With Technology Your Nonprofit Will Raise More Money

NonProfit PRO recently released a study called “2018 Nonprofit Leadership Impact Study: A Look at the Challenges Nonprofit Leadership Is Facing and How to Address Them.” One of the findings of that report was the fact that:

• 63 percent of respondents to their survey stated that digital fundraising accounted for less than 20 percent of their total revenue.
• 20 percent of those who responded said that digital fundraising accounted for 21 to 30 percent of their total revenue.

Not prioritizing technology is a missed opportunity!

Why Mobile Matters

I say it often, mobile, mobile, mobile. It’s all about mobile, and in the quick-paced environment of today, even in the nonprofit sector, the organizations that are succeeding are those that are putting aside the traditional fundraising solutions and embracing technology fully, especially and including mobile.

As reported by August Ash about global mobile facts, in October of 2016, there was more traffic on mobile to access the internet than there was on a desktop. Further, as was stated in the article, “By 2019, mobile is predicted to account for 79% of all web traffic. This could mean that only 20% of the time people spend on your website will be from a desktop computer.”

Mobile matters. Period. And, nonprofits that are not optimizing their websites for mobile or investing in technology are going to be left behind. Donors who search for your organization are likely doing it on a mobile device, and if your site is not mobile-ready, they will close out in seconds.

Why Mobile is Important for Nonprofits

Unfortunately, old habits die hard, and the nonprofit sector tends to resist change. The attitude of doing things the way they’ve always been done remains alive and well in the industry. However, technology is pushing nonprofits to change, and as technology and mobile-only become more ingrained in our day-to-day lives, it’s going to be much more difficult to not adapt to the change.

The reality is that donors and supporters expect instant gratification and communication that conforms to the ways they operate. Social media and the digital world have made on-demand a regular occurrence in our lives.

The NonProfit PRO study also suggested, rightly, that we live in a world of quickly developing and advancing technology. So, it stands to reason that those organizations that do not prioritize and focus on investing in technology will find themselves in due time further and further behind, including in fundraising. Why should a donor who spends the vast majority of his or her time communicating and doing business with their mobile device (including paying bills or giving to charity) have to support a group that isn’t keeping up with the times when there’s likely another across town with a similar mission that has embraced technology?

If you do not think technology is an essential aspect of a nonprofit operation in the digital age, you’re demonstrating that you’re old school and can’t be forward thinking or adaptive to change.

We are not at a place where we should say that mobile and technology should supplant other fundraising techniques, such as face-to-face fundraising. However, nonprofit leaders must seriously consider at this juncture how they will begin to integrate technology into their overall operations and also fundraising. Yes, it means it’s vital to have a mobile ready site, but it also includes thinking about how to use platforms such as Facebook for fundraising.

Ensuring that technology is an essential element of your marketing and fundraising mix will open up more opportunities for brand awareness and marketing dollars.