Martech for Nonprofits - The Crème de la Crème

While choosing your marketing technology stack may seem daunting, the right technology can help your nonprofit reach new donors and volunteers, improve awareness, engagement, effectively launch new programs, make data-driven decisions and more. It’s vital to the success of your nonprofit. 

By definition, a marketing technology stack is a set of technologies that marketers can use to execute and leverage their marketing activities. A marketing technology stack or
"martech" makes complex processes easier, and helps marketers spend their budgets efficiently. 

If determining a marketing technology stack for your nonprofit isn’t your thing, have no fear, we got you. 

Here are the 10 critical technologies you should consider when devising your nonprofit’s Marketing Technology Stack:

Domain Registrar

A domain name registrar is the company that manages the reservation of your Internet domain name. Domain name registrars must be accredited by a generic top-level domain (gTLD) registry or a country code top-level domain (ccTLD) registry. Some popular domain registrars include: Domain, BlueHost, GoDaddy, and HostGator. 

Web Host

Similar to Domain Registrars, there are hundreds of companies that offer web hosting services. Core services like data transfers, storage, hosting environments supported, and other features vary depending on the provider. While it’s important to evaluate key performance data like uptime and load time, you should also consider support. If you have an issue, is there a way to contact a real person for help?

Website and CMS

Let’s face it. In 2019 (almost 2020), there’s no shortage of website and content management systems (CMS) available. They do, however, vary greatly in terms of how difficult they are to use, what functionality they offer, the integrations they support, a strong community committed to the future growth, and more. Over a dozen years ago, we landed on WordPress as our website CMS pick. In turns out, we’re in good company. WordPress powers around 30% of the world’s websites. 

Fundraising Platform and CRM

Now we’re getting into the nitty gritty of your nonprofit. Your fundraising platform and CRM is the heart of your nonprofit so it’s essential that you choose wisely. Take a “right size” approach to avoid something to big and complex or small and rigid. Some of the most popular options include: Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT, Salsa, Bloomerang, Classy, and NeonCRM. This is a big decision so make sure to get input from your nonprofit’s organizational departments. They’ll have unique needs. 

Marketing Automation

We love marketing automation. Simply put, marketing automation is technology that manages marketing processes and campaigns across multiple channels. It reduces the tedious tasks so you can focus on tasks that have more impact. Plus, it cuts down on overall disparate tools. We like HubSpot and SharpSpring. HubSpot, the behemoth in the industry offers all the bells and whistles. SharpSpring offers similar features at a discounted price. 

Email

We all know the power of email. It’s one of the most important tools in your toolbox for nurturing relationships. If someone gives you their email address, it indicates they want to hear from you. Use email to keep them engaged with your organization.  If you’re looking for an email platform with some simple automation, we like MailChimp or Emma. *If you’re using marketing automation, you don’t need a separate email tool. 

Social Media

Chances are, your target audience hangs out somewhere online. Whether it’s Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or something else depends on their habits. (If you’re not sure where your audience is, consider creating personas). Using a social tool like HootSuite or Sprout Social, or Buffer, makes posting on social channels a breeze because you can manage everything from one place. *If you’re using marketing automation, you don’t need a tool dedicated to social media.

Teamwork and Collaboration

Flexible, remote work environments are popular with nonprofits.  A scattered workforce however, can make communicating and collaborating challenging. That’s why it’s essential to enlist a solid tool that facilitates teamwork. Our top picks are Slack, Zoom, and Trello. 

Analytics

Without analytics, forget about making “data-driven” decisions. Analytics offers the insights to measure the effectiveness of your campaigns, stop what’s not working or continue what is. Google Analytics is our first choice. It gives you data about your users and how they interacted with your site and its content. If you’re interested in seeing user data in a heatmap format, we like CrazyEgg. 

Training

With so many young people, (with limited experience) working in the nonprofit sector and the marketing technology stack changing at the speed of lightning, continuous training is vital. Your nonprofit needs a training program in place to keep up with new tools and techniques. Your training program can even be part of your nonprofit’s compensation package and help attract better job candidates. Our top picks are Skillshare, Masterclass, and of course us! Get on our Crash Course schedule list here.