The COVID pandemic turbo-boosted nonprofits from the analog world into the digital universe. It is true that prior to the pandemic nonprofits were already transitioning from analog to more digital donor interactions, fundraising events, and cyber communication with a whole new segment of partners and small contributors. COVID-19, however, shut down nonprofit office communities, paused large fund-raising galas, and isolated the donor community at large from day-to-day interactions at the nonprofit board-level. Digital communication and cyber interaction were quickly called upon to fill the void.

Nonprofit Digital Trends

Recent research into the impact of the pandemic on the nonprofit world has uncovered trends toward digital that have been turbo-charged by COVID-19.

1. Digital transformation is continuing to evolve in the operations of nonprofit agencies.
2. The virtual world is here to stay. Hybrid events are becoming the norm, which means that the way nonprofits conduct events needs to shift to being more like a sporting event watched from home.
3. Omni-channel engagement has replaced the legacy face-to-face interaction nonprofits have always relied on.
4. The digitization of payment technologies has become ubiquitous rather than novel.
5. Just like the trends we see in financial technology to bring high-grade tools to smaller organizations, recurring donor management through fundraising technology will allow any nonprofit to get more donations online. The technology is simple, and the impact of just a handful of recurring donations made, tracked, and nurtured online can mean sustainable income for years without requiring additional resources.
6. Since the shut down in personal interaction with both donors and partners caused by the pandemic, nonprofit leadership is now challenged to focus on board development and employee retention.
7. Driven by investments attempting to capitalize on an accelerated trend around giving and digital marketing, 2022 will likely be the most intensive year of mergers and acquisitions among nonprofits.
8. The faster our world moves the more donors experience information overload and tend to disengage, so capturing donors’ attention and driving quick action is essential. This shifts the communication burden to content away from frequency and repetition.

Communicating Mission in This New Fast-paced Digital World

Given the current environment, nonprofit organizations had to pivot to online and virtual fundraising just to stay afloat. This will become the new normal. It is paramount for nonprofit organizations to enhance or build a technology infrastructure to meet new donors where they are. Nonprofits who fully embrace the creativity that digital allows while, in turn, shifting toward an abundance mindset around omni-channel engagement — through direct mail, hybrid events, video, texting, phone calls and a focus on creating educational content for donors to feel part of the community — will be the standout organizations leading the way for the entire sector.

"We Write the Songs"

Personalization means collecting, stewarding, and acting on data to better understand why a donor identifies with your organization in the first place. The market is becoming saturated with very similar content that will also make it more difficult for donors to cut through the noise they hear beyond supporting their favorite missions. With 43.3% of affluent donors supporting more than five nonprofits and the reality that many legacy gifts are started by a donor making a gift as small as $25, there needs to be an evolution in nonprofit thinking.

To communicate mission outcomes to donors on a real-time basis, agencies must use case management software that integrates outcomes across the entire agency on a real-time basis so that mission progress can be communicated to donors at any moment fundraisers deem imperative. Real-time omni-channel engagement requires content that uses real client success stories to enliven outcome data and impersonal stats. Case management software enables even large nonprofit agencies to extract outcome data and detail from every caseworker at a moment's notice and create the messages that speak to interested donors. Case management software provides the content that “writes the songs that make the whole world sing".

If you would like to learn more about how FAMCare helps our clients meet the demands of digital transformation...download our free case management guide.  

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