qgiv – Carolyn's Nonprofit Blog

I suspect you have been wondering what became of me. Despite being “quiet” on WordPress after my December 2021 nonprofit predictions post, I have been busy elsewhere.

In January I wrote, “Nonprofit Social Media is Essential to Attracting and Retaining Donors” for the Qgiv Blog. I hope you enjoy it. Social media has become more powerful and essential than ever. The trend shows no signs of slowing. As a nonprofit fundraiser asked to join Facebook a decade ago by a major gift donor, I have come to appreciate Facebook and other platforms that offer convenience to those seeking information of all kinds, and the opportunity to connect with friends, family, professional colleagues and favorite causes. But with the growing importance of being present on social media, nonprofits must also be careful. They must understand that how they present themselves online can make-or-break donor and potential donor confidence. Mature management of social media is essential.

If you have read about my professional background on Carolyn’s Nonprofit Blog, you know my nonprofit career was founded on volunteerism, and on a life changing, week-long intensive grant writing course hosted by The Grantsmanship Center in Los Angeles, California. Over the years, I have continued to keep up with the Center, and I often promote its educational programming. Early this year, I reviewed a new book by Barbara Floersch, “You Have A Hammer: Building Grant Proposals For Social Change.” Follow this link to Goodreads. A review of the book has also been posted on Amazon.com. I do recommend it.

This month, I wrote another article for Qgiv, “Fundraising Tools Every Nonprofit Needs.” You may be surprised that although being tech savvy and leading Nonprofit Tech Club Austin in partnership with NetSquared (a division of TechSoup), NTEN: Nonprofit Technology Network and local entrepreneurial hub Capital Factory, I suggest in my article rethinking how nonprofit staff view technology. The post may surprise you.

I am in the midst of preparing a “thought leader” webinar on grant writing for Qgiv in April 1, 2021. Check out the description for, “Adjusting Your Mindset for Successful Grant Writing Today,” and please plan on joining us! The program is free to all, and a recording will ultimately be shared online so you can also watch it later. This link also shares other upcoming Qgiv webinars. I recommend all of them.

On a personal note, I have been healthy and well despite COVID-19 raging across Texas. I have updated, “Dealing With Stress” on Carolyn’s Nonprofit Blog with new resources. There I share how I manage stress and also a number of resources that might prove helpful. In brief, scheduling a daily walk and changing how and what I eat has made a world of difference. I feel better today than I did twenty years ago.

You have probably heard about the arctic weather in Texas this month. Below is a photo from Bee Cave last week, looking northeast toward Austin. What an adventure! My electricity never went off, but I conserved it as best I could for the sake of others. My water only failed for half of a day. I am very lucky, and I wish to thank the mayors of Bee Cave and Lakeway for their outstanding leadership during this trying time. Read the detailed article below for updates from area leaders.

Community Impact Newspaper (Vol. 12, Issue 2 | March 11 – April 7, 2021)

Our recent polar vortex experience brings to mind climate change. Please join me on Twitter @cclatx. I have been the volunteer Twitter curator the past three years. I share a wide range of information weekly that might be of interest to you. And I urge you to consider joining the Citizens Climate Lobby secure, free conversation platform. We have a national monthly call and update, and a number of other educational programs are offered during the year. The time is nigh for our nation and the world to focus on alleviating the effects of climate change, and I for one am delighted the United States has rejoined the Paris Agreement. To view a new website for letters to the editor that I created for the Austin chapter, follow this link.

Best wishes, be safe and reach out anytime if you have questions.

Bee Cave snow - in far western Austin, Texas. — iPhone Instagram of Bee Cave at Ranch Road 620 S under snow and ice, by Carolyn M. Appleton.

This post was written for and published by Qgiv in 2019. Since then, our world has been through traumatic times with the pandemic. Nonprofit organizations have been pushed even further online in terms of donor communications and “electronic giving.” To learn about the changes 2020 brought to our sector, follow the link to, “Navigating the Unknown: 2020 Findings to Future-proof Your Fundraising.”

As I noted in my original article, after many years working side-by-side with nonprofit staff and volunteers on major gift fundraising campaigns across Texas, I have discovered that how your organization looks online – its website, gift processing, and its social media platforms – influences how donors, prospective donors and professional advisors perceive a nonprofit organization’s ability to raise and to manage significant funding.

