Fundraising CRMs, or constituent relationship management systems for nonprofits, are vital for effective revenue generation and donor management efforts. This is especially true as organizations continue to grow.
If your nonprofit is seeking a CRM solution (whether for the first time or to upgrade an existing system), you’ve come to the right place! This list of top nonprofit CRMs has been crafted with organizations like yours in mind, and we’ll highlight key features, benefits, and more for each provider.
At Getting Attention, our favorite fundraising CRMs (in alphabetical order) are:
- CharityEngine
- Classy
- Click & Pledge
- DonorPerfect
- Engaging Networks
- GiveSmart
- Kindful
- Neon CRM
- NonProfitEasy
- Raiser’s Edge NXT
- Salesforce
- SalsaLabs
- Virtuous CRM
One key function to consider as you browse this list of suggested fundraising CRMs is matching gift abilities. Research shows that between $4 and $7 billion in available matching gift funding is left on the table each year—largely because nonprofits lack the tools to secure those corporate dollars effectively.
Luckily, more and more nonprofit CRMs are beginning to incorporate matching gift functionality into their toolkit through seamless integrations with matching gift software (the most common by far being 360MatchPro by Double the Donation).
Ready to dive in and discover the perfect donor management system for your organization? Let’s get started.


CharityEngine offers a number of fundraising solutions, including an online donation platform and fundraising CRM. Their CRM system enables teams to quickly and easily automate fundraising, marketing, and data collection to provide nonprofits with more time to spend on mission-related projects.
Top CharityEngine features:
- Built-out donor profiles
- Donation pages
- Payment processing
- Reporting and analytics
- Automated workflows.
Not to mention, CharityEngine donation forms drive matching gift revenue by simplifying the matching process for both donors (through personalized reminders and company-specific instructions) and nonprofits (by automating communications, collecting data, and tracking revenue growth). Since the #1 hindrance for matching gifts is a lack of awareness among supporters, CharityEngine leverage matching git software from Double the Donation to ensure each donor is exposed to matching gift information at multiple touchpoints.
Why We Love This CRM
CharityEngine’s major gifts and planned giving software capabilities allow organizations to maximize their impact and streamline their management. As major gifts make up to 80% of an organization’s total revenue, this feature offers a huge advantage.
With CharityEngine, your organization can track applications and opportunities and manage projects with just a few clicks. Its robust analytics features also provide telling insights to measure your major gift progress.

Classy is an all-in-one fundraising platform with solutions for donor management, online donations, and peer-to-peer campaigns. This fundraising CRM is designed to provide users with a central hub for campaign and supporter management called Classy Manager. With these tools, nonprofit fundraisers are able to launch and manage campaigns, track performance and donor interactions, and gain a better understanding of their fundraising overall.
Top Classy features:
- Online donation processing
- Event management
- Robust reporting and analytics
And Classy doesn’t want you to forget about matching gift opportunities, either! This platform integrates with Double the Donation’s comprehensive matching gift tool to enable a searchable matching gift database, automated donor follow-ups and match reminders, and more. They even offer a two-way data sync that allows matching gift information collected in 360MatchPro to flow into Classy’s platform! When donors are encouraged to participate in their employers’ matching gift programs on multiple occasions, they’ll be more likely to request a match and secure more dollars for your cause.
Why We Love This CRM
Classy provides a 360-degree supporter interaction view, so you can observe and manage your donor interactions from every angle. You can look into individual donor histories to enhance your engagement efforts. This is especially helpful to re-engage donors and increase your donor retention rate.
For reference, the average donor retention rate across nonprofits is between 40 and 45% which can feel like you’re constantly fighting an uphill battle. However, donor management tools like the 360 supporter interaction view can help your nonprofit make every interaction count.

Click & Pledge offers powerful donor management tools built on the Salesforce platform. This innovative fundraising CRM can even help users sort and rank donors based on an algorithm that considers personal donations, amounts fundraised, and gifts within an individual’s network in order to identify their highest-value supporters.
Top Click & Pledge features:
- Automated communications
- Data analytics
- Manual donation processing
- Seamless Salesforce integration
Plus, Click & Pledge integrates with the top matching gift solution, 360MatchPro, to promote matching gift opportunities to supporters, drive more company match requests with automated communications, and boost fundraising revenue overall.
Why We Love This CRM
Click & Pledge offers effective video fundraising options to capture your donor’s hearts. You can simply embed donation forms directly into your videos for viewers to donate without having to exit the video experience.
This solution doesn’t allow viewers to get distracted, so they can give to your cause at the best time—right after viewing your mission. And, recent studies have shown that 57% of people who watch nonprofit videos go on to make a donation. With Click & Pledge, you can make this process as easy as possible.

DonorPerfect is a comprehensive fundraising solution that specializes in strategic donor management through targeted communications, multichannel outreach, easy donation processing, and customizable reports. Plus, it can save fundraisers tons of time and resources when they employ DonorPerfect’s extensive automated workflows!
Top DonorPerfect features:
- Payment processing
- Fundraising event management
- Online donation forms
- Insightful data analytics
This platform also incorporates matching gift tools and strategies with a Double the Donation integration. This way, organizations can easily communicate the importance of matching gifts to donors and provide targeted next steps depending on the individual’s employer. The easier it is for donors to participate in matching gift programs, the more likely they are to follow through with their request, and the more dollars that go toward your mission!
Why We Love This CRM
DonorPerfect has a wide variety of integrations, enabling your team to choose the ones that will best complement your goals. From volunteer management to website and event management, DonorPerfect will have your team covered.

Engaging Networks is a multi-faceted fundraising platform with tools for online donations, nonprofit marketing, peer-to-peer campaigns, donor and data management, and more. This eCRM is dedicated to providing users with cutting-edge technology with constantly developing upgrades, newly released features, and a web of seamless integrations.
Top Engaging Networks features:
- Advanced visual reporting
- Target audience query builders
- Fundraising performance analysis
- Donor profiling and geotargeting
One of their most impactful integrations is with Double the Donation’s matching gift software, 360MatchPro. Thanks to the Engaging Networks and Double the Donation integration, organizations can quickly boost matching gift revenue by promoting these program opportunities at multiple donor touchpoints. This includes, but is not limited to, during the donation process itself and within a number of automated and customizable email follow-ups.
Why We Love This CRM
Engaging Networks is currently the only platform that offers artificial intelligence fundraising capabilities. This future-forward option leverages machine learning to help organizations reach fundraising goals and transform one-time donors into recurring supporters. As your data changes, artificial intelligence fundraising can continue to predict patterns and give an in-depth glimpse into supporter behavior.

Formerly SimplyFundraisingCRM, GiveSmart is a fantastic solution that equips nonprofits with innovative donor management tools. The top benefits of GiveSmart include saving time through strategic automation, raising more with effective fundraising solutions, and receiving guided assistance from a panel of expert fundraising advisors.
Top GiveSmart features:
- Automated donor acknowledgments
- One-click donor reports
- Artificial intelligence
- Data analysis
Not to mention, the platform integrates with Double the Donation’s most comprehensive matching gift solution to help drive additional revenue from company matches! Through donor screening practices and automated communications, organizations can easily promote matching gifts and encourage supporters to participate.
Why We Love This CRM
GiveSmart’s ticketing and guest management features work great for any type of event—in-person, online, or hybrid that can keep up with changing preferences. In addition, GiveSmart has scheduled text messaging that engages supporters at the most opportune time.

Kindful CRM is a product of Bloomerang that is designed to build seamless connections between various nonprofit processes to streamline backend efforts and provide improved donor experiences. This platform emphasizes the power of technical integrations with a number of other fundraising platforms to provide an interconnected network of fundraising software that drives success.
Top Kindful features:
- Tracking and reporting
- Donor lifecycle dashboards
- Detailed donor and contact records
- Donation tracking
- Wealth insights
And for many Kindful clients, this network incorporates matching gift software and practices as well. Their matching gift integration with Double the Donation’s comprehensive automation tool allows organizations to promote company matches through personalized outreach and match reminders. Plus, users can configure automated follow-ups to include matching gift instructions, next steps, and guidelines for each individual’s employer, which ultimately results in increased matches and revenue.
Why We Love This CRM
Kindful’s library of integration features is vast, but there is one specifically worth highlighting—Kindful’s email capabilities. Kindful enables your organization to send timely, personalized donation receipts and campaign emails to establish a personalized cadence with donors. According to TruConversion Reports, an email marketing campaign can deliver a return of $40 for every $1 spent. This places email in the highest marketing ROI category.

