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Staff Retention: 9 Winning Ways to Improve Employee Loyalty

August 7, 2023/in Nonprofit Tools /by Jessica King

Most, if not all, nonprofits struggle to retain talent, especially in today’s challenging job market and remote work environment.

Improving employee retention requires an intentional and multifaceted approach. To be successful, your plan must encompass multiple employee touchpoints and a focus on employee engagement strategies.

Employees who feel valued, appreciated, and recognized by their organizations and direct managers are happier with their current situations and more likely to envision a future with their organizations.

The following tips can help boost employee engagement and increase retention:

Redirect your compensation efforts
Focus on career advancement
Provide opportunities for skill development
Understand the pressures on employees
Commit to transparency and clear communication
Emphasize your calling
Celebrate employee success
Invest in employee engagement software
Create a corporate giving program

Improving employee retention is essential for the long-term health and success of your organization. After all, according to Gallup, the cost of replacing an employee can be one-half to two times that employee’s annual salary. Attract top talent and keep them invested in their roles with these key tips.

1. Redirect your compensation efforts

Offering competitive salaries is a challenge for most nonprofits. Frequently, overhead costs must be kept to a minimum, and salary budgets are limited by funding. While replacing employees is costly, many nonprofits simply do not have the resources available to provide increases to pay or pay ranges. Exploring other avenues to address compensation gaps is important.

One approach is to view compensation from a total rewards perspective. Focus on the indirect components of compensation, emphasizing the overall value of the package provided to employees. Indirect compensation includes perks, recognition programs, mental and physical wellness benefits, culture, management styles, and much more.

It is also important to address any inequities in your compensation structure as part of greater diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

2. Focus on career advancement

Another common reason employees leave an organization is a lack of advancement. Often, individuals seek positions elsewhere without fully understanding the developmental paths available with their current employer.

Employees need to feel that they have the ability to move and progress within a company. Meet with your employees to understand their goals and interests. It’s imperative for leadership to communicate about the organization’s plans, how individuals may fit into that plan, and future opportunities that will be provided.

Formalized policies and practices regarding pathways to advancement and promotions are important to retention. A policy of filling open positions from within and laying out a clear process is evidence of commitment to employee growth and development.

3. Provide opportunities for skill development

Furthermore, it’s important to consider various ways of providing opportunities for development. Not all movement needs to be vertical. Lateral moves within an organization can be equally valuable. They allow employees to:

Gain greater insight into the organization
Develop new areas of expertise
Open new doors

Formal training programs are always an option, but they can be expensive and require a significant commitment of time. Leveraging internal expertise to develop new skills and competencies can be an effective and economical way to provide opportunities to develop new skills.

Some common initiatives include lunch and learns, peer mentoring, and preceptorships. This cross-pollination connects people across your organization, building rapport, trust, and camaraderie that deepens their connection to the organization.

4. Understand the pressures on employees

Employees experience stress both in and outside of work. Regardless of the source, the resulting mental fatigue impacts work performance. Society is becoming more in tune and comfortable with discussing and addressing mental illness and stress. Top employers show similar understanding by instituting benefits that help employees better cope.

Examples of employer-provided support include:

Flexible work arrangements
Generous paid time off
Access to mental health services
Educational programs that address common life stressors

Providing resources to support personal and family challenges shows your employees that you value them as people. These benefits and programs evidence an organizational commitment to stand by employees through both significant, life-altering events as well as everyday obligations that may cause chronic stress.

5. Commit to transparency and clear communication

Employees need to know how and why decisions are made. Do not allow the rumor mill or employee imaginations to tell your story. Frequent, honest communication undermines the spread of inaccurate information, allows for understanding, and builds trust between leadership and staff.

Communication should be two-way, not just from leadership down. Build a culture where employees not only expect managers to ask for their input but feel comfortable offering their opinions. Find out what your employees think about important topics, including what they like and dislike about working at your organization.

Common mechanisms for gathering employee perceptions and ideas include:

Town halls
Climate surveys
Team meetings
One-on-one sessions
Stay interviews
Exit interviews

Welcome feedback in a positive fashion, as negative responses will only stifle future participation.

Once you have this information, do not sit on it. If you are going to ask for feedback, it is crucial that you take action. If action is not possible, circle back to employees to explain the decision-making process.

6. Emphasize your calling

Typically, the employees that a nonprofit attracts are passionate about the organization’s mission and have a strong desire to serve. Capitalize on this connection to keep your employees excited about being part of your team.

Integrate your values and mission into everything you do – your culture, policies, and initiatives. When your mission is central to serving your constituents it is also critical to how you treat your employees. A consistent reminder of the good that comes from their efforts will inspire and have an impact on employees’ long-term commitment to your organization.

7. Celebrate employee successes

Besides incorporating a total rewards approach to your organization, you should also focus on ways to acknowledge and celebrate your employees’ successes. This should be done on a standard basis to ensure that anyone on your team can give kudos. Some simple ways you can start showing employee appreciation include:

Encouraging positive ad hoc feedback during one-on-ones. For direct reports, one-on-one meetings with managers can encourage them to feel more comfortable with communicating and receiving feedback. Facilitate this relationship-building by encouraging middle managers to give kudos to directs. Of course, middle managers should only deliver positive feedback when their directs have earned it, but even recognition for little things can go a long way in making employees feel valued.
Promoting peer-to-peer recognition. Create a culture of recognition at your company by making it easy for employees to acknowledge each other for their performance. According to eCardWidget, one effective way to do this is by designing employee recognition eCards that they can personalize. In addition to expressing appreciation, these cards can come in handy for birthdays and personal accomplishments as well.
Formalizing recognition with awards. If you see remarkable improvement or performance from an employee, consider formally congratulating them with a superlative award. For instance, you might give a “Biggest Innovator” award to a team member who transformed your team’s workflow for the better, or a “Stewardship Superstar” award to an employee who has built great donor relationships.
Instituting rewards for hitting goals. Motivating your team members to achieve goals is a lot easier with a prize for them to cross the finish line. Consider offering goal-based rewards on a monthly or quarterly basis to incentivize high performance and engagement with company-wide initiatives. For example, if your nonprofit reaches its fundraising goal by a specified date, you might reward employees with tickets to a concert.

Each nonprofit is different, so your recognition mechanisms will likely vary depending on your budget, goals, and size. However, these methods are tried-and-true and can do wonders for your staff retention efforts.

8. Invest in employee engagement software

While your personal relationship with employees is a crucial part of boosting their engagement, you shouldn’t take on new initiatives empty-handed. There are many software solutions on the market that can help you take your employee engagement strategies to the next level. Consider investing in the following types of software:

Human Resource Management Systems. This software can help you manage employee onboarding, benefits, performance reviews, and feedback systems so you can actively monitor your employees’ well-being.
Learning Management Systems (LMS). Offering professional development opportunities shows your investment in your team’s growth, which incentivizes them to stay with your nonprofit in the long term. LMSs provide online training, class management, and progress tracking to facilitate your team’s development.
Employee appreciation software. There are many types of software that fall under this category. For instance, eCard software can facilitate ad-hoc recognition, especially between peers. Also, rewards software allows you to assign points to staff members for achieving certain goals and track their progress.
Remote work software. Remote work has boomed in popularity because it provides flexibility for your employees and reduces burnout. Plus, most remote work software, such as video conferencing solutions, collaborative document editing platforms, and workflow managers, are user-friendly and cost-effective.

While these solutions are great starting points for your engagement software rollout, they’re far from the only ones available. To pick the best fit for your nonprofit, gauge your current employee engagement tactics and determine whether they could be optimized with software. Then, research the options available and book free demos to see which best fits your needs and budget. Finally, once you’ve picked your ideal product, ensure your team receives robust training so you can hit the ground running with your new platform!

9. Create a corporate giving program

Did you know that 65% of people want to work for companies that prioritize social good? When you create a corporate giving program, you not only help worthy causes but also prove to your employees that your company takes active measures to live up to its values.

