It’s been said that health is wealth. But for healthcare organizations like yours that are committed to improving how they serve patients and communities, pulling in fundraising revenue is a critical aspect of your operations.
Not only does fundraising allow you to pay your staff, invest in new equipment, and maintain your facilities, but it also empowers patients, families, and community members to show their gratitude for your services or to demonstrate their belief in your cause.
However, healthcare fundraising comes with unique challenges. According to DonorSearch, healthcare organizations often face the hurdles of designing effective donor stewardship strategies, handling inadequate data and information, and ensuring data privacy and security.
So, how can your organization overcome these difficulties and find fundraising success? You can start by leveraging the right digital tools. In this quick guide, we’ll explore four top-notch digital tools for better healthcare fundraising. Let’s begin.
Prospect Research Solution With AI Capabilities
Prospect research is the process of finding new major donors for your organization by evaluating individuals’ capacity (wealth) and affinity (warmth) markers to find people who are in a financial position to give a large gift and have a deep interest in your work.
For example, you might find a member of your grateful patient program is in a position to give a gift or learn that a new prospect served on the board of an organization similar to yours and might want to contribute to your cause.
To find donors like these, you’ll need a prospect research solution. The right tool can help you discover an individual’s capacity and affinity markers and generate lists of prospects who have given to organizations similar to yours, all while remaining compliant with healthcare data regulations like HIPAA.
Additionally, you should look for a solution that taps into the power of artificial intelligence (AI). With AI (also known as machine learning) on your side, you can predict things such as the likelihood of donors that will give again within 12 months, as well as the likelihood that non-donors will give their first gift, and more.
With insights like these, you can approach your fundraising work with a higher degree of accuracy and efficiency, saving your organization time and money searching for the best donors. And, as you use your AI-powered prospect research solution again and again, its algorithm will get better at making predictions unique to your organization. This means it’s a tool that will help you improve not just once, but far into the future.
Matching Gift Database
If your organization hasn’t yet tapped into the power of matching gifts, it should! Matching gifts are a form of corporate philanthropy in which employers financially match donations their employers make to qualifying charitable organizations like yours. Employers generally match donations at a 1:1 ratio, but some match at a 2:1, 3:1, or even 4:1 ratio.
Matching gifts are an easy sell for donors because they don’t need to spend more money to boost the impact of their donations! However, many donors don’t know about matching gifts or if their employer offers a matching gift program.
That’s where a robust matching gift database comes in. When you embed a matching gift database onto your website, you or your donors can search for the company they work for and check to see if they are eligible for a matching gift. From there, they can access the necessary information to submit their matching gift information and get additional funds for your organization.
Some matching gift database solutions even offer an auto-submission feature, taking care of the matching gift submission process for your donors.
Once you’ve invested in a matching gift database, ensure your organization is in a position to get the most out of it by actively promoting matching gifts to your supporters. Let them know about this exciting opportunity to make their donations go further without spending additional money!
Online Fundraising Platforms
While much of your fundraising focus as a healthcare organization will center on securing large gifts, anyone in the philanthropy trenches will tell you that it’s also a good idea to pursue smaller donations. Smaller gifts can add up quickly, and they’re more convenient for donors to give on a regular basis.
To encourage smaller gifts, leverage an online fundraising platform (or invest in a couple). You should look for the following features as you consider your options:
- Customizable campaigns: Make your campaigns unique to your organization by using a tool that you can customize with your branding and messaging. This will build trust in your supporters and encourage them to give to your unique cause.
- Mobile responsiveness: More and more giving is taking place on mobile devices, so ensure that your supporters are able to view your campaigns and use your online donation tools from their phones.
- Data security: No one wants to input their contact and payment information, cross their fingers, and hope that their transaction is handled securely. Look for a tool that prioritizes keeping your donors’ information safe, particularly their payment details. Ensure that your tool comes with a robust payment processor.
- Integrations with other tools: To make the fundraising process more convenient for your internal team, your online fundraising platform should integrate with your existing tools and databases. This will allow you to collect important information about your donors and streamline reporting.
- Peer-to-peer fundraising: Peer-to-peer fundraising is a popular way to gather online donations. Look for a solution that allows your donors to make their own donation pages and circulate them among their personal networks.
- Social sharing capabilities: Your donors can also share your organization’s message by posting about your campaign on social media. Make it easy for them by using a fundraising platform that has social sharing capabilities. This will allow your donors to share your fundraisers with the tap of a button.
As with any digital tool, make sure that above all, your fundraising platform is easy to use, both for your team and your donors. These tools should make the process of giving easier for your supporters, not harder!
eCard Solution
One of the most important aspects of fundraising is thanking your donors for their contributions. After all, donors who feel seen and valued by your organization for their generosity will be more inclined to give again in the future (and get involved with your cause in other ways, like volunteering).
There are a lot of tools out there that can make the process of thanking your donors easier and more creative. One of the best is an eCard solution. According to eCard Widget’s guide to donor recognition, eCards are:
- Convenient and efficient: Your team can send an eCard with the click of a button, thanking your donors within a matter of seconds.
- Cost-effective and eco-friendly: With eCards, there’s no need to invest in paper thank-you notes, envelopes, or stamps. Plus, you don’t need to rely on the postal system to deliver your thank-yous.
- Customizable and interactive: Using the right eCard solution, you can choose how your eCards will look and what they’ll say. You can also add animated and interactive elements, which will help catch your donors’ attention.
An eCard solution can help you quickly thank your donors after they’ve given a gift, and can be a part of a larger donor recognition strategy. As you write eCards, personalize them as much as possible, using your donors’ first names and highlighting the impact their gifts will have on your healthcare organization’s capacity to do more for its patients.
One of the financial realities of running a healthcare organization is that fundraising dollars are what help move your mission forward, whether you’re caring for children suffering from cancer or helping people to find hope in the midst of drug addictions.
With the right digital tools on your side, you can improve how your healthcare organization fundraises. Consider the four tools we’ve walked through in this guide and start looking for providers that match your unique needs. As you use tools like these to pull in more fundraising revenue, you’ll be able to do more for the people your organization serves. Happy fundraising!