Neon CRM is a donor management solution created by the fundraising platform Neon One and designed to scale up alongside organizations of any size. This versatile solution is able to help manage nonprofit fundraising, memberships, events, websites, and more.
Top Neon CRM features:
- Online web forms
- Grant management
- Constituent login portals
- Automated receipting
- Accounts and relationship tracking
- Donation processing
Plus, their matching gift integration with 360MatchPro by Double the Donation enables organizations to significantly increase matching gift awareness through strategic follow-ups and personalized guidelines—and boost matching gift revenue as a result.
Why We Love This CRM
Neon One includes website design solutions that can help you build and manage web pages with confidence. With its web design tools, you can generate responsive, SEO-optimized web pages with no coding needed. This way, you can promote your mission through an engaging online presence.


NonProfitEasy is a product of the Lumaverse technology company that was built to provide organizations with simple, scalable solutions. Previously known as Fundly CRM, NonProfitEasy makes its goal to “turn one-time donors into lifetime supporters.”
Top NonProfitEasy features:
- Donor communication
- Event management
- Pledge and grant tracking
- Customizable and predefined data reports
- Membership management
And with a seamless integration with the industry-leading matching gift tool, 360MatchPro, NonProfitEasy users are able to double supporter donations while saving time and effort through automation. This includes donor information screening to identify match-eligible transactions, customized outreach triggered to remind eligible individuals of matching gifts, and powerful tracking and reporting capabilities with forecasting tools.
Why We Love This CRM
TheNonprofitEasy includes enhanced member engagement features, so you can create member levels and pricing that reflect your nonprofit’s needs. Additionally, its embeddable member forms make it easy for you to create compelling member marketing campaigns. Member-specific email blasts also let you personalize your communications.

Raiser’s Edge NXT is a nonprofit fundraising CRM built by Blackbaud that provides organizations of all sizes with donor management tools. The Raiser’s Edge NXT is their newest version of the product, which is a cloud-based software that aims to provide the social good community with an easy and effective fundraising solution.
Top Raiser’s Edge NXT features:
- Growth opportunity identification
- Dynamic email campaigns
- Integrated multichannel techniques
- Automated workflows
- Accessibility from any device
- Donor data analytics
To incorporate matching gift fundraising efforts as well, Raiser’s Edge NXT integrates seamlessly with Double the Donation’s matching gift software. This enables nonprofits to leverage the most effective matching gift strategies with little to no time and effort required of their fundraising teams. With automated donor follow-ups and match reminders, organizations see significant increases in match revenue!
Why We Love This CRM
Raiser’s Edge NXT has extensive donor data tools that offer automated checkups to ensure your data is up to date. With clean and correct data, you’ll be able to foster more meaningful interactions and track your entire constituent community.

Salesforce is a popular CRM solution for businesses and nonprofits alike. Salesforce.com caters to the for-profit side of the sector, while Salesforce.org targets nonprofits, schools, and other mission-driven organizations.
Top Salesforce features:
- Donor-centric relationship-planning
- Digital-first fundraising experiences
- Program management, reporting, and grantmaking
This comprehensive platform also allows Salesforce clients to extend their CRM functionality through a number of technical integrations with partners listed in the Salesforce AppExchange marketplace—one of which is Double the Donation. When users leverage Double the Donation’s matching gift automation tools, nonprofits can collect two gifts for every one donation solicited by driving matching gift participation.
Why We Love This CRM
Salesforce’s digital marketing tools can help you make the initial ask and retain them long-term. With Salesforce, you can launch a series of emails or a full-blown, multi-channel campaign. The best part? Salesforce’s personalizing email features let you catch each individual supporter’s attention.

SalsaCRM from SalsaLabs is a powerful and effective donor management system. This software works well alongside Salsa’s other fundraising products in addition to a range of other top fundraising solutions—including Double the Donation’s matching gift tools!
Top Salsa features:
- Rich donor profiles
- Extensive relationship-tracking
- Automated suggested gift calculations
- Unified online and offline gift management
The Double the Donation integration allows Salsa clients to utilize Double the Donation’s matching gift software, 360MatchPro, alongside their fundraising CRMs and donation forms to automate matching gift communications with donors. This boosts awareness of these programs and their availability while encouraging eligible donors to request matching donations from their employers. Ultimately, these tools result in increased corporate donations and better donor relations.
Why We Love This CRM
SalsaLab’s donor profiles are overflowing with usable information for you to access unlimited custom fields and activity timelines. The platform’s automated “next suggested gift” calculations determine the optimal amounts for you to ask each donor. This way, you’ll engage with donors on a personal level and make an ask that aligns with their donation history.

Virtuous offers a nonprofit CRM that is designed to help fundraisers streamline donor management efforts, improve supporter relationships, and leverage data-rich insights for improved practices.
Top Virtuous features:
- Omnichannel marketing strategies
- Donor analysis with highlighted opportunities
- Personalized cultivation and retention plans
- Reporting dashboards
With Virtuous, nonprofit clients can configure their fundraising CRMs to incorporate Double the Donation’s matching gift functionality. This integration allows organizations to increase matching gifts and improve their strategies through automated email follow-ups that contain employer-specific program information and instructions. When more donors request company matches from their employers, the nonprofit receives additional gifts for free!
Why We Love This CRM
Virtuous CRM’s social insights can give your organization the opportunity to make informed donor decisions. Using these insights, you can track givers based on their interests, persona, affiliations, and social media profiles. From there, you can suggest a relevant next action based on individual donor preferences and passions.
Tips for Selecting a Fundraising CRM
There are several CRMs out there and it can be easy to get overwhelmed with so many options. To assess your CRM needs, ask these questions:
- What are my organization’s goals? Refer to your mission statement and accompanying objectives to decipher your goals based on your organization’s purpose and size.
- How big is my organization? Take a look at your contact list, how many emails you send, and your revenue baseline metrics. Then, consider your revenue goals for the coming years to get an idea of how much growth you’re likely to achieve.
- How much data needs to be migrated? Migration determines CRM cost. If you have to collect data from multiple disparate sources, you will have a higher end cost.
Asking these questions ahead of time can help you narrow your search and decide on a scalable solution that best suits your specific needs. You might also decide to request a demo for multiple platforms to compare their capabilities.
Did any of these fundraising CRMs catch your eye? The providers listed above are some of our favorite solutions for nonprofit data management, donor relationships, automated communications, and more.
The more efficient your software, the more efficient your organization’s practices will be and the more you can do for your mission as a result. Good luck!
Check out these other educational resources to learn more about effective nonprofit fundraising and engagement strategies:

