After working as an accountant, CPA and CFO for a number of years - founder and developer of Grant Budget Manager, Rick Perrin began to consult for Wisconsin Early Childhood Association and found that they had unique budgeting needs. He quickly learned that this problem wasn’t unique just to this nonprofit. In fact, all nonprofits small or large face the same budgeting and forecasting issues due to the uncertainty of grants and the continuous fluctuation of donations. With his background in finance he set out to create a tool that would make budgeting and forecasting easy for small to mid-size charities.

In Use:

Nonprofits rely on grants and donations to keep them afloat throughout the year. It’s what allows them to pay their staff, invest in infrastructure and help the constituents that they serve. But grants and donations can’t always be counted on – and grants start and stop at different times of the year. An organization could have $10,000 in grant money coming in, in April, but only $5,000 coming in, in September. But like any business, that same charity has similar monthly expenses in April as it does in September. That’s why it’s so important to manage their budget monthly but also forecast what they’ll need in months to come.

Unlike similar products, Grant Budget Manager was created for nonprofits. It works directly with QuickBooks and many other accounting systems for a seamless integration.  Unlike similar software that charges a set-up fee on top of annual fees, Grant Budget Manager requires a one-time implementation fee. Perrin did this to relieve nonprofits of the burden of having to budget monthly fees into their forecasts.

Technology Needed:
Grant Budget Manager currently sits on prem and is compatible with a PC. The program has an encryption key built into it to protect a nonprofit’s data and prevent data loss.

East of Use:

The implementation of Grant Budget Manager takes about 20 hours, most of that time is working with the client and their employees to show them how the platform performs. Once the platform is installed, Perrin is confident it will save charities both time and money.

Recap:

Founded by Perrin, Grant Budget Manager is a tool that’s built for nonprofits. It works with excel to help charities manage their budget and forecast future spend. With a 36-month timeline it allows nonprofits to manage long-term grants and their multiple-year budget. The platform also allows clients to run reports, analyze key results, allocate costs, and quickly update their finances. With different dashboards available, clients can see where they stand in the present and what their future expenses may look like.

Advantages:

• Unlike other accounting tools, Grant Budget Manager is built for nonprofit organizations
• The platform costs a one-time implementation fee while other competitors charge an implementation fee plus annual fees
• Integrates with QuickBooks and other accounting systems
• Has an encryption key built in to protect against data loss

Disadvantages:

• Located on prem and for PCs only
• Grant Budget Manager is a newer software so there aren’t very many reviews and testimony about the product yet

My Opinion:

Just by talking to Perrin for a short amount of time, it’s clear that Grant Budget Manager was a labor of love (1500 hours of programing to be exact). This robust platform sets out to solve all of the unique problems that nonprofits face in terms of budgeting and accounting.

Bigger isn’t always better when it comes to your nonprofit software. Complex accounting and donation platforms can lead to complicated set-up processes and procedures that might not benefit your organization in the first place. That’s why Software4Nonprofits created two simple programs for their users – their DONATION program to keep track of donors and donations and their ACCOUNTS program for basic bookkeeping functionality.

In Use:
Small to mid-sized nonprofits and churches who primarily wish to keep track of their donations or utilize basic bookkeeping and fund accounting functionality benefit the most from Software4Nonprofits programs.

DONATION Program:

Software4Nonprofit’s DONATION program allows organizations to record donors and gifts while also issuing receipts to supporters. Users can access different types of reporting that makes it easier for charities to track one-time contributors, current donors, and all contributions by date, name and amount. When speaking to Software4Nonprofits founder Dan Cooperstock, he wanted to make it very clear that this software was not a full-featured fundraising software. If you are interested in a fundraising platform he recommends a “full-featured and customizable fundraising program.”

In terms of pricing, Software4Nonprofits offer a free LITE version, and free 60-day evaluations of other full-featured versions. Support for the LITE version is $20 a year after the first month, and support and upgrades are included for the first year with the purchase of the other versions. From there the purchase price is either $100 or $180 depending on the version chosen. The LITE version allows for up to 100 donors per year. With multiple versions available and a 60-day free trial, charities and churches can find the right version for them.

