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Nonprofits and Waivers: What Your Team Needs to Know

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A guest post by Daryl McCall of SmartWaiver

Put yourself in this situation: Your nonprofit has organized a 5K fundraiser where participants are running, chatting, and turning out in force to support your cause. Everything is going great, until a runner sprains their ankle after tripping over a bumpy length of the track. Luckily everyone is all right, but you’ve hit another snag. You neglected to provide event waivers, leaving you in a gray area over liability and what next steps you should take.

This scenario is something countless nonprofit teams have suffered first-hand, especially less experienced professionals who are just starting their nonprofits. In all of the excitement and confusion of preparing for an event, it can seem all too easy to forget about your liability waivers.

However, this is an essential part of events, volunteering, and other activities that your nonprofit hosts! Beyond just covering your legal bases, an effective event waiver can positively affect your organization’s reputation, your events’ success, and attendees’ experiences.

In this short guide, we’ll walk through the fundamentals of why and how your nonprofit should use liability waivers. We’ll cover:

  • Benefits of Waivers for Your Nonprofit
  • Elements of an Effective Waiver
  • Waiver Software: Features to Look For

Benefits of Waivers for Your Nonprofit

The consequences of not having a liability waiver can range from legal trouble to losing the trust of your supporters by not informing them of the risks of a particular activity. While some people might think of waivers as a tedious formality, in reality, they’re a critical measure to protect your supporters and your organization from harm.

Additionally, well-constructed waivers can have the added benefit of:

  • Reinforcing your organization’s professionalism
  • Educating volunteers and attendees about programs they choose to participate in
  • Financially shielding your nonprofit from foreseeable risks
  • Securing photography releases so that your organization can use supporters’ images in your marketing materials
  • Collecting important supporter data that can be used to improve future events and programs

If you imagine your waiver to simply be a slip of paper listing a few of the mishaps your supporters may face and a line for their signature, then you’re a bit off base. An effectively-crafted waiver is a powerful registration and engagement tool that elevates your nonprofit’s ability to engage and retain supporters.

Elements of an Effective Waiver

So, what exactly makes for an “effective” activity waiver? The waiver completion process should be as smooth and seamless as possible for your supporters, while also representing and efficiently collecting important information for your nonprofit.

To strike that balance and create a great waiver for volunteers, event attendees, and other supporters, consider these waiver best practices:

  • Consult a legal professional. This is the best way to ensure that your waiver covers all the foreseeable risks associated with a specific activity, secures signers’ permission, and meets all necessary legal standards. Before rolling out your liability waivers, be sure that it’s received the green light from an experienced legal consult.

 

  • Brand your waiver to your organization. From your website to your ongoing newsletter blasts, the material your nonprofit distributes should all be branded to your organization. Your waiver is no exception. Use the waiver’s letterhead, font, background color, and other stylistic elements to neatly fit the waiver into your nonprofit branding strategy.

 

  • Collect all the necessary participant data. Whether your waiver is a flimsy printed sheet or a robust online system, you should be mindful to collect these important details: names, dates of birth, addresses, personal and emergency contact information, accessibility limitations, allergies, and any additional health information.

 

  • Invest in online waiver software. Waiver software is quickly becoming an essential trend in the nonprofit sector, and it’s easy to see why. With the right waiver software, your supporters can easily sign and submit waivers at their convenience. Online waiver software also automatically organizes data and offers advanced customization tools to make your waivers as effective as possible.

Let’s dive a bit deeper into what waiver software can do for your organization.

Waiver Software: Features to Look For

According to the Crowd101 guide to why nonprofits should invest in waiver software, these systems are a critical tool to streamline data management, increase transparency between supporters and your nonprofit, ease logistical issues, and offer easy contactless signing.

These are the broad-strokes fundamentals of what strong waiver software can do for your organization. However, what particular tools and capabilities make for a good waiver solution? We recommend keeping an eye out for these key features:

  • Auto-photo capture and other advanced verification methods. Auto-photo capture, fingerprint capture, and video recording are all effective verification tools to ensure that you have a record tying the right supporters to the right waiver.
    • The ability to create flagged questions. By automatically flagging answers to important questions like “Have you been injured volunteering before?” your nonprofit can more easily prepare for heightened risks or participants with special accommodations.
  • Video embedding capabilities. Being able to embed video content, such as a safety video explaining program risks and how to avoid them, can engage users and prevent accidents before they occur. Additionally, it will go a step further to show off the professionalism of your nonprofit organization.
  • Field customization. Tailor your waiver to your nonprofit’s unique needs by customizing each field to capture important supporter data. Some online waiver software providers, like Smartwaiver, even offer unlimited customization capabilities and the ability to configure the waiver’s visual design to match your brand.

 

As you hit the market for a waiver solution well-suited to your nonprofit’s goals, be on the lookout for a flexible, convenient system that you can thoroughly customize between different activities. This ensures that you can set up a seamless and engaging online waiver process for any occasion.