13 Top Fundraising CRMs for Nonprofit Organizations (Updated for 2023)
/in Nonprofit Communications, Nonprofit Tools /by Jessica KingFundraising CRMs, or constituent relationship management systems for nonprofits, are vital for effective revenue generation and donor management efforts. This is especially true as organizations continue to grow.
If your nonprofit is seeking a CRM solution (whether for the first time or to upgrade an existing system), you’ve come to the right place! This list of top nonprofit CRMs has been crafted with organizations like yours in mind, and we’ll highlight key features, benefits, and more for each provider.
At Getting Attention, our favorite fundraising CRMs (in alphabetical order) are:
One key function to consider as you browse this list of suggested fundraising CRMs is matching gift abilities. Research shows that between $4 and $7 billion in available matching gift funding is left on the table each year—largely because nonprofits lack the tools to secure those corporate dollars effectively.
Luckily, more and more nonprofit CRMs are beginning to incorporate matching gift functionality into their toolkit through seamless integrations with matching gift software (the most common by far being 360MatchPro by Double the Donation).
Ready to dive in and discover the perfect donor management system for your organization? Let’s get started.
1. CharityEngine
CharityEngine offers a number of fundraising solutions, including an online donation platform and fundraising CRM. Their CRM system enables teams to quickly and easily automate fundraising, marketing, and data collection to provide nonprofits with more time to spend on mission-related projects.
Top CharityEngine features:
Not to mention, CharityEngine donation forms drive matching gift revenue by simplifying the matching process for both donors (through personalized reminders and company-specific instructions) and nonprofits (by automating communications, collecting data, and tracking revenue growth). Since the #1 hindrance for matching gifts is a lack of awareness among supporters, CharityEngine leverage matching git software from Double the Donation to ensure each donor is exposed to matching gift information at multiple touchpoints.
Why We Love This CRM
CharityEngine’s major gifts and planned giving software capabilities allow organizations to maximize their impact and streamline their management. As major gifts make up to 80% of an organization’s total revenue, this feature offers a huge advantage.
With CharityEngine, your organization can track applications and opportunities and manage projects with just a few clicks. Its robust analytics features also provide telling insights to measure your major gift progress.
2. Classy
Classy is an all-in-one fundraising platform with solutions for donor management, online donations, and peer-to-peer campaigns. This fundraising CRM is designed to provide users with a central hub for campaign and supporter management called Classy Manager. With these tools, nonprofit fundraisers are able to launch and manage campaigns, track performance and donor interactions, and gain a better understanding of their fundraising overall.
Top Classy features:
And Classy doesn’t want you to forget about matching gift opportunities, either! This platform integrates with Double the Donation’s comprehensive matching gift tool to enable a searchable matching gift database, automated donor follow-ups and match reminders, and more. They even offer a two-way data sync that allows matching gift information collected in 360MatchPro to flow into Classy’s platform! When donors are encouraged to participate in their employers’ matching gift programs on multiple occasions, they’ll be more likely to request a match and secure more dollars for your cause.
Why We Love This CRM
Classy provides a 360-degree supporter interaction view, so you can observe and manage your donor interactions from every angle. You can look into individual donor histories to enhance your engagement efforts. This is especially helpful to re-engage donors and increase your donor retention rate.
For reference, the average donor retention rate across nonprofits is between 40 and 45% which can feel like you’re constantly fighting an uphill battle. However, donor management tools like the 360 supporter interaction view can help your nonprofit make every interaction count.
3. Click & Pledge
Click & Pledge offers powerful donor management tools built on the Salesforce platform. This innovative fundraising CRM can even help users sort and rank donors based on an algorithm that considers personal donations, amounts fundraised, and gifts within an individual’s network in order to identify their highest-value supporters.
Top Click & Pledge features:
Plus, Click & Pledge integrates with the top matching gift solution, 360MatchPro, to promote matching gift opportunities to supporters, drive more company match requests with automated communications, and boost fundraising revenue overall.
Why We Love This CRM
Click & Pledge offers effective video fundraising options to capture your donor’s hearts. You can simply embed donation forms directly into your videos for viewers to donate without having to exit the video experience.
This solution doesn’t allow viewers to get distracted, so they can give to your cause at the best time—right after viewing your mission. And, recent studies have shown that 57% of people who watch nonprofit videos go on to make a donation. With Click & Pledge, you can make this process as easy as possible.
4. DonorPerfect
DonorPerfect is a comprehensive fundraising solution that specializes in strategic donor management through targeted communications, multichannel outreach, easy donation processing, and customizable reports. Plus, it can save fundraisers tons of time and resources when they employ DonorPerfect’s extensive automated workflows!
Top DonorPerfect features:
This platform also incorporates matching gift tools and strategies with a Double the Donation integration. This way, organizations can easily communicate the importance of matching gifts to donors and provide targeted next steps depending on the individual’s employer. The easier it is for donors to participate in matching gift programs, the more likely they are to follow through with their request, and the more dollars that go toward your mission!
Why We Love This CRM
DonorPerfect has a wide variety of integrations, enabling your team to choose the ones that will best complement your goals. From volunteer management to website and event management, DonorPerfect will have your team covered.
5. Engaging Networks
Engaging Networks is a multi-faceted fundraising platform with tools for online donations, nonprofit marketing, peer-to-peer campaigns, donor and data management, and more. This eCRM is dedicated to providing users with cutting-edge technology with constantly developing upgrades, newly released features, and a web of seamless integrations.
Top Engaging Networks features:
One of their most impactful integrations is with Double the Donation’s matching gift software, 360MatchPro. Thanks to the Engaging Networks and Double the Donation integration, organizations can quickly boost matching gift revenue by promoting these program opportunities at multiple donor touchpoints. This includes, but is not limited to, during the donation process itself and within a number of automated and customizable email follow-ups.
Why We Love This CRM
Engaging Networks is currently the only platform that offers artificial intelligence fundraising capabilities. This future-forward option leverages machine learning to help organizations reach fundraising goals and transform one-time donors into recurring supporters. As your data changes, artificial intelligence fundraising can continue to predict patterns and give an in-depth glimpse into supporter behavior.
6. GiveSmart
Formerly SimplyFundraisingCRM, GiveSmart is a fantastic solution that equips nonprofits with innovative donor management tools. The top benefits of GiveSmart include saving time through strategic automation, raising more with effective fundraising solutions, and receiving guided assistance from a panel of expert fundraising advisors.
Top GiveSmart features:
Not to mention, the platform integrates with Double the Donation’s most comprehensive matching gift solution to help drive additional revenue from company matches! Through donor screening practices and automated communications, organizations can easily promote matching gifts and encourage supporters to participate.
Why We Love This CRM
GiveSmart’s ticketing and guest management features work great for any type of event—in-person, online, or hybrid that can keep up with changing preferences. In addition, GiveSmart has scheduled text messaging that engages supporters at the most opportune time.
7. Kindful
Kindful CRM is a product of Bloomerang that is designed to build seamless connections between various nonprofit processes to streamline backend efforts and provide improved donor experiences. This platform emphasizes the power of technical integrations with a number of other fundraising platforms to provide an interconnected network of fundraising software that drives success.
Top Kindful features:
And for many Kindful clients, this network incorporates matching gift software and practices as well. Their matching gift integration with Double the Donation’s comprehensive automation tool allows organizations to promote company matches through personalized outreach and match reminders. Plus, users can configure automated follow-ups to include matching gift instructions, next steps, and guidelines for each individual’s employer, which ultimately results in increased matches and revenue.
Why We Love This CRM
Kindful’s library of integration features is vast, but there is one specifically worth highlighting—Kindful’s email capabilities. Kindful enables your organization to send timely, personalized donation receipts and campaign emails to establish a personalized cadence with donors. According to TruConversion Reports, an email marketing campaign can deliver a return of $40 for every $1 spent. This places email in the highest marketing ROI category.
8. Neon CRM
Neon CRM is a donor management solution created by the fundraising platform Neon One and designed to scale up alongside organizations of any size. This versatile solution is able to help manage nonprofit fundraising, memberships, events, websites, and more.
Top Neon CRM features:
Plus, their matching gift integration with 360MatchPro by Double the Donation enables organizations to significantly increase matching gift awareness through strategic follow-ups and personalized guidelines—and boost matching gift revenue as a result.
Why We Love This CRM
Neon One includes website design solutions that can help you build and manage web pages with confidence. With its web design tools, you can generate responsive, SEO-optimized web pages with no coding needed. This way, you can promote your mission through an engaging online presence.
9. NonProfitEasy
NonProfitEasy is a product of the Lumaverse technology company that was built to provide organizations with simple, scalable solutions. Previously known as Fundly CRM, NonProfitEasy makes its goal to “turn one-time donors into lifetime supporters.”
Top NonProfitEasy features:
And with a seamless integration with the industry-leading matching gift tool, 360MatchPro, NonProfitEasy users are able to double supporter donations while saving time and effort through automation. This includes donor information screening to identify match-eligible transactions, customized outreach triggered to remind eligible individuals of matching gifts, and powerful tracking and reporting capabilities with forecasting tools.
Why We Love This CRM
TheNonprofitEasy includes enhanced member engagement features, so you can create member levels and pricing that reflect your nonprofit’s needs. Additionally, its embeddable member forms make it easy for you to create compelling member marketing campaigns. Member-specific email blasts also let you personalize your communications.
10. Raiser’s Edge NXT
Raiser’s Edge NXT is a nonprofit fundraising CRM built by Blackbaud that provides organizations of all sizes with donor management tools. The Raiser’s Edge NXT is their newest version of the product, which is a cloud-based software that aims to provide the social good community with an easy and effective fundraising solution.
