If you’re a nonprofit looking to consolidate all of your software into one platform that has everything you need to run a successful charity – Springly, may be the software for you. It’s an all-in-one membership platform that aids nonprofit organizations with tools and features dedicated to accounting, donations, email automation and event management.

In Use:

Springly claims that they can save a nonprofit time on daily management, diversify a nonprofit’s revenue source, and provide 24/7 support. With the Serenity membership of $25 per month for up to 100 users - a charity has access to features that enables them to run their charity without ever having to leave the Springly platform. The software offers prospective users a free demo and a free subscription that allows users to collect payments with no transaction fees and full on-line support.

The website and communications feature enables a charity to create and customize a website; send targeted messages, and report on both website and email analytics.  With the fundraising module, a nonprofit can set up fundraising campaigns and an online store- managing stock and sending invoices with a few clicks.  The accounting feature allows nonprofits to see how much they’ve sold and manage donations. They can do it right on Springly’s dashboard or take advantage of their QuickBooks integration. These features roll into Springly’s CRM platform where a nonprofit can manage both their donors and volunteers.

Furthermore, the event module allows nonprofit organizations to create a registration landing page where registrants can purchase tickets without having to leave the site. The registrant will receive a ticket with a QR code that the nonprofit can scan on the day of the event. Other benefits to the event module include; tracking who has purchased a ticket, payment collection, reporting and analytics, and integration into the CRM module.

Technology Needed:

Springly is available as a cloud-based app, but also has on-prem hardware that is compatible with both Mac, Windows, and Chromebook devices. 

While they noted the QuickBooks integrations on their website – I couldn’t find any other integrations. While that doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t have any other integrations – it just wasn’t noted on their website.

Ease of Use:

One point that a majority of Springly customers can agree on is that it’s easy to use. Based on the reviews – it’s clear to see the features that Springly offers are robust – but were created in with ease-of-use in mind. Many reviews noted that Springly saved their users both time and money.

When it comes to customer service – Springly boasts 24/7 support. A user can access help through email, phone, or chat modules. When it comes to training - the nonprofit software offers in-person training, webinars, videos, and documentation that a user can take advantage of.

Recap:

If you’re looking for an all-in-one software for your nonprofit – Springly offers numerous benefits and features aimed at small to medium nonprofits. The easy-to-use feature helps a nonprofit save time and money by having everything they need within the platform. Subscriptions start at $0 (with limited benefits) while their $25 per month subscription includes the capability to collect payments, manage contacts, and customize a website and email template.

Advantages:

• Many users appreciate that the software is easy-to-use
• Saves users both time and money by utilizing the different modules within the software
• Only $25 per month for up to 100 users – enabling small and medium nonprofits to benefit from the platform
• 24/7 support which is great for users who hold events at night or on weekends
• Offers a free demo so you can see the software in action

Disadvantages:

• Limited integrations
• Limited customization
• Some modules are better than others – which can be common in an all-in-one software like Springly

My Opinion:

There are enough glowing reviews to know that Springly is special. And for $25 per month, it’s a steal for small to medium nonprofits.

I would like to see Springly offer more integrations and more customization when it comes to websites and communications – but overall, it is packed with features and tools that nonprofits can utilize to efficiently fundraise and communicate with donors and volunteers.

Tracking donor relationships, managing volunteers, and keeping track of fundraising efforts on excel may work for new charities who are just starting out. As nonprofits grow, they need a robust CRM and fundraising platform that can grow with them.

Merging with DonorPro in 2015, SalsaLabs has two offerings - their original engagement tool, now called Salsa Engage and DonorPro’s software that is now called Salsa CRM. Salsa CRM and Salsa Engage work together to give nonprofits, “SmartEngagement Technology” to “mobilize advocates and change the world.”

In Use:

When selecting the right Salsa product, nonprofits can opt for Sales Engage or combine it with Salsa CRM. Among other integrations, Salsa Engage tightly weaves into Salesforce giving users a seamless bi-directional integration.