There are so many ways to engage your employees through corporate giving, including:

Matching gifts. Matching gifts are one of the most popular forms of corporate giving. Companies that offer matching gifts will double—or sometimes even triple—the donations their employees make to their favorite causes. With the help of a matching gift database, your employees can determine their matching gift eligibility and submit matching gift requests to your company. To manage these requests, implement corporate social responsibility (CSR) software. Solutions with matching gift auto-submission capabilities make the process even easier for your employees, so we recommend looking for a CLMA-certified platform (meaning it has this functionality) to manage your programs.
Volunteer grants. Instead of matching donations, companies leveraging volunteer grants contribute to organizations based on the number of hours their employees volunteer with them. For even greater impact, ask your employees which nonprofits they typically volunteer with, and organize a team volunteer outing to support that organization.
Fundraising matches. Fundraising matches are similar to matching gifts, but they match the amount of money employees raise through their individual fundraising efforts. For example, an employee may participate in a walkathon for a breast cancer awareness organization and collect pledges for every mile they walk. Then, that employee can report to their company how much money they’ve raised, and the company will contribute that same amount to the nonprofit.
Automatic payroll deductions. It doesn’t get much easier to engage employees through corporate giving than with automatic payroll deductions. Employees can simply indicate which nonprofit they’d like to donate to and how much they’d like to contribute each month. Then, your payroll system can automatically set aside those funds and distribute them to your employees’ favorite causes.
Annual grant stipends. The concept of annual grant stipends is simple. Companies give their employees a set amount of funds each year for them to contribute to their nonprofits of choice. This type of corporate giving is less common, but it’s an easy way to engage employees in your company’s philanthropic efforts.

When employees feel that they’re not only working for their employer but working with their employer to make the world a better place, they’re more likely to be engaged in their work and stick around.

Wrapping Up

In closing, putting together a retention strategy that addresses your organization’s unique needs can be challenging. It can be helpful to seek guidance from professional HR consultants to identify best practices and help implement change. Whether you decide to seek external assistance or develop your plan in-house, the above tips will point you in the right direction for developing a winning retention plan for your organization.

Explore this guide to learn the basics of how to find grants for nonprofits and the best practices to obtain free funding.

How to Find Grants for Nonprofits: A Guide to Free Funding

July 28, 2023/in Nonprofit Communications, Nonprofit Fundraising /by Jessica King

From capital support to marketing assistance, grants provide many opportunities for boosting the success of your nonprofit. After all, your organization needs steady funding to continue furthering its mission and finding better ways to make a difference in the lives of those you serve.

With the right approach, you can build lasting relationships with grantmakers and secure significant revenue to propel your projects forward. In this guide, we’ll walk through how to find grants for nonprofits in detail, so you have everything you need to begin pursuing these impactful opportunities. Here’s what we’ll cover:

Grants for Nonprofits: FAQs
How to Find Grants for Nonprofits: 5 Steps
5 Best Practices for Finding Nonprofit Grants
Finding Grants for Nonprofits: 14 Resources

For 11 consecutive years, giving from foundations has grown, reaching a total of $90.88 billion in 2021. This means that it’s an ideal time to start searching for grants that will accelerate your organization’s impact. Let’s get started with all you need to know about finding nonprofit grants.

Grants for Nonprofits: FAQs

Your nonprofit’s long-term success depends on diversifying its funding sources. If you’ve decided that it’s time to add grants to the mix, it’s important to first understand the ins and outs of this type of funding to learn how it will best fit into your current strategy.

What are grants for nonprofits?

Nonprofit grants are financial gifts that grantmaking organizations provide to nonprofits, typically for a specific purpose or initiative.

In order to receive this funding, however, your organization will need to fulfill the grantmaker’s specific requirements and submit an application. It’s ultimately up to the grantmaking organization to decide whether or not they’d like to support your nonprofit.

What types of nonprofit grants are there?

There are several types of nonprofit grants. By understanding how they differ from one another, you’ll be able to focus on the specific grants that best serve the needs of your organization. The five main types of grants include:

Program grants. Program development grants provide funding for specified projects or programs, such as upgrading your nonprofit’s technology. Because of this, they usually have spending restrictions. Recipients of these grants may only use the funds for the exact purpose outlined in their grant proposal.
General operations support. These grants are far less restrictive than program development grants and cover almost any expense for your organization. However, general operations support grants are much rarer in the nonprofit sphere.
Capital grants. These grants are most commonly awarded for specific capital campaigns that involve activities such as building construction, property acquisition, or other large-scale projects.
Research grants. For academia and research-oriented nonprofits, research grants support their scientific research and are often attached to a specific team member in the organization.
In-kind grants. In-kind grants provide non-monetary assistance, such as equipment, supplies, or free counseling and personnel. The Google Ad Grants program, for instance, is a popular in-kind grant opportunity that offers nonprofits a monthly allowance of $10,000 in Google Ads credit.

Since each type of grant contributes to the success of your organization in a different way, be sure to keep these distinctions in mind when finding nonprofit grants. This ensures that you only apply for the opportunities that will benefit your nonprofit the most.

Where do grants for nonprofits come from?

When looking for grants to apply for, you need to learn to distinguish between the various sources of grant funding to set your organization up for success. The most common sources of nonprofit grants are:

The Government

There are various levels in the government grant funnel that offer valuable funding opportunities. For instance, nonprofits across the country can receive federal grants. However, nonprofits can only apply for state grants in the particular state to which they belong. Local grants are further limited to a specific community or district within a state.

There are no restrictions on how many government grants a nonprofit can research and pursue. As long as you’ve determined that your organization meets the eligibility criteria, you can apply for as many of these opportunities as you see fit.

Foundations

These organizations play a significant role in supporting nonprofits, accounting for 19% of all charitable giving in 2021. The two main categories of foundations are private foundations and public charities, though organizations in both categories supply grant funds to nonprofits.

While a private foundation typically acquires its funds from a single individual or a family, public charities receive financial support from a variety of sources, including government agencies and program service fees. Some of the most notable foundations that provide funding opportunities to nonprofit organizations include the Ford Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Corporations

Corporate grants are a vital source of funding for nonprofits, providing financial support for programs, initiatives, and services that align with a company’s philanthropic goals. Unlike sponsorships or donations, corporate grants are typically more structured and formal, often requiring nonprofits to submit detailed applications or proposals. These grants can be targeted toward specific projects, operating costs, or capacity-building efforts, making them an important component of a nonprofit’s funding strategy.

As a result, many corporations allocate portions of their profits toward their corporate giving initiatives. The Google Ad Grants program is a clear example of a large corporation offering resources and assistance to nonprofits, with Google donating valuable ad space that most businesses pay thousands of dollars to obtain.

Some businesses also offer matching gifts and corporate volunteer grants, which provide funding to nonprofits after an employee gives to or volunteers a certain number of hours with the organization. Over 65% of Fortune 500 companies offer these programs, including Microsoft, Disney, Bank of America, FedEx, Home Depot, and more.

Federated Funds

Local businesses and company employees raise these funds to distribute to nonprofits. This type of “community chest” model can be a significant source of revenue. While it’s often easy for donors to give to federated funds, it’s crucial for organizations to apply for this funding early to increase their chances of securing some of these resources.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of grants?

As with any fundraising initiative, it’s necessary to weigh the pros and cons before you start pursuing nonprofit grant opportunities. Some important considerations include:

Advantages:

Essentially, grants provide “free money” to nonprofits.
Grants can power significant structural projects, enabling organizations to achieve large-scale social impact and further their overall missions.
Securing one grant makes it more likely to secure more in the future, since it builds your organization’s credibility.
Grants can boost your nonprofit’s visibility and reach, allowing you to win the trust of current and prospective donors.

