With the advent of new software and technologies, there is an increasing demand for a better donor experience. This is a function in which fundraising intelligence and donor CRM plays a huge role.

While often bucketed into the same ‘genre’ of nonprofit software, donor CRM and fundraising intelligence tools are distinct things. They serve different, yet essential purposes for operating and growing your fundraising efforts. Here we cover why fundraising intelligence tools are important in an organization alongside a robust donor CRM. 

That said, nonprofit CRM and fundraising intelligence tools do work hand-in-hand. Therefore, creating a streamlined process will ensure a more successful donor experience on all sides. Here are the reasons why you need both:

What are fundraising intelligence tools?

Traditional business intelligence tools such as Hubspot and Salesforce are often used as fundraising intelligence tools by organizations. In a nutshell, fundraising intelligence tools help to take data and make it more meaningful through more in-depth interpretation and analysis.

Fundraising intelligence tools integrate into your CRM

Fundraising intelligence tools can integrate into your donor CRM for better data collection and insights. Here are a few fundraising intelligence tools that integrate into a donor CRM. With this integration, donor CRM and fundraising intelligence tools should work cohesively to answer the most important donor-related questions such as:

• What does the organization need reports on?
• What is important to the success of the nonprofit?
• What are the capabilities of the CRM?
• What are the capabilities of our fundraising intelligence tools?
• Is there an optimal way for this technology stack to work together?

Integration of your fundraising intelligence tools with your donor CRM will help to use data to know what to change, cut down on inefficient processes, and adapt faster to changes in the donor market.

You get better data collection

When your technology stack is connected and well-organized, you just get better, more worthwhile data. Connecting fundraising intelligence tools to your donor CRM allows for a deeper analysis of your organization’s operations. 

Having the two work hand-in-hand can even help you determine if you need additional visualization and intelligence tools to understand your donors’ motivations, behaviors, giving patterns. It can help you go deeper and answer questions like:

• What channels are most effective with my audience?
• How can I target specific donors by location or region with a specific appeal?
• Which donors are most at risk of lapsing on their sustained gifts?
• What donors are most likely to be ready to upgrade their giving levels?

It improves the overall donor experience

There is an ever-rising demand for exceptional donor experiences and an increase in the number of nonprofits that are willing to go the extra mile to offer that better experience. With more data sources and tools out there to give nonprofits more insight into their donors than ever, fundraising intelligence tools are no longer a ‘nice-to-have’, but a necessity for organizations. 

At Pursuant, we help you use these systems and ask the important questions that need answers together. Questions that often are well-answered with a fundraising intelligence tool Pursuant’s GivingDNA platform. We believe the exceptional donor experiences—the ones that drive loyalty to your mission—are within every nonprofit professional’s reach.