What are the Best Fundraising Platform Tools for Your Nonprofit? 

From crowdfunding fundraising platforms like GoFundMe to event focused fundraising platforms like PayBee, nonprofits now have a vast array of fundraising software for hosting their events and galas. But which platform offers the best tools for collecting donations from your guests?

Ultimately, every nonprofit will need to consider their needs and the needs of their donors when answering this question. A nonprofit that raises money primarily through crowdfunding may do very well with a fundraising platform like GoFundMe. On the other hand, if you want to collect donations through a variety of activities and events like silent auctions, virtual concerts, and peer-to-peer fundraising, you’ll want a platform that offers more sophisticated tools.

Then there’s the issue of pricing. Some fundraising platforms offer a free trial or a free version for nonprofits to experience their fundraising software and learn how to use its features. While this may be enough for some nonprofits, if you want to access more features and have a support team on hand to provide you with all needed information, you may be better off paying for a fundraising platform with reasonable pricing.

To help you know how to start looking for the right fundraising platform, this article will provide a rundown of the best fundraising tools most nonprofit organizations use to build and promote their campaigns. We’ll provide information on multiple fundraising tools, including those used for building donation pages, managing donors, and assessing your fundraisers. We’ll also examine useful fundraising tools that help share your galas on social media, increasing the number of potential donors for your fundraising event. 

Good Fundraising Tools for Building Donation Pages

Every fundraising platform should offer the ability to create customizable donation pages. This is important since, no matter what fundraising event or activity you want to host, you want to offer your guests multiple opportunities to donate. Having the ability to collect donations in the ways your attendees are most comfortable with is an excellent way to help you raise more money.

So, what type of features are best for your donation pages? We’ve found the following to be essential:

Recurring Online Donations

Having the ability to let your donors make recurring donations is one of the best ways to keep your nonprofit programs well-funded for years. Recurring donations allow a donor to make regular payments every month on a regular basis. Because these donations tend to be smaller than one-time donations, donors tend to be more willing to make them. Over time, however, the collective amount of money your donor pays is much higher than a one-time donation.

PayBee’s customizable donation forms allow you to easily offer a recurring donation option. We encourage all our clients to make use of this tool as it provides your guests with an additional option to donate.

To raise money means to get donations. That's why it is important for nonprofits to ensure that their donation pages contain the features and functionality needed to easily collect recurring donations from donors. Recurring donations are invaluable for ensuring that your nonprofit’s programs remain well-funded over the years.

Covering Online Processing Fees

Here’s one feature many nonprofits overlook when building their donation forms. Including the option for the donor to cover processing fee on their donations may seem like a minor detail. However, when you consider how much money nonprofits lose from donations in credit card and other processing fees, the dent in your fundraising becomes more noticeable.

That’s why PayBee offers an online tool that makes it simple to add an option on your donation forms allowing donors to cover any processing fee. Moreover, we’ve found that most donors will cover these fees when asked. It’s a simple tool, but one that could let your nonprofit keep more of the money you raise. 

It's a really classy touch to offer your donors the option of covering the processing fee. Not only does it allow you to keep more of the money you raise, but it's also a great way to show your donors how much their donations mean to your organization. Your fees will always depend on the payment processor you choose, so make sure to ask your provider for more details.

Building Crowdfunding Campaigns Online

Crowdfunding has become a very popular way to fundraise, especially thanks to the new online tools that make it easy to build a crowdfunding campaign. Basically, crowdfunding involves building a single centralized campaign page that allows people to give to your nonprofit or cause. Since this page can be shared across multiple social networks, the number of potential donors who can give is vast.

While fundraising outlets like GoFundMe are very popular for crowdfunding, you can build effective crowdfunding campaign pages with the online tools provided by PayBee. Be sure that whatever fundraising platform you use also lets you customize your campaign page, making it mobile-friendly so people can give through their smartphones and adding features like a donation thermometer so visitors can see how close you are to reaching your fundraising goals.