Depending on what option a nonprofit organization selects – SalsaLabs offers their clients numerous tools and services to communicate with donors and fundraise starting at $349 per month. Salsa CRM allows nonprofits to create donor profiles and see their donors’ giving history. Their reporting and analytics allow the nonprofit to have insight on whose donating, how much they are donating, and visualize year-over-year comparisons. Users can track the type of donations receives – whether it’s online donations or through a check or credit card. Salsa CRM integrates with QuickBooks to allow nonprofits to easily export data for accounting purposes.

In addition to Salsa CRM, Salsa Engage enables charities to communicate with both donors and volunteers through a wide variety of automated services. This includes easy-to-use, mobile-responsive templates; social media management; push notifications; and a landing page builder. The tool also allows for data and reporting analytics that track email open rates, landing page views, and engagement scores.

Technology Used:

Cloud based, Salsa CRM and Salsa Engage can be accessed wherever their users are – whether they are onsite at a fundraising event or at the office.

SalsaLabs products can also integrate with a number of different platforms such as other CRMs like Salesforce and Blackbaud; volunteer management platform Civic Champs; and Zapier, an online automation tool that lets customers connect with over 2,000 platforms and software.

Along with integrations, SalsaLabs offers a variety of consulting and digital agencies that provides additional services to get the most out of Salsa Labs products. Agencies in the SalsaLabs network include Media Cause, a digital marketing and communications agency; Courtland Consulting which provides system integrations; and Bear Brand Consulting that specializes in data management. 

Ease-of-Use:

Throughout the years I’ve learned that CRMs are not intuitively easy-to-use. Good CRMs are powerful and robust and almost always have a learning curve. Salsa CRM is no exception. To ensure their users are getting the most out of their products SalsaLabs offers tutorials, and a customer service support center that is available by phone Monday through Friday from 8a-8p ET.

Recap:

A CRM and engagement tool, Salsa Labs provides their clients with “SmartEngagement Technology”. Their technology allows nonprofits to track donor retention rates, manage donations, and fundraise all within the same platform.

Advantages:

• The CRM allows users to group donors and track donors’ giving history to get a better understanding of who is giving to their nonprofit
• Customer support is attentive, and nonprofits get a “Salsa Coach” in case users have questions or need help utilizing a certain tool
• Numerous automation tools make it easy for nonprofits to create emails, send push notifications, and create online donation pages with the ability to add personal touches.
• All email and landing page templates are mobile-responsive, so they look great on any device

Disadvantages:

• Users feel the UX design is clunky and can be hard to navigate
• Users see the potential in the CRM, but feels it needs some work when it comes to navigating the platform
• Offer many tools and services – but none of them work particularly well
• Expensive – pricing starts at $349 per month 

My Opinion:

I’d like to see Salsa Labs update their technology making it more user-friendly and intuitive. It’s by no-means the worst CRM out there – but I do think that nonprofits can get more “bang-for-their-buck” using other CRMs.

I do appreciate that Salsa Labs has a great customer support team and automation capabilities to make it easy for charities to communicate with their donors.

An online community platform, Hivebrite services the education, alumni & nonprofit sectors. Nonprofits benefit from a community platform since they rely on their volunteers and community to reach their constituents. Through content management, events, and data analytics - platforms like Hivebrite make it easier for charities to communicate with both their donors and volunteers.

In Use:

Branding themselves as the “most powerful solution for community managers” - the platform aims to help their clients engage with their members easier and more efficiently. Customers can utilize three major solutions within the Hivebrite platform. Hivebrite features a data management solution where clients can important and export member data; an event management tool with automated emails, ticketing, and online payment; and a communications management tool which comes with a CMS feature and an RSS feed. In addition, users have access to a branded community mobile App through the App Store and Google Play.

Technology Used:

Hivebrite is a cloud-based solution that can be accessed from anywhere on a user’s mobile, tablet, or desktop computer from the office or while on vacation.

Hivebrite also boasts a number of integrations including Salesforce, G-Suite, and Blackbaud – which makes it easier for charities to ensure their donor and volunteer data is up-to-date. The community platform also integrates with social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Ease of Use:

Users should take advantage of the training that the platform offers. According to users Hivebrite can take time to acclimate to. Hivebrite offers In-person training, virtual webinars, and assets to learn how to navigate the platform. Users can also utilize email, phone, and chat support, access Hivebrite’s FAQ and Knowledge Base if they are having any issues.

