How to sell to IT Directors at Nonprofits companies
IT Directors at nonprofits are primarily measured on their ability to ensure system reliability and data security. They respond to outreach that demonstrates a clear understanding of their unique constraints, such as limited budgets and the need for efficient tech solutions that enhance fundraising efforts without increasing overhead. Highlighting how your solution can optimize their existing systems will catch their attention.
Written and maintained by the SoloRiff team, who build outbound software and run outbound with it. The figures below are our own: we measured 572 nonprofits company domains over public DNS on 2026-09-03. Last updated 2026-09-03.
What actually hurts
- limited tech budgets
- staffing shortages
- data security concerns
- integration issues with legacy systems
The playbook
- 01
Identify recent data breaches
Search for news articles or reports about recent data breaches in the nonprofit sector. Use keywords like 'nonprofit data breach' to filter your search. This information can help you understand their current security concerns and position your outreach accordingly.
- 02
Look for shifts in fundraising strategies
Monitor nonprofit organizations that have recently shifted their fundraising strategies, such as adopting new technologies or platforms. Use platforms like LinkedIn or sector-specific news sites to find organizations that are innovating in their fundraising approaches, indicating a willingness to invest in new solutions.
- 03
Connect during budget planning cycles
Identify the typical budget planning cycle for nonprofits, often occurring in Q4. Reach out in Q3, when IT Directors are assessing needs and exploring solutions for the upcoming fiscal year. This timing increases the likelihood of them being receptive to new proposals.
- 04
Address common tech integration challenges
Research common tech integration challenges faced by nonprofits, such as integrating donor management systems with existing databases. Mention these specific pain points in your outreach to show you understand their operational hurdles and can provide relevant solutions.
- 05
Follow up after industry conferences
Identify key industry conferences for nonprofits and time your follow-up outreach shortly after these events. Many IT Directors attend these events to learn about new technologies. Mention insights or trends discussed at the conference to create a relevant connection.
Can nonprofits companies even receive your mail?
We measured the DNS of 572 nonprofits companies, sampled evenly across company sizes, to see how many authenticate their own email. It matters in both directions: a domain that does not authenticate is a domain whose team is used to mail going missing — and if your own domain is in the gap, yours is the mail going missing.
Publishes a DMARC policy of quarantine or reject — the domain actually asks receivers to act on failures.
The gap is the finding: 11.5% of 1–10-person companies against 75% of the largest — 64 points apart. Small companies are where the unauthenticated domains are, and small companies are who most cold outreach is aimed at.
Where does your domain sit?
Same three lookups, run live against your domain. Nothing is stored and nothing is emailed to you.
How this was measured
Company domains were sampled within employee-count bands, then queried over public DNS for SPF (TXT at the apex), DMARC (TXT at _dmarc.) and MX. One domain per company, deduplicated. Anyone can reproduce any single row of this with dig.
DKIM is deliberately absent. A DKIM key lives under a selector that cannot be enumerated from outside the domain, so a company with flawless DKIM under a name we did not guess would be counted as having none. That would measure our guess list, not the industry.
Domains with no MX record are excluded rather than counted as failures — parked and redirect-only domains would otherwise drag every figure down and make the result an artefact of the sample.
Sampled within bands, so this describes the population of companies, not of employees: a 10-person company counts once, as does a 10,000-person one. Each band is at least 60 domains; bands below that are not published. Figures are percentages of the sample, not of the whole industry, and we publish no company names — only counts.
Measured 2026-09-03. Re-measured monthly.
The full census across every industry — sortable, with sample sizes, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0.
Subject lines that fit
- Improving data security for nonprofits
- Streamlining your fundraising tech
- Enhancing IT efficiency at nonprofits
Questions
- Why do IT Directors at nonprofits often ignore cold emails?
- IT Directors at nonprofits frequently receive numerous unsolicited emails and may prioritize urgent operational issues over new proposals. If the email does not immediately address a specific pain point or demonstrate clear relevance to their mission, it risks being overlooked.
- What challenges do IT Directors at nonprofits face with technology adoption?
- IT Directors in nonprofits often face challenges such as budget constraints, limited staff expertise, and the need for solutions that integrate seamlessly with existing systems. They must balance innovation with the practicalities of their organization's mission and resources.
- How can I demonstrate value to a nonprofit IT Director?
- To demonstrate value, focus on how your solution can enhance their fundraising capabilities or improve data security without straining their limited budget. Providing case studies or examples from similar nonprofits can also help illustrate potential benefits.
- What are the typical decision-making processes for IT Directors in nonprofits?
- Decision-making processes for IT Directors in nonprofits often involve multiple stakeholders, including finance and program teams. They typically seek solutions that align with organizational goals, so demonstrating how your offering supports their mission can be crucial.
Or have it run itself
SoloRiff does every step above on its own — finds the companies, finds the people, writes each of them individually, and handles the replies. Drop your URL and watch it work before you sign up for anything.
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