ACCOUNTS Program:

Like the DONATION program there are different versions of the software depending on what a charity is looking for. A nonprofit may start with a standard version and then upgrade over the years as their organization grows. “Initial pricing for ACCOUNTS is $130 to $220 depending on the version and again subsequent year support and upgrades costs are half of the initial price,” Cooperstock explained.

Unlike traditional commercial accounting programs like QuickBooks or Quicken, users can track income and expenses while also having a simple and completely automated fund accounting. Like the DONATION software, users can also take advantage of different reports such as income statements, balance sheets, and detailed transaction reports.

Technology Used:

Software4Nonprofits can only be installed on Windows desktop apart from the OnDemand version. Because this version is controlled by secure remote control, it can also be used on Macs.

While there are no direct integrations, users can export their data and upload it to their CRMs like Constant Contact or QuickBooks.

Ease of Use:

Nonprofits can access multiple introductory videos that teach users exactly how to use each software.  There is also an expansive FAQ page and Help file that covers everything from problems using the program to installations. Users who are still having issues can email Software4Nonprofits or call them for support.

Recap:

Software4Nonprofits was created as an easy solution for churches, charities, and nonprofits to solve for basic donation and accounting needs. It was important to Cooperstock to create a software that was easily accessible to anybody including volunteers with minimal experience.

Advantages:

• DONATION program has a free LITE version that many charities and churches can utilize
• The programs are easy to use and there are a plethora of documents and videos to help an organization learn how to use each program
• Export documents and upload to your CRM
• Fairly priced

Disadvantages:

• The only cloud-based program is their OnDemand version
• The software is only available in English
• If you do not have accounting experience, the ACCOUNTS program may have a learning curve

My Opinion:

The biggest advantage of a software like Software4Nonprofits is that they know what they are. They are a simple solution for charities and churches to upload DONATION and track income and expenses. The program doesn’t promise to be the next QuickBooks or fundraising tool – in fact Dan Cooperstock makes it very clear that they’re not. If you need a way to keep track of your spending, donors, and DONATION – these programs can help. With different versions of each program – small-to-mid nonprofits can pick the best version for their organization to get the most benefit.

If you’re looking for a simple, intuitive way to track your donors and gifts – I would recommend trying out the 60-day trial to see how you like it.

Now that the world is slowly opening back up your virtual events may turn into in-person events before you know it. Making sure you’re able to manage them is critical so you don’t waste time or money searching for the perfect venue and vendors that meet your expectations Planning Pod is an automated online event management platform that promises to keep users organized while minimizing busy work.

In Use:

Founded in 2014, Planning Pod attempts to automate the party planning process by consolidating all the event planner’s responsibilities into one dashboard. Planning Pod’s Event Management and Planning Suite includes the ability to manage one’s budget, submit proposals, track invoices, create a to-do list, and manage attendees and registration. A nonprofit can create a landing page within the tool for their event that allows guests to register and purchase tickets.

Planning Pod has four subscriptions that nonprofit organizations can utilize. The Essential Plan is $19 a month and includes two events that can be planned at the same time, unlimited users, the ability to accept payments, order tracking, attendee lists, and chat and email support. The higher priced tiers ($39 and $69 respectively) come with more automated access like email communications, forms and surveys, and phone support. Planning Pod works with numerous charities and is happy to give nonprofits, schools, and universities a 20% discount on their subscription packages.  For large nonprofits like Red Cross or Amnesty International – Planning Pod offers an Enterprise package that is fully customizable.

Technology Used:

Planning Pod is available as a SaaS platform, which means it lives on the cloud. At this time Planning Pod does not have any mobile apps or a desktop version.

When it comes to integrations – Planning Pod integrates with Zapier (a software that allows companies to integrate their apps that don’t normally interact with each other) but is only available for the top tier packages. It can also integrate with numerous merchant payment processors including Square and Stripe so nonprofits can easily collect donations and ticket fees.

Ease of Use:

Users really enjoy that all the tasks they need are in one place (aka the dashboard) which allows them to streamline their to-do list and meet their deadlines. They appreciate the ability to create a website, have access to a virtual floor plan and can invoice, submit proposals, and register guests all in one place.

Recap:

Planning Pod is an online event management platform that gives a 20% discount to nonprofits, universities, and schools. Charities can take advantage of their software when planning annual galas or fundraising events. They have multiple subscription packages so a small or large nonprofit organization can take advantage of their offering.