Recap:

Hivebrite is a community platform that nonprofits can utilize to stay connected to both their donors and volunteer, strengthening their engagement with their community. Among many other features, a subscription to Hivebrite includes the ability to process payments, create branded donation pages, and organize events.  According to Marie-Christine V’s review on G2, a tech marketplace – Hivebrite, “ interacts in a new way, stimulates engagement, makes it possible to capture the value of a community…” She goes on to say, “The potential of cooperation and reciprocity makes it different from, for instance, LinkedIn.”-

Advantages

• Many users appreciate the support that Hivebrite gives them
• Hivebrite is customizable when it comes to the branded pages and reporting and analytics
• With a “turn on/turn off” feature – Hivebrite allows nonprofits to only use the tools they need at no additional cost.

Disadvantages

• Price is not noted on their website
• While Hivebrite has an arsenal of assets available to learn how to use the platform, an IT professional may need to help you set up the platform
• There are limited integrations

My Opinion:

Many comments and reviews are from users that are happy with their subscription to Hivebrite. They note the ability to customize branding pages, the number of available features, and the support team.

The lack of pricing on their website indicates to me that it is probably expensive, but it’s worth viewing a demo of the product if your nonprofit is looking for a community management solution.

Coming onto the scene in 2015, Blackthorn.io became a Salesforce partner in 2016. As a native app - Blackthorn’s technology sits on top of Salesforce creating a seamless, secure connection. Salesforce users who utilize any native app like Blackthorn can rely on real time and accurate reporting with no integration with Salesforce needed since native apps were created in Salesforce specifically for Salesforce users.

In Use:

Blackthorn employs an array of solutions to help Salesforce users engage with their clientele. With roughly two hundred Blackthorn customers identifying as nonprofits, Blackthorn helps charities of all different sizes take advantage of a robust solution that enables their users to manage events, process payments, comply with data laws and communicate through a SMS messaging app. All within Salesforce’s ecosystem.

While Blackthorn has received accolades for all of their solutions – they are most well known for their event management and payment processing tools. Nonprofits who opt for the event management solution enjoy customizable registration pages, auto-generated event URLs, and integrations with Strike, Zoom, and Doculink to securely share invoices. The app is also mobile responsive, and attendees can check in to events using their mobile device. Living in Salesforce, nonprofits don’t have to worry about data not transferring over or duplicate entries when uploading contacts.

Pricing begins at $575 per month for the payment module and $875 for the event solution. Charites and nonprofits do receive a discount.

Ease of Use:

One reason that Blackthorn.io is easy to use is that there are no bulky spreadsheet uploads or need to sync databases. Data is updated in real time and is always accurate. You’ll never have to wonder why you have ten people registered but only 8 people uploaded to Salesforce.

Blackthorn is also “easy to use” by design. “If you have to read a document, it’s already too complicated,” Matt Frank, Blackthorn’s Director of Technology Evangelism & Product Marketing said on a call. Ease of use is not only important to Frank but Blackthorn as a whole. They believe that “software shouldn’t require an expert to run it.” With many nonprofit organizations relying on volunteers who wear many hats – this is ideal.

Customer representatives are on hand to help users navigate the solution or day-of-event troubles. They have people on staff 24/5 but they are able to have representatives available to monitor and track issues should an event occur on the weekend. They have worldwide coverage from North America to South Asia and Australia.

Technology Used:

Blackthorn.io is a cloud-based technology. The only exception is the event solution that incorporates a mobile check-in application for in-person events.

Recap:

Blackthorn is an event management solution that is considered a “native app” to Salesforce – or a solution that sits on top of Salesforce’s technology. With Blackthorn, users can run an event seamlessly while never leaving their Salesforce instance. This allows the users to feel confident that their data is secure and accurate. They also have a payment and compliance solution and a solution for SMS messaging.

