We couldn’t be happier than to see organizations using Soapbox for their website needs succeed so we could barely contain ourselves to learn that the Coast Guard Foundation reeled in Deadliest Catch star and Celebrity Apprentice contestant Sig Hansen’s nod as his charity of choice on the popular TV competition ruled by Donald Trump and his coif.

When you're sending out an email to your constituents, the idea is that they'll actually see it and open it. But the viewing part can be an assumption. There is a distinct possibility that your messages won't land in the inbox, but the spam folder. In some cases, they may even be blocked. As a nonprofit organization, your online presence and reputation depends on making sure your email gets to people consistently and effectively. As a result, you have to develop a strong strategy for ensuring overall deliverability on any message, whether it's a call to action or just a general newsletter. Here are a few ways of doing this, some of which can be easily managed with nonprofit CRM software.

High email deliverability ensures people get the message.

Now that the New Year's celebrations have come to a close, you should already have a strategy in place to improve your organization's standing this year. You do have one, right?

Of course we do! Why else did you publish that previous post?

That's true. In any event, planning and executing strategies is important to running a nonprofit organization. That includes implementing constituent relationship management software that targets and nurtures your members. But you also have to pay attention to what's around you, especially when it comes to current or new development. Otherwise, you miss small things that lead to big events like that viral "Ice Bucket Challenge" that the ALS Association completed last summer.

Well, nobody saw that coming…

But they were based on trends that were developing at that point: A straightforward silly viral campaign to raise awareness.

Our strategy isn't about raising awareness, though. It's about raising funds.

Well, then, there are trends to look out for there as well. Consider donors: They made a roaring comeback in the last year, according to fundraising expert Gail Perry in her blog. Building up your relationship is now more important than getting more of them. They're becoming more trusting of you and your organization to use their donations for the aim of your organization. Their mentality has changed, however. They are far more cautious with their money. They don't like the idea of donating for the sake of giving so much as they want to make an investment that has a return.

Getting donors on your side is a big trend for 2015.

What's your plan for the new year? What do you have in store for your nonprofit organization?

Well, we've got some balloons, silly hats and flat champagne…

No, what are your plans in terms of operations? What are you doing to further your mission in the next 12 months?

The same we've always done: raise funds and bring more people into the fold.

Perhaps you should look into more specific goals, since everybody does that. If you have specific goals for your nonprofit, you can actually achieve those results. Developing some resolutions around constituent relationship management (CRM) can help you do that successfully.

You should focus on your supporter relationships in 2015.

Well, then, what would you suggest?

For all the efforts you made in bringing donors into your organization this holiday season, you're probably wondering, is it worth it? Are the amount of money you raise and people you enroll enough to help you grow? Or does it feel like you didn't receive all that much money despite a lot of new people delivering funds to you?

How many people donated this holiday season? How many didn't?

Those are quite a few questions, so I'll just say yes to all of them.

Well, let's be a little more concise by posing a single question: Have you earned more donors and money than you have lost this past holiday season?