A free or low-cost platform should have enough features to let you build a successful crowdfunding page and campaign, but a more comprehensive platform will offer additional tools like peer-to-peer fundraising and donor management. Peer-to-peer fundraising allows your donors to build their own personalized campaign under a single umbrella campaign. This is ideal for larger nonprofits, as it can help you reach more potential supporters than you could with a regular crowdfunding page.

Build a Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Page

As we've mentioned above, peer-to-peer fundraising pages are one of the best tools you can use when it comes to raising money online for your nonprofits. Not only do they help raise money faster, but they also allow for more donor engagement and give donors the opportunity to share their campaign directly with friends and members of their community.

Peer-to-Peer fundraising differs from crowdfunding in that it allows your volunteers and staff members to create multiple fundraising pages and share them with their family, friends, and social networks. This inspires multiple donors to give — and the funds raised are all directed back to your nonprofit.

Naturally, managing so many peer-to-peer fundraising pages is challenging, which is why PayBee’s fundraising platform provides online tools specifically for this type of fundraising. Your volunteers will not only be able to build their peer-to-peer fundraising pages with our platform but also link them to your main fundraising platform, making it easier for you to manage all the donations.

Text-To-Give

Convenience and enthusiastic giving often go hand-in-hand. That’s why having a text-to-give feature on your fundraising platform offers such a useful tool for reaching donors on the go. With text-to-give, donors can donate easily via text message. Since donors no longer need to be physically present in order to give to your nonprofit organization, text-to-give helps greatly increase the number of donations and pledges your nonprofit can collect.

PayBee offers a simple feature where you can text your guests a link to your fundraising page (which can come complete with recurring donation options and covering processing fees). This makes it easy for guests to donate to your nonprofit. The pricing for text-to-give varies depending on which provider you choose, so make sure to compare plans and fees before signing up.

Crowdfunding can be a very effective way to raise money for your nonprofit, but it’s important to choose the best platform that fits your needs. PayBee is not just any crowdfunding platform, it provides a plethora of features and functionality that can help you build effective campaigns with ease. From peer-to-peer fundraising to text-to-give features and more, PayBee is a top platform for online fundraising.

With low pricing, excellent customer support, and features that are designed to help you raise money successfully, PayBee is one of the best available for nonprofits.

Great Fundraising Platforms and Tools for Donor Management

Whatever fundraising platform you choose should have the right tools to help organize and manage your nonprofit fundraising event as it’s happening. The platform fee structure should also fit within your budget. While fundraising events and activities can vary greatly, we highly recommend that you choose a platform capable of doing the following:

Collecting Donor Information for Fundraisers and More

Getting information from your donors is vital to hosting a successful fundraising event. Naturally, you’ll need to get your guests’ names and contact information — but you may also need additional specialized information like their dietary restrictions if you’re hosting a fundraising luncheon for your nonprofit. And in this era of COVID-19, making sure your guests have been vaccinated is crucial to hosting an in-person fundraiser.

That’s why it’s so important that you get a nonprofit fundraising platform that lets you customize the information you ask your donors to provide.

PayBee’s fundraising platform, for instance, lets you ask any signup questions you need from your donors. You can even ask for each donor’s favorite color so you can provide them with name tags and cards that match their preferences, granting a more personal touch.

One additional tool you want to look for is a user-friendly guest management software like the one provided by PayBee’s fundraising platform. This makes it easy for your staff to keep a directory of your invited guests, track their RSVP status, manage group tickets, arrange table settings, and organize all your guest information from meal choices to allergy restrictions. Some fundraisers can get pretty big, so you want a software capable of making your donor information easily accessible.   

A solid platform overview and a good understanding of the features, platform fees, and fundraising tools you need are key to finding the most suitable online platform for your nonprofit. The platform fee and overall pricing is important to consider when selecting a platform, as it can have an impact on the return of your fundraiser. Also, be sure to look into what customer support is available before you commit to any platform, as this can ensure that your fundraiser or campaign runs smoothly.

Silent and Live Auction Software

Charity auctions are a staple of nonprofit fundraisers, and with good reason. Both silent and live auctions can be modified to fit any event, from school fundraisers to museum galas. Auctions regularly raise money for nonprofits — but only if you have the right tools to host and manage them.

