A current survey by Gartner found that advertising groups are utilizing 33% of their advertising tech stack’s full capabilities. This has a direct influence on the success of your charity’s mission.
Past simply advertising, expertise has change into a cornerstone of organizational success. It empowers your charity to function successfully, have interaction stakeholders, volunteers, and fundraisers effectively, and finally maximizes the influence of your trigger.
The variety of expertise options obtainable for charitable organizations has grown exponentially in recent times. Navigating the more and more complicated technological panorama is proving to be a big problem.
From advertising automation and fundraising platforms to CRMs and reporting instruments, you may have every little thing you want for achievement, however provided that you utilize it effectively. Sprawling, disconnected stacks have gotten the norm as groups proliferate expertise options to fulfill their wants. A very profitable charity must create a streamlined and interconnected expertise stack to scale back waste and enhance influence.
Why is a streamlined charity tech stack necessary?
Earlier than we start, let’s take a look at what a tech stack is.
A expertise stack (tech stack) is a group of software program options, programming languages, frameworks, and instruments that work collectively to construct digital functions (like apps or web sites) and companies.
In your charity, constructing a robust and environment friendly tech stack is important for reaching your mission. A streamlined tech stack lets you optimize your operations, enhance inter-departmental productiveness, and attain your mission-driven objectives.
By fastidiously constructing your good charity tech stack, you’ll instantly get pleasure from a variety of advantages, together with:
- Improved effectivity: A well-designed tech stack empowers groups to automate or streamline repetitive duties, permitting them to focus their sources on delivering mission-impacting companies.
- Enhanced communication and collaboration: Facilitate efficient communication amongst employees, volunteers, donors, and stakeholders utilizing streamlined tech for a stronger group of staff and supporters.
- Expanded attain and influence: Unified tech stacks help you leverage digital advertising, social media, and fundraising platforms, ensuing within the amplification of your message and mission.
Understanding your tech stack wants
Regardless of the quite a few advantages of streamlining and modernizing tech stacks, charities face vital challenges in reaching this objective. Monetary hurdles specifically disrupt your group’s capacity to spend money on the precise tech.
With that in thoughts, it is advisable to have a transparent understanding of your charity’s distinctive wants when buying new tech. Think about components together with:
- Your mission and companies: What causes do you assist? What companies do it is advisable to present? What expertise goes that can assist you obtain this?
- Donor and volunteer base: Who’re your present and potential donors? Are they completely different out of your volunteers? How do all these supporters favor to interact?
- Workforce dimension and skillset: What number of completely different groups make up your group? What tech do they should obtain their objectives? What are their technical capabilities?
- Price range: How a lot are you able to realistically spend money on all expertise?
Important parts of a charity tech stack
Having a robust understanding of your wants will aid you determine the precise instruments. Let’s check out the important parts it is advisable to construct the right tech stack.
Fundraising and donor administration (CRM)
A strong CRM like Salesforce, Donorfy, StratusLIVE, and Raiser’s Edge is essential. It centralizes donor data, tracks interactions, and facilitates focused communication for sturdy relationships.
Key options to search for embrace:
- Segmentation and donor profiling to allow goal fundraising campaigns
- Integration with e mail advertising and fundraising platforms
- Recurring donation administration
- Main donor administration
- Occasion administration capabilities
- Grant administration
Web site and content material administration system (CMS)
A user-friendly CMS like WordPress or Drupal lets you make straightforward web site updates and content material creation, showcasing your mission and influence tales. Your CMS ought to aid you create a transparent and accessible on-line presence on your charity.
Key options of a robust CMS embrace:
- Consumer-friendly interface for fast and straightforward updates
- Cellular web site optimization
- Integration with donation platforms
- search engine optimization capabilities
- Type integration
- Accessibility options
- Ecommerce performance (for merchandise gross sales)
Advertising automation
Charity advertising groups usually must run with restricted sources. That’s what makes advertising automation instruments a significant and central a part of your tech stack. Automation instruments like Dotdigital assist your advertising groups construct e mail campaigns, ship personalised messages to donors, and nurture leads. These platforms additionally present priceless analytics to optimize campaigns.
