Blog

Long before students leave school, what they experience on campus promotes life-long interest in their alma mater. You’ll want to be able to reach out and engage these students for years after graduation.

The first few ...  read more

Nonprofit organizations and university departments are often strapped for budgeting, and on top of that it may seem counterintuitive (especially for those who have less experience in fundraising strategy) to spend money ...  read more

The ability to reach your donors and supporters is critical in order to attract new major gifts and meet fundraising milestones. There are a variety of different ways you can find donor information, so today we’re going ...  read more

Between all the hectic day-to-day, some nonprofits miss-out on opportunities to bring in more donations. Here are a few simple strategies to lift your fundraising.

1. Set up recurring donations. Donors who set up monthly giving donate 42% more per year than a one-time donor. The value of a recurring donation program for your nonprofit can’t be overstated, but many nonprofits still haven’t implemented this strategy. Once in place, a recurring program does the work for you, billing monthly donors for a selected amount and quietly adding to your yearly budget.
2. Go multichannel. Email is great, and so is direct mail. Each of these strategies can bring in donations, but for the best response use both. In a recent article, Nonprofit Pro said, “Although direct mail has a higher response rate, a strategy for implementing direct mail and email produces a higher response rate.” If you’re sticking with just one method of getting the word out about your fundraising initiatives, it’s past time to start using other channels. If you need help with your email marketing or starting digital advertising, AlumniFinder can help.
3. Get donated Adwords from Google. Are people finding your donation landing pages online? If not, here’s a free trick to get more traffic: Google will donate up to $10,000 in free search advertising for nonprofits. The process for getting this started is super easy and extremely beneficial at a time when more and more giving is done online. To get more information about this, click here.
4. Take the guesswork out of your fundraising. You might know who your best donors are right now, but looking into your database do you have any idea who might become another major donor? The answer is probably no since you don’t have a crystal ball. can find the donors in your database who are most likely to become your best donors, and we’ll score everyone for you – that way you can focus your efforts where it matters most.
5. Use your donor data. A recent study conducted by Abila uncovered that 74% of the nonprofits surveyed don’t or can’t use their donor data for important program decisions. Your donor data is one of the most powerful tools you have to fundraise successfully and not using it is a serious misstep. If you need help getting your data up-to-date and ready for use to power program and fundraising choices, consider using AlumniFinder Batch to update all of the records you need at once!

We know those busy fundraisers have little time on your ...  read more

Keeping your best donors is a vital part of ensuring the success and continued growth of your nonprofit or university. These champions help keep the lights on, and more importantly, help you make a difference in the lives ...  read more