Disadvantages:

The process of finding nonprofit grants and applying for them can be time-consuming, since writing effective grant proposals requires skills and thought.
It can be challenging to manage various expectations associated with receiving and managing a grant, such as reporting requirements.
Many grants, such as program development grants, come with conditions and funding restrictions.

Fortunately, your nonprofit can cut down on many of these disadvantages by addressing them upfront. For instance, adopting grant management software can make it easier to keep track of all of your grant-related efforts, saving you time and energy in the process.

Should I apply for a nonprofit grant?

Once you’ve considered nonprofit grant types, their common sources, and their associated advantages and disadvantages, it’s time to determine whether your organization should apply for these funding opportunities. Use these questions to guide you:

Are you able to invest the necessary time and effort into writing a winning grant application?
Are the activities you’re planning to undertake with grant funding consistent with your nonprofit’s mission and overall strategy?
Can you continue these activities after grant funding has ended?
How would a grant be vital to the success of your nonprofit or initiative?
Do you have enough qualified staff in place to implement your initiative?
How will grants fit into your overall fundraising strategy?
Do you have proven positive outcomes related to past work that you can show grantmakers?

Keep your nonprofit’s short- and long-term goals in mind when searching for and deciding to apply for grants. Make the most of your efforts by focusing only on opportunities that match your specific needs. For instance, if you’re hoping to leverage grant money to enhance your marketing, you might consider applying for the Google Ad Grant, which will supply you with funds to spend on digital ads.

How to Find Grants for Nonprofits: 5 Steps

The process of finding grants that are the right fit for your organization does not have to be complicated or confusing. By following these steps, you’ll be well on your way to securing funds that will amplify your nonprofit’s impact.

1. Know Your Goals and Mission

Take the time to clearly define your nonprofit’s goals. There may be numerous grant opportunities available, but only some of them will actually empower your organization to achieve those goals.

Additionally, keep your mission centered in your search. By finding grantmakers that align with your mission and values, you’ll increase your chances of securing the funds and avoid spending unnecessary time pursuing opportunities that don’t match your priorities.

2. Do Your Research

You’ll need to conduct some extensive research to narrow down grant opportunities that are suitable for your nonprofit. Get started by exploring some of these resources:

Existing connections your staff or board members may have
Local grants that only support nonprofits in your area
Previous grantmakers that have supplied funding to your nonprofit
Organizations that have provided grants to nonprofits similar to yours
Grant directories and databases

When sifting through these sources, identify whether each grant meets your nonprofit’s needs and aligns with your mission. Additionally, it’s essential to have a specific budget outlined for the project or initiative you’re hoping to accomplish with grant funding. This will help you sift through opportunities more precisely and facilitate your application process down the line.

3. Develop a Clear Grant Proposal

As a grant applicant, it’s crucial to develop a proposal that demonstrates why your nonprofit is most deserving of the funds. Remember to:

Be specific. State your organization’s goals and mission clearly. Be explicit as to how grant funding will help you to accomplish those goals by listing the specific projects or initiatives the funding will support.
Be concise. Get right to the point in your application, so reviewers don’t feel the need to skim and potentially miss out on important details.
Refer to data. Leverage your nonprofit’s data to highlight the impact you’ve already created in your beneficiaries’ lives, so grantmakers can understand the potential your organization has to make an even greater difference with more funding.
Focus on the grant’s impact. Lay out the direct impact that you anticipate grant funds will empower your nonprofit to make in your community. This can also help you determine how you’ll measure these outcomes to comply with any reporting requirements.

The research you conduct will provide essential context that will guide your approach to each proposal. To further hone your proposal writing skills, consider searching for past successful applications online and making note of their strengths.

4. Review Your Grant Application

Before submitting your grant application, read through it from a reviewer’s perspective. This ensures that you don’t miss any important details that someone outside of your organization may need to understand your proposal.

Keep in mind that grantmakers will reference sources beyond your grant application to inform their decision. Therefore, be sure to demonstrate your nonprofit’s impact on your website, social media channels, and any other platforms reviewers may look at.

Furthermore, don’t hesitate to engage with grantmakers before submitting your applications. Whether you reach out through social media, email, phone calls, or in-person meetings, cultivating relationships with grantmakers can be crucial to securing funds both now and in the future.

5. Prioritize Proper Grant Management

After your nonprofit has received a grant, there are several best practices to follow to make the most of this opportunity. To optimize your outcomes:

Ensure all of your team members understand the project or initiative’s goals, steps, and strategy.
Submit reports in a timely manner.
Be straightforward about successes and challenges throughout the project’s duration.
Partner with a grant management expert when needed.

Effective grant management allows your nonprofit to build a positive reputation among grantmakers and maintain strong, productive relationships with organizations that have chosen to support you.

Ready to tap into more nonprofit grants? Sign up for our newsletter!

5 Best Practices for Finding Nonprofit Grants

Now that you understand how to find grants for nonprofits, explore these four best practices to maximize your success. The more preparation you invest in the process, the better your outcomes will be.

1. Look for Open Applications

One of the best-kept secrets in nonprofit fundraising is that many companies offer corporate grant opportunities with open applications year-round. These programs are often available through companies’ Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) departments, employee volunteer initiatives, or local corporate foundations. Unlike traditional grants with strict deadlines, these open opportunities allow nonprofits to apply at their own pace, making them ideal for organizations that need funding flexibility.

To find them, start by visiting the CSR or community giving pages on company websites. Many list ongoing programs with simple online applications. You can also use tools like Double the Donation or other grant databases to search for companies known for continuous corporate giving. Plus, don’t forget to follow target companies on social media or sign up for their newsletters to stay in the loop about updates or changes.

The key? Stay proactive. Keep a list of companies that offer open grant applications and check in regularly. You’ll be surprised how many opportunities are waiting—you just have to know where to look.

2. Use the 3-Way Fit Test

The 3-way Fit Test is a useful tool for eliminating leads that are poor matches. The three ways are:

Philanthropic fit. Make sure the grantmakers are offering the type of funding you are looking for, such as programs, projects, general operating support, or capital. This way, you’ll ensure that you receive the type of help you need.
Geographic fit. Grantmakers typically choose to support nonprofits located in specific geographic areas. Focus on grantmaking organizations that fund the area you serve to increase your odds of winning the grant.
Programmatic fit. Consider the funder’s mission, goals, and areas of interest, and ensure that they align with your own. For instance, if you’re planning to launch a new program to support people who are homeless, appeal to grantmakers with similar missions, rather than, say, an environmental organization.

By only concentrating on the grantmakers that fit all three of these criteria, your nonprofit will be able to spend its time and resources wisely to get the most out of your efforts.

3. Learn About the Funder

Beyond researching each specific grant’s requirements, it’s critical to learn more about the grantmaking organization. This will allow you to gauge its likelihood of funding your nonprofit and help you tailor your grant proposal to appeal to its specific interests. Review materials such as their IRS Form 990 and eligibility guidelines. For instance, Google lays out very detailed eligibility requirements for the Ad Grants program.

For grantmakers who don’t have all of their information in one centralized location online, use these questions to guide your research:

What are their mission and current funding priorities?
How much grant money or resources do they have available?
What are their funding patterns?
Do they encourage grant applicants to contact them beforehand?

These are just a few potential questions to consider, so feel free to expand on this list to uncover more details pertinent to your grant application process.

4. Build Meaningful Connections

While conducting your research, consider reaching out to the funder to ask any clarifying questions. Some baseline questions include:

What is your selection process?
Have your submission instructions undergone any recent changes not shown on your website?
What is an appropriate amount to request in a proposal for someone who has never been funded by your organization?

Directly contacting the grantmaker will kickstart a meaningful relationship with the organization. This could give you an advantage when it comes time for the funder to review grant proposals, as you will be kept top of mind.

