It’s no secret that 2020 was a difficult year for most people. The COVID-19 pandemic affected almost every individual in one way or another, and the strain and limitations placed on companies of all sizes significantly impacted our local and global economies.
Unfortunately, charitable organizations were not bypassed by the impact of COVID-19. According to a Blackbaud institute study, overall the fundraising industry saw an increase in fundraising results by 2% stemming from growth by large and medium-size charities. However, the same study also showed that smaller charities experienced an overall decline of 2% in their donation totals for 2020.
In 2021, small charities are working hard to make up for lost donations from the previous year. Because of this, it’s essential that charities have access to the tools and software solutions that can help them maximize their donation processes.
Electronic signatures are increasingly establishing themselves as vital and necessary tools for businesses in all industries, and the numbers supporting this statement only further back this up. In fact, in 2020 a MarketsandMarkets report showed that the global signature market grew to $2.8 billion and is expected to continue growing to upwards of $14.1 billion by the year 2026.
So, where do electronic signatures fit into the picture with charities? Below, we’ll take a look at electronic signatures and how this dynamic tech solution can strengthen the donation process for charities of all sizes.
Common Challenges Experienced by Charitable Organizations
Just as with any organization, charities experience certain challenges that can restrict growth and slow processes down. Here’s a look at some common problems:
Inconvenience:
For donors, it’s important that the donation process is hassle-free. When too many forms or too much time is involved, charities can easily lose potential donors and volunteer recruitment can slow.
Document Management:
Every penny counts with charitable organizations, which means maintaining a close watch on the budget is essential. But with so much backend paperwork and donor forms, effective document management can be an issue.
Trust:
Gaining and then maintaining trust is essential for charities. But when the donation process isn’t face-to-face or is struggling with transparency, trust can be difficult with donors.
Accuracy:
Gathering donation forms can be tricky enough, but when errors or missing information occurs the donation process can come to a screeching halt.
Volunteer Organization:
Charities often deal with many different volunteers throughout the year, which can make tracking volunteer work and efforts difficult. Not to mention, when multiple volunteers fill the same role during a period of time, this can cause confusion with who is doing what and when.
How Electronic Signatures Can Help Strengthen the Donation Process
It’s important that charities have the right solutions accessible to them to resolve the problems mentioned above and maximize the donation process. Electronic signature software has become an important tool for charitable organizations in recent years due to its ability to solve common issues and strengthen the overall donation process. Here’s how:
Easier and Faster Form Completion:
With electronic signature software, charities can build a custom form that can be sent to and completed by donors anywhere in the world in a matter of minutes and with just a few clicks. Plus, with features like Foxit eSign bulk sending, forms can be sent to large designated groups at the same time.
Fewer Mistakes:
Using electronic signatures provides a platform for charities to mitigate mistakes and have more control over the process. Text, signature, and checkboxes can be made mandatory so they aren’t accidentally missed and when there’s an informational mistake it can be sent to the donor and corrected quickly.
Easier Volunteer Management:
Managing processes performed by volunteers can be made easier by incorporating electronic signatures into the daily workflow management. For instance, Foxit eSign offers the capability of commonly shared email addresses to be used in combination with different signer names on a specific document.
Better Organization:
Using electronic signatures combined with a cloud storage option like Google Drive or Dropbox gives charities the options of receiving signed and completed forms and then digitally filing them for easy accessibility when needed.
Improved Security:
Charities can strengthen donor trust further when their payment and other sensitive information can be kept confidential and secure with Foxit eSign security features like SOC 2 Type 2 compliance, signer completion certificates, dynamic auditing, and encryption.