Top Raiser’s Edge NXT features:
To incorporate matching gift fundraising efforts as well, Raiser’s Edge NXT integrates seamlessly with Double the Donation’s matching gift software. This enables nonprofits to leverage the most effective matching gift strategies with little to no time and effort required of their fundraising teams. With automated donor follow-ups and match reminders, organizations see significant increases in match revenue!
Why We Love This CRM
Raiser’s Edge NXT has extensive donor data tools that offer automated checkups to ensure your data is up to date. With clean and correct data, you’ll be able to foster more meaningful interactions and track your entire constituent community.
11. Salesforce
Salesforce is a popular CRM solution for businesses and nonprofits alike. Salesforce.com caters to the for-profit side of the sector, while Salesforce.org targets nonprofits, schools, and other mission-driven organizations.
Top Salesforce features:
This comprehensive platform also allows Salesforce clients to extend their CRM functionality through a number of technical integrations with partners listed in the Salesforce AppExchange marketplace—one of which is Double the Donation. When users leverage Double the Donation’s matching gift automation tools, nonprofits can collect two gifts for every one donation solicited by driving matching gift participation.
Why We Love This CRM
Salesforce’s digital marketing tools can help you make the initial ask and retain them long-term. With Salesforce, you can launch a series of emails or a full-blown, multi-channel campaign. The best part? Salesforce’s personalizing email features let you catch each individual supporter’s attention.
12. SalsaLabs
SalsaCRM from SalsaLabs is a powerful and effective donor management system. This software works well alongside Salsa’s other fundraising products in addition to a range of other top fundraising solutions—including Double the Donation’s matching gift tools!
Top Salsa features:
The Double the Donation integration allows Salsa clients to utilize Double the Donation’s matching gift software, 360MatchPro, alongside their fundraising CRMs and donation forms to automate matching gift communications with donors. This boosts awareness of these programs and their availability while encouraging eligible donors to request matching donations from their employers. Ultimately, these tools result in increased corporate donations and better donor relations.
Why We Love This CRM
SalsaLab’s donor profiles are overflowing with usable information for you to access unlimited custom fields and activity timelines. The platform’s automated “next suggested gift” calculations determine the optimal amounts for you to ask each donor. This way, you’ll engage with donors on a personal level and make an ask that aligns with their donation history.
13. Virtuous CRM
Virtuous offers a nonprofit CRM that is designed to help fundraisers streamline donor management efforts, improve supporter relationships, and leverage data-rich insights for improved practices.
Top Virtuous features:
With Virtuous, nonprofit clients can configure their fundraising CRMs to incorporate Double the Donation’s matching gift functionality. This integration allows organizations to increase matching gifts and improve their strategies through automated email follow-ups that contain employer-specific program information and instructions. When more donors request company matches from their employers, the nonprofit receives additional gifts for free!
Why We Love This CRM
Virtuous CRM’s social insights can give your organization the opportunity to make informed donor decisions. Using these insights, you can track givers based on their interests, persona, affiliations, and social media profiles. From there, you can suggest a relevant next action based on individual donor preferences and passions.
Tips for Selecting a Fundraising CRM
There are several CRMs out there and it can be easy to get overwhelmed with so many options. To assess your CRM needs, ask these questions:
Asking these questions ahead of time can help you narrow your search and decide on a scalable solution that best suits your specific needs. You might also decide to request a demo for multiple platforms to compare their capabilities.
Did any of these fundraising CRMs catch your eye? The providers listed above are some of our favorite solutions for nonprofit data management, donor relationships, automated communications, and more.
The more efficient your software, the more efficient your organization’s practices will be and the more you can do for your mission as a result. Good luck!
Check out these other educational resources to learn more about effective nonprofit fundraising and engagement strategies:
Google Ad Grant Remarketing: Your Questions Answered
/in Nonprofit Communications /by Jessica KingAs a nonprofit professional, you likely already know the importance of tailoring your communications to your audience. After all, your organization is connected to many unique individuals—donors, volunteers, new supporters, nonprofit staff, and beneficiaries—you wouldn’t communicate with them all the same way.
The same principle applies to digital marketing. Your online presence should cater to specific audiences. But how do you make sure the right audiences see the right ads? By remarketing with the Google Ad Grant!
In this article, we’ll answer your most pressing remarketing questions and explore how it can transform your digital strategy. Read more
Google Ad Grants Training: Top Resources and Courses
/in Google Ad Grants /by Jessica KingThrough the Google Ad Grant, Google provides nonprofits with thousands of dollars in grant money to spend on marketing. However, from ensuring they’re eligible and applying for a grant to actually running an ad campaign, nonprofits need to do their research before they can get started with a Google Ad Grant.
Fortunately, resources dedicated to Google Ad Grant training are plentiful. Informational blog posts, webinars, and training courses are all available to help nonprofits maximize their ad grants’ potential.
Whether you need marketing advice or are looking for tips on how to apply for the grant, these four resources can help with all of your nonprofit’s Google Ad Grant training needs.
Getting Attention
Getting Attention is a Google Ad Grants agency that helps nonprofits apply for the Google Ad Grant, create compelling ads, and comply with the program’s rules. Along with these paid services, Getting Attention also hosts a regularly updated blog with free educational content that nonprofits can access at any time.
The content hosted on Getting Attention is sourced from a variety of experts in the nonprofit field, ensuring the tips and best practices shared reflect the views of a number of professionals. Content also varies widely in length, from quick tips to some of the most comprehensive deep dives on nonprofit best practices around.
What you can learn
Getting Attention’s blog covers a variety of topics, including:
Cost
All blog content on Getting Attention’s website is free.
If you’re interested in Getting Attention’s Google Ad Grants services, get in touch to schedule a free consultation.
Google for Education
Google for Education is a collection of video courses created by Google for a variety of audiences, including teachers, librarians, students, parents, job seekers, and business owners. Of these courses, nonprofits can learn from the program’s free lesson on the Google Ad Grant. These short training videos are a strong introduction for nonprofits that want to hear about Google Ad Grants directly from Google.
What you can learn
Google for Education’s Google Ad Grants training course teaches nonprofits the following:
Cost
Google for Education’s resources are free. Just sign up with a Google account to access all of their content and track your progress through each course.
TechSoup Courses
TechSoup provides technology products, services, and resources at discounted rates to approved organizations. At one point, they were Google for Nonprofits’ preferred nonprofit verification partner, so they’re highly familiar with Google Ad Grant training. On their website, you can find a variety of courses, including one dedicated to the Google Ad Grant.
What you can learn
Nonprofits interested in using TechSoup as a training resource can discover:
Cost
Each of TechSoup’s courses has its own pricing, and their recorded seminar series on the Google Ad Grant costs $75 to access.
Udemy
Udemy hosts courses on a wide range of subjects, including how nonprofits can use the Google Ad Grant. These courses are usually multi-part video series and often include extra materials, such as knowledge quizzes, educational articles, and downloadable resources. Their course on the Google Ad Grant also comes with a certificate of completion after finishing the 1.5-hour video series.
What you can learn
Udemy’s Google Ad Grants training course provides information on:
Cost
Udemy’s prices vary from course to course. Additionally, Udemy regularly offers discounts and promotions. For example, while the Google Ad Grant training course is normally $109.99, it has been on sale for as low as $30.00. Plus, there is a 30-day money-back guarantee if the course does not meet your nonprofit’s needs.
Host impactful Google Ad Grants campaigns with the right training
The Google Ad Grant is an effective marketing platform that can get your nonprofit’s name in front of a large audience of potential supporters. To make the most of the opportunity the grant presents, ensure your team has the training they need to choose effective keywords, create outstanding ad copy, and ensure your ad campaigns are directed to the content you most want to promote.
If you’re looking for more training resources, start your search with these standout articles from Getting Attention’s free blog:
4 Ways to Win Donors’ Hearts with Nonprofit Storytelling
/in Nonprofit Communications /by Jessica KingWhen it comes to marketing your nonprofit’s mission and connecting with donors on a deeper level, nothing is better than an engaging story.
Your nonprofit storytelling needs to capture your audience’s attention, clearly explain the problem you’re facing, and empower supporters to be a part of the solution. Ultimately, it should inspire donations and other forms of support. In this guide, we’ll walk through:
Because nonprofit storytelling is a critical component of your overall marketing strategy, it’s essential to hone your skills. Let’s get started!
Why Is Nonprofit Storytelling Important?
It’s hard to forget a good story. While we might not remember the specific facts or details, storytelling is still one of the best ways to connect with other humans and share an experience.
Additionally, studies show that roughly 70% of companies invest in content marketing to convey stories to their audiences. With so many organizations investing in this method, there are clearly real benefits to using storytelling in marketing strategies.
Storytelling Benefits To Your Nonprofit
Here are the top benefits a dedicated nonprofit storytelling strategy can bring you:
Another key benefit of nonprofit storytelling is that your supporters will be more informed about your cause and your organization’s needs. Seeing the impact of your work through testimonials from beneficiaries will remind them of the good that their contributions enable.
What Are The Elements Of Nonprofit Storytelling?
Compelling Characters
Every good story needs a hero. For your nonprofit story, you’ll need a compelling character to act as the main lead and inspire support.
This “character” should be a real person who has been impacted by your nonprofit in some way. For example, you might choose to center one of these supporters in your story:
To translate details about these supporters or beneficiaries to your audience, you’ll need to use more traditional storytelling methods. Here are some ways to capture their personalities and emotions on screen or paper:
For example, Feeding America includes these stories from Native American women working towards food security on their website. The nonprofit includes their names, a photo of them, and an explanation of how they are supporting the cause:
When you involve real people in your stories, remember to consider the ethics of the story you’re telling. As the nonprofit, you are in a position of power—especially if the subject is a beneficiary. Lead with their best interests first, and never indicate that your services are contingent upon their participation in the storytelling campaign. Everything presented in the campaign must be honest and transparent.
Dramatic Arc
The dramatic arc is what hooks your audience, gets them invested in your narrative, and empowers them to play their own role in the story.
Here are the five main elements of a dramatic arc:
As you’re crafting your story, remember to be as clear as possible about the goals of the character, the challenges they face, and how exactly your nonprofit and audience can help. These are the most important aspects of the story, and they need to shine through for your nonprofit to make an impact.
Solution
The solution to your story provides proof that your organization truly makes a difference. When explaining your solution, you should:
For example, Step Up For Students created a blog post highlighting the story of a scholarship recipient attending Notre Dame who achieved salutatorian status in his class (note the prominent donation button in the sidebar!):
4 Best Practices To Take Your Nonprofit’s Storytelling To The Next Level
1. Support a Specific Goal
Make sure you have a specific goal or action at the center of your narrative. The goal you pick will depend on your unique needs and audience, but here are some examples to get the ball rolling:
To improve your fundraising strategy beyond this single campaign, look at your database and make note of engagements or key performance indicators (KPIs) that are falling short. Then, craft a story to support that area, and make sure to note it as a priority for future marketing efforts.
2. Activate Supporters’ Empathy
Making supporters feel something is the main conduit to whether or not they will feel passionate about your mission and decide to give.
This example from the ASPCA’s homepage makes an emotional appeal by using images of the animals that they work to aid, asking supporters to help them:
Before you can activate your own supporters’ empathy, it’s key to understand your audience so you know why donors choose to support your cause. Analyze data about your supporters like their past philanthropic involvement, political contributions, and demographic information to get a feel for their personal values. Then, pinpoint those values in your story.
To make an emotional appeal, make sure to closely follow and highlight your character’s emotions. Aim to center their perspective so your audience feels like they are walking in the supporter or beneficiary’s shoes. To immerse them in the story, remember to describe sensory details like sounds, smells, and feelings.
3. Use Visuals
Visuals help evoke emotion from your audience, leave a lasting impression in your supporters’ minds, and build your organization’s brand.
The best part is that visuals can take so many forms nowadays and can supplement your storytelling in different ways:
Look through your own arsenal of marketing materials and determine if any of your visuals are viable for use in your nonprofit story.
4. Leverage Video Content
In a 2023 study, 91% of people surveyed said that they want to see more online videos from organizations—satisfy this demand with your storytelling strategies.
To create an effective video, follow these best practices:
For inspiration, check out this video from the World Wildlife Fund. It shows the importance of each tiny piece of an ecosystem and encourages people to “love it” by supporting WWF (or risk losing it):
Apply for the Google Grant with Getting Attention
Spreading awareness of your nonprofit and reaching new people with your carefully crafted stories will be the final, often most difficult, step in nonprofit storytelling. Traditional marketing channels like television can be costly, and you might feel overwhelmed by the vastness of digital marketing.
To receive professional help and get $10,000 in Google Ads for free, consider working with a Google Ad Grants agency.
If you aren’t familiar, the Google Grant is a program hosted by Google that gives $10,000 in Google Ad credits to nonprofit organizations each month. The purpose of this grant is to help nonprofits promote valuable digital content (like your stories!) to their supporters.
To gain access to the program, your nonprofit will need to apply, maintain compliance, target relevant keywords, and manage multiple ad campaigns. Getting Attention is a Google Ad Grant agency that’s ready to help you apply and manage your Google Ad campaigns.
Additional Resources
People are inspired by, learn from, and remember stories. Your nonprofit already has a compelling story: a built-in goal (mission) and antagonist (issue) to drive the narrative forward and captivate your audience members. Take advantage of this story waiting to be told in your next campaign.
To learn more about how you can level up your nonprofit marketing, explore these additional resources:
Making Your Case to Donors: Top 5 Tips to Increase Donations
/in Nonprofit Communications, Nonprofit Fundraising /by Jessica KingIf you’re a nonprofit professional, you know just how important donations are to your organization. You may receive funds in other ways, such as grants or sponsorships, but consistent donations will launch you toward your fundraising goals.
Making your case to donors through presentations and one-on-one meetings is extremely effective because it allows you to start an in-person dialogue with donors and gather audience feedback. While other outreach methods such as emails and phone calls permit you to reach donors where they are, presentations and meetings allow for a more personalized, hands-on approach to increasing donations.
When you’re making your case to donors in a presentation or meeting, you want to make your cause stand out and prove why it’s important for them to contribute. We’ve compiled a list of tips to help encourage donations, including:
With these five tips in mind, you can strengthen your relationships with donors and motivate them to give back to your cause.
1. Get to know your donors.
When you understand your donors on a deeper level, you can offer more personalized messages and calls to action. Communicate with donors frequently through a variety of methods to learn more about them and gather feedback. These outreach methods may include email check-ins, annual surveys, phone calls, and social media direct messages.
The more you know about your donors, the better you can reach them. Ask them what interests them most about your nonprofit. Your organization may offer many different services, but matching each donor to the service they’re most passionate about will allow you to personalize your communications when it’s time to ask for donations.
You can store this information along with any other relevant demographic data in a donor data platform. NPOInfo explains that when you store all donor information in one place, it streamlines your communication with donors. You can reference this information to pick up donor communications where they left off and make sure each outreach point builds on previous conversations.
2. Incorporate storytelling.
When you speak to donors, you want to make your message as engaging as possible. That’s where storytelling comes in.
As Be Brilliant explains it, using storytelling in a presentation gives some individuality to your case. For example, you might not be the only animal shelter out there, but what makes yours unique? Perhaps your pet adoption program is so successful because of your organization’s unique pet-matching program that matches people with pets using a personality quiz. You might tell a story about an individual who came in looking for a pet with specific traits and found the perfect new furry family member for their needs.
Instead of drawing on generalities about your organization, use a story to show off exactly what your organization does. Plus, stories are better at eliciting emotions, which can motivate your donors to take action.
3. Create a sense of urgency.
Your supporters may feel connected to your organization, but if they don’t feel inclined to donate immediately, they’ll likely put it off and eventually forget to show their support. The two most popular times to donate tend to be the end of the year giving season and during major crises. However, this tendency can leave your nonprofit feeling strapped for cash in between popular donation times.
To solve this problem, create a sense of urgency surrounding donations. You do important work all year long, and you need regular donations in order to support it. Setting deadlines for donations pushes people to take action quickly.
Another way to create urgency is to connect your case to a relevant campaign or seasonal event. When donors see the larger initiative attached to your request, they may be more inclined to donate. For example, designated giving days like GivingTuesday that have hard deadlines can inspire quick responses.
Lastly, be extremely specific about what action you want your donors to take. When you write a clear and easy call to action, you’re more likely to inspire a quick response. Include all details potential donors will need to contribute to your cause, including a donation link.
4. Make it clear where donations are going.
When people give to an organization, they want to know exactly what their donation is going toward. That way, they can see the impact they’ve made and feel proud of their contribution.
The more specific you can get about the impact someone’s donation will have, the better. For example, instead of stating that donations will help animals in the shelter live a better life, share that the funds raised in the next month will go toward building a new outdoor space where dogs can get a break from the cramped conditions inside.
If you’re planning a live presentation for donors, this should be the bulk of your presentation. Make your current initiatives more tangible for donors with thorough explanations, infographics, pictures, and videos.
5. Add credibility to your case.
One of the biggest challenges of marketing your cause is establishing trustworthiness. It can be difficult for donors to trust an organization they may have never heard of or contributed to before.
However, there are ways to show that your organization is credible. For example, one of the best ways to gain trust when promoting your cause is to display donor testimonials. Ask some of your top supporters to share their experiences with your organization. Adding quotes from real people associated with your nonprofit will help verify your organization’s credibility.
Other strategies to demonstrate credibility include mentioning any seals of approval your organization has received and creating graphics that show exactly where your money comes from and where it goes.
Since nonprofits heavily depend on donations, it’s important to show donors your cause is worthy of their unwavering support. Consider implementing these tips to bolster your case to donors in presentations and meetings and encourage more donations.
Top Nonprofit Blogs & Tips: How to Master Content Marketing
/in Nonprofit Communications /by Jessica KingDid you know 92% of nonprofit marketers use some form of content marketing? That’s because it works! Blogging is an easy, effective way to boost your online presence. Nonprofit blogs use a mix of storytelling techniques to attract donors, increase audience engagement, and establish authority.
At Getting Attention, we help nonprofits elevate their online marketing efforts through Google Ad Grant optimization. That said, through those efforts, we’ve seen firsthand what can make or break a nonprofit’s blog! In this comprehensive guide, we’ll cover the following information, including the importance of nonprofit blogs as well as best practices for curating content:
At the end of the guide, we’ll explore some note-worthy examples of blogs in the nonprofit space to kick off your brainstorming and make blogging a valuable part of your marketing plan. Let’s get started.