5. Recruit Expert Help

If your organization has limited time and resources to devote to finding nonprofit grants, consider recruiting a consultant to assist with your efforts. There are plenty of professional agencies dedicated to helping your nonprofit maximize the funding it receives to further its purpose. Getting Attention, for instance, is a Google Grants agency that can effectively get your organization up and running with the program.

If you’re interested in applying for the Google Ad Grants program and partnering with experts to handle the process, look out for key services such as:

Google Ad Grant application assistance
Google Grant account management
Data tracking and ensuring compliance

Oftentimes, a nonprofit grant consultant will do all of the research and apply on your organization’s behalf, so you don’t have to worry about how to find grants that fit your specific needs. Just be sure to maintain open communication with your consultant so that everyone is on the same page.

Finding Grants for Nonprofits: 13 Resources

Ready to hit the ground running with finding nonprofit grants? Here are multiple resources to get you started:

Google Ad Grants

Google should be one of your nonprofit’s first stops when it comes to researching impactful grants to support your initiatives. The Google Ad Grants program provides eligible organizations with $329 in daily ad spending, or $10,000 a month, to bid on keywords that will promote essential pages on your website to current and potential supporters online.

Like any other grant, the Google Ad Grant comes with detailed eligibility criteria and a specific application process. To maximize your nonprofit’s chances of success, it’s best to prepare ahead of time and develop a thorough understanding of the program. Luckily, there are quite a few expert resources online for training you and your staff on Google Ad Grants.

Ready to unlock the potential of Google Ad Grants? Join our newsletter!

Double the Donation

Double the Donation offers a corporate giving database with information on more than 24,000 companies’ giving programs⁠—from matching gifts and volunteer grants to corporate grants, in-kind giving, sponsorships, and beyond. The database curates detailed profiles of these companies, including guidelines on eligibility, application deadlines, and the types of programs available. This makes it an incredibly useful—yet often overlooked—resource for grant researchers who want to explore the world of corporate philanthropy.

Grants.gov

Grants.gov contains over 1000 grant programs offered by all federal grantmaking agencies and allows you to search its database by selecting criteria such as eligibility requirements and category. Additionally, the website contains numerous guides such as FAQs and training videos for grant applicants.

Candid’s Foundation Directory

Candid’s Foundation Directory allows nonprofits to discover funders that may not be easily found on search engines. While you’ll need a subscription to access this resource, Candid offers its subscribers useful tools that assess whether a funder is a good match, track communications with funders, and more.

Philanthropy News Digest

Your nonprofit can search for published grant announcements on Philanthropy News Digest by signing up for a free weekly email that lists newly posted requests for proposals (RFPs). However, be sure to check other resources for more grant opportunities, since less than 1% of foundations publish RFPs.

Regional Giving Dashboards

Candid’s Regional Giving Dashboards provide at-a-glance information on top grantmakers and their funding priorities for 20 different states. You can click on each individual state to explore and even download this data for future reference.

Foundation Landscapes

By partnering with funders and philanthropy networks, Candid developed free custom web portals that display grants available to nonprofits focusing on select issues. These issues include human rights, disaster philanthropy, and early childhood care and education. Since these portals are constantly being updated, they can show you, in real time, the funders and recipients working in your nonprofit’s specific area of work.

Guidestar

The Guidestar directory includes a database of Form 990s. Additionally, you can find the names of nonprofits that a grantmaking organization funded during the filing period, the dollar amount given, and sometimes a brief description of the grant’s purpose. This can help you determine if the organization is likely to fund a nonprofit like yours, which can speed up the application process.

GrantStation

GrantStation is a funder database that produces two useful newsletters: a weekly one that lists recent U.S. grant opportunities and a monthly one that lists international grant opportunities. You can access these for free through other subscriptions/memberships, such as the Grant Professionals Association.

GrantsforUS

On the GrantsforUS website, you can find information about recently released U.S. grant opportunities that you can filter by different categories. Furthermore, you can sign up for free Grant Alerts to effortlessly stay up to date on grants that your nonprofit may be interested in.

Grant Gopher

Grant Gopher is a funding opportunity database that offers U.S. organizations free basic searches and access to the details of their first five search results. Additionally, you can access a newsletter covering a selection of open grant opportunities.

GrantWatch

GrantWatch is a directory of grants that are currently accepting grant applications. You can filter your searches by category, location, type of funding source, and recipient, though the website does charge a small subscription fee for you to access the specific details of each grant.

SAM.gov

This government grant directory provides a full listing of federal programs across all government agencies that provide grants, loans, or other types of assistance to organizations. You can search for relevant opportunities in the search bar and save or download any of your searches to refer back to later.

The Federal Register (FR)

The Federal Register announces newly authorized and/or funded programs, annual application deadlines, and award amounts for continuing programs daily.

Additional Resources

There is an abundance of grant opportunities for your nonprofit to tap into—what matters most is finding the best matches for your organization. While the process requires you to be thorough and precise, once you’ve mastered how to find nonprofit grants, you’ll be able to secure significant funds to power your growth and mission.

Remember that you don’t have to go through finding and applying for grants alone. Reach out to grant professionals, like Getting Attention, for first-rate guidance in maximizing your grant-seeking efforts.

To learn more about securing online support for your nonprofit, explore these additional resources:

Nonprofit Advertising: The Essential Guide (With Examples!). This guide walks through all you need to know about spreading awareness of your organization and its cause through nonprofit advertising.
Demystifying the Google Ad Grants Website Policy: A Guide. A high-quality website is not only essential for attracting and retaining supporters, but it can make all the difference in securing the Google Ad Grant for your nonprofit. Discover more in this guide.
9 Donor Engagement Strategies to Transform Your Outreach. Create strong and lasting relationships with your nonprofit’s donors by implementing these nine powerful strategies.

Raise more for your nonprofit with multiple revenue streams.

3 Revenue Streams to Strengthen Your Fundraising Strategy

July 28, 2023/in Nonprofit Communications /by Jessica King

As a nonprofit professional, you know how important it is to have a steady flow of revenue coming into your organization. Rather than counting on just one or two sources of funding (and potentially leaving money on the table), you need to diversify your revenue streams.

Think of revenue streams like eggs in a basket. As the old saying goes, you can’t bet on just fundraising event success or your annual peer-to-peer fundraising campaign to power your day-to-day operations. By incorporating multiple revenue streams into your fundraising strategy (or putting your eggs into multiple baskets!) you can increase your financial sustainability and expand your budget to pursue larger, high-impact projects. In this blog post, we will explore three revenue streams that can enhance your nonprofit’s fundraising strategy and help you generate more funds while expanding your donor base:

Text-to-Give
Online Donation Page
Recurring Giving

Multiple revenue streams can help your organization better serve its community and carry out its mission. Let’s begin.

Text-to-Give

To break through the noise online and engage donors directly, your nonprofit needs a strong fundraising channel that feels familiar to donors and makes the donation process simple. One innovative platform to do so is text-to-give.

Text-to-give is a powerful fundraising tool that allows nonprofits to connect with supporters and motivate them to give. Because text-to-give is used via a donor’s cellphone, nonprofits can reach supporters immediately. In fact, text messages have a 99% open rate and a 90% read rate in just 3 minutes.

According to Tatango’s guide to text-to-give, text messaging your supporters can be used to accomplish several key initiatives:

To encourage supporters to donate towards campaigns
To provide transparency about the impact of your fundraisers and show donors how their contributions make a difference
To encourage donations leading up to big events

By leveraging text-to-give, organizations can engage donors in real-time and streamline the entire donation experience. Here’s a breakdown of how this process works:

Your nonprofit invests in a nonprofit text messaging platform that comes with features like fast messaging speeds, security for your data and campaigns, and subscriber segmentation. You’ll be given a short- or long-code, and then you can brainstorm a creative and relevant keyword.
Donors opt-in to receive your text messages by texting your keyword to the short- or long-code.
Your nonprofit sends donation appeals with a mobile-friendly link to your donation page.
Donors click the donation page link and submit their donation in just a few moments right from their phones.