Advantages:

• Offers a seamless connection for Salesforce users
• Integrates with Zoom, Doculinks, and Stripe
• Is mobile responsive and has a mobile check in for events

Disadvantages:

• It’s expensive – even with a discount for nonprofits
• There are only three templates to choose from when creating an event page
• Only for Salesforce users

My Opinion:

Originally, I thought this would be a tool for only large nonprofits because of the price. While I appreciate that Blackthorn gives nonprofits a discount – I still can’t see many small nonprofits being able to afford such a high monthly payment. With only three templates to choose from when creating an event page – there are cheaper options available.

That being said, Blackthorn.io’s biggest advantage is that it’s a native app to Salesforce and many users have commented on how easy it is to navigate. Like Matt Frank, I agree that any nonprofit solution should be easy to use because volunteers wear many hats.

Nonprofit organizations play a crucial role in their communities. They provide various support services, including offering support and resources to people in the community who need help. However, starting and running a nonprofit is challenging. So there is a need to involve stakeholders to ensure your nonprofit understands the problems in the community, builds a mission and vision and runs activities that benefit targeted individuals. Here are survey questions for your nonprofit to help you identify areas you need to improve or focus on.

1. Why do you donate to our organization?

While this can be one of the most obvious questions, it is often good to ask. Asking this question allows you to know why some people are motivated to donate to your nonprofit. It lets you know what makes you stand out and why donors donate.

2. Which programs and services that your gifts or donations support are important to you?

This can be a follow-up question to the first one. It seeks to identify the programs/services that donors care about the most. Listing the responses lets you identify core services or programs that donors value the most.

3. To what degree do you think your donations make an impact?

Asking donors how they think about their donations' impact on the community and why they feel that way helps your nonprofit understand how well the donors feel about your activities. Ask them how the gifts can be made more meaningful and beneficial to the community.

4. How do you prefer to give?

This is an important question, which can be broken to identify the frequency of giving (which can be one-time, monthly or annually), the preferred mode of giving (this can be in-kind, cash, auctions, event tickets) and the preferred method of giving (peer-to-peer, online).

5. What causes do you like donating to?

This question allows you to identify what causes people like donating to and if your nonprofit is among them. With this information, you can identify the causes that donors think influence their donations the most.

6. Will you donate to our nonprofit again?

With such a question, you will find out if the donor was impressed by how their donations were used. With this information, you can think of ways to improve your operations if most say they will not donate again.

7. How likely are you to recommend our nonprofit to a friend?

 The higher chances of a donor recommending your nonprofit to a friend mean that you are doing well and have a good impression on donors. However, if the donors respond negatively, you must improve your services.

8. How do you like us to reach you? Phone, email or others?

These questions identify how a donor likes to be communicated. For example, some donors do not like monthly newsletters or phone calls. This question will allow you to find alternative means to reach your customers.

9. How would you rate the performance of the executive team?

This question is important because it allows you to identify how your nonprofit is performing. It lets you understand how your donors rank your executive team and improve.

10. How well do you understand our mission and vision?

With this question, you will know if the donors understand your purpose of existence through your mission and vision. This is one of the most important questions because it shows the clarity of your mission and vision.

11. What do you like the most about working for our nonprofit?

This question establishes why volunteers like working in your nonprofit and what attracts them. Since donors are crucial for a nonprofit, this question is crucial.

12. If you could support another cause through this organization, what would it be?

With this, you can identify the cause most donors would love to be part of in your nonprofit.

You are excited as you plan for festivities and celebrations that are common at the end of the year. However, the question is, are you ready to make the most of the New Year? If the answer is no, perhaps now is the right time to look into your plans and think of what you should do as you approach the beginning of another year. As a nonprofit, you must get your plans ready for the new year by developing fundraising strategies and resilience plans. Here are a few tips to help you start the year right.

1. Reflect on where you have come from

Your preparation for a new year cannot start well without looking at the current year and where you have come from. Look at your accomplishments, your good moments, successes and failures. Remember all the projects you completed that year, and appreciate all you succeeded in accomplishing in the last year.

While you might be tempted to concentrate on your successes, never be afraid to reflect on your missteps. This will help you appreciate your efforts and identify areas you need to improve as you start another year. You can take advantage of tools such as Year Compass, which offers reflection questions to reflect on where you have come from and plan for the future.