Planning Pod combines all of the tasks that are generally needed to plan an event such as invoicing, budgeting, timelines, and ticketing and combines them into one easy to use dashboard. 

Advantages:

• One dashboard that consolidates budgeting, invoicing, attendee check-in and ticketing into one place so you’re not constantly searching through word docs, excel sheets and emails
• Ability to send emails straight from the platform (is not included in the basic package)
• Users can create a landing page on the software to direct attendees to purchase tickets
• Integrates with Stripe and Square
• Ability to duplicate events

Disadvantages:

• There is no phone support for the bottom tier packaging
• There is no mobile app or desktop version
• Users would like to see more training, a tax tool, and a more easy to use budget tool

My Opinion:

First of all I really appreciate softwares that take nonprofits into an account by offering them discounted services. A nonprofit who does multiple fundraisers or galas a year will definitely benefit from the dashboard that has all of the tools they need to execute an event. The ability to duplicate events is also helpful if nonprofits are replicating the same events year after year. If it’s something that you think would benefit your nonprofit I would suggest taking a free trial to see if Planning Pod is right for you and then pick the package that is best for your nonprofit.

Raise your hand if you felt helpless when Covid-19 devasted the country in March of 2020. We sat at home watching the news - wanting to help but not knowing how to. We knew that hospitals all over the country (and even in our counties) needed PPE; the supply chain industry was crippled; and people all over the country were getting sick from a disease we knew hardly anything about.

That was the fuel that Founder and Program Director Tess Gadwa needed to create Giving Map – an interactive map that showed Covid-19 infections around the country at a county level and subsequently where monetary donations were needed the most.  Since then Giving Map has expanded to include a Hunger Map displaying food insecurity throughout the nation.

In Use:

Giving Map’s statement is simple. It was created to “empower individuals to give whatever they can to the local organizations that will have the most impact.” A user interested in donating can go to Givingmap.org and see which states and counties are getting hit the hardest by Covid-19 and the hunger crisis. On the Covid-19 map, a county in dark green specifies there has been 0-9 new Covid-19 cases per 25,000 residents in the past 14 days. A purple county indicates that they have 500+ new cases per 25,000 residents in the past 14 days and are getting hit incredibly hard by the virus that has to date claimed 2.46 million deaths worldwide. Want to know more about a certain county? If you click on the county itself it will show Covid-19 data within the last 14 days including population; deaths in the past 14 days; new cases within the last two weeks; and how many total confirmed cases.

The hunger map, data indicates the number of people experiencing food insecurities as well as the total number of children experiencing food insecurities over a 14-day period.

While this map is a great way to stay informed about your county – you can also go that extra step and donate to a local organization in your county or another county that has been hit incredibly hard by the pandemic. Giving Map uses Charity Navigator’s interface to help donors find a local nonprofit organization to give to. If a nonprofit is located on Charity Navigator – then a donor can find them using Giving Map.

What started off as a way to help those in need of financial help due to Covid has morphed into an interactive map that can be used to impact all different areas of need from hunger to homelessness, and Civil Rights. Therefore, any nonprofit organization can benefit from Giving Map regardless of their mission.

Ease of Use:

Giving Map is easy to use. By clicking on “Give Now”, a donor can access 501(c)3 organizations across the country through Charity Navigator; a charity assessment organization and search engine that connects donors to nonprofits. Through Charity Navigator, a donor can search by category, size of the nonprofit, and the scope of work (regional, national, international). Charities that have been assessed are given a rating (1-5 stars) so you can feel confident as to who you’re donating to.

Technology Used:

Giving Map is an open source platform that sits on Github. People are free to contribute to it anyway they’d like. Along with being an open source software, Giving Map web site is also carbon neutral stating on their website that they “…strive to be a model for sustainability and integrate earth-friendly practices wherever possible.”

Because Giving Map is essentially a website (although it’s so much more), there is nothing that a user needs to download or install to use it. One only has to go to the website, click on the county they are interested in donating to and find local charities within the county parameters.

Recap:

Giving Map is an open source website that lets donors research local charities that they can donate to within their counties. It started off as a way to track Covid-19 statistics in real time and has grown since then to encompass all local charities around the country regardless of their mission.