The intuitive user-friendliness of text-to-give makes it easy for donors to contribute directly from their mobile devices, increasing the likelihood of immediate and spontaneous giving. Because text-to-donate can also be used to nurture donor relations long-term, you can turn donors into recurring contributors to your mission. Text messaging campaigns can also be utilized to promote events, volunteer opportunities, and other initiatives. By incorporating text-to-give into your fundraising strategy, you can tap into the widespread use of mobile devices and reach supporters wherever they are.

Online Donation Page

Your nonprofit’s online donation page serves as a central hub for accepting contributions. Optimizing your donation page design is crucial to ensuring a seamless and compelling donation experience for your supporters.

To maximize its effectiveness, consider the following three easy-to-implement strategies:

Add high-impact visuals: Incorporate photos and videos that speak to your mission, align with your brand guidelines, and highlight the impact of donations. Visual content captures supporters’ attention and creates an emotional connection with potential donors.
Utilize storytelling: Craft compelling narratives that highlight beneficiaries. Position donors as the heroes in your story and demonstrate how their contributions can make a difference. This approach allows supporters to feel connected to your cause and motivates them to take action.
Simplify the donation process: Streamline your donation form to minimize the number of required fields and steps. A shorter and more comprehensive form increases the likelihood of supporters completing the donation process. Additionally, prominently display your text-to-give keyword and code on the donation page to offer an alternative giving option.

Make sure to market your online donation page widely so donors know how to give. The Double the Donation guide to digital marketing for nonprofits recommends leveraging a multi-channel marketing strategy to increase touchpoints with potential donors and boost visibility. For example, you can share your donation page link in your social media bio and your email newsletter.

Recurring Giving

Nonprofit fundraisers constantly strive for steady revenue streams and lasting donor relationships—both of which can be achieved through the power of recurring giving. Recurring giving is when donors give to your organization on a regular basis, such as monthly, to support your ongoing annual fundraising efforts.

With a well-structured recurring giving program and the right payment processor, the recurring giving amount will automatically be taken out from donors’ bank accounts each month and transferred to your nonprofit. It’s that simple! You just need to get donors on board with recurring giving by explaining its convenience and how ongoing donations make an impact on the community you serve.

The following strategies can elevate your recurring giving program:

Send personalized donation requests to sign up for monthly giving. You can do this over email, direct mail, or text by leveraging your text messaging software. Make sure you use a text messaging platform that has extensive segmentation capabilities so you can tailor your donation requests to the individual.
Communicate the impact of your mission. Share stories and testimonials that highlight the tangible outcomes of recurring giving. Show donors how their ongoing support contributes to the long-term success of your organization and the beneficiaries you serve. For instance, you might generate social media content that shows the latest program you were able to host in the community because of recurring donors’ support.
Create a dedicated landing page that goes into the details of your recurring giving program so donors know what it’s all about when they visit your website.

Once donors sign up for recurring giving, you can incentivize them to stay involved by creating an exclusive recurring donor club, offering nonprofit merchandise, and publicly thanking them for their support.

Wrapping Up

Diversifying revenue streams is essential for the financial health and sustainability of all kinds of organizations, from higher education institutions to nonprofits. By incorporating text-to-give, optimizing your online donation page, and promoting recurring giving, you can strengthen your fundraising strategy and create a more stable foundation for your organization. Track the performance of each revenue stream to assess your progress and make necessary adjustments.

With tips and examples, this article will discuss ways you can improve your nonprofit branding strategy.

Your Nonprofit Branding Strategy Can Probably Be Better

July 24, 2023/in Nonprofit Communications, Nonprofit Marketing /by Jessica King

A well-defined and recognizable brand can do wonders for any organization or business. Recent studies have shown that 26% of nonprofits have rebranded in the past two years — and of these, around half (47%) have already seen an increase in revenue. This means that if you think your branding could be improved, you’re probably right.

To help you learn how to take your nonprofit branding strategy to the next level this guide will cover:

Why Does Nonprofit Branding Matter?
Essential Brand Guide Components to Improve
5 Nonprofit Branding Strategy Best Practices
5 Smart Nonprofit Branding Examples

At Getting Attention, nonprofit marketing is our specialty. By harnessing the power of the Google Ad Grant, we connect nonprofits with the right audiences to drive impact and build support.

Why Does Nonprofit Branding Matter?

It takes anywhere from 17 to 50 milliseconds for people to form a first impression about your brand. Use a bulletproof nonprofit branding strategy to make the most of these precious few seconds.

Effective branding makes your nonprofit more easily recognized. This directly affects whether people see your messaging and feel compelled to take action.

This is why it’s so important to create branded content and messaging. With the right strategy, supporters can build a relationship with your brand and instantly recognize and trust it. Think about the American Red Cross—as soon as you see it, you know exactly who this organization is and what they do. To summarize, nonprofit branding is important because it:

Differentiates your organization: Your nonprofit should be recognized for your own incredible work, which means it’s important to stand out from other similar organizations. Therefore, your brand will need to be representative of your organization’s unique values and mission.
Cultivates trust: Effective and consistent branding ensures individuals that your organization is legitimate and well-known. The more they see your logo or hear your name, the better.
Increases social awareness: The more people see your branding, the more people will know about your mission and need.
Builds a solid reputation: When your nonprofit brand touches your entire community, supporters will much more easily regard you as trustworthy and highly reputable.

Thoughtful branding execution is an ongoing process. Your nonprofit branding strategy is made of several moving parts that must be managed to create a memorable These moving parts are consolidated into your nonprofit brand guide.

Essential Nonprofit Brand Guide Components to Improve

Who is your organization? A descriptive answer to this question should be captured in your nonprofit brand guide.

This document contains your brand “rules” and ensures that your marketing team is on the same page concerning all components. Without these rules, your branding will be inconsistent and unrepresentative. Your brand guide should be detailed and include use cases for both digital marketing and print materials.

Here is what to include for both messaging and visual elements:

Your Name

It’s common to have different names depending on which region your headquarters occupy. Additionally, some organizations decide to go by acronyms. Take M.A.D.D. or Mothers Against Drunk Driving for example. In this case, the acronym carries an emotional meaning that underlies the group’s cause. Most likely, you’ve already landed on your nonprofit name. To test its effectiveness, ask these questions:

Hopefully, you have answered “yes” to the above questions. If not, it’s time to re-evaluate your nonprofit name to be sure it accurately reflects your organization’s values.

Mission statement

Your mission statement is the core purpose of your nonprofit organization. When crafting your own nonprofit mission statement, make sure to include WHY your nonprofit exists, WHO your nonprofit is helping, and HOW your nonprofit serves them. Your WHY of your mission statement explains your vision, or how your organization would like positive change the world.

For example, The Nature Conservancy captures its mission and vision statement in a memorable and concrete way:

Mission: “To conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends.”

Vision: “A world where the diversity of life thrives, and people act to conserve nature for its own sake and its ability to fulfill our needs and enrich our lives.”

The above points answer WHAT the organization is helping (lands and waters) and WHY (to increase the diversity of life). The Nature Conservancy’s “See Our Priorities” link captures the HOW of their nonprofit mission and breaks it down into goals to meet by 2030.

Tone

Your tone describes how you communicate as an organization. Are you urgent or excited? Welcoming or focused? Your chosen tone is an aspect of your overall nonprofit personality and should be representative of how you approach your cause.

A practical application of tone is your tagline. It should be short, catchy, and representative of your mission. For instance, the Montana Historical Society uses the tagline “Big sky, Big land. Big history” to encompass its promise to uphold Montana tradition.

Color

The colors you choose for your nonprofit branding can greatly influence how your audience feels when they see your organization out and about online or in person. When determining the best colors to represent your brand, try to think of the emotions that colors evoke.

