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CRM and Community Fundraising Strategies

One of the best things about running a charity is that when it comes time to think of a new way to get donations, the only limit is the imagination. There are many different ways to raise funds for your cause through community fundraising, whether it be car boot sales, outreach to churches or group events. But the common thread running through them all is empowerment.

When a community’s members are empowered to come together for a common cause such as the improvement of their neighbourhood, miracles can – and do – happen.

In order for any community fundraising strategy to be successful, there must be a way to effectively receive initial donations, engage supporters and keep them donating for the betterment of theirs and their neighbours’ lives. Fundraising CRM software allows for the efficient management of the above aspects and more. The more efficiently a campaign is managed, the quicker needed funds can get into the community.

Everything in one Place

No longer do charities need to have stacks of files or binders of event, donor and campaign information; CRM software allows for all of this information to exist in a single location. Everything a charity could need to manage their donors is made available via the software.

When it’s time to plan, CRM software makes all aspects of event planning and management effortless. Your event can be modified, cancelled or rescheduled and donations refunded if necessary. Those who have elected to sponsor your event can be easily published. You can even use CRM to generate and send tickets and receipts to donors and registrants electronically, eliminating untold amounts of manual effort and waste.

Staff can easily track the support history of donors, as well as have instant access to any pledges made. Donation trends can also be monitored with the software so that campaigns can be geared to them and sent out at a time that coincides with upswings in donations.

The creation of campaigns can also be done from within the fundraising CRM software. The result will be an online campaign with all of the required elements, including registration and donation pages whereby donors can make a donation and purchase event tickets without having to complete more than one transaction.

When the event is over, reports can be generated to help all departments to analyse it in terms of the amount of money raised and response to the campaign.

Making Sense of the Data

Your community fundraising event will generate many numbers regarding amounts donated, people who attended and comparisons with similar past events. And because all of this data can be stored within the CRM system, it can be easily and instantly accessed and reports generated, imported and exported. This is vital for fundraising teams who need to be kept informed about what kind of information is available to them to help improve their interactions with donors.

The ability to store all donor data in ways that make sense to all staff means that you now have a means of tailoring your future campaigns and events to individual donors, as well as being able to target any repeat campaigns with laser-like timing.