We know there’s value in building up mobile capability into your fundraising initiatives. Research tells us it drives additional funds because it drafts into where donors, especially millennials, are communicating and engaging with their networks. There are several mobile platforms that can help your fundraising efforts and it can be difficult to determine the benefits and downsides to each. Because of the crowded marketplace, it’s important to map your needs specifically to potential solutions. Otherwise, you’ll end up with something that’s too expensive and too complex for you to utilize effectively.
We’ve made it easy for you to break through the marketplace noise. Here are some key components to consider when ramping up your mobile fundraising and partnering with a platform.
1. Show Me The Money
Any mobile platform or partner you choose has to provide a return-on-investment. It may sound obvious, but it’s too easy to get carried away about “possibility” when you’re talking to a sales rep. When talking to any potential partner, ensure you have a clear understanding of the fees associated with sign-up and how those fees evolve over time. Compare and contrast potential vendor fees to your forecasted fundraising revenue over time and you’ll be able to determine if those fees are worth the investment.
2. Ramp-Up Time
For many nonprofits, a mobile initiative is deemed important, but due to lack of funding and resources, it is constantly on the backburner. You know it’s important, but you haven’t been able to dedicate the time it takes to truly develop a mobile initiative. Your nonprofit may have considered creating your own app, but have tabled the idea for more pressing projects. It can be frustrating when you know there’s a need, but you can’t devote the resources needed to ramping up the initiative or “taking on” another donation platform.
It’s important to ensure that a mobile partner simplifies your efforts. If it’s been too cumbersome to ramp up mobile on your own, make sure that the partner you sign on with is able to get you up and running quickly, with minimal time and investment on your part. If it’s just as difficult with a partner, it won’t be worth it.
3. Ability to Align with Your Current Fundraising Initiatives
You know your donors. You know what has worked for your organization. An effective mobile initiative should easily supplement your current plans. A mobile partnership shouldn’t replace what you’re doing. Rather, it should bolster your fundraising efforts.
- How can you use mobile to maximize those donor dollars for your annual events?
- How can mobile help make giving easier on your current donors?
- How can mobile drive additional funds from untapped donor bases?
The path to alignment with your current efforts should be clear before you sign up with a partner to ensure an effective fundraising partnership.
4. Tax Documentation
At uBack, we talk a lot about making giving easy for your donors. Your donors represent a key stakeholder relationship that you need to protect. For donors, one of the more frustrating components of charitable donations is tracking those receipts and letters at tax time. For NPOs, those letters can be a costly expense.
Mobile platforms help you, as a charity, meet the donor where he/she is -- while they’re searching the web, waiting in line at the store, or even hanging out at your event with their phone in hand. The tax documentation process should also meet the donor in the same capacity, providing electronic receipts and a list of donations that’s easily tracked. If I donate all my nonprofit money through mobile, why would I want a letter in the mail containing my receipt?
5. Advances Donor Communication
Your mobile platform should also provide you with the ability to communicate and engage with your donors in a central location. Here are some points to consider with any mobile platform:
- How are you able to drive giving urgency with mobile communication?
- How are you able to promote corporate match opportunities?
- How can the donor share donations socially, further increasing your reach?
A mobile platform that advances donor communication along with donor dollars provides a robust solution that can drive results.
6. Invested in Your Success
How many times have you been on the phone with a vendor that promises the world, but when you sign the check that vendor disappears and leaves you to fend for yourself. A mobile platform partner should be invested in your success helping you to (1) capitalize on the platform’s capabilities and (2) provide ongoing support and guidance as you work to incorporate it into your initiatives. They should advocate for your cause and have a vested interest in your success.
More and more donors are spending their nonprofit funds through mobile platforms. Launching the right mobile initiative will help your charity meet donors at the moment of impact, driving coveted donor dollars and engagement with important stakeholders.
Sign up with a partner who’s invested in your success. Learn what makes uBack different.
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