7 Top Nonprofit Trends Every Professional Should Know and Watch For in 2020

TOP NONPROFIT TRENDS OF 2020 DONORBOX

Nonprofit Trend #1: It’s All About Data

Most nonprofit professionals work really hard. And most nonprofit organizations are doing their best on any given day. Sadly, this doesn’t often translate into tangible results

HAVE THE DATA IN THE FIRST PLACE

EMPLOY MACHINE LEARNING

Good data is essential for successful personalization. Bringing the right data sources together is a constant struggle for marketers across industries

Among marketers who employ machine learning, 78% described personalization impact on customer relationships as “strong” or “extremely strong

COLLECT USEFUL DATA

DON’T FORGET ABOUT YOUR IMPACT

What’s your ratio between one-time donors and recurring donors? How are your fundraising campaigns doing?

How are you impacting the world? Start by determining your social impact KPIs and then go from there

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Nonprofit Trend #2: Specific Wins Again A.K.A Project-Based Giving

While donor loyalty is a real thing and while you might have an army of your nonprofit’s brand evangelists (good job!), if you aren’t also exploring project-based fundraising, you could be missing out

HAVE A LASERFOCUSED GOAL Explore creating highly specific campaigns to fulfill clearly defined needs.

MAKE YOUR PROJECTS Fundraisers that go on forever won’t cut it.

Your outcomes should also be quite tangible

CREATE CONTENT Create content and material specifically for your fundraising campaign/project

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Nonprofit Trend #3: Cybersecurity Continues to Matter

Cybersecurity and privacy were often low on the list of nonprofit priorities – but times are changing. Cyber threats have never been so prevalent and data privacy issues are very complex

ASSESS YOUR NONPROFIT’S DATA RISKS Take inventory of all the data your nonprofit collects and identify where it is stored

TRAIN THE STAFF Your staff should be aware of how to collect/store/dispose of and protect personally identifiable information

ESTABLISH CYBERSECURITY Build your cybersecurity governance structure through the development of information security policies

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Nonprofit Trend #4: Give Your Donors a Face and a Name

If we sound like we’re repeating ourselves with this one, it’s because we are.

Personalizing your marketing efforts is probably the single most impactful strategy you can utilize to really get the most out of your fundraising efforts.

THINK ABOUT HOW YOU CAN USE TECHNOLOGY Close the gap between your donors and your beneficiaries, two groups of people that are often worlds apart

EXPLORE LIVE STREAMING Live streaming is one of the most immediate and authentic tactics you can employ to increase the transparency of your organization

ALWAYS THINK OF STORIES Collect stories from your employees, board members, volunteers, but especially from those you serve

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Nonprofit Trend #5: Who’s Doing Your Fundraising?

To succeed in the nonprofit world, especially in fundraising, you need to have smart marketing and fundraising strategies. You should be aware of the latest trends that might impact how your nonprofit organization operates. And also have a pretty great website and a solid social media presence. Be equipped with fundraising platforms and donor management systems.

UNDERSTAND WHERE YOU STAND WHEN IT COMES TO RETENTION Explore creating highly specific campaigns to fulfill clearly defined needs

COMPENSATE YOUR STAFF FAIRLY While this can be tough (with limited budgets and a public perception that often punishes high overhead costs)

WORK HARD ON YOUR NONPROFIT CULTURE THINK CREATIVELY Culture is the overarching “feel” including everything from the physical workspace to the behaviors within the organization

A discussion with your own staff may also inspire some creative ideas for nonprofit job benefits and perks

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Nonprofit Trend #6: Back With The “Election Effect�

Many nonprofit organizations saw a surge in recurring subscription initiations following the 2016 election, particularly civil rights, social action, and advocacy organizations

PULL UP YOUR 2016 REPORTS Go back through your 2016 donor data and see if the 2016 presidential election affected donations leading up to and after election day. See what can you learn from that data MAKE SURE YOUR RECURRING GIVING SYSTEM IS TOP-NOTCH A well-established recurring giving program ensures you’re ready to capture surges in support that can occur in the way we saw during the last election year KEEP A PULSE ON THE NEWS AND TALK TO YOUR DONORS Stay aware of what the leading candidates are talking about and how that might relate to your cause

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Nonprofit Trend #7: Make Giving Ultra Easy

The donors of today don’t tolerate slow and laggy websites, complicated giving processes, and weird, difficult-to-read websites. In the age where it takes minutes to buy a new set of forks online, giving needs to be super easy.

INCLUDE DIVERSE PAYMENT METHODS

EXPLORE WEBSITE LIVE-CHAT

Make sure donors can give via systems like Apple Pay and Google Pay

Even if you have a lot of information on your website, research shows having a website chat function

ADD THE DONATE BUTTON ON SOCIAL PLATFORMS Facebook unveiled a digital payment system

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Conclusion

The nonprofit landscape is changing constantly. As your nonprofit progresses into this new decade, it’s never been more vital to understand your nonprofit organization in its cultural and political context. It is important to really “get� your donors. One way to do this is to stay aware of the major forces impacting the world in which we live and work today.

We hope our article helped you learn more about the biggest and most significant fundraising trends in 2020. We also hope you can take these insights on board, applying them to your operations and everyday activities and getting one step closer to achieving your mission.

MORE INFO

https://donorbox.org/nonprofitblog/nonprofit-trends-2020/