I once suggested to one of my prior donors that she consider supporting a nonprofit organization with which I was volunteering. It was doing critically important work across the nation—including our local community. I shared the nonprofit’s website address and sang its praises. A few weeks later, she responded. “Well, I looked at the website. It doesn’t look very sophisticated.” My heart sank. A cursory impression of the organization online did not impress this potential donor.

Building Your Nonprofit's Credibility with Qgiv

I have also found donors peruse Facebook and other social media platforms for information in advance of making funding decisions. “It doesn’t look like much is going on,” and, “whomever is managing that page isn’t paying attention,” are two kinds of remarks I have heard.

Yet as suggested earlier, these nonprofit organizations were doing quality, truly essential work in their respective communities. But the staff complained they were so busy operating their programs they didn’t “have time” to “bother” with their online presence. But today, failing to understand the importance of your nonprofit’s online presence can mean missed donations and partnerships!

Nonprofits must have a polished presence online to ensure donor and partner confidence. To make matters more complicated, a growing number of professionals like accountants, attorneys, investment, and banking professionals are being asked to assist donors in making gift decisions, nonprofits must be extra cautious. While donors may have your nonprofit in their hearts, their professional advisors are trained to review your nonprofit’s worthiness and ability to receive and manage donations more objectively. You must be prepared to meet the needs and expectations of both.

I recently worked with a nonprofit organization recovering from a natural disaster in Texas that wanted to raise more funding and attract a broader audience and donor base. Since its founding, this nonprofit had been relying on receiving mail – including checks from donors – via the U.S. Postal Service. Donors could also stop by the office to hand deliver checks or to fill out credit card forms in person, or complete a donation online using PayPal. Although PayPal has become more sophisticated and user-friendly, people chaffed at the fees involved and the nonprofit urgently needed a gift processing upgrade.

The process involved both traditional nonprofit fundraising research and grant proposal preparation, and more new social media communications. In addition to creating a more modern, plugin-free WordPress website using a free template, I created new social media profiles; cleaned up the longtime Facebook page (which was cluttered with old and outdated information) and had it officially verified by Facebook; and I suggested the nonprofit engage Qgiv for its online donation processing.

In 2018, I had the good fortune of meeting two members of the Qgiv leadership team in Austin during a Nonprofit Tech Club Austin program at a startup hub called Capital Factory. During that presentation, I learned how innovative and easy to use Qgiv is, and that Qgiv is cost effective and secure. I suggested my nonprofit client give Qgiv a try. By doing so, I felt they would provide their donors with more options for donating and registering for events via American Express, Discover, Visa, MasterCard, and eCheck. In fact, I set up their basic Qgiv system myself.

For their new website, WordPress established a much more sophisticated online image and a more meaningful presence for very little money. All plugins were removed (which meant no more updating them – that was a big problem with the former website). With Qgiv, all that was required for the various donation forms and event registrations was a secure link. No muss, no fuss, and so many more options for giving and registering online. Now, those Qgiv links take donors and event attendees to separate online pages. Once the form is completed, funds are transferred directly and immediately from the donor to the nonprofit’s bank account. There is no “snail mail” service involved, no hard copy check. This creates a seamless, sophisticated system that both ensures donor confidence and protects everyone’s security. Donors can even pay for their own gift processing fees as part of their donation (which happily, many do). This is called GiftAssist.

In addition, Qgiv donation forms look great when shared on social media. This helps set a high tone for the nonprofit, which goes back to my original thesis: nonprofits must look polished online and sophisticated in terms of their fundamental operations.

This nonprofit is now sending a clear message: it can handle a variety of sophisticated financial transactions securely online. Donors do not have to send checks in the mail nor drop them off in person. Certainly, donors can still do that, but providing online options using the most advanced gift processing technology available today shows donors, partners, and professional advisors are – or will be – dealing with a nonprofit that can also handle major gift contributions.

Qgiv has become an integral part of an innovative new approach for this nonprofit, bringing it solidly into the 21st century and poised for fundraising success going forward.

If you have an interest in Qgiv for your nonprofit, please use my blog’s secure contact form to reach me. I have installed it myself, by hand, and I would love to help you do the same!