Guest Post by Adam Bluemner, Managing Editor, Find Accounting Software
Last time I featured a guest post by Adam Bluemner he was telling you about the 2014 Technology Trends Survey. This week I’m excited to have him back to tell you about the results of the study.
When it comes to fundraising, nonprofits have never had so many technology options.
Every day brings new companies, new products, and new services. The choices hold the promise of better, more efficient ways to connect with and inspire donors. The opportunity to harness technology to build momentum for your cause and do more good in the world is nothing, if not exciting.
But it can also be overwhelming.
It’s hard to pull time from already stretched resources to investigate new approaches. It’s also tough to know which technologies are the right ones to invest in.
Difficult as it may be, though, it’s critically important. 47% of nonprofits report they weren’t able to grow their fundraising revenues last year.
But what if they would’ve known which fundraising technologies are the most effective? Our data suggests a larger percent would’ve been able to fund more of their valuable services. In fact, more than four out of five fundraisers who met technology adoption best practices standards told us they expect to raise revenues in 2014.
We designed the “2014 Fundraising Technology Trends Study” to answer two critical questions.
- What technologies are nonprofits using for their fundraising? And,
- What’s working?
- Only 34% of fundraisers feel they have the technology tools they need to be successful.
- Fundraisers using contributions management software were 38% more likely to have increased 2013 revenue.
- Organizations who accept online donations were 61% more likely to consider their fundraising to be “effective” or “very effective.”
- Sharing video content and blogging correlated strongly with fundraising success.
We’re pleased to be able to share answers with the nonprofit community. Detailed input from 142 fundraisers at organizations revealed some fascinating data. For instance:
The “2014 Fundraising Technology Trends Study” covers fundraising management software tools, communication channels, and payment acceptance methods. It touches on everything from social media to bitcoin and beyond. It also looks at which nonprofit types are reporting the most success and overall attitudes toward technology among fundraising.
To find out more about how your nonprofit can use technology to improve fundraising results, check out the full study report here.
Author Bio: Adam Bluemner is the Managing Editor for Find Accounting Software, a service providing free software selection assistance. Over the last decade Adam has spoken with thousands of businesses and nonprofits, helping them achieve success through intelligent software investment. Adam writes extensively on accounting and software topics.