Daryl McCall of SmartWaiverDaryl McCarl is the Director of Business Development at Smartwaiver, the leading digital waiver service trusted by thousands of organizations around the world. www.smartwaiver.com

Fundraising Tuesday: Is Your Nonprofit Tech Savvy? 5 Types of Software You Need

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A guest post by John Killoran of Clover Leaf Solutions

Nowadays, there’s software for everything — including for the work that you do as a nonprofit professional. Whether you want to more easily connect with donors, grow your revenue, or just have a home base for all of your information, there’s software that can help.

However, because there are so many software options available, you might be wondering which platforms are worth the investment. The latest nonprofit trends show that technology is essential for organizations like yours, but where should you even begin?

We’re going to review 5 of the major types of nonprofit software so you can get a sense of the variety of offerings out there. Our top 5 picks are:

  • Donor Databases
  • Online Fundraising Tools
  • Matching Gifts
  • Marketing Software
  • Volunteer Management

Ultimately, these tools allow you to spend less time on paperwork and task management and more time on doing what you love.

1. Donor Databases

Let’s face it — keeping track of all of your donors and transactions is difficult. You want to show each supporter how much you value their contributions, but attempting to personalize every thank-you note or donation request would be incredibly time-consuming.

That’s where donor databases come in. Also known as constituent relationship management (CRM) software, donor databases can help you keep track of your supporters’ donations and involvement with your organization. Using a donor database allows you to:

  • Easily personalize your communications: With a donor database, you’ll have a record of every donor’s name, contribution amount, and any other information you request during the donation process. With everything organized in one place, it’s much easier for you to automate personalizing direct mail, email, or text-to-give campaigns.
  • Build better relationships: Now that you can keep track of each donor’s information in a readily accessible database, you can focus on getting to know your donors. Using your database’s personalization and communication tools, you can build better relationships with your donors.
  • Re-engage disconnected donors: A database can help you find patterns among your donor base. You’ll be able to see who is engaged and who isn’t so you can strategize on how to rebuild relationships.

2. Online Fundraising Tools

Practically every nonprofit is using the internet to connect with donors, accept donations, and grow their audience these days. Raising money online is essential, especially if you want to expand your nonprofit beyond your local community.

Online fundraising tools can make it easy for donors to engage with your organization and for you to manage your different fundraising campaigns.

With a wide variety of tools — including peer-to-peer campaigns, text-to-give, crowdfunding, and more — this type of software can help you diversify how you fundraise. You can also:

  • Stay organized: If you’re launching a major digital campaign, online fundraising software can help you keep track of the influx of donations, monitor new donors, and consolidate your marketing materials in one place.
  • Develop an online presence: This software can also help you grow your online presence. By directing donors to your online platforms through your text-to-give campaign, for example, you can increase the traffic on your website.
  • Easily engage donors: Online fundraising software makes it easy to send personalized thank-you notes or updates about your campaign to donors.

3. Matching Gifts

Matching gift programs and other forms of corporate giving are extremely underutilized by nonprofits despite being an easy source of revenue. In fact, according to 360MatchPro, over 18 million people work for companies with matching gift programs!

Not only do matching gift programs boost your bottom line, but they also help donors grow their impact, which then deepens their attachment to your organization. With the help of matching gift software, you can make it easier for donors to determine their eligibility to get their contributions matched.

Other benefits of a matching gift software include:

  • Increasing revenue: Matching gifts are a great way to increase your revenue. Not only are your supporters’ gifts essentially doubled, but donors are also more likely to contribute higher amounts if they know their gifts are being matched.
  • Connecting with more people: With a matching gift program, your supporters can serve as advocates for your cause in their workplace, which might encourage more people to donate.
  • Strengthening relationship in the community: Involving the business world in your nonprofit’s work can help you better situate your nonprofit within your community. Doing so will help you grow your network, which could create additional event opportunities or partnerships.

4. Marketing Software

It’s great to have a donor database, online fundraising tools, and software for tracking matching gifts, but these platforms won’t be very helpful if you can’t actually reach your supporters.

Marketing software makes it much easier for you to reach your donors in a timely, engaging, and consistent manner. Your supporters have already shown interest in your nonprofit, so they want to hear from you! Here are some key benefits of using dedicated marketing software:

  • Easily reach your supporters: Marketing software allows you to easily contact your donors. You can send updates, thank-you notes, and donation requests with the click of a button. Plus, with marketing software, you can be sure to personalize your messages by using your donor’s name or specifying their donation amount.
  • Determine effective strategies: Using the metrics from your marketing software, you can also see which types of campaigns are the most successful among your donors.
  • Stick to consistent branding: With all of your marketing materials in one place, you can also ensure that your branding remains consistent. A memorable brand reassures donors that they’re in the right place and can increase your visibility in your community.

Marketing for your nonprofit is not just important for donor acquisition, it’s also crucial for donor retention. Marketing software can help you to keep your donors engaged so that they continue to support your cause.

