Jemina Boyd • October 1, 2021
But many small- and medium-sized nonprofits still think affordable automation solutions are out of their reach, technically and fiscally — that advanced automation is only for big players.
This isn’t the case. In fact, much of these tools wind up making you money. There are tasks you’re probably still regularly performing manually that can easily and affordably be automated, regardless of the size of your organization or budget. Read on to find out more.
For successful fundraising campaigns, what your company does after a gift is given is crucial. Automating the creation and distribution of thank you notes and compliant tax receipts not only takes a repetitive task off your plate, but it speeds up the process and avoids delays, keeping donors happy and feeling that their gift is appreciated.
What’s more, studies have shown that the quicker a donor receives acknowledgement, the more likely they are to donate again in the future. Email automation tools built into software like MailChimp and Constant Contact bring this all within reach of your organization.
Nonprofit workers often juggle many roles. The amount and diversity of tasks these jobs require can easily get out of hand. PairSoft’s workflow automation tools can help you manage it all, and preset reminders coordinated with approaching deadlines and third-party schedules can make certain you never forget an important task again — and that goes for your whole team too.
Sometimes it’s as simple as a digital nudge reminding you to follow up with a volunteer or gift prospect, but these little reminders go a long way in ensuring the successful stewardship of important donor relations.
A good first step is to call a brainstorming session with your team and create a list of every repetitive, scheduled task that’s part of your process. Once there is a clear picture of all these tasks, you can program workflows that minimize human intervention.
Here, things get very interesting. Automation can also be aided by the powerful new consumer uses of AI and machine learning. If you have data on specific volunteers and supporters, you can feed this into a fundraising and relationship management solution like Raiser’s Edge, which can then self-generate lists of potential groups of people across available databases for you to focus your efforts on.
These AI-enhanced tools essentially do market research for you, allowing you to focus your time and effort on connecting with and convincing potential collaborators.
Characteristic actions taken by people about to cancel a recurring gift can be targeted as a group for an automated email blast. Are there measurable things differentiating one-time and recurring donors from one another? Your automation solution can separate these among lists and help you craft more effective campaigns.
How are you currently processing payments? Is the system you use properly integrated with your fundraising software?
Once these two essential processes are synced, payment and receipts can be tied together into an automated process you never have to touch again. Otherwise, you’re stuck recording all this information manually into whatever customer relationship management system you’re using, leaving your operation prone to human error at several points along the way.
Additionally, these transactions and the metadata surrounding them can now be tracked, opening opportunities for further automation in the future. Building your data ecosystem this way also creates new opportunities for getting more out of the rapidly advancing technology at your disposal.
It’s time to get your team together and begin brainstorming. For any additional assistance getting everything together and selecting the right automation solutions for your nonprofit, reach out to a PairSoft representative now. Or, if you want to learn more about PairSoft’s robust features, schedule a free personalized demo.
Jem Boyd has 10+ years of ERP strategic marketing and implementation experience across a variety of platforms. She specializes in developing PairSoft's platform relationships as well as campaigns with Microsoft, NetSuite, Sage, and Blackbaud. She is based in Nashville.
View all posts by Jemina Boyd
