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6 Ways Live Chat Can Benefit Nonprofit Organizations
A majority of software tools designed for businesses provide numerous benefits, and there are those that provide significant perks to nonprofit organizations, as well. Live chat software is one such tool, as a majority of its features can benefit both profit and nonprofit organizations.
Since the budgets of non-profits are usually very limited, it is important to assess the situation in order to make the best possible decision when it comes to investments. This is why we have listed the benefits of live chat software that might be particularly interesting to nonprofit organizations.
1. Cut down expenses
Communication is an important aspect in any nonprofit. The majority of communication channels are now digital and it is of the utmost importance for such organizations to keep up with trends. As you might already know, communication is the backbone of every fundraising project.
Keeping tabs on all channels and communication that is going on is a daunting task. Besides, it requires a workforce of volunteers who are ready to spend hours in an office to answer phone calls and emails. Those phone bills can really strain the budget, especially during the peak of your fundraising campaign.
Live chat software will enable you and volunteers to keep in touch with donors and any other interested party on the go and from any device. This does not only save money by not having to invest into any infrastructure, but it also increases the efficiency and response rate of people in charge of donor communication.
Besides, having an in-house support team round the clock will require a lot of funds and volunteering. With live chat, your recruiters can chat with donors from the convenience of their homes.
2. Increased efficiency of recruiters
There is always one, or at most, two extremely good recruiters in a nonprofit organization. The others revolve around average metrics. Live chat provides a unique opportunity for your top recruiters to become instructors to everyone involved.
How is this possible, you may ask? Well, live chat tools have this very neat feature of tracking of the history of all previous conversations. This feature stores every conversation that takes place, so that it can be pulled out from the database and examined whenever you decide.
The chat conversations of your best recruiters can be used as templates and learning material for other recruiters. In the end, if any of your recruiters have problems communicating with a potential donor, he or she can invite an experienced colleague to join the chat. This ensures that the potential donor doesn’t bounce off your website.
3. Increase visibility of your nonprofit
Live chat software’s indirect benefit may be one of the most valuable ones. After this software tool is implemented on your official website, everyone who visits can use it. Furthermore, your recruiters can use this tool to proactively engage website visitors in the conversation.
This increases the average time spent on your website. According to Google, this is an important metric that affects the ranking of your website. This means that your website will be better ranked in search results, thus making it more visible. Putting your nonprofit in front of the eyes of donors looking for an opportunity to help will significantly increase your chances to collect more funds during the campaign.
4. Secure more donations
Fundraisers and nonprofits have to improve their online communication strategy in order to reach more donors and increase their chances to secure more donations. In the end, it boils down to increasing the efficiency of online fundraisers. And, there is no better way to achieve this but to improve the efficiency of their communication.
Canned messages provide all the means necessary to achieve this increased efficiency. Before they make a donation, donors have to place their trust in your nonprofit. This can be achieved through quick and informative answers provided through pre-set messages your recruiters can use.
This fast response rate provides all the crucial information to questions like:
- Why should I make a donation?
- What is your cause?
- Why now?
- Why should I put my trust in your organization
It shows a specific level of professionalism which is very attractive to donors. Besides, live chat will provide the means to operate online communication services for your donors with a limited number of recruiters, because it allows one recruiter to handle multiple donors at a time.
5. Provide anonymity to donors
Most of the donors want to make sure that they are giving their money to the right place by engaging in direct communication that is not over the phone. They want to find as much information as they can with as little effort as possible. Live chat provides this opportunity for them.
Donors are able to communicate with a real person while staying anonymous. They can get all the information first hand, without the need to dial a number or wait in queue. This convenience alone can secure more donations. Add to this the benefit of personalized responses and you will experience better feedback from charitable donors who were made happy by the level of professionalism showed by your recruiters.
6. Compiled information in the form of FAQs
Over time, you will have access to a rich live chat history. You can use these chat transcripts to identify patterns in donor questions and answers that had the best effect on your conversion rate. Using these donor questions and pristine answers to build an informative and delightful FAQ page will increase the chances of your fundraising campaign succeeding.
Once you publish the FAQ page on the official website, make sure to revisit the live chat history and transcripts to identify new trends to keep the page updated with the latest questions asked by potential donors.
Conclusion
Live chat software comes with compelling benefits that can help nonprofit organizations in their day to day operations. If this topic interests you, feel free to expand your knowledge by reading other publications regarding live chat software and its application in the nonprofit business model.
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