If you’re looking for a donor management platform, you probably have a checklist of the features that you want it to support or include. And that’s great! That’s exactly how we recommend going into the process of searching for a solution that will support your mission. Before you get too far into that process, however, we recommend adding this requirement to your list if it’s not there already: Choose a solution that lets you manage all of your donor data in one place.Why is that important? Great question. The answer is that your donor management platform should make it easier to manage your donors. If your donor data is isolated and spread across different tools (Excel, Mailchimp, QuickBooks, etc.), your data isn’t working for you. In fact, it’s probably taking a long time to manage those moving pieces—time you could be spending on building relationships with the donors behind the data.
So, what does it look like to have all of your donor data in one place? Ideally, your platform is designed to easily track all of your fundraising efforts, communications, and other essential activities in one central location. If you don’t have that capability right now, that might be pretty overwhelming to think about (in a good way!). Yes, it is possible. When looking into a new donor management platform, you should ask about the integrate the tools you already use with the platform? If not, that might not be the platform for you. By checking for those two things, you’ll be setting yourself up to save more time and putting yourself in a better position to raise more funds. Ultimately, that’s what will put you on the path to doing more good.
