70 Nonprofit Trends for 2015

4. Goodbye passwords; hello biometrics? Iris scanners and fingerprint readers seem more suited to espionage movies than the payment processing industry, but if Visa and MasterCard have their way, both could soon become commonplace. These innovative technologies are known as biometrics. Plans are in place for current online authentication systems such as MasterCard SecureCode and Verified by Visa to possibly be phased out in the near future.

PEER-TO-PEER FUNDRAISING/CROWDFUNDING
Miriam Kagan, senior fundraising principal, Kimbia
1. While this is the darling of the day, crowdfunding speaks to a large trend of donors grabbing the drivers’ seat in the fundraising process. Whether crowdfunding or an evolution of this, nonprofits have to plan for a fundraising status quo that offers donors increasing control in the giving relationship. At the same time, nonprofits will have to learn to focus limited resources where they are most worth it and understand how channels influence relationships. For example, for most, Facebook and Twitter are not large drivers of donations, but are huge influencers and build other interaction relationships.

Jeff Shuck, CEO, Plenty
2. Organizations must recognize that peer-to-peer fundraising is here and full of untapped potential. One thing that became clear to us in 2014 is that we live in a peer-to-peer world. We get our news from Facebook, decide where to eat based on Yelp, share our lives on Instagram and experience parental inadequacy through Pinterest. The dramatic success of the Ice Bucket Challenge was the exclamation point on the end of a long sentence: Peer-to-peer is now mainstream.

That means that peer-to-peer fundraising leaders will increasingly find that their constituents expect sophisticated sharing, social and networking tools. We’re a long way past “ask three of your friends for a gift” — our constituents are often more aware of peer-to-peer tools than we are. In 2015, nonprofits will need to be more deliberate and more strategic in their efforts.