Your fundraising platform should have online tools capable of uploading detailed listings of auction items, including photographs and descriptions. If you’re hosting a virtual or hybrid live auction, you should have live streaming capabilities that allow your auctioneer to reach both your online and in-person audiences. And of course, your online platform should make it easy for donors with winning bids to check-out and pay the necessary funds (more on that later).

Even if you don’t plan on hosting a silent or live auction right away, you should still invest in the software. PayBee’s fundraising platform actually specializes in hosting in-person, virtual, and hybrid auctions, and our blog regularly offers detailed instructions for how to make your auction more successful.

The goal is to raise money, so you should invest in a platform with fundraising features like auction-specific tools — and it doesn’t hurt to partner with an experienced fundraising company like PayBee that can guide you through the process.

Payment Processing

If you’ve created some excellent donation pages, activities, and campaigns, your guests will have plenty of incentive to give to your cause. However, if your fundraising platform doesn’t make it easy for donors to give in the way they’re most comfortable, you could be missing out on some generous donations for your nonprofits.

That’s why fundraising platforms like PayBee enable guests to donate in a variety of ways, including via credit card, PayPal, Apple Pay, cash, check, or even bank transfer. We also make mobile credit card readers available that link to our PayBee mobile application, making checking guest items out even easier.

Understand that in today’s age of social distancing, having an efficient and convenient way of letting guests check-out without waiting in large crowds is essential to keeping your guests safe and comfortable. This makes payment processing tools more relevant than ever.

It's also good to be aware of the fees associated with different payment types. Most services charge a fee for processing payments, so keep that in mind when you’re choosing a platform and setting your budget.

If you want to fundraise without having to worry about hidden fees and unreliable customer support, look for a platform like PayBee with transparent pricing. We don't charge any extra processing fee, and our customer support team is always available to answer your questions. Our classy fundraise software also offers free online donation forms and peer-to-peer fundraising, so you can focus on what matters most: growing your fundraiser.

Tracking Pledges

Once guests pledge to donate to your fundraiser, it’s expected that they honor their promises and pay as soon as possible. Of course, it’s always possible that these obligations might slip a donor’s mind, leaving you with some outstanding pledges at the end of your fundraiser.

This is why PayBee’s fundraising platform allows you to track pledges to make sure your nonprofit collects all its money. You’ll also be able to send automatic email reminders to donors, along with convenient ways for them to pay any outstanding pledges. Keeping pricing and books balanced is challenging for any organization, so we make sure you have the right tools for the job.

The price of a pledge is worth far more than the cost of a few emails, and PayBee ensures that you have the right tools to make sure your donations don’t go uncollected. The key all lies in the platform you choose, so make sure your platform has the features you need for successful fundraising.

Top Fundraising Platform Features for Promoting Your Gala on Social Media

No matter how great your fundraising platform is at building campaigns or managing events, your fundraiser won’t get very far if you don’t have enough donors attending. That’s why your platform features and needs to have tools for promoting your upcoming galas — and these days, the best way of reaching large audiences is through social media.

Depending on the type of audience you’re trying to attract, you may want to promote your fundraiser on:

●  Facebook: Best for sharing long-form information on your event. You can also host events on Facebook. To keep it classy, you can also create a dedicated Facebook page for your event.

●  Instagram: Instagram is excellent for promoting your fundraiser through eye-catching photos and images. You can also share video clips of past events, however your captions should be short and impactful. Don't shy away from Instagram stories either, they’re great for raising awareness and engagement.

●  LinkedIn: This platform attracts many professionals in your area. If your fundraiser offers networking opportunities and/or educational opportunities, you should definitely promote this on LinkedIn. It's a free way to reach potential professionals.

●  Twitter: Twitter is great for real-time reporting and quick updates on event status. You do have a 280-character limit though, so use your words carefully. The key is to show people what they can expect if they join your event and make sure to include plenty of hashtags.

You can manage your social media campaigns easily through PayBee’s social sharing buttons. However, make sure to target the social media channels your desired audience frequents to make sure you attract the right kind of donors.

