Strategic development outsourcing (SDO) helps nonprofit organizations rethink their project fundraising or fund development and make it more intentional, efficient and profitable. SDO delivers top fundraising expertise and technology, including artificial intelligence (AI). It can be an ideal solution for nonprofit CEOs, executive directors and development directors who are struggling with stagnating contributions or high employee turnover and are questioning how to turn things around.
This guide covers:
Nonprofit organizations of any size can benefit from SDO. If you’re seeing a decline in donor numbers or donations or having trouble engaging with your audience — even if you’re pouring lots of money into marketing — SDO can be an ideal solution.
Does your organization have a big campaign or milestone event coming up, like an annual gala or Giving Tuesday? SDO can help maximize your fundraising potential by ensuring your data is up to date, personalizing your messaging to reach the widest audience possible, streamlining your donation process and tracking campaign performance in real time.
You could hire a development officer with years of experience to support you. But how long would it take them to get up to speed? How familiar are they with your specific vertical? Would they be overseeing a team or handling things on their own? If they’re handling things alone, how much time can they devote to building a fundraising growth strategy, processing tasks and putting out fires?
Consider these factors:While you probably think about fundraising all year, there are some optimal times to implement SDO, like when:
SDO covers every aspect of your fundraising efforts, which might seem overwhelming. Rest assured, the process is more straightforward than it may sound, and you can be as involved as you want.
Leaders who choose to focus on their missions or other objectives can let SDO experts fully take the wheel. Many development professionals want to engage more in the SDO process and work closely alongside the consultants.
At the start of SDO implementation, you’ll grant access to your donor database and communications systems to fundraising, technology and communications experts so they can get a closer look at your development ecosystem. This might entail giving consultants direct access to your customer relationship management (CRM) system or exporting data from your systems and sharing it with your SDO provider.
It’s up to you to determine how the sharing of information will work. Either way, SDO experts follow strict data privacy and cybersecurity standards to make sure your organization’s data and contacts remain safe.
Here’s what SDO consultants do at each stage of the process:
Data, analytics and reporting are crucial to get insights that will inform smarter decision-making, such as figuring out who to target, and where, when and how to reach them. You need to measure key metrics to understand your donor portfolio and compare your fundraising efficiency to industry benchmarks.
You may have up-to-date technology, with loads of data and analytics. But do you know how to use the systems and information? Are you targeting the right donors at the right time to increase fundraising? Segmentation is vital. You can't communicate with donors who have been giving to you for decades in the same way you talk to people who have never donated.
The SDO provider can help you optimize your CRM and other systems, collect and analyze your data, and streamline processes. To figure out what you need and the best way to get there, they’ll help you assess:
The consultants will review your general processes to figure out how to optimize or streamline systems to make them more efficient. For instance, can you cut down on your team’s manual tasks and get better data by integrating your CRM with your ERP? If your systems are disconnected, they’ll help you figure out your software needs and what will be compatible with your existing technology, and create a roadmap to get you there.
Your SDO consultant will help you make the most of the predictive analytics in your CRM. Predictive analytics use AI to look at your data, detect patterns and see what kind of data insights can be drawn, such as figuring out who to target and how to reach them. This can help you illustrate existing revenue streams, compare forecasted inflows with resource requirements to identify potential funding gaps and see where you need ongoing strategic support.
SDO consultants can also help you implement a data management platform (DMP) to achieve a higher ROI on digital advertising spending by effectively managing and utilizing donor data:
If you need help with the technology and back-office aspects of your fundraising efforts, it’s not enough just to hire an SDO provider and expect them to fix what’s wrong. You need to be part of the process to get the most out of your working relationship. These best practices will help you collaborate:
Are you facing challenges like stagnating/declining donations, not being able to utilize your data, and not reaching the right targets? Strategic development outsourcing may be an ideal solution. See how SDO helped one nonprofit boost giving by 27% and find out how our nonprofit strategic development consultants can help you make your nonprofit fundraising more intentional, efficient and successful.
Don’t let declining donations/grants hinder your mission. Contact our nonprofit industry experts to streamline your operations and convert funding into dynamic community transformations.