Overview of Nonprofit Blogs
Nonprofit blogs are dedicated resources hosted on the websites of charitable organizations, fundraising professionals and consultants, and nonprofit software companies. Blogs can range in style and content, from educational guides and industry updates to current events and impact stories. But each nonprofit blog shares a common goal: driving traffic to the organization’s website.
A nonprofit blog acts as a powerful search engine optimization (SEO) tool. While your main website provides the basic information for your mission and goals, your blog should explore topics that potential supporters might search for on Google. When your blog consistently posts valuable content that’s optimized for highly-searched keywords, it will become a go-to resource that ranks highly on search engine result pages and attracts new prospects.
If you find yourself asking, “Does my nonprofit need a blog?” the answer is likely yes! Blogging is an easy, effective way to stand out and engage with your audience. Since charitable organizations rely on raising awareness, blogs can help your organization to:
For more information on the benefits of blogging, read our article dedicated to the basics of nonprofit marketing blogs. Then, learn how to write a successful nonprofit blog in the next section.
How to Write a Nonprofit Blog
Now that you’ve decided to start a blog for your nonprofit, you’re left with the task of creating content. You may struggle with narrowing down topics, attracting an audience, and standing out against other nonprofit blogs.
Don’t fret! Nearly 64% of nonprofit content marketers publish blogs regularly, meaning it’s a popular and manageable undertaking. Use this simple step-by-step guide to help your nonprofit write an effective blog.
Step 1: Consider the goals of your blog.
Before you begin writing content, determine how the blog will tie into your marketing strategy. Host a meeting with your team to consider the short and long-term goals of the blog. The first question you should ask is “What do we hope to achieve through our marketing efforts?”
Create a list of 3-5 priorities for your nonprofit blog. Tactical goals include building brand awareness, attracting volunteers, increasing fundraising, and encouraging email signups, among others. Consider the following examples:
This process will help your team determine its short and long-term goals. After carefully considering your objectives, you’re ready to create a content strategy that will drive your nonprofit’s objectives.
Step 2: Create a content strategy.
A content strategy defines content-related decisions, including which blog posts you’ll write and when. Once you determine your goals, consider how content will fit into your marketing funnel. Which topics should be addressed at the top of the funnel to raise awareness? What subjects need to be covered to facilitate conversions?
Making a content strategy that works for your nonprofit will help you to create consistently strong content. Let’s review the three main elements of a content strategy that are especially important for nonprofit blogs:
Content strategies will be a go-to resource for your team, clarifying how, when, where, and why you will create content. Aligning content plans with your overall goals will improve your organization’s marketing efforts and help you create the most effective content.
Step 3: Create content.
Once you set your goals and establish a clear content strategy, you’re faced with the challenge of content creation. Keep in mind that blog posts of around 2,000 words have the highest SEO and social sharing rates. When creating your own content, keep the following writing tips in mind:
If you don’t have enough time to write your own content, you can still update your audience and support your marketing goals through content curation. Content curation is the process of selecting, editing, and publishing content from external sources. Just remember to never reproduce external content without identifying your source and adding your own expertise.
Step 4: Market your blog.
Now it’s time to make your nonprofit blog stand out! From email to social media, there are multiple marketing channels to choose from, and each has its own strengths. Here are the most popular marketing channels:
If a Google Grant seems like the best fit for your nonprofit blog, consider working with a certified agency like Getting Attention. Getting Attention’s team of experts offers free consultations and resources to help your organization plan a successful campaign strategy. Reach out to our team today to learn more!
Nonprofit Blog Best Practices
It’s no secret that building a nonprofit blog takes time and effort. But the payoff—driving interested supporters to your mission—will be worthwhile! Whether launching your first blog or updating existing content, your nonprofit will benefit from these blogging best practices:
These best practices will improve your search engine results and increase traffic to your nonprofit’s blog. Now let’s take a look at the nonprofit blogs that have successfully implemented these tips!
Best Nonprofit Blogs to Inspire You
With more than 500 million blogs worldwide, it can be difficult to sort through the seemingly endless sea of information. We’ve compiled a list of the best nonprofit blogs that managed to stand out using marketing strategies. From Getting Attention to Top Nonprofits, these nonprofit blogs are sure to inspire your next post!
Getting Attention
Getting Attention is made up of professional fundraising consultants dedicated to Google Ad Grant management. Getting Attention’s nonprofit marketing blog offers articles spanning a variety of essential nonprofit topics, from the basics of Google Grants to guides for planning a comprehensive nonprofit marketing plan.
Double the Donation
Double the Donation is an expert in matching gift funds, with the largest and most accurate database of matching gift and volunteer grant information in the nonprofit sector. Double the Donation’s dedicated blogroll consists of industry guides and nonprofit tips including corporate fundraising, general fundraising guides, and top software provider lists.
eCardWidget
re:Charity
re:Charity is a nonprofit blog dedicated to hosting fundraising resources, tips, best practices, industry guides, and software lists. There is a wide range of information on re:Charity, with specific blog categories dedicated to fundraising, marketing, technology, and nonprofit strategies.
Fundraising Letters
Fundraising Letters is a website committed to helping nonprofit leaders craft compelling and engaging communications with supporters. The Fundraising Letters blog allows professionals to peruse educational resources provided by thought leaders throughout the nonprofit industry.
Crowd101
Crowd101 hosts a wide variety of resources and blog posts to help fundraisers begin a crowdfunding event, market it effectively, and explore other fundraising tips. Their blog is a great resource with clearly defined sections like getting started with crowdfunding, crowdfunding examples, fundraising ideas, real estate crowdfunding information, and more!
NonprofitPRO
NonprofitPRO is a go-to source for nonprofit management and strategy which serves fresh, hard-hitting content. They cover a range of topics, including human resources, board and volunteer management, legal matters, news, and raising funds. NonprofitPRO’s blog effectively brings together thought leaders in the nonprofit industry, offering a wide range of tools and strategy guides to modern nonprofit professionals.
Get Fully Funded
Get Fully Funded is a step-by-step system for fundraising that teaches how to build a loyal donor base, inspire donors to give, and build relationships that keep them giving. Their dedicated team of professionals offers coaching, training, and support to fully fund your nonprofit. Get Fully Funded has an extensive blog site with weekly tips and tools to help you raise the money you need to grow your nonprofit.
Candid
Candid connects people who want to make a difference with the resources they need to do it. GuideStar, a data collection company, and Foundation Center joined forces to create Candid, a comprehensive database for nonprofits. Follow their blog for regularly updated information on how philanthropy responds to advancing racial equity and safeguarding democracy.
Nonprofit Hub
Nonprofit Hub is a national educational publication helping nonprofits grow their missions and better their organizations. It’s a great resource for thought leadership and resources on marketing, fundraising, and more! Each week, Nonprofit Hub publishes new blog content ranging from nonprofit branding to nonprofit web design.
Nonprofit Tech for Good
Nonprofit Tech for Good focuses on providing useful, easy-to-understand news and resources related to digital marketing and fundraising. 101 Best Practices is their blog and webinar series on website design, email marketing, online fundraising, and social media best practices for nonprofits, NGOs, and charities worldwide.
The Chronicle of Philanthropy
The Chronicle of Philanthropy explores the nonprofit world of philanthropy. Based in Washington, DC, their print and online content targets charity leaders, foundation executives, fundraising professionals, and ordinary people involved in philanthropy. The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s blog is dedicated to honest conversations about what works and what doesn’t in the nonprofit sector.
Top Nonprofits
Top Nonprofits was founded to help nonprofits accelerate their growth through sharing information, tools, trends, and best practices. In this blog, you’ll learn about new frontiers in fundraising, best storytelling practices, tips for mission statements, and more!
Wrapping Up: Our Final Tip for Optimizing Your Nonprofit’s Marketing
The bottom line: running a nonprofit blog takes dedication, consistent writing, and a strong marketing strategy. If you follow best practices, your nonprofit will reap benefits like connecting to donors and increasing brand awareness.
Once you’re ready to promote your nonprofit blog, consider working with a trusted expert like Getting Attention. We’ll help you bring new supporters to your website through Google Ad Grant management and make the most of your Google Ad Grant.
Promoting Your Mission: 13 Free Nonprofit Marketing Tools
/in Nonprofit Communications, Nonprofit Marketing, Nonprofit Tools /by Jessica KingTo further your nonprofit’s cause, you need all kinds of support, including donations, and support from volunteers and members alike. To get that support, people need to be aware of your organization and its goals. That’s why getting the word out about your mission is one of the most important parts of running a successful nonprofit.
If you’re not convinced that marketing is vital for your nonprofit, consider that one in four donors use their mobile devices to discover nonprofits they were previously unaware of. And in 2021, nonprofit email list sizes grew by 7%. This means that potential supporters are interested in learning about and helping your nonprofit—they just need to find you.
To help you upgrade your marketing efforts, this guide will cover the following topics:
