How to Successfully Implement Nonprofit Communications Software

About This "How to" Series

Have you ever bought a software product for your nonprofit, thinking it will solve a problem and create a meaningful return for your time and money, just to be disappointed in the results?

We know that feeling all too well ourselves. It stinks.

This is usually a result of getting the technology or tactic right but not strategically adapting current processes or appointing key roles to ensure a successful deployment.

While the Rally Platform is technically a cloud-based product, often referred to as a Software-as-a-Service, we prefer to think of ourselves as a Success-as-a-Service.

That's because, over our many years of developing and implementing technology for nonprofits of all sizes, we've come to appreciate that successfully implementing any digital tool or strategy comes down to selecting the right product, the right team, and then enabling them to hit a clear goal.

That takes time, money, and experience. Something many of our nonprofit customers and partners tell us can be in short supply.

Just like that book on the bookshelf you've been meaning to read and start "doing." Knowing is excellent but not nearly as powerful as acting on that knowledge and implementing change to move a goal forward.

This is true in fitness, relationships, leadership, and just about anything we do for work.

Software is no different. It's just a tool to help you get to some goal. Or at least it should be.

Getting It Right

But as we've already experienced, just buying the "right" tool or program doesn't help us hit our fundraising goals. Instead, success comes down to using tools with the right strategies to make things happen according to plan.

This feels even bigger when using new technology like mobile or something scary like bulk texting your donors for the first time.

At Rally Corp, that's what makes us unique. We have over 20+ years of combined experience helping other nonprofit organizations do precisely this kind of thing -- implement new technology and leverage mobile to drive actual results. And now, we're ready to share those lessons learned so others can benefit from them too!

We've seen organizations of all sizes get this right—even those with limited budgets and inexperienced managers. The key is to understand your potential return on investment (ROI) and then roll out a phased implementation plan with your key stakeholders to improve your chances of success.

"How to" Training Series

So, we are launching regular "How to" training sessions for our customers and partners to help them use our tool to get the most out of it and drive real results. After all, we are a Success-as-a-Service platform.

It's completely free.

Example Strategies

Here are some example strategies that we would classify as a successful rollout of our communications platform.

1. Increase donations with less effort.

2. Improve ongoing connections and engagement with past supporters.

3. Increase recurring contributions and provide a path to become more engaged in your mission.

Come to one of our sessions and tell us what you want to address, what goals you have, and we'll help you build and implement a plan to get there. Depending on where you are today and your future goals, we may need to roll out an implementation process in phases and act as an external consultant of sorts. Therefore, we'll be available again in the next workshop to go deeper with you as you report on your progress, and together we make adjustments based on what we are learning.

If your learning style is to jump in and figure it out on your own, no problem. Get started today and take it as far as you want. Use our online help system and digital tools to build and execute your own campaigns. We have a helpful tool built into the platform that guides you on best practices. If you get stuck later, we'll be here to help. Just use the chat icon in the bottom corner, and we'll point you to additional resources.

We'll continually develop our software, support programs, and build resources to help you phase in our solution.

Our Why

So what's in it for us?

Having honest conversations with our customers helps us decide what features we need to add to our product. It helps us build real-world examples and case studies of how our tool is driving real impact. Additionally, it reduces churn (customers leaving us). Finally, it helps alleviate the burden on our support team, as we are more proactive and work together with our customers to get results before things get critical.

That is the essence of our Agile Software Development practice, which is how we are building Rally Corp's products and services.

I mean, let's face it, if we are going to be successful as a company, we need not be another vendor selling a "get-nowhere" tool. That doesn't sound like fun at all!

Save Your Spot

If you want our help successfully kicking off your text message program, use the form below to register for this workshop series. You are welcome to attend the first one before you purchase the Rally Platform, but you'll soon be lost if you cannot take our strategies and suggestions and implement them for yourself.

These workshops are now closed. Customers can join our Open Office Hours from inside the Rally platform. If you are not a customer, you are welcome to join our next product demo here.