2. Start a professional journal

A journal helps you note what you plan to do, not to do and reflect on the past. Set plans and goals you want to achieve and use them as a reflection as the year progresses. You can fill it out weekly and monthly and look at places you should improve to make your progress smooth.

3. Develop new goals

Now that you have identified your past successes and mistakes, set new goals and targets for the New Year. Concentrate on planning for the steps you will take with your nonprofit for success. With the new goals, you avoid the danger of sticking to the old year’s resolutions. Goals written down are likely to be achieved, and you will not be distracted. You can try to be as detailed as possible by breaking your goals into small, manageable junks and plan how each one will be achieved over the year.

4. Make a schedule

Developing goals alone will not translate to success unless you make a schedule for how each of them will be achieved over the year. A schedule elaborates how you will manage your time and ensure all you have planned are attained. Start by developing a general schedule as you prepare for the start of the year. You can then tweak it depending on the month, week or day depending on various aspects like responsibilities and emerging issues. Although a schedule should be clear, it should also be flexible enough to accommodate changes. Ensure your schedule gives you time for fun, family and friends. You also need time to relax, which should be accommodated in your schedule, or you will get overworked, and burnout will creep in.

5. Create a budget

Although nonprofits are mostly run with the help of volunteers, you still need a budget to fund your causes and projects. Therefore, your success in the coming year will depend largely on the availability of finances and your ability to manage them well. As such, you need to develop a budget depending on the amount in your accounts or what you believe can be obtained from donors. A budget reduces stress and anxiety and helps you see what your nonprofit needs to achieve from one month to another over the year. Like your schedule, your budget should be flexible enough to accommodate changes that may be required in the new year.

As indicated by their names, nonprofits and for-profits are different terms of ownership structures, operations and purpose. They can also have different goals, funding sources and visions. As such, understanding the differences between nonprofits and for-profits can help you know the type of business or organization you want to launch. This article explains the differences between nonprofits and for-profit.

Purpose

Every company exists to serve a particular purpose. However, there are stark differences between the purposes of for-profit and nonprofits. While for-profits may have various goals, their primary mission is mostly to make profits and develop effective products and services that are of value to the customer. Companies develop products or services intended to solve a particular problem faced by the customer or make a profit. In contrast, nonprofits do not prioritize profits as suggested by the name. Rather, they are dedicated to pursuing a certain cause for social benefit. Some examples include assisting people in getting safe drinking water, food, forest conservation and wildlife.

Funding

One of the most important aspects of running an organization, whether for-profit or nonprofit, is finding a way to fund projects and operations. For-profits tend to fund their projects and operations through various sources such as bank loans, investments from investors and revenues collected from sales. If a product has a high market value, local and international investors and venture capitalists might offer funding.

On the other hand, nonprofits take a different approach. Instead of seeking investors, it seeks donations in terms of money and kind. It also seeks corporate sponsorships and government grants. Other funding sources include crowdfunding and online fundraising, which have become popular.

Diversity of audience

For-profits have a more defined target audience. For instance, since the company seeks to reach and build a relationship with consumers who will buy its products and services to help generate revenue. The relationship between the company and its clients and feedback coming from the customers allows it to increase its revenues and expand its offerings to reach new markets and audiences. On the other hand, nonprofits do not deliver products or services directly to the customer. Rather, it targets a diverse audience, which includes volunteers, donors, sponsors and the public. Due to this broad audience, these organizations must balance the interest of each segment.

Leadership

For-profits have a clear leadership structure. Whether a privately-owned small business or a large corporation with an elaborate board, stakeholders and leadership, responsibilities are distributed among selected groups of individuals. Due to this, for-profit leaders are concerned with how to increase profit and revenue for the organization. On the other hand, nonprofits are mostly led and directed by a board of directors who guide the organization’s future without having a direct financial ownership. These organizations are not concerned much about financial success. Rather, the leadership has to balance the social or environmental issues with financial success in terms of donations.