Giving Map made headlines last November when the second wave hit around Thanksgiving. Creators used the daily Covid-19 data that they collected from John Hopkins University and created a time-lapse animated gif that showed just how much Covid-19 has spread. At one point almost the entire country turned maroon – indicating that there was anywhere between 100-499 new cases of Covid-19 per 25,000 Residents in a particular county. When asked about it, Erik Amlee, Technical Lead for the Giving Map team, stated that the gif resonated with a lot of people which showed the power that accurate data can have.

Advantages:

• Both the Covid-19 and Hunger maps are great ways for you to help the counties that need assistance the most
• Giving Map can also be used in conjunction with Charity Navigator to find a local charity in your area that you can donate to – regardless of their mission
• Giving Map sits on an open-source platform allowing anyone to contribute on the backend. In this way, contributors can make the map more functional, easier to use, and increase accuracy of the data displayed on the maps.

Disadvantages:

• I would love to see the map expand to include volunteer activities. As it stands right now users are only able to find charities to donate to as opposed to volunteer with.

My Opinion:

Like Erik said in our conversation, data visualization is an extremely powerful tool. I appreciate the steps that the Giving Map team went through to provide an accurate portrayal of the Covid-19 and Hunger crisis that has been gripping the nation at a county level. In my opinion it’s easier to relate to a situation when it’s happening in your backyard. And when you relate to a crisis like hunger or Covid-19 relief, a person is more apt to donate their time and resources.

Donating money is crucial to any nonprofit organization, but I would love to see the Giving Map explore ways to incorporate volunteerism into their maps. Some people don’t have the resources to donate money, but have time to volunteer – or they want to both donate and volunteer. Creating an asset that shows them which nonprofits are looking for volunteers is a way that people can help their community and nonprofits can access volunteers to assist them.

Running a nonprofit can be an emotionally rewarding undertaking. However, ensuring that everything works as required is no mean task. As good as the cause might be, there are always many financial red tapes that make it difficult to maintain the status of a nonprofit. Accountants in these organizations face a challenge in tracking various financial processes. Depending on the changes in regulations, these challenges can change regularly, making things unpredictable. Unlike the for-profits whose budgets are bigger and have more resources, nonprofits operate on smaller budgets and have fewer resources to work with. Therefore, any slight financial mistake can have a significant impact on the organization. Here are some challenges you should be prepared to face in nonprofits.

• Funding sources

There is no single source of nonprofit cash. Money to run operations in a nonprofit comes from many funding sources, some of which are irregular and unpredictable. As such, nonprofit leaders must always strive to find money to keep things running from different sources. They can do so by engaging donors, members, holding fundraisers, and applying for various grants. Keeping track of money from all these sources is often confusing and challenging for accountants, some of whom have other roles in the organization. Studies show that the main challenges to accountants and nonprofit leaders are identifying long-term sustainability and finding new funding sources. Keeping the existing sources is also tricky. As an accountant, however, using accounts receivable software can help keep you informed.

• Poor collaboration

Collaboration is critical in nonprofits. Financial professionals will get the information they need from other quarters, and fundraising will be boosted with the right collaborative efforts. However, according to the study, most nonprofit financial professionals stated that they were least involved in fundraising and development. Collaboration needs to address aspects such as nonprofit funding and long-term sustainability. With the proper collaboration, money management will be made easy, and nonprofit vision and mission will become clearer. ERP software and funds accounting programs are needed to achieve this goal.

• Tracking grants

Even after identifying grants and potential sources for your cause, you still have to go through a lot to track them. This is even harder if grant providers make the process hard. In addition to the lack of a specific date specified for funds, grant money is limited to certain expenses in most cases. This forces nonprofit accountants to continually track where the money will go to, receivable grants, and when the grant is ready to be collected. This wastes too much time that could have been used in other things. The ability to track these grants would free up a lot of time for research and the application of other grants.

• Payroll tracking

Like the for-profits, tracking payroll in nonprofits is also a big challenge. Your nonprofit needs a system to track payroll effectively. If you do not have a way of tracking income sources for your employees, the chances are that your tax reporting will be more complicated. Additionally, without sound payroll management, a nonprofit will have critical financial discrepancies. Sadly, most nonprofits lack proper bookkeeping payroll management methods, and therefore auditing is always a problem.  The best approach to this is to use an external payroll bookkeeper to remove tracking issues of income and funds dispersal.