Having access to free marketing tools can take a great burden off of small or new nonprofits that are just getting started and may not have the budget to pay for marketing software solutions. However, to use these tools effectively, you must first understand how advertising can help your nonprofit.
What are the Benefits of Nonprofit Marketing?
Promoting your nonprofit brings a variety of benefits. It extends your organization’s reach, resulting in:
To fully leverage the benefits of promoting your nonprofit digitally, you’ll need to put time and effort into creating a thorough marketing strategy. There’s a lot of research and planning involved in a successful marketing campaign, but not to worry—we’ll help you get started with establishing your strategy.
7 Steps for Creating Your Nonprofit Marketing Strategy
For advice on establishing a comprehensive and thoughtful promotional plan, consider these seven steps to creating a successful marketing strategy:
Don’t be discouraged if your strategy isn’t as successful as you want it to be on your first try. Building a nonprofit marketing strategy can be difficult, as there are many different aspects to it that you’ll need to consider. It will take trial and error, and it’s normal for your strategy to need revising.
13 Free Nonprofit Marketing Tools
To help you execute your marketing strategy, we’ll discuss 13 free nonprofit marketing tools you can use and what you can accomplish with them.
1. Google Trends
With Google Trends, you’ll gain a broad understanding of what people are searching on Google in real time. You can use this information to gauge interest in a particular topic. This could be your nonprofit, your cause, or any current events that relate to either.
You’ll also be able to evaluate engagement with your topic of choice in specific locations over time. This can help you determine how popular the topics surrounding your nonprofit’s mission are and form an understanding of your target audience. You can also leverage long-term trending searches in your marketing strategy to garner more support for and awareness of your nonprofit.
2. Google Analytics
Google Analytics is helpful for nonprofits during each stage of establishing their marketing strategy. It allows you to understand your website, your visitors, and their behaviors. Some of the insights you gain from Google Analytics include:
This tool is most helpful for nonprofits who are trying to determine their target audience and decide which digital marketing channels to use. You can also use it to track the success of certain strategies and channels, like Google Ads.
With the insights from Google Analytics, you’ll be able to gain a thorough understanding of your target audience and how they prefer to see communications from your nonprofit. You can also create customized dashboards to keep track of the information you need, which is very helpful for evaluating and tweaking your nonprofit’s marketing strategy.
3. SurveyMonkey
This free nonprofit marketing tool allows you to conveniently create surveys for polling your nonprofit’s audience. Not only can you create surveys to assess attendee satisfaction after events, for example, but you can also leverage this tool to inform your marketing efforts.
With SurveyMonkey, you’ll have access to a library of survey templates that you can build upon and customize to fit your nonprofit’s needs. Make your survey available through web links, email, or embeds on your website. Once you get responses to these surveys, analyze responses with SurveyMonkey’s built-in reports and dashboards.
Like Google Analytics, you can use this free marketing tool to decide on your target audience and which marketing channels to use. However, you can use it to gather more in-depth and detailed information from your nonprofit’s existing supporters to fuel your marketing efforts. For example, use your surveys to ask them about their interests, communication preferences, and what they’d like to see from your organization.
4. Canva
When it comes to developing your nonprofit’s graphics and marketing materials, Canva is the free marketing tool you’ll want to use. To help nonprofits with their advertising efforts, Canva offers free use of its intuitive and convenient premium tools to eligible organizations.
With Canva, you can create a variety of marketing materials to boost mission awareness and recruit support, including:
This tool offers over 75 million images and 3.5 million graphical elements to help you design attractive, professional, and consistent marketing materials for your nonprofit. If you’re unsure of how to effectively utilize graphic design principles to create eye-catching promotional content, don’t worry—Canva also offers over 400,000 customizable templates to get you started.
5. Pexels
“A picture is worth a thousand words” is a common saying, but it’s based on reality. In fact, articles with images have 650% of the engagement of articles without. If you’re interested in leveraging the power of images to engage your audience, consider using Pexels.
This free nonprofit marketing tool is a database of free stock photos and royalty-free images and videos that you can use at no cost. Pexels also encourages creativity by allowing users to modify the photos and videos on their site.
For nonprofits without photographers and videographers, Pexels is a great alternative. While you don’t have sufficient photos and videos of your own, use this tool to liven up your promotional content and make it more visually appealing and engaging.
6. Grammarly
While visuals are important for your nonprofit’s marketing content, your written content is also crucial to creating a compelling message that helps garner more funds and followers. Grammarly is a free nonprofit marketing tool that can help you do that.
Although Grammarly can’t write your content for you, it can act as a proofreader. To ensure your nonprofit presents a professional image to potential supporters, it will review spelling, grammar, punctuation, and clarity errors in your text and suggest fixes. By downloading the Grammarly app and extension, you can write mistake-free in any app you use, including Gmail, Google Docs, Facebook, and more.
If you’re looking for even more in-depth insight into improving your writing, Grammarly’s paid premium service will give you targeted suggestions for clarity, vocabulary, and tone.
7. Typito
Nonprofit video content is a type of marketing material that, when strategically created, can create a great impact on your organization. A recent study found that as many as 91% of consumers want to see more online video content from brands, and another study found that video marketers get 66% more qualified leads per year and achieve a 54% increase in brand awareness.
Typito is a free nonprofit marketing tool you can use to create stunning and professional text videos. It has an easy drag-and-drop interface to make the editing process more convenient, so you can have your promotional videos ready to go in no time. Typito also offers the following features:
And, if you ever need any help with your creations, Typito’s support team is ready to help. For nonprofits that are looking to create compelling video content, such as for a social media platform like Youtube or TikTok, this free marketing tool is a stellar choice.
8. Google Ad Grants
When it comes to reaching a wider audience, Google Search Ads is a top tool for organizations of all types. The Google Ad Grant gives eligible nonprofits access to these ads for free by giving them $10,000 of credits to spend on Google Ads. This free funding can make a huge difference for small nonprofits seeking to create a greater impact.
To be a part of the Google Ad Grant program, your nonprofit must be eligible and go through the application process. After you’ve been approved, you’ll set up ad campaigns that help you work towards your greater marketing goals. Effective Google Ad Grants management allows nonprofits to:
Use Google Ad Grants to create compelling advertisements that your target audience will click on. To do so, you’ll need knowledge of search engine optimization (SEO) and keyword research. However, if you have the budget and lack the required experience, consider partnering with a Google Ad Grants agency. These marketing professionals can lend their experience to help you generate the impact you desire.
9. Mailchimp
Email marketing is a tried and true channel for nonprofit advertising. Mailchimp makes that easier for you with a solution built for marketing. With this free nonprofit marketing tool, you can set up automated email campaigns to ensure that you send your messages at the right time. And, it syncs seamlessly with your existing software solutions so you can save time.
Use Mailchimp’s free, pre-built email templates to help you jumpstart your email marketing processes. You’ll have access to tools to help you create content, customize designs, and assess how your content is performing. You can also separate your supporters into different segments, helping you create compelling content that appeals to each unique audience group.
10. Hootsuite
It’s estimated that there are over 4.8 billion social media users worldwide. That alone speaks to social media’s greatest power, which is helping your nonprofit increase its reach and visibility. Hootsuite helps you do that by managing your social media profiles, all in one place.
With Hootsuite, you can:
This nonprofit marketing tool will level up your social media marketing efforts by helping you create high-quality content that appeals to your target audience. Hootsuite offers a free 30-day trial for organizations interested in their Professional and Team plans, but after that, you’ll have to pay a yearly fee to continue using their services.
11. Bitly
Bitly is a free nonprofit marketing tool for creating short links, QR codes, and Link-in-bio pages. They have over 500 thousand paying customers across the globe and 5.7 million monthly users. Their free features include:
You can use Bitly’s features in a variety of ways to aid your marketing efforts. For example, if the URL for your donation page is long and difficult to remember, make it more convenient for potential donors by shortening it. Or, if you’re promoting an event, include a QR code on your posters and flyers so people walking by can easily get more information
Additionally, Bitly also offers advanced analytics and tracking tools to help you easily assess the data from your links and QR codes. You can use these features to evaluate your marketing strategy’s efficacy, helping you identify points that could be improved in the future.
12. WebSite Auditor
This free nonprofit marketing tool does exactly what its name suggests—it audits your website and performs on-page analysis for SEO. Ensuring that your organization’s website is as easy as possible for search engines to crawl through is important to improving your ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs), as this boosts your mission’s visibility.
WebSite Auditor’s free plan allows you to:
Not only that, but it offers easy access to all analytical data for your website and pages within one project. WebSite Auditor gives your nonprofit specific knowledge on how your site can be improved and empowers you to make those changes by giving you actionable insights. It works on any operating system, allowing you to easily evaluate and upgrade your site’s marketing potential.
13. Give Lively
