March 10, 2014 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Fundraisers juggle a lot of responsibilities. During a recent Chronicle online video discussion, three nonprofit experts shared some of their favorite mobile apps to help fundraisers save time and get organized.
The recommendations come from Amy Sample Ward, chief executive officer of Nonprofit Technology Network; Lynne Wester, director of alumni programs and engagement at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte; and Paull Young, director of digital at Charity: Water.
Use this app to take pictures of business cards, and turn the information into a contact record on your phone. Now owned by LinkedIn, the app offers one-step invitations to connect on the social network.
Replace clipboards and paper guest lists at fundraising events with this check-in app, which can sync with some donor-record databases.
UNC-Charlotte uses the app to handle registration at all of its special events. Ms. Wester’s favorite feature: “When a donor checks in to the event, it sends our gift officers a text message letting them know that their donor has arrived.”
After visiting with a donor, fundraisers on the go can use these voice-to-text apps to dictate their meeting notes.
Use this app to take pictures of an event venue and MagicPlan will create a floor plan you can use to figure out the arrangement of tables, decorations, and more.
While writing an email to a prospective donor, fundraisers can use this plug-in for Gmail to pull up the donor’s job title, company, and most recent tweets as well as links to his or her social-network profiles.
Rapportive also displays a photograph of the person you’re emailing, when available, which comes in handy for figuring out how you’re connected to a person you are contacting for the first time. Says Ms. Ward: “There are times when I’m like, ‘I totally know this person. I had no idea that was their name.’”