For instance, green is often associated with nature while red is associated with passion or urgency. To get a full view of brand color associations, refer to this guide:

Red: Represents energy, urgency, and passion. Many health-related organizations use this color.
Purple: Evokes royalty and creativity. It can also evoke stability as many religious organizations use this color.
Blue: Exhibits trustworthiness, openness, and faith. Human rights organizations use blue to back their missions of providing humanitarian aid.
Gray: Indicates simplicity and neutrality. Organizations that use this color offer a calmer aesthetic.
Green: Pictures growth and stability. Many conservation-based or environmental organizations tie in their values with green.
Yellow: Elicits a playful or urgent emotional response. Yellow is also used to demand attention and spread awareness.
Orange: Encompasses a friendly and warm tone. Wildlife rescue groups commonly use this color.
Pink: Represents creativity and innovation. Many movements in the 2SLGBTQ+ utilize this color.
Black: Indicates boldness and seriousness. Several justice groups use this color to mobilize their mission.

As you finalize your color palette, be mindful of existing color associations. For example, pink is also tied to the breast cancer awareness movement. Other considerations include political party and international color meanings.

It’s best to choose one primary color and 2-3 secondary colors to complement it. This way, your branding will remain simple and impactful.

Logo

Your logo is the center of your brand. It’s the image that people remember most and will recognize the easiest. Using your logo consistently helps create an association to your brand and builds the relationship supporters have with your nonprofit’s content. There are three types of logos to consider:

Wordmark logos include your nonprofit name and can be more useful if your organization is not well-known
Symbol logos include only the symbol of a nonprofit such as the YMCA’s “Y” symbol.
Combination marks capture your mission by showing your name and a symbol. These are the most common logo type.

Whichever you choose, ensure your logo evokes the right emotion and is communicative of your mission.

Typography

Your font choices should align with your colors and logo. Sans serif fonts are a popular choice due to their readability and straightforwardness.

Consider selecting two fonts from the same family with different weights to add hierarchy to your visual brand. Use the heavier font weight for headlines and the lighter font for descriptions.

5 Nonprofit Branding Strategy Best Practices

Now that you’ve nailed your nonprofit brand guide, it’s time to explore how to use it to turn more heads and inspire greater support. Consider these best practices to catapult your nonprofit branding forward, connect with your audience, and deliver your messaging in ways that inspire support:

Make your branding stand out: There are more than 1.5 million nonprofit organizations registered in the U.S. alone. Find ways to make your nonprofit stand out from the crowd to garner the necessary support. This is especially important for nonprofits with similar missions.
Craft a compelling story: As you now know, nonprofit branding is more than just what your website and social media posts look like. It involves how you connect and communicate your stories. To take your branding to the next level, consider employing nonprofit storytelling methods. This is one of the most powerful ways to build your brand, cultivate trust with your audience, and promote your mission.
Use branding on multiple channels: Branding should represent your organization consistently regardless of its platform. The marketing channels you use are incredibly important especially if you want to build relationships with donors and reach new prospects. Make your branding consistent on every channel so that supporters can recognize you immediately and continue their relationship with your brand.
Update branding as needed: As with any marketing effort, it’s important to collect data and track its success to learn if there’s anything that needs to be improved or optimized. To ensure your branding stays on track and helps you meet goals, we recommend compiling regular reports and following metrics like social media interactions and email open rates.
Apply for the Google Grant — One of the best ways to build your branding strategy and connect with supporters is to apply for the Google Ad Grant! With this grant, nonprofit organizations receive $10,000 in Google ad credits each month. Plus, all eligible nonprofits who apply can receive this grant, not just a select few like with most other grants. Use your Google ads to build your brand and reach more people, faster.

Your nonprofit branding strategy impacts many aspects of your marketing efforts and donor relationships. Leverage these best practices to ensure that your branding not only represents your organization and mission effectively but that you’re able to incorporate it into key messaging and connect with supporters in valuable ways.

5 Smart Nonprofit Branding Examples

Sometimes the best way to visualize your nonprofit brand is by being inspired by other successful brands in your space. Analyzing what makes their branding so memorable and effective will help you learn the ropes or enhance your existing branding.

To help you get started, we’ve compiled a list of the top five nonprofit brands to watch. We’ve included a snapshot of each’s colors, logos, and messaging, so you can see how each organization weaves its messaging into its brand.

Nonprofit Branding Example 1: Oxfam

Oxfam is a humanitarian organization dedicated to ending inequality. They call on supporters to fight injustice and poverty as one united community. Here’s what their branding looks like:

Mission statement: “Equal treatment free from discrimination. Equal rights under the law. Equal opportunities to build a life and thrive. For everyone.”
Colors: Warm green and white
Logo: Green simplistic ox
Tagline: “The future is equal”

Oxfam’s branding reflects its values. The warm green exudes a friendly and welcoming personality that invites everyone to join in their movement. The soft logo does not include divisions or harsh lines as a reminder that everyone deserves a chance to thrive, not just survive. Additionally, Oxfam focuses on the word “equal” in its messaging to echo its mission statement.

Nonprofit Branding Example 2: Feeding America

Feeding America is the largest hunger relief organization in the United States and represents a nationwide network of food banks and pantries. Their vision is to create a hunger-free nation. Here’s a glimpse of their branding:

Mission statement: Our mission is to advance change in America by ensuring equitable access to nutritious food for all in partnership with food banks, policymakers, supporters, and the communities we serve.
Logo: Wordmark with wheat symbol
Tagline: “Our vision is an America where no one is hungry”
Colors: Orange, dark green

Feeding America’s mission statement is perfectly captured in its branding materials. Its inclusion of wheat and use of warm, inviting colors signal its promise to end hunger. The use of orange is also commonly used in relation to commercial food logos, mimicking Feeding America’s vision to provide meals for those in need.

Nonprofit Branding Example 3: charity: water

Charity: water is an organization dedicated to increasing clean drinking water access. Founded in 2006, it has been working to help end the water crisis through local partners and supporters. Here is how they use their story to capture their branding:

Mission statement: “To bring clean and safe drinking water to every person on the planet”
Logo: Jerry can
Tagline: “Together, we end the water crisis”
Colors: Yellow and black

Charity: water’s jerry can has become famous in the nonprofit logo world because it represents the work this nonprofit does in a succinct and memorable way. Millions of developing communities rely on jerry cans for clean drinking water transport. Therefore, the inclusion of this symbol speaks to charity: water’s promise to bring safe drinking water to its beneficiaries.

Nonprofit Branding Example 4: The Backpack Project

The Backpack Project (TBP) is a student-run organization dedicated to easing the burden of homelessness by delivering backpacks containing food, toiletries, and other necessities to those experiencing homelessness. Here’s how their brand echoes this sentiment:

Mission statement: “to contribute to the collective effort that characterizes homelessness “rare and brief.”
Logo: Backpack zipper
Tagline: Easing the Burden of Homelessness
Colors: Light green and gray

TBP’s branding’s star feature is its simplicity. Rather than featuring a stuffed bag to visualize the nonprofit’s mission, TBP features only a zipper to get its message across. The zipper is a nod to the backpack, but also a hope that more people experiencing homelessness will be able to “unzip” a better future where they can characterize their experience as “rare and brief.”

Nonprofit Branding Example 5: Pencils of Promise

Pencils of Promise is committed to providing quality education to children in need. They provide teacher support, WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) programs, and quality infrastructure to enhance learning environments. Here is how their brand captures their values:

Mission statement: “Every child should have access to quality education. We create schools, programs, and global communities around the common goal of education for all.”
Logo: Yellow pencil combination mark
Tagline: “We are the Impossible Ones”
Colors: black and yellow

Pencils of Promise’s simple logo goes for the obvious without becoming intrusive. The pencil shape tells people immediately that this organization is education-centered. Pencils of Promise’s language is also bold and hopeful as reflected in its choice of bright yellow and stark black (which are also the colors of a classic No. 2 pencil!).

