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Abila Highlights Key Nonprofit Fundraising Trends to Watch for in 2015
[January 06, 2015]

Abila Highlights Key Nonprofit Fundraising Trends to Watch for in 2015


Abila, the leading provider of software and services to nonprofits and associations, today shared its predictions that will have the biggest impact on fundraising for nonprofits in 2015: conversion optimization, or improving donation flow to raise more money, will be an emerging trend; the ability to engage with Millennials will be key; donor retention and treating all donors like major donors will be essential for organizations; online fundraising and mobile continue to be important; and the ability to share stories in a very visual way.

"2015 will be a big year and a transitional year for the nonprofit sector as business-minded tactics slowly gain ground and organizations think about increased growth versus simply being sustainable," said Rich Dietz, Abila's senior product manager for digital fundraising. "Engagement strategies will reach new levels as Millennials continue to emerge in importance and nonprofits think about the best way to interact with their supporters."

Key Fundraising Predictions for 2015:

  • Conversion Optimization: Organizations will begin to think about how to better convert existing website visitors versus simply attracting new visitors. This is a business practice that many small businesses have adopted recently and will work well for nonprofit organizations. Conversion optimization revolves around measuring, testing and optimizing the donation flow to raise more money.
  • Millennial Engagement: According to Brookings, Millennials will make up 75 percentof the workforce by 2025. As Millennials enter the workforce and have money to spend, organizations will need to put strategies in place to best engage this demographic. Many follow a different path to becoming a donor than is traditionally done and nonprofits will need to adapt to these differences.
  • Donor Loyalty and Lifetime Value: Tracking donor engagement will be crucial. Organizations will spend more time analyzing characteristics and behaviors of all of their constituents-not just major donors-to better understand what drives their giving behavior. By tracking donor engagement, organizations will be able to further segment their appeals, personalize their outreach to donors, significantly increase donor loyalty, improve lifetime value, and treat all donors like major donors.
  • Online and Mobile: Online and mobile have played an increasingly key role for organizations the last few years, and that will continue in 2015. Social will play a key role in the "attention economy," and responsive design will be necessary to allow supporters to access an organization's website at any time from any device. 2014 was the tipping point for more web traffic coming from mobile devices than desktop computers. According to Pew (News - Alert) Research Center, more than 90 percent of all Americans own a cell phone.
  • Storytelling Becomes Visual: Creating a narrative and sharing a story has always been important for nonprofits to successfully engage donors, but doing so in a visual way is becoming essential. Organizations will have to find creative and innovative ways to engage supporters in a world full of distractions, and visual components are key. Web posts with visuals drive up to 180% more engagement and research indicates people process visuals 60,000 times faster than text.



"The nonprofit sector must continue to evolve and keep pace with behavioral changes we see in society," said Dietz. "Organizations that embrace new ways of thinking, streamline their databases, create visual stories, and adjust their engagement approaches will be successful."

Additional Media


About Abila

Abila is the leading provider of software and services to associations and nonprofit organizations that help them make better decisions, execute with greater precision, increase engagement, and generate more revenue. With Abila solutions association and nonprofit professionals can use data and personal insight to make better financial and strategic decisions, enhance member and donor engagement and value, operate more efficiently and effectively, and increase revenue to better activate their mission. Abila combines decades of industry insight with technology know-how to serve more than 8,000 customers across North America. For more information, please visit www.abila.com.


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