At Compassion Coalition we have the privilege of working with some of the best non-profits in Utica NY. As someone that works with these great non-profits up close, I can see how many of them do so much for our community. As I interact with these great organizations one question that I get all the time is what are the best tools that we can use to help our team. Here are two tools that every small non-profit should be utilizing.
1. MailChimp.
Most large and successful non-profits depend on the mighty donor list. The donor list is the holy grail for all non-profits. So how can a small non-profit gather a list of donors? 
In the past, you could buy a list of addresses for direct mail. However, these days direct mail is no longer viewed as a cost-effective tool for fundraising. That is because email is the most effective form of communication with a higher rate of return and lower cost. Due to spam rules and filters, you cannot buy legitimate emails. So how can you collect donor emails and then send them appeals? MailChimp is an excellent tool for small non-profits that need to obtain potential donor emails and send emails/appeals. What is great about this service is that is free for the first 2,000 email address on your list, and you can send up to 12,000 emails per month. MailChimp will help you create the forms for donors to sign up on your website or Facebook. For many smaller non-profits, they may not have a site because of expense. However, most smaller non-profits can set up a Facebook page for free. MailChimp makes it easy to copy and paste the code into Facebook, and you have a form to collect potential emails. Once you have these email addresses, you can start sending them news about your work and also send them an appeal. All you have to do is write an email in MailChimp and hit the send button, and it delivers your email to your whole list. The best part of a service like MailChimp is that they have an algorithm that ensures that your email lands in the inbox of your potential donor. Additionally, MailChimp has analytics that will show you what is happening when your potential donor receives that email.
2. Paypal.
Givegab states that the Tech Report NGO study shows that “72% of millennials, 66% of Gen. X and 54% of baby boomers prefer to make their donations online”. Previous generations used checks to send in donations, but as you can see from the study more and more, donors want to donate online. For smaller non-profits online donations can be troublesome, Paypal is a payment processor which can accept payment on your behalf. What is great about Paypal is that they have a large number of users and is known to be trustworthy. Additionally, you don’t necessarily need a website to use Paypal. Paypal has made it easy by creating a button that you can copy and paste into your Facebook page or even in an email through MailChimp. Online giving through Paypal is convenient for the potential donors and an easy step up.
In summary, if you are a small non-profit you can utilize these two great services Mailchimp and Paypal to make your fundraising initiative a lot more efficient and effective.
Contact me if you have any questions.
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