Articles: Fundraising

Idealware articles, like those in our Few Good Tools series, give nonprofits concise, critical information on the software choices available for specific organizational functions and goals. We compare software options, offer real life examples and case studies, and give you the tools to make the right decision based on your specific needs.

Articles: Fundraising

  • Measuring the Effectiveness of Your Online Communications
    By Laura S. Quinn ,
    June 2010

    Are your online communications working?  How can you tell?  In this article, we talk through four types of measures-- Views, Followers, Engagement, and Conversion-- that help you track your efforts to see if they're worthwhile.  

    Chances are, your organization has a website. Perhaps you also send out broadcast emails, or maintain a blog, Twitter or Facebook account. Is the effort you’re putting into online communications working? How can you tell?

  • A Few Good Online Donations Tools
    By Laura S. Quinn,
    May 2010

    What tools can help you collect donations via credit card through your existing website?  In this adaptation and update of our 2005 report, we look at the considerations and the options for taking online donations.

  • Adventures in Email Fundraising
    By Andrea Berry,
    April 2010

    If you are already using email communication tools and are equipped to receive online donations through your website, email fundraising is an easy step forward. For a better sense of what's involved, we bring you a look at two smaller organizations and their email fundraising campaigns.

  • A Few Good Broadcast Email Tools
    By Laura S. Quinn,
    March 2010

    One of our most popular articles, fully updated March 2010. Email newsletters, action alerts, or fundraising emails can be a very cost effective way to communicate with your supporters, but it can be complex to send and track thousands of emails. We talked to eleven nonprofit technology experts to find out what eNewsletter tools have worked well for them.

  • Getting Started with Email Fundraising
    By Andrea Barry,
    December 2009

    Email fundraising is a technique that’s within the reach of the smallest organization.  This article walks you through the basics: how to design a campaign, write emails, build an email list, select software to send email and take online donations, and measure the results.

  • Enlisting Your Supporters to Fundraise For You: A Case Study
    By Andrea Berry,
    October 2009

    How can online friend-to-friend fundraising help you to raise money and engage your staff and volunteers? This detailed case study looks at how one small school raised $3000 from mostly new donors with a minimal investment.

  • Implementing Your Donor Management Software
    By Kieth Heller,
    May 2009

    You’ve defined your requirements, talked to vendors, seen demos, found the right donor management software for you and worked through the contract—now you’re done, right? Not so fast. You still need to implement the system, which requires additional planning, teamwork, configuration, data migration and testing—my favorite part!

  • A Few Good Tools for Friend-to-Friend Fundraising
    By Stella Hernandez,
    April 2009

    Enlist your supporters to fundraise for you!  There are a number of online tools that that allow your staff or passionate supporters to set up individual online donation pages to fundraise from their own friends and family.  We asked six nonprofit technology experts for advice on the tools and best practice to make this fundraising technique work for you. 

  • Four Principles of Choosing Donor Management Software
    By Keith Heller,
    March 2009

    What do you need your software to do today to support your organization’s strategies, or for your needs over the next three or four years? What are the common issues other organizations face when selecting such software? Keith Heller takes a look at four things to keep in mind throughout the software selection process.

  • Do You Need New Donor Management Software?
    By Keith Heller,
    February 2009

    New donor management software will improve your life, solve all your organization’s problems and make all your goals a reality. Right? And it comes with prime waterfront property in the Everglades. This last sentence is only slightly less true than the first, but we take it as common wisdom. In fact, many non-profits change systems when they don’t need to, for the wrong reasons, or in an ineffective manner—and sometimes all of the above!

  • A Few Good Donor Management Systems
    By Eric Leland,
    November 2008

    The right donor management software can make a big difference in your ability to raise funds. We asked six different nonprofit technology experts about donor management software that have worked well for their nonprofit colleagues.

  • The Basics of Email Metrics: Are Your Campaigns Working?

    October 2008

    You already know the value a good email campaign can bring to your nonprofit, whether it is an eNewsletter, or email advocacy and fundraising appeals. But how can you tell if your electronic communications are actually having the impact you hoped for? Is the work you’re putting in worth the effort? Email metrics can help you determine the effectiveness of your communications and fine tune them to improve their efficiency.

  • A Few Good Methods for Processing Credit Cards
    By Laura S. Quinn,
    August 2008

    It's not necessarily difficult or expensive to accept payments by credit card. We provide some tips and tools to process credit card transactions both online and off.

  • Comparing Lower-Cost Online Integrated Application
    By Eric Leland,
    December 2007

    Online integrated applications allow nonprofits to manage a number of different aspects of their constituent information and Web presence all together in one package. Eric Leland took a close look at eight packages to compare their functionality in a variety of areas.

  • A Few Good Tools: Low Cost Constituent Databases
    By Laura S. Quinn,
    March 2007

    Looking for an inexpensive way to track your volunteers, donors, partners, and other constituents? We've full updated this popular article, which recommends a set of free and low cost databases that have worked for those in the field. We've added new tools, tips and thoughts to help you find something that works for your organization.

  • A Few Good Online Auction Tools
    By Laura S. Quinn,
    January 2007

    What tools can help you raise money and rally support for your cause through an online auction?  We asked five nonprofit professionals which tools have worked for them, and summarize their response.

  • Retooling the eNonprofit: Expanding the Options for Integrated Online Software

    By Michael Stein,
    January 2007

    New integrated online software tools lead to more possibilities for nonprofits. How do you choose?   Internet strategist Michael Stein describes what's available and offers some considerations when choosing tools that can help with emailing, online donations, advocacy online, and more.

  • Payment Processing in Pictures
    By Laura S. Quinn,
    January 2007

    It can be hard to understand how online payment processing works. Many different steps and a lot of jargon make it seem more complicated than it is. To help you see the big picture, we’ve laid out a typical payment process in diagrams.

    Here’s the whole diagram – but don’t worry, we’ll break it down.

  • Ten Common Mistakes in Selecting Donor Databases (And How to Avoid Them)
    By Robert Weiner,
    November 2006

    How do you choose a donor database that will support successful fundraising? The software is only half the story. Fundraising technology strategist Robert Weiner addresses ten common mistakes that can prevent you from selecting the right database and managing it effectively.

  • A Few Good Online Payment Multitaskers
    By Laura S. Quinn,
    January 2006

    While there are many applications out there that can help you process any single type of online payment, what if you want a tool that will support a variety of transactions?  We asked six experts what tools they would recommend to process various types of payments on an existing website.

Articles: Fundraising

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