The future belongs to the curious.

Double your mission’s impact next year by launching a digital transformation now.

First, if you’re reading this in the new year of 2022, happy New Year! And if you’ve stumbled here later, it’s still relevant, so keep reading.

How to spend less on your digital transformation at just the right time for bigger returns.

Welcome to the digital-first world. You’ve personally been living in it for years, and now it’s time to punch through the barrier-to-entry for your nonprofit and welcome growth and greater impact for your mission.

Many nonprofit leaders face a similar dilemma: how can we attract new, younger donors to invest in our cause? A good starting point is to get up to speed on how younger generations want to make a contribution. Millennial and Generation Z donors are investing in and spending cryptocurrency at increasing rates, and if you aren’t set up to welcome them, you may be missing out on your portion of a $300 million pool of charitable funding.

This is the third and final post of a three-part series on digital transformations for nonprofits.

We’ve discussed why technology isn’t the cure-all, and how to engage employees in your digital transformation, so now let’s talk about your content strategy and the role it plays in driving ROI.

Welcome back. This is the second post of a three-part series on digital transformations for nonprofits.

Now that you know what bells & whistles you don’t need to transform your organization, let’s talk about what you do need.

When I was in your shoes, leading the development operations for a multi-million-dollar non-profit, I wish I had the insider knowledge I have now about digital transformations, so I could avoid some of the pitfalls. 

In 2020, most nonprofit marketers have a working knowledge around why personalization converts but less insight around how to structure a strong personalization strategy. The secret to success? Lead with data. 

In April 2020, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella observed, “We have seen two years’ worth of digital transformation in two months” and the results of those investments will persist long after the crisis. 

The pandemic is accelerating how nonprofits adapt to structural trends, both new and existing. While temporary trends such as transitioning from in-person events to virtual fundraisers have emerged, prudent leaders are adjusting how their organization can evaluate growth opportunities and reposition themselves to emerge from the global pandemic with a business model aligned for the future. 

Before reallocating your capital, evaluate your growth opportunities and sketch out how you will modify your business model to take advantage of structural changes.

Below, we’ve outlined a process for adapting your nonprofit’s business model to the new reality. It starts with understanding how changes in behavioral habits will likely grow or contract as a result of the pandemic.

Let’s say you’re curious to learn more about humpback whales. Chances are, you’ll head to the Google machine or favorite search engine to begin your research. You might want to know about where humpback whales live, interesting facts about humpback whales, and ways you can support their survival. Depending on what you search, varying articles and websites will appear. Eighty percent of visitors never get past the first page of Google, so if you’re not finding what you’re looking for, you will likely change the keywords you search to refine your results instead of heading to page two. 

Nothing groundbreaking here - nonprofits are strapped for time and resources. Day-to-day administration tasks can feel impossible when you’re regularly going to bat to tackle the most urgent needs of your beneficiaries, especially amidst a global pandemic. While many nonprofits have yet to dip their toes into the pool of artificial intelligence, there’s no argument that implementing a few innovative and simple AI strategies can help lighten the load on the executors at your organization.