To fundraise means to succeed — but in order to do so, you need the right tools and features. Don’t just settle on GoFundMe or Donorbox. Instead, look for a top fundraising platform like PayBee that offers powerful functionalities and transparent pricing at no extra fee.

Fundraising Tools for Assessing Fundraisers 

Even after a nonprofit fundraising event ends, your work isn’t over. Odds are, you’re planning on hosting multiple fundraisers throughout the year and want each event to be just as successful, if not more successful, as the last one.

That’s where the reporting and analytics tools on your fundraising platform come into play. When you use a platform like the PayBee system, it’s easy to generate a breakdown of how much money your fundraiser made and which donors contributed the most. Your pricing data will also be clear, so you know how much you’re spending and what features are worth the money.

You’ll also be able to tell at a glance which of your fundraising activities were the most popular and best attended. If you created multiple fundraising campaigns, you can also judge which ones attracted the most support from your donor pool. 

All this information makes it much easier to plan your next fundraiser. You’ll know which activities and campaign styles to keep and which ones may need to be modified or dropped. You’ll also know which guests you’ll want to keep an eye on based on their enthusiasm for your event. Different fundraisers work better for certain nonprofits, so it’s very useful to have detailed reports automatically generated so you know what works best for you.

The functionality doesn’t stop there. With PayBee, you get the benefit of live customer support and helpful resources, so that when questions arise throughout your planning process or during the nonprofit event itself, you can easily find answers. That kind of dedication to aiding nonprofits makes PayBee the best online fundraising platform for any nonprofit organization.

Integration With Other Software Fundraise Tools

Since you’re likely to use more than one software tool for your offline and online fundraising efforts, make sure that the platform you choose has great integration capabilities. For instance, if you’re already running a donor management system, you should be able to easily integrate it with your fundraising platform so that donors’ information is automatically transferred and updated.

Whether you use PayBee, Gofundme, Donorbox or any other online fundraising tool, integration with your database is a key feature. It’s important to make sure that all the data you gather from fundraising campaigns is centralized and organized so that you don’t duplicate efforts or have donors confused about their status.

When choosing a platform for online fundraising, make sure it integrates easily with other software tools, such as customer relationship management (CRM) and donor management systems. This is key for efficient fundraising.

An online fundraising platform should really be the centerpiece of your fundraising activities, and PayBee offers just that. With our powerful features and integrations, you can rest assured that all your other software tools are working in tandem to get you the best results from each of your campaign. You won't find a better platform when it comes to getting the most out of your online fundraising efforts.

Event Management Features

If you’re planning a physical event to go along with your online fundraising campaign, you’ll want to make sure the platform you choose offers event management features. Event management features allow you to create events, accept donations and registrations for those events, and track attendance.

The pricing and fees for the platform you choose should also factor into your decision. Some platforms offer free services while others charge per-donation fees or monthly subscription fees. You’ll want to assess which features are important to you, compare pricing structures, and then make a determination based on what fits best within your budget.

Events and fundraisers are key components to any nonprofit organization, and PayBee has the features you need to make sure your events are successful. Plus, we offer a flat fee pricing structure so that you know exactly what you’re getting for each donation you receive.

The pricing structure coupled with our advanced features and our dedication to customer support makes PayBee the key choice for any nonprofit organization looking for a reliable online fundraising platform.

Moving Forward 

With all the fundraising outlets available to nonprofits today, it’s easy to get caught up in the bells and whistles of the fancier models or limit yourself to free platforms with limited features. However, it’s important that you decide for yourself what you need your fundraising platform to do for your events before choosing one.

One excellent way to judge a fundraising platform’s merits is to participate in a demo of its features. PayBee offers a free demo where you can experience how intuitive its platform is, take part in a mock live auction, and ask technical questions to our team of experts. This is one of the best ways to determine not only if our platform is right for you but also how you would use our features in your fundraising events.

It's easy to sign up for a free demo of the PayBee system. Just schedule a convenient day and time on our website and see if our fundraising platform is what your nonprofit needs.

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