• Management reporting

This challenge is caused by a lack of real-time financial data that makes real-time reporting difficult. It includes inaccurate management reports and outdated financial statement data. To determine reporting and fundraising goals accurately, current reports are needed. This is often a challenge for many nonprofits who lack timely detailed reports for mission-based budgets. This challenge is sometimes the doing of nonprofits, who often overlook management reports. As an accountant, you can improve this by improving your daily function and finding better funding sources. 

A good grant manager provides professional, high-quality services beyond what a typical bookkeeper, program director or grant writer can offer. The right grant manager for your nonprofits needs to:

1. Keep Your Nonprofit Out of Trouble With Funders and the IRS

This is crucial if your nonprofit plans to seek future grants, especially if you're working with or pursuing government funds. Nonprofits that haven't followed the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) or foundation spending guidelines can end up on the “excluded parties” list, meaning they will never be allowed to apply for or accept grants again.

A good grant manager will analyze your financial systems and make improvements if needed. They will ensure that your grants are being spent only on allowable items and are being properly documented. They will also make sure that everyone working on grants documents their time and effort for the performed work.

2. Prepare Your Audit

Every nonprofit that spends more than $300,000 of government grants in one fiscal year is required to go through an audit. This means that the nonprofit's financial systems and grant implementation documentation will be processed in a systematized way to prove full compliance with both your and your funder's organizational policies and procedures. This process is rigorous for government funders, and a good grant manager must know their restrictions.

3. Create or Update Policies and Procedures for How Grants Must Be Used and Accounted

A good grant manager knows that your CPA will analyze your policies and procedures for internal controls if your nonprofit is ever audited and will look for proof that you regularly follow these practices. Having quality policies and procedures is equally important. They should be original and customized to the needs and processes of your nonprofit. The grant manager must ensure these are regularly updated and shared with the board and check if they are being followed as needed.

4. Support Your Nonprofit in Meeting the Policies

A good grant manager must balance using rules and regulations as sanctions versus using them to support and educate your nonprofit into becoming a better functioning organization. They need to review your organizational policies and procedures and analyze your financial documentation and grant reporting systems. With this information, they must sit down with the board and show how your practices, policies and procedures align with the law or funder regulations.

5. Help You Create Organization-Wide Forms, Spreadsheets and Reports to Track Grant Activity and Evaluation

A good grant manager will have tools they can use to keep your grants on track. That's why you should look for a manager who has extensive knowledge and experience with spreadsheets and related project management software and technologies. They need to be organized and have a system for your grant documentation for easier tracking and control.

6. Oversee the Leadership of the Grant Programs

Putting your grant manager over the grant leadership staff will stop you from having to deal with the daily functioning of grant programs. That person should hold regular meetings with your team and require grant leaders to regularly report on the progress of grant activities, so the progress and accomplishments are adequately tracked and reviewed. A grant manager should also help grant leaders deal with funding, grant sustainability and partnerships. This means they must have grant writing and grant implementation experience.

 Jackie Sue Griffin, JSG & Associates

Summer is a great time to forget your troubles, go out and unwind. This is a time where everybody wants to enjoy outdoor activities, watch fireworks and eat as much BBQ as they can. While these are the main activities that define the summer in many states and countries, other activities are perfect if planned during summer. Fundraising is one of them. With a large number of people now coming out to enjoy themselves, and most of them are excited, perhaps this can be the perfect time for you to fundraise for your nonprofit. Here are some crucial fundraising ideas that can help you as you plan for the summer. 

• Set up peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns

Peer-to-peer fundraising is a great way to reach donors by empowering individuals to raise funds on behalf of a cause. During summer, various methods can be used by peers to obtain a given amount. One of them is a surfing competition. Surfing is a highly enjoyable and competitive game that is not only full of fun but the skills that surfers display are breathtaking to watch. During the summer, enthusiasts line up on beaches in their thousands to admire surfers and take part in it. As a nonprofit leader, this can be a perfect opportunity to hold a surfing competition and ask participants to fundraise for a particular cause. Surfers can secure pledges from their friends, family, businesses, and colleagues, which will be a plus for your cause. You can make it better by asking participants to create a peer-to-peer campaign or even set a minimum amount for people to participate. Develop a campaign page to help highlight your campaign goal and the purpose of the money you are raising. You can print t-shirts, create bracelets, and sell them during the surfing event. Spice it by presenting prizes for the winners. For those who do not like surfing, you can organize kayaking or relay swim to take advantage of a great summer outdoor. 

