2 Essential Mobile Apps Your Nonprofit Should Be Using

Millennials – that elusive group of donors over which every nonprofit salivates – have identified that they prefer giving more frequent, smaller gifts. They want to see the direct impact that their money is having on the social causes they care about. And they want to share the good work with their social networks and get even more people on board.

The ability to spread the word easily and quickly to their peers is vital and very effective. Giving through peer-to-peer channels rose 70% last year and now accounts for almost one-third of online donations. In addition, the American Red Cross found that 70% of social media users would take an action based on a friend’s posting about a charity donation on their social networks. Whoa!

So how to harness the power of peer-to-peer social media fundraising as well as reach millennials and the next generation of donors? Mobile apps.

“The average busy person receives 121 emails per day, and checks their phone close to 150 times per day. If you send someone an email every week who already receives more than the volume he or she can handle, you might be setting yourself up for failure.” – Sarah Hillware in her article 5 Ways Technology Can Help Your Nonprofit Do More Good

Here are just two essential mobile apps for your nonprofit that will heighten connections to your donors and help you spread the word about your activities to even more potential supporters. (Please note that I do not receive any financial compensation for recommending these apps to you – I just like the work that they do!)

Let’s All Do Good is the brain child of Greg McHale, founder of cMarket (now called BiddingForGood) and good2gether. McHale found that charities often came to him, frustrated with low email open rates and low engagement on social media channels.

However, when they could reach supporters through the most important electronic device in their life – their phone – engagement and donations skyrocketed. So McHale decided to create a mobile app that would connect nonprofits to their supporters, in order to keep them informed on program activities, impact, events, announcements, and calls for donations. 

The great news? It’s FREE for nonprofits. Businesses can also get involved, by sponsoring a nonprofit or signing up to use the app.

Let’s All Do Good is in the beta stage – if you would like to sign up to be a launch partner, or get a personal demo from McHale himself, please contact him via Twitter or Facebook.

givn is an app that allows supporters to make donations online or through their phones, and immediately share the good that you are doing with their personal social networks, using visuals such as postcards and graphics. Online fundraisers can track all of their contributions of time, money, and goods to nonprofits over time.

As opposed to stand-alone social media channels where it’s hard to see your entire community at a glance, givn is able to give nonprofits this information all in one place and identify the people that are the most influential.

Nonprofits who sign up now for givn’s 90-day free trial can compete for cash prizes through #GivingTuesday (December 1). Organizations whose supporters send out the most “sparks” with givn during the contest will win $10,000 (first prize), $7,500 (second prize) or $5,000 (third prize). Donors and volunteers can also win additional cash prizes for their favorite cause. Winners will be announced December 7, 2015, with prizes awarded by December 31, 2015.

What is your favorite mobile app for nonprofits? Leave your thoughts in the comments section.