Taxation

Nonprofits are usually registered as 501(c) 3 organizations. This means that they can provide their services for public good without giving any of their earnings to the government in form of taxes. The same is the case for companies or individuals donating to such organizations. These individuals and organizations are able to write off their donations as tax-deductible. On the other hand, the for-profit companies cannot benefit from tax exemptions and must pay taxes as stipulated by law.

Employees/staff

The workforce within a nonprofit are different compared to the for-profits. For instance, while the for-profits consist mostly of paid employees and interns, nonprofits rely heavily on volunteers. Volunteers are always on the frontline leading an organization in delivering its goals and mission.

Nonprofits organizations play a vital role in our society. They provide ways in which we can address social and even economic issues. A report duped Nonprofit Trends Report of 2020 shows that 75% of nonprofits reported increased demand for their services and programs. That was done before the COVID-19 pandemic, which wreaked havoc in many areas of society. With the increasing societal challenges, nonprofit organizations have responded by expanding their programs, creating awareness and increasing partnerships. As a nonprofit leader, you need to establish the challenges that people face. As you seek to look into your causes, try these strategies to grow your nonprofit into an organization that can help as many people as you would like:

1. Think big and execute smart

As a nonprofit, the first thing you need to do is to be as practical as possible. This will allow you to achieve your aspirations. Think about how scaling up will allow you to serve more people. This may involve thinking about having the right infrastructure to execute your plans as you grow. It is important to invest in your operations. Have tools that will not only help you achieve your current goals but also the ones that will remain useful as you scale your programs. Learn to refuse when you are given something that is outside your scope.

2. Focus on your team

Your team is bigger than you think. Sadly, some nonprofits take their team for granted, and this is what keeps most of them from recognizing the full potential of their network. With this in mind, look outside for volunteers willing to drive your cause and dream forward. Treat these people like valued customers. This will keep them engaged and involved in the long term. Having the right board is also crucial in establishing the ideas and personal networks to help propel your nonprofit to the next level.

3. Be transparent

An important way to accomplish growth is to be transparent with your donors. This is especially crucial for small nonprofits that are not yet well-known. People want to know where their donations are going before they give them away. Transparency will help you build trust among your constituents. This transparency can be achieved using reporting tools. Donors are increasingly interested in knowing where nonprofits spend their money, and financial tools make financial reporting easy.

4. Select an excellent

The board you pick to help in the daily running of your nonprofit is crucial for your success. These people make important decisions to help run your operations and engage your donors. Also, remember your board is the face of your nonprofit. Therefore, you must find board members who are creative, passionate and focused on ensuring you succeed. Your executive director and board members should have a common vision to transform your nonprofit's mission and help you reach the community.

5. Invest in technology

Technology can make your organization more efficient and ease the fulfilment of your obligations. However, this can only be true if you invest and adopt it in many areas of your operations. In the post-COVID-19 era, technology is ever-increasing in its importance. Technology allows your nonprofits to reach new audiences, serve more people, automate processes and run efficiently. Most nonprofits fail in this aspect because they think they can still operate without technology. However, with technology, you can harness important details about the data you gather efficiently. Cloud-based technology eases collaboration and gives your team greater access to the information they require. Integrating tools make the work of everyone easy and reduces the need for repetition.

You can now say “Alexa make a donation to_____” and have Alexa use your Amazon pay account to make a donation up to $5,000.  Currently, this program is only available to select charities that have been invited by Amazon. However, it is likely that this program will be a hit with both donors and nonprofits, so it is something that you should have on your radar for the upcoming year. 

Another high tech trend to watch for 2020 is the rise in giving via a blockchain platform. A blockchain platform is  a public ledger relying on globally distributed historical transactions to prevent tampering and fraud. 

Blockchain was designed to offer a higher level of transparency for transactions. Many donors wish to know that their donations are going directly to the charity that they have selected for the express purpose of funding a certain project. A blockchain giving platform can give them that piece of mind. 

BitGive’s GiveTrack is an example of one such platform. BitGive shares detailed real time information about the financial and project status of the charities that they work with that are accepting donations via GiveTrack.

Global Giving is a crowdfunding platform designed to help small nonprofits raise awareness and money. Global Giving is also a nonprofit, which means it understands what nonprofits need to run a successful fundraising campaign. 