Key options to search for:
- E-mail templates and personalization
- SMS template and personalization
- Automation workflows (e.g. welcome sequence, donation ‘thanks’ emails, volunteer onboarding)
- Testing
- Integrations, API, and webhooks
Volunteer administration instruments
Retaining volunteers engaged is important and volunteer administration instruments can give you new, digital methods to remain linked. From constructing occasion registration kinds to dealing with scheduling, volunteer administration instruments may also help you streamline communication to remain linked with and retain your volunteers.
Instruments like VolunteerMatch, SignUpGenius, and VolunteerHub embrace options together with:
- Volunteer utility and screening
- Shift scheduling and administration
- Time monitoring and reporting
- Volunteer recognition instruments
Challenge administration and collaboration
Cross-team collaboration empowers your charity to achieve new heights. Utilizing collaboration instruments reminiscent of Asana, Basecamp, or Slack will assist your inside groups, volunteers, and group companions work along with elevated productiveness and streamlined venture administration.
Key options to think about in a venture administration device:
- Activity administration and project
- File sharing and doc administration
- Communication instruments (chat, video conferencing)
- Challenge timelines and milestones
Analytics and reporting
Analytics and reporting instruments give charities the precious capacity to research information and use it to guage marketing campaign efficiency and inform future selections. Instruments like GA4 or nonprofit-specific platforms like Fathom present information insights on web site visitors, advertising marketing campaign efficiency, and donor engagement. This information can inform strategic decision-making.
Key options to search for:
- Web site analytics
- E-mail advertising analytics
- Fundraising efficiency metrics
- Social media analytics
Cost gateway and fundraising software program
Safe and dependable platforms like Paypal or Stripe allow protected on-line donations by way of your web site or cell app and fundraising software program can increase fundraising efforts. The perfect cost instruments present donors with a easy and safe donation expertise and provides your charity essential information to serve their fundraising wants.
When deciding on cost instruments, think about:
- Integration with web site and CRM
- Recurring cost choices
- Cellular cost acceptance
- Fraud prevention
Prime suggestions for constructing your charity tech stack
1. Integration is vital
A disconnected tech stack results in inefficiencies, siloes, and a scarcity of cross-team cohesion. Guarantee your instruments work collectively seamlessly to create a unified system. By breaking down information silos, you’ll acquire an entire image of your donors, volunteers, and operations, resulting in extra environment friendly workflows and knowledgeable decision-making. Moreover, a well-integrated tech stack can improve the donor expertise by offering a constant and personalised journey throughout all touchpoints.
2. Open supply vs. paid software program
Weighing the professionals and cons of open-source and paid software program is important. Open-source options (sometimes free and community-driven software program) may be cost-effective, however they usually require technical experience for implementation and upkeep. Alternatively, paid software program sometimes presents extra options, assist, and safety, however comes with a price ticket. Think about your group’s technical capabilities and finances when making a alternative.
3. Deal with consumer expertise
Your good tech stack will empower, not frustrate. Make sure you’re selecting instruments which might be intuitive for each your employees and the individuals you serve. Search for AI options that may assist streamline workforce efforts. A constructive consumer expertise will increase productiveness, improve donor satisfaction, and strengthen volunteer engagement.
4. Prioritize scalability
Your charity will develop and evolve as you unfold the phrase about your mission. Choose expertise that may develop and adapt to your altering wants. Options like webhooks and well-communicated roadmaps are very important to find when buying new tech. Plus, a scalable tech stack will stop pricey overhauls and guarantee your instruments proceed to assist your mission as your group expands.
Streamline your charity tech stack with Dotdigital
Within the dynamic world of charity advertising, a fragmented tech stack can hinder your capacity to maximise influence and obtain your mission. To actually join with donors, volunteers, and supporters, you want a unified method that brings collectively information, automation, and personalization.
Dotdigital presents a robust resolution. As a central hub on your advertising efforts, our platform integrates seamlessly together with your current instruments to create a cohesive ecosystem. By streamlining your workflows, delivering focused campaigns, and gaining deeper insights into donor conduct, you may construct stronger relationships, improve fundraising effectivity, and drive significant change.
Let Dotdigital be your associate in making a extra impactful future on your charity.
