackbaud’s products, Nonprofit Cloud can help your organization with donor data management, fundraising, marketing, and program management. 

One of the main differences between Blackbaud and Salesforce is that Blackbaud focuses exclusively on serving the social good space, while Salesforce offers a nonprofit CRM but mainly serves the for-profit sector. 

Additionally, Blackbaud has a wide network of expert partners that create solutions and services that integrate seamlessly with its products. Salesforce offers something similar through its AppExchange, where you can find thousands of tools, consultants, and more that help you make the most of your Salesforce tools. 

At the end of the day, your nonprofit needs a solution as unique as its mission and vision. Take your software needs into consideration when deciding between providers like Salesforce and Blackbaud, and be sure to tap into CRM data management services when you’re ready to make the switch. 

Fundraising Tools

To grow your organization over time, you’ll need to stabilize your organization with a steady stream of fundraising revenue. The following fundraising tools can help with that: 

• Givebutter: Givebutter allows you to build donation forms, set up interactive fundraising pages, run auctions, and leverage digital event tools. It also offers a mobile app you can use for in-person donations and event check in.

• DonorSearch: Prioritize development and long-term growth by growing your major gifts program. To do so, you can use a tool like DonorSearch to conduct thorough prospect research and find the donors that have a love for your cause and the wealth that indicate they may be ready to give a major gift. 

• Classy: Classy is another platform that offers a whole host of tools. With Classy, you can set up donation websites, peer-to-peer (P2P) fundraising pages, crowdfunding campaigns, and events and ticketing. 

• 360MatchPro: Matching gifts allow your donors to effectively double their donations’ impact without reaching back into their wallets! 360MatchPro is a matching gift platform that allows you to embed a matching gift database on your nonprofit’s website where your donors can see if they are eligible for their employers’ matching gift programs.

The Key to Success With New Technology: Consulting 

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the many technology tools there are to choose from and you’re not sure which ones will best support your nonprofit’s growth strategy, consider partnering with a nonprofit technology consultant. 

Technology consultants can help your nonprofit: 

• Audit your current technology and help you develop a stronger technology strategy 
• Implement new technologies into your workflows and train your team to navigate them
• Customize software to ensure your nonprofit is getting what it needs from its tools 
• Leverage ongoing technical support 

Some technology consultants will have expertise in additional areas, such as web development or digital marketing. If you’re interested in working with a consultant, make sure you look for someone who is knowledgeable about the solutions you have or want to use and who has a communication style that works well with your own. 

The right technology tools can drive your nonprofit’s upward growth. In this guide, we’ve explored just a few of the thousands of tools out there that can help your nonprofit communicate more effectively, manage its data carefully, and fundraise with more success. 

Remember to keep your specific needs and goals in mind as you invest in your own technology tools, and to turn to the help of a technology consultant when you need it!