Why dated technology is holding back fundraisers (& what to do about it)

For non-profits, commissioning or building new technology is a significant challenge. While identifying a problematic solution or investment opportunity may be straightforward, designing and implementing technology systems presents considerable complexity. An even greater challenge lies in successfully rolling out these systems within an organization.

This guide addresses several critical areas for fundraising technology implementation:

• Goals: Defining what success means when implementing new technology
• Metrics: Setting up measurable tests to prove digital changes create meaningful impact
• Team buy-in: Getting staff aligned with major technology transitions
• Dated technology: Understanding risks of one-off tech solutions that quickly become obsolete
• Real-time technology: How Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions adapt to current trends
• Technology training: Preparing teams for technology changes

Define success (and failure), measure, measure, measure

The foundation for any technology project requires clearly defining the problem you’re addressing and establishing concrete success criteria rather than relying on intuition.

Consider a redesigned donation form. Simply acquiring a new form doesn’t constitute success. The underlying question should focus on whether improvements actually increase donor conversion rates. True success requires identifying the root cause driving the change, then establishing ways to measure performance before and after implementation.

For donation forms specifically, success can be quantified through conversion metrics: the percentage of form visitors who complete donations. These can be tracked through Google Analytics Goal Completions, which measure the proportion of visitors completing specific actions.

By asking targeted questions, most processes can be reduced to “simple, clean and measurable success criteria.”

Monitor, report and iterate

Equally important as selecting your metric is consistently evaluating it. This serves dual purposes: demonstrating whether your solution works and building organizational trust for future technology investments.

When you predict improvements, implement a solution, measure results, and report findings, whether positive or negative, you establish credibility. This track record helps secure buy-in for future initiatives. Measuring and communicating results ensures “everyone, including you, will be thankful for it.”

Getting people on board for technology changes

People naturally resist change, even beneficial change. Success here depends on work completed in the measurement phase. By centering your case around measurable success criteria, you can build support across departments.

For an improved giving form, connecting the case to fundraising team benefits (improved donor retention) and database team benefits (better donor data quality) makes the success relevant to multiple stakeholders. This approach helps “others to connect your success to their own goals, and get behind you.”

The dangers of ‘one off’ technology solutions

After defining problems, metrics, and securing team alignment, you’re ready to evaluate solutions. The critical principle: avoid reinventing the wheel through custom-built systems.

Creating one-off technical solutions has proven problematic, particularly for nonprofits commissioning custom websites that become dated as technology evolves. Consider a state-of-the-art giving form from a decade ago: it may have been Flash-based, optimized for desktop Windows/Internet Explorer, and impressive initially. Yet when mobile browsing became dominant, the system couldn’t adapt. Organizations found themselves with “an expensive, dated giving page which could not be modified for mobile,” requiring complete replacement.

Invest in technology that develops over time

A modern alternative involves using Software as a Service (SaaS) providers who develop tailored solutions for multiple clients simultaneously, building on trusted technology platforms and continuously investing in improvements.

This model allows providers to incorporate learnings across all customers, ensuring solutions remain current with market trends. Unlike periodic major reinvestment cycles, SaaS provides “robust, resilient and future proof technology solutions” through continuous deployment of improvements responsive to changing user behavior.

When technology changes, plan for team training

Technology implementation requires team retraining: getting people on board differs significantly from getting them actively using the system. Budget and timeline must account for both data migration and user transition, which can require weeks or months depending on system complexity.

Moving donation pages may be relatively simple; migrating payroll or CRM systems requires substantially more planning. Beyond technology costs, factor in “(re)training and migration” expenses. When starting, consult organizations with similar experiences through online forums:

• The e-Campaigning Forum
• admin-develop
• Fundlist (US)
• FundSVCS (US)
• LinkedIn groups (e.g., UK Fundraising)

Summary of how to implement new technology

Success requires defining metrics and measuring them consistently. Secure buy-in by demonstrating how metrics connect to departmental goals. Allocate budget for training and migration alongside technology costs. Most importantly, avoid commissioning custom solutions that inevitably become outdated. Instead, seek providers offering long-term, continuously evolving solutions.