Additional Resources

There’s a common misconception that nonprofit branding only refers to your organization’s aesthetics. However, it extends beyond color palettes and fonts, as your brand messaging can directly impact your nonprofit’s marketing and fundraising success. If you want to reach your supporters where they are and spread awareness of your mission, having an effective branding strategy is essential.

To continue your research in learning how to push your nonprofit forward, we encourage you to explore our additional resources for nonprofit branding and marketing:

Fundraising Flyers: How to Boost Nonprofit Marketing – Revitalize your fundraising with expert fundraising flyer tips. Read this guide for tips and examples on how to bring your fundraising flyers to life.
Nonprofit Advertising: The Essential Guide (With Examples!) – Branding is one key aspect of successful nonprofit advertising. Refer to this guide for tips on how to fortify your advertising strategy.
Demystifying the Google Ad Grant Requirements for Websites – The Google Ad Grant can revolutionize your marketing strategy. Learn how to hit all the major requirements in this guide.

This article provides 13 top fundraising crms to consider.

13 Top Fundraising CRMs for Nonprofit Organizations

July 20, 2023/in Nonprofit Communications, Nonprofit Tools /by Jessica King

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.

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:

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.

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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:

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.

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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:

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.

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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:

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.

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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:

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.

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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:

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.

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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:

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.

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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:

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.

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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:

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.

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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:

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.

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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:

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.

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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:

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.

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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:

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.

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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:

How to Apply for Google Grants | 3 Steps for Your Nonprofit. Google Grants can be a fantastic way to increase your organization’s marketing efforts. Explore this guide from our team on effective Google Grants practices.
Nonprofit Storytelling: Best Practices for Fundraisers. Telling effective stories is one of the best ways to increase engagement with your audience and communicate the impact of your organization’s work. Check out these tips to learn more!
You’ve Never Heard of Volunteer Grants?! Learn the Basics. In addition to matching gifts, volunteer grants are another fantastic form of corporate philanthropy that allows nonprofit supporters to stretch their contributions further. Get started with this resource!

This article discusses the ins and outs of Google Ad Grant remarketing.

Google Ad Grant Remarketing: Your Questions Answered

July 18, 2023/in Nonprofit Communications /by Jessica King

As 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

July 17, 2023/in Google Ad Grants /by Jessica King

Through 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:

Google Ad Grant basics. Getting Attention’s guides on the Google Ad Grant cover everything from eligibility requirements and how to apply to choosing your campaign’s target keywords and creating the most effective ad possible.

Nonprofit marketing strategies. Learn how to develop Google ad campaigns that will result in more clicks with articles. Along with advice for running an ad campaign, Getting Attention also provides resources on social media marketing, developing a brand identity, and how to optimize your overall nonprofit communication strategy.

Agency and consulting assistance. Nonprofits interested in working with a Google Ad Grant agency or a nonprofit marketing consulting firm can find advice on how to research consultants, assess them, submit requests for proposals, and form long-lasting partnerships.

Awareness and advocacy campaign tips. Wondering how you can use the Google Ad Grant to promote an advocacy campaign? Getting Attention’s blog features articles on planning an advocacy campaign, keeping supporters engaged, and marketing a campaign online.

And much more. Nonprofits looking for advice on managing volunteers, accepting stock donations, hosting hybrid events, creating an effective donation page, and a variety of other nonprofit-centric topics can likely find a helpful article on Getting Attention’s blog.

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:

Marketing campaign planning. Learn how to develop a marketing campaign that will actively be helped by the Google Ad Grant. Google for Education explores how nonprofits can use their mission statement to derive marketing goals that are relevant to Google Ads.
Conversion tracking. Figure out what metrics to track and how to track them, such as adding HTML tags or linking your Smart Campaign to Google Analytics. The course walks through how to add Google Analytics to your campaign for less tech-savvy nonprofits.
Quality scores. Learn how to use Google’s quality score metric to better understand your campaigns’ overall value and relevance to your audience.

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:

How to apply for the Google Ad Grant. Get an in-depth view of what the Google Ad Grant is and how the application process works, including an overview of current policies for the grant.
Google Analytics best practices. Learn to set up and view data from Google Analytics to create a dashboard that’s effective for your nonprofit. With Google Analytics, you can more accurately understand your website’s traffic, providing data that can help you improve your Google Ad Grant campaigns.
A variety of other subjects. TechSoup provides courses on many nonprofit-specific topics, including how to apply for grants, use Adobe tools, host virtual events, analyze data, and more. Plus, TechSoup also offers seminars in Spanish and French for learners who primarily speak those languages.

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:

Campaign best practices. Learn how to write strong copy for your ads that will lead to clicks, as well as how to expand the space your Google ads take up with sitelink assets.
Keyword research. Get advice on how to conduct keyword research, strategically add keywords to your copy, create Adword groups around keyword themes, and leverage negative keywords.
Campaign maintenance. Download a checklist of tasks to perform every two or three weeks to ensure your Google Ad campaigns maintain compliance and how to fix campaigns that are not meeting expectations.

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:

What Makes A Great Google Grant Agency: Best Partners. Need help getting started with the Google Ad Grant? Explore this guide of the 10 top firms we recommend to start your search for the right Google Grant agency.
How to Apply for Google Grants: Get Approved in 4 Easy Steps. After initial training, it’s time to apply for the grant. Discover what you need to do and if your nonprofit is ready to begin the application process.
Google Ad Grant Impact: Capturing Results and Measuring ROI. Are your ad campaigns as successful as they could be? Learn how to calculate your campaigns’ ROI and make targeted improvements.

Check out these four nonprofit storytelling best practices to win over your donors’ hearts.

4 Ways to Win Donors’ Hearts with Nonprofit Storytelling

July 13, 2023/in Nonprofit Communications /by Jessica King

When 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:

Why Is Nonprofit Storytelling Important?
What Are The Elements Of Nonprofit Storytelling?
Take Your Nonprofit’s Storytelling To The Next Level
Apply for the Google Grant with Getting Attention

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:

Increased fundraising revenue. Your nonprofit’s storytelling efforts can be the exact conduit you need to inspire donors to give. The key to motivating them to give is to land your story in front of the right audiences.
Improved click-through rate and online conversions. Because stories tend to be more engaging, you’ll likely see an increase in the number of people who click on your website, social media posts, or Google Ads.
Larger membership base. Does your nonprofit organization have a membership program dedicated to your most passionate supporters? Nonprofit storytelling is one of the best ways to attract membership candidates who connect deeply to your cause.
Better donor appreciation. Donor appreciation is a critical component of building lasting relationships and increasing retention. Instead of just sending a bland thank you email, incorporate storytelling to share a thought-provoking, real story about how their support made a difference.

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:

A dedicated volunteer
A long-term, major donor
A beneficiary who is willing to share their personal story
A staff member

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:

Establish a face and name. Put a face to this individual by attaching a photo and name to the story. This instantly makes the story feel more personal to viewers.
Give them a distinct voice. Make your character feel three-dimensional to your audience by highlighting personal details. Show off their unique way of speaking about their experiences or their background that led them to engage with your nonprofit.
Show how they were impacted by your organization. The resolution for this story should be shaped by your nonprofit’s involvement in the character’s life. Clearly show how your organization led them to this key moment.

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:

Exposition. Introduce your character and establish goals related to your mission. If your mission is to provide clean water, for example, one of your character’s goals could be ensuring that his family stays healthy after getting sick from dirty water.
Conflict. Here, you’ll present the challenge that your character is facing. The conflict should be related to the problem your nonprofit is trying to solve. In our water example, this could be that the family’s water source was polluted with chemicals. Consider all the obstacles your character might face, like a lack of resources or policy knowledge.
Rising action. Next, lay out the stakes and explain why the problem is a problem. You might also highlight previous attempts to solve the issue. For instance, you might say that the local town has needed clean water for a while, but an increase in spills from nearby factories has made it difficult to keep the infrastructure in place.
Climax. This is where you’ll explain how the problem got fixed and the exact role that your nonprofit plays. What did your nonprofit do? What was the specific action that made the difference? For example, with help from your annual fundraising campaign, your nonprofit was able to build a clean water infrastructure system that is easy to fix and regulated yearly.
Resolution. Show the newly improved life of the character in your story. Urge the audience to play a part by calling them to donate, share a message, or volunteer.