Global Giving also understands that small nonprofits don’t have a large budget, so there is no application fee to join the  Global Giving platform. There is no monthly subscription fee, however Global Givings has a 3% transaction fee along with a sliding scale support fee of 5-12% of collected donations. 

The site offers a host of training and support options for nonprofits that join the platform. There are webinars, training libraries, workshops, one on one phone consultations or site visits.  The platform has tools like gamification and incentives to increase donations. 

The platform offers all the standard fundraising campaign tools, including metrics, donor engagement, social media integration. What it also offers is opportunities to partner with large companies for matching grants, or specific giving programs with the company.

know your audience in order to determine if live streaming is right for your nonprofit. The people you want to engage through a live stream have to be savvy enough to access your video feed so that they aren’t overwhelmed or frustrated by the experience. Beyond this point, your decision should come down to value—both to the viewer and to your organization.

If your organization is exploring adding a livestream to your next event there are a few things that you should consider. First, is your event the type of event that makes for a good livestream. 

The purpose of the livestream is to generate enthusiasm and excitement from those who are unable to attend in person. The event you are live streaming has to be visually interesting enough to keep your online viewer engaged. The most successful live streams are based on events that have an element of excitement to them. Is your event a fashion show? Will there be cute animals?--you can never go wrong livestreaming cute animals.  Also, if your event includes a celebrity guest that you know people who were unable to attend in person would love to see, 

After determining if your event is right for a livestream, it’s time to consider if your intended audience is right for a livestream. If your audience is comfortable using Twitch, YouTube or social media, if you chose to livestream via Facebook than live streaming is a good idea. If your audience is not comfortable with those platforms it doesn’t mean that you can’t do a livestream it just means that you may not get a huge return from the event. 

Next, it’s time to plan your livestream events content. Think of your live stream as the modern equivalent to a charity telethon-except instead of broadcasting on TV your using the internet. A telethon doesn’t consist of a single still shot of the action and neither should your livestream. 

Create a content script. If your are doing a fashion show consider doing interviews with the models or designers (or stores that donated the fashion). Have a host roving the audience,anything to spice up the broadcast. Remember you want to keep the excitement going. 

Many livestream apps allow your organization to collect donations directly from the livestream platform, so make sure your call to action is clear. 

EveryAction wants to be everything to every nonprofit. This cloud based platform offers fundraising, advocacy, organizing and digital all in one package. 

For fundraising, you can use the platform to create a simple donation page for your website. You can also use the platform to track major gifts, pledges and other donations. And, you can run an online auction with it as well. 

Get all your advocacy done with social matching and listening which lets you monitor and track influential supporters and it has an advocacy module that makes it easy for you to turn your advocates into donors. 

Organize your supporters with the built in tools to manage your volunteers and coordinate your canvassing or phone bank events. 

The digital portion lets you build multi channel ad campaigns. The platform includes data visualization tools so you can make use of all the various data sets that your organization accumulates. 

Nonprofits can make the most out the remaining giving days in the year, reports The Nonprofit Times. 

You’ve survived Giving Tuesday – and hopefully come out of it with a nice boost of donation revenue for your nonprofit.

Read article on The Nonprofit Times

New Story, a nonprofit that focuses on using tech to build affordable housing, plans on having 50 new homes erected a Mexico community by the end of 2020. 

A giant 3D printer built two houses in an impoverished, rural part of Mexico last week, breaking ground on what will be the first 3D-printed neighborhood in the world.

Read article on Fox 2 Now

According to the Biz Tech Magazine, integrated giving is one of several technology trends that will impact nonprofits in 2020. 

Nonprofits have a lot on their plates. Charitable giving took a hit last year, declining for the first time since the Great Recession, forcing organizations to do more with less.

Read article on Biz Tech Magazine

Mobile friendly devices help contribute to the success of #GivingTuesday, reports Biz Tech Magazine.  

Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday are all behind us, but the long Thanksgiving weekend isn’t over yet. Many will be digging deep into their pockets again today, but not for themselves—this time, it’s for Giving Tuesday. 

Read article on BizTech Magazine