After you’ve put your advertising plan into place and evaluated it, you’ll need to decide which improvements to make. Ask yourself, what changes would help your marketing strategy fulfill its purpose? One of the ways you can improve your strategy is by using a dedicated fundraising platform like Give Lively.
Entirely free for nonprofits, Give Lively offers digital, event, and peer-based fundraising features that will help your organization raise the funds you need. This software solution enhances your marketing strategy with these features:
If the goal of your advertising strategy is to increase your fundraising capability, Give Lively is the free marketing tool that will upgrade your marketing efforts. To use this software solution, you need to be a U.S. based 501(c)(3) public charity. You’ll apply to become a member, and Give Lively will accept your membership if you align with their values statement.
Additional Resources
Nonprofit marketing can be just as complex and difficult as marketing for for-profit organizations. Luckily, there are a variety of free marketing tools available that your organization can use to reach your goals.
There are a lot of choices, and you might feel overwhelmed by them. Just remember that the first step is to establish your marketing plan—after that, do thorough research and select the tools that will help you achieve your goals.
If you’re interested in learning more about nonprofit marketing, take a look at the following resources:
3 Easy Steps to Effectively Advertise Your Fundraising 5K
/in Nonprofit Communications, Nonprofit Marketing /by Jessica KingPicture this: you’re rallying your coworkers, friends, and family to join your local business’ fundraising 5K to raise money for a cause near your heart. Whether protecting animal rights or conserving the land where you grew up, you want to involve as many people as possible.
However, it might feel overwhelming if you’re new to promoting social good causes. You might ask questions like, “How do I leverage my existing connections?” and “How can I reach more people faster?” To help you get started, we’ve drafted three easy steps to advertise your fundraising 5K:
By following these steps, you can build a reliable community of supporters that you can continue to grow even after your race ends. Let’s dive in!
1. Build a dedicated event website
Your event website acts as your “home base” for all things related to your fundraising 5K. It should be the first place supporters can count on to find the most up-to-date information about your upcoming event. An effective website will include elements such as:
To bring your website to the next level, you might consider posting relevant blog posts to convince your visitors to stick around. You can cover topics like The 5 Best Pre-Run Meals or How and Why You Should Recycle Old Running Shoes. You can link to these topics on social media and invite guest contributors to share their thoughts.
2. Leverage social media
Did you know that almost 60% of Gen Z are inspired to donate by a message or image they saw on social media? That means that social media should be essential to your overall marketing plan. The main channels to consider include Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Facebook is one of the most popular social media platforms, and it can help your fundraising with dedicated event page features, page creation capabilities, and sharing features. It’s also a great platform to share your fundraising results following your 5K. Twitter makes real-time reactions and updates easy with short messaging and retweetability.
In many ways, Instagram is an ideal platform to make your pre-event journey come to life because of its visual storytelling capabilities. To make full use of this channel, consider posting engaging content like:
For the best social media marketing results, begin posting regularly at least a month or two in advance and maintain a consistent schedule. When you come closer to your event, post more frequent countdowns, relevant updates, and any final instructions. Engage with comments and direct participants to your website for any updates that need to be fleshed out in more detail.
3. Connect with Your Local Community
Aside from leveraging digital channels, you can advertise for your cause by connecting with your local community. Most likely, at least a few organizations would be interested in participating in or sponsoring your 5K.
Sneakers4Good suggests reaching out to the following groups to spread the word and expand your existing running community:
To increase community awareness, your team could also post flyers in local parks, gyms, and other fitness centers. Kwala’s guide to fundraising flyers offers plenty of design inspiration. Just be sure to include your event details, social media links, and website information for interested members to get involved.
Using a combination of digital and community outreach, you can effectively promote your fundraising 5K. Whenever possible, look for ways to combine your digital and in-person worlds to create a more integrated marketing strategy.
For example, you can include QR codes on printed flyers that link to your registration page. Or, you could invite your online followers to join an in-person training session to prepare for the race. These strategies will let participants get to know one another and help you reach more people faster. You’ve got this!
Top 10 Online Donation Tools That Help Nonprofits Raise More
/in Nonprofit Communications, Nonprofit Fundraising, Nonprofit Tools /by Jessica KingOnline donations are a growing source of revenue for nonprofits, with 63% of donors saying they prefer to give online. From small grassroots organizations to large international charities, nonprofits are turning to online donation tools to make it easier for donors to give and to help raise more funds for their causes.
However, with so many donation tools available, each with its own unique features, pricing, and benefits, it can be difficult to decide which ones to invest in.
In this guide, we’ll highlight the top 10 online donation tools that help nonprofits streamline their donation process and raise more: Read more
Managing Financial Records for Digital Fundraising: 4 Tips
/in Nonprofit Communications /by Jessica KingIn today’s online-focused world, digital fundraising is essential for nonprofits to thrive. Research shows that revenue from online donations increased by 10% from 2021 to 2022, and that number is only projected to grow as more supporters take advantage of the convenience and versatility that digital fundraising provides.
When your organization is incorporating new methods of online fundraising such as crowdfunding or investing for your nonprofit, financial management can become complicated. This is especially true when making sure that all of your donations are recorded properly, which is key to ensuring compliance with legal and regulatory requirements for fundraising.
In this guide, we’ll walk through the following four tips for effectively managing your nonprofit’s financial records when doing digital fundraising:
As you adapt these tips to meet your nonprofit’s needs, keep in mind that your fundraising and financial management strategies should work together. To further your organization’s mission, you not only need to maximize the amount of revenue you bring in, but also handle that revenue appropriately. Let’s get started!
1. Understand the Different Types of Online Donations
While the donation page on your organization’s website likely comes to mind when you think of the term “digital fundraising,” not all of your online contributions come in through that page. There are many types of digital donations, each of which needs to be recorded slightly differently in your nonprofit accounting system.
Some of the most common forms of online fundraising revenue include:
With all of these revenue sources, it’s important to reconcile your donation records on a regular basis—at least once per quarter, if not once per month. Working with a nonprofit accountant can help with this process. They have the expertise to ensure all of the information in your accounting system matches the data from the various online fundraising platforms you use and resolve any potential discrepancies.
2. Consider the Implications for Your Budget
If you’ve ever created a nonprofit operating budget, you know that this document is used to predict your organization’s revenue and expenses for a given fiscal year. Of course, digital fundraising provides revenue to include in your projections, but you should keep in mind that it also affects your expenses.
Most nonprofits divide their predicted expenses into program costs, which are incurred while doing activities that directly relate to your mission, and overhead costs. Overhead costs include not only administrative expenses like rent and staff salaries, but also the expenses required to fundraise. In the digital space, this may include:
As you develop your budget, make sure to figure in all of these costs. Additionally, remember that both the revenue and the expenses you record in your budget are just estimates. If possible, try to budget for a revenue surplus so that you can still cover all of the costs of digital fundraising if you bring in less funding than expected.
3. Compile and Analyze Financial Statements
In addition to your budget, your organization’s financial statements are some of the most important documents for sound management. They summarize and contextualize data from digital fundraising and other financial activities so you can accurately assess your nonprofit’s financial health.
Jitasa’s guide to nonprofit financial management recommends compiling and analyzing the following statements:
Some organizations also compile a statement of functional expenses, which breaks down your costs based on programming, fundraising, and administrative activities. Although this statement is optional, it organizes your digital fundraising data in the same format as the IRS Form 990, so it makes filling out your nonprofit’s annual tax return easier.
4. Focus on Financial Data Security
Data security measures are an important part of your nonprofit risk management strategy, especially when it comes to financial information. Keeping your digital fundraising data safe is important not only to protect against theft and fraud, but also to build trust with supporters by protecting their contact and payment information.
Some strategies to increase financial data security at your nonprofit include:
Additionally, be cautious about the types of online payments you accept. According to NXUnite, data security is especially important when it comes to donations made through mobile payment services since they typically ask for bank account information from both your organization and the donor. Stick to trusted providers and research their internal security measures before accepting contributions made through those services.
As your nonprofit expands its digital fundraising efforts, you’ll also need to be more mindful of how you manage and record the funds you bring in through online channels. A robust accounting system, a well-organized budget and financial statements, and strong data security measures are essential for your organization to not only comply with regulations but also make the most of digital fundraising.