5. Volunteer Management

Volunteers are the backbone of your organization. They’re passionate individuals who generously donate their time and energy so that your nonprofit can continue to forward the social good.

Incorporating a volunteer management system into your organization can give you the tools you need to oversee your volunteers and to show them that you value their hard work. For example, this type of software allows you to:

  • Keep track of volunteers and their hours: Handwritten hour logs are a thing of the past. With volunteer management software, you can keep a detailed record of how many hours each volunteer has contributed for the month.
  • Easily contact your volunteers: Your volunteers are among the most engaged of your supporters, so you want to be in close contact. This software can allow you to send quick updates or thank-you messages to your volunteers, which can add a personal touch to your volunteer program.

Keeping your volunteer program organized is also a great way to demonstrate your professionalism and how much you value your volunteers’ time. No one wants to waste time checking in or trying to figure out which days of the week they should come in. With this software, your volunteers won’t have to worry about that.

If you want to learn more, this Galaxy Digital guide outlines the tools you should look for when selecting your volunteer management software.

 

Takeaway: Investing in nonprofit software can save you time, earn you more revenue, and enhance your connections with donors. Click To Tweet

John Killoran Snowball softwareJohn Killoran is an inventor, entrepreneur, and the Chairman of Clover Leaf Solutions, a national lab services company. He currently leads Clover Leaf’s investment in Snowball Fundraising, an online fundraising platform for nonprofit organizations.

Snowball was one of John’s first public innovations; it’s a fundraising platform that offers text-to-give, online giving, events, and peer-to-peer fundraising tools for nonprofits. By making giving simple, Snowball increases the donations that these organizations can raise online. The Snowball effect is real! John founded Snowball in 2011. Now, it serves over 7,000 nonprofits and is the #1 nonprofit fundraising platform.

Know Your Audience Better, On a Budget

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“What’s that guy’s name again?”

“Where does that woman work?”

“When did we last speak?”

When you’re building relationships with donors, clients, customers, or business partners, a good memory helps.  But research shows that we can only really keep track of 150 relationships on our own.  Beyond that, we need tools.

You can spend tens of thousands of dollars on a really sophisticated customer relationship management system.  (Well, you can if you have the money.)  But suppose you’re a grassroots nonprofit organization with a limited budget.  How do you keep track of all the people you want as your supporters?

Use Tools You Already Have, For Free

You can turn tools you have, right there on your desktop or on the web, into your relationship management system.  All it takes is time.

Microsoft Outlook

You probably already know you can store addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, web page URL’s, and the company and job title of each person you know in Microsoft Outlook.  But did you ever:

  • Use the Search function to find all the people in your Contacts who work at a particular company, or who have a specific title, or whose email address ends with @NameOfTheirOrganization?
  • Add photos so that you recognize them on sight?
  • Use the notes section to store research you did on them?
  • Check your email to and from that person to remind you what you talked about last?
  • Search the Calendar to see when you met with them last?
  • Use the Tasks section of Outlook to remind yourself to talk with them again, or send them something, or do something for them, by a certain date?

Google

If you live in the Googleverse, you can do a lot of the same things that an Outlook user can do, and more.

  • Aside from the usual Contacts information, you can record birthdays, nicknames, how their name is pronounced, and the names of their spouses, children, and other relationships–including the name of the person who referred you to them.
  • Instantly see whether you are on Google+ together, and the Circles to which you have assigned them.  Easily click over to Google+ to see what they’ve posted there.
  • Follow people’s YouTube channels if they have them.
  • Set up a Google search for that person’s name so that anything that appears on the web about them will show up in your Gmail box.
  • Easily share documents with that person without worrying about whether the email bounced, using Google Drive.

LinkedIn

On LinkedIn, other people do a lot of your work for you.  If you connect with me on LinkedIn, you will find not only my contact information but my Twitter handle and my website information, too.

I put those up.  I also posted:

  • Summary of who I am and what I do
  • Experience
  • Projects I have worked on (with links to the end results, and the names of people who worked on them with me)
  • Professional courses I have taken
  • Languages I speak
  • Skills & expertise
  • Honors & awards
  • Education
  • Interests
  • Organizations

People have recommended me, and I have recommended them, and both types of recommendations are right there on my profile.  LinkedIn will also show you the LinkedIn groups I belong to, the people I follow, and the people who have connected with me.  Now you know more about me than my mother does!

But how am I related to you?  Next to the Contact Info tab on my profile is a tab marked Relationship.  There, you can write notes about me,  set your self a reminder in relation to me, write down how we met and who introduced us.

Use whichever of these tools feels most natural to you, and you’ll never have to wonder again.

Spending Money to Save Time

Free is not always the best price.  Using Outlook, Google, or LinkedIn as your CRM takes work.  If you want to send a series of emails to a person over a period of time, it would be a lot easier if you could automate the process.

Idealware has posted an excellent article, “10 Things To Consider in a CRM.”  If you are considering buying software, read the article first.  Then ask yourself: what is it worth to this organization to know everybody the way we know our best supporters?

 

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