• Create an online fundraising page

Now that the coronavirus pandemic is here with us, the in-person fundraising activities may not be convenient. This is where online fundraising methods come in handy. Take advantage of technology and various available platforms to ensure that you get the money you need for your cause. Start by setting up an online fundraising page. You can do so on platforms such as GoFundMe, which is one of the most famous fundraising websites out there. Create a beautifully branded giving page that attracts new donors, increases the amounts raised, and drives repeat giving and donations. On your page, ensure that the donation amount is well stipulated and donation receipts are customized. Share updates regularly with the donors and update them when there is a new development. You can use a website such as NetworkforGood that offers templates and step-by-step guidance. 

• Create a giving club

A giving club is a right approach if you already have an existing fundraising method and donors. Take your fundraising to the next level by developing a giving club. Among the examples of the giving clubs is Subscription Giving, a method that has proven to help small nonprofits raise twice as much the amount of cash they could raise using the conventional approaches. With the giving behavior proving to be moving towards subscription-based giving and even purchasing, perhaps now can be the right time for you to conform to the change. 

With the right fundraising initiatives and proper planning, summer fundraising can raise thousands of dollars for your nonprofit. However, it all depends on the type of event or campaign you undertake and how it resonates with your supporters. Therefore, be careful in determining what will or will not work for your donors.

Nonprofit organizations are as good as the policies in place to ensure proper management. These policies range from employee hiring practices to staff promotion and compensation. Like the for-profits, there are practices that nonprofits should have for it to operate ethically and excel in a course that it intends to venture. Although these policies can be good in some instances, it needs a constant review and regular updates to keep up with the changing times and regulations.  Here are some policies that your nonprofit management and hiring processes should focus on:

1. Policies on code of ethics and conflicts of interest

There is a high possibility of nonprofits facing a conflict of interest. For example, agreeing with the business practices of a potential donor or a board member of a nonprofit operating a business that can help a nonprofit while benefiting from it can raise this issue. This is a serious concern that might cause distrust by other donors and law enforcement. As a nonprofit leader, you need to take conflict of interest seriously. Train all your employees, board members, and volunteer community on your nonprofit's code of ethics and policies on conflict of interest. These stakeholders should understand the actions that can harm your organization and how they should avoid them.

2. Employee hiring policies

Every nonprofit must hold itself to high ethical standards. This begins with ensuring you get the new process of hiring employees correctly. You must at all times ensure that the employees you have meet the market standards and regulations. You can only attain this by setting the best hiring policies that ensure the hiring process is free from bias based on race, gender, background, or names. You can take advantage of hiring software platforms that rate potential candidates based on their performance and not their backgrounds, race, or gender. You can also outsource the hiring process to a third party.

3. Employee manual

As a nonprofit, you must have an employee manual to guide your employees and volunteers on various procedures, expectations, and duties that they must fulfill while on duty. The manual covers the technical aspects related to duties, work, probation, and termination from service. The manual also explains the payments (if any) along with other aspects such as dress code and time off. Manuals can offer details on the organization’s culture, values, and mission. These manuals give a clear direction to a nonprofit's employees and volunteers regarding what they should and should not do while at the organization. Given the changing times and the rising remote work and telecommuting, perhaps now is the time you must have a comprehensive employee manual for your nonprofit.

4. Occupational Health And Safety Policy

Some nonprofits work on causes that present danger to their employees or volunteers. As such, they must have a sound occupational health and safety policy that ensures each individual is informed of their rights and obligations relating to safety in the workplace. For example, the policy allows employees to take reasonable care while in the workplace by working as stipulated in safe work procedures and occupational health and safety regulations. The policy stipulates when and where to use or wear required protective equipment, not to smoke, or not to be impaired by drugs. The policy also states the procedure of reporting circumstances that can pose a risk.

In summary, as you think of starting a nonprofit for a cause you believe in, the first thing that should come into your mind should be the employees and the volunteers you want to work with towards a specific goal. These goals cannot be achieved without the proper structure in the hiring and employee management process. You can only attain this through the right policies that will streamline the hiring and management of employees.

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