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:

Empower the donors to be a part of the story by making the next action they should take clear.
Use language that creates a sense of urgency by mentioning a specific deadline and explaining what would happen if your nonprofit is unable to act.
Make it convenient for the audience to take action by including a donation button, link to signup forms, or social sharing buttons with your request.

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:

Raise $10,000 in revenue as a direct result of the storytelling campaign.
Grow your membership program by 100 members.
Send personalized thank-you messages to each donor within one week of their gift.
Boost donor engagement on your social media accounts by 25%.

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.

Want marketing tips and tricks to help you reach your goals? Sign up for our newsletter!

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:

Photos. Images bring a real face to the story you’re telling, helping supporters understand that their help is impacting real people. At your next fundraising event or volunteer opportunity, make sure to take photos (and get permission to use them).
Infographics. These graphics convey a wide breadth of information in an easily digestible format. Ideas include using charts, maps, reports, and other fun graphics to help your audience visualize data and understand your impact.

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:

Keep on-screen text to a minimum. Narrate the video as much as you can so participants don’t have to read long paragraphs. If you need to use on-screen text, stick to about 60 words per minute of the video and allow for one second of read time for every two to three words.
Make the video cohesive. Make sure the music and supporting media (like images or copy) match the overall theme of the story. These added elements can go the extra mile in making your supporters feel a certain way.
Consider accessibility. Be sure to add closed captions to the video for any spoken dialogue or other sounds (hint: platforms like YouTube can do this automatically!). Not only does this make the video content accessible to more of your supporters, but people can view the video without audio and still understand your message.

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:

Nonprofit Marketing: A Guide for Amplifying Your Mission. Ready to learn more about nonprofit marketing? Check out this comprehensive guide.
Nonprofit Marketing Plan in 8 Steps (+ Free Templates!). With a solid foundation in nonprofit storytelling, you start building a comprehensive marketing plan for your organization.
Technology Grants for Nonprofits: A Guide + 12 Top Options. Intrigued by the world of Google Ad Grants? Learn more about the program and other nonprofit tech grants in this guide.

Make your cause stand out to donors with the help of the following five tips.

Making Your Case to Donors: Top 5 Tips to Increase Donations

July 11, 2023/in Nonprofit Communications, Nonprofit Fundraising /by Jessica King

If 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:

Get to know your donors.
Incorporate storytelling.
Create a sense of urgency.
Make it clear where donations are going.
Add credibility to your case.

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.

In this article, we'll review the top nonprofit blogs and tip for how to get yours up to par.

Top Nonprofit Blogs & Tips: How to Master Content Marketing

July 10, 2023/in Nonprofit Communications /by Jessica King

Did 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:

Overview of Nonprofit Blogs
How to Write a Nonprofit Blog
Best Nonprofit Blogs to Inspire You

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:

Promote your brand. A nonprofit blog is essentially free advertising. Spread the word about your nonprofit’s impact through engaging content.
Provide regular updates to your audience. Blogs allow nonprofits to easily publish content with updates about accomplishments, campaigns, and events.
Share your content and mission across platforms. The more content you have on the web, the more likely it is that someone will come across your mission and take action.
Establish your authority. Show potential donors that you’re an expert in the field by using your blog to discuss topics related to your mission.

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:

If increasing your ranking on search engine result pages is a priority for your nonprofit, you should strive to include targeted keywords in your blogs.
If your nonprofit wants to decrease bounce rates, you should focus on displaying a pop-up with downloadable content when a user is about to leave a blog post.
If generating donations is of high importance, your blog should explain the need for funding and highlight your impact.

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:

Audience: Test whether blog posts work with your audience by looking into demographic and behavioral information. Determining the characteristics of your average supporter can help you to better understand the needs of your audience. If your blog resonates with your target audience, you’ll see more shares and higher search rankings.
Tone: Consider how you want to convey your nonprofit’s tone in a blog. Tone refers to how your words translate to an audience. Do you want to come across as casual and conversational? We recommend creating a style guide for all staff at your organization to maintain consistency.
Production: Consider how content will fit into your marketing funnel. Which topics should be addressed at the top of the funnel to raise awareness? What bottom-of-the-funnel subjects need to be covered to facilitate conversions? Decide which types of content should be produced (i.e. an educational guide with fundraising ideas or a news story relating to your mission). You also need to determine who will write the content and where you will promote it.

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:

Keep paragraphs short. Don’t overwhelm readers with lengthy, dense content. Make information easy to digest by keeping paragraphs to 3-4 sentences.
Include calls-to-action. Call-to-action (CTA) buttons prompt readers to show their support and take the initiative to help your mission. Keep phrases short and compelling, as in the following example: “Do you want to help animals in need? Donate now.”
Use headers, bullet points, and numbered lists. Strong headlines will capture your audience’s attention and help to break up long sections of text. Bullet points and numbered lists allow readers to quickly scan through your blog post and retain information.
Add compelling visuals. Images, graphics, and videos can spark an emotional reaction in readers and help them to understand complex topics. Ensure that visuals are consistently formatted and high quality.
Optimize with keywords. SEO keywords increase traffic to your website. Aim to include at least 15 to 30 keywords in each blog post to push readers down the engagement funnel.

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:

Email is a personal, cost-effective way to reach large numbers of supporters. It’s great for sending invitations, thanking donors, providing general updates, and sharing blog content.
Social media is a popular place to boost brand awareness and attract donors. Channels like Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and TikTok provide opportunities for your nonprofit to showcase its personality and engage with supporters. Aim to share each blog post across your nonprofit’s social media feeds.
Google Grants are $10,000 grants awarded to eligible charities for creating and hosting ad campaigns on Google. These free ads allow organizations to amplify their presence on search engine results pages (SERPs) and get their website content in front of the right eyes.

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:

Post consistently. Posting regularly increases engagement. We recommend establishing an editorial calendar for your nonprofit blog. This will help your team keep track of blog posts, newsletters, social media posts, and other content deadlines.
Write long-form articles. Search engines and supporters tend to prefer pieces that exceed 1,000 words. Longer blog posts allow you to dig into complex subjects, include plenty of visuals, and become an authority in your field.
Feature experts. Including insights from other experts in your field adds a human element to your nonprofit and inspires your audience to get involved. You can feature thought leaders through guest posts or interviews.
Showcase impact. Make your blog engaging and insightful by showing your organization’s impact. This will keep donors, volunteers, and supporters invested in the mission and encourage them to heed your calls to action.
Use a multichannel marketing strategy to spread the word. We suggest taking a multi-channel marketing approach to promote your nonprofit blog. Cover all the bases by combining your email, social media, and SEO efforts.

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

eCardWidget provides eCard software that nonprofits can use to thank donors and spread awareness for their causes. The eCardWidget blog features key tips for supporter appreciation, fundraising ideas, and nonprofit software solutions.

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.

Want to continue your research on nonprofit blogs? Explore these additional resources:

How to Start a Nonprofit Blog A nonprofit blog is not a simple or easy undertaking. It takes work to decide what and when to post and to build your audience. Follow this guide to get started.
Top 22 Nonprofit and Fundraising Blogs Are you ready to be inspired by the best in the business? Learn from top industry leaders by following the best nonprofit and fundraising blogs right now!
The Top Nonprofit Marketing Blogs You Should Bookmark Nonprofit marketing blogs serve as an incredible resource for fundraisers and others invested in charitable causes. Explore our favorite blogs in this guide!