FutureFund, the company I run now, is a very different organization than Square or Weebly, where I worked before. The biggest difference? Rather than a typical B2B startup, we exist to help K-12 school groups raise funds, which means we work primarily with PROFIT organizations.

It may seem like an odd choice for someone with my resume to enter the nonprofit sector, but I'm grateful for my background in big tech because it's actually been an asset. Applying some of the things that tech companies do well can help nonprofits do much better.

Here are five lessons your nonprofit can take from the tech industry to become more effective in your mission.

Lesson 1: Don't settle for less

The number one thing that frustrates me PROFIT is that they don't strive for perfection. Startups strive for excellence because they exist in a more competitive world.

A nonprofit's mission is not technology; it is a social good. However, nonprofits often do not choose modern solution or best-in-class tools. They do not look at the landscape and find the most efficient ways to achieve their goals.

This results in many platforms becoming obsolete. They do not accept Apple Pay. Their sites don't work on mobile. Some of them require you to use browsers like Internet Explorer, which no longer exists. All of this makes it less convenient for donors to support your work.

Tech companies understand that stagnation happens when people don't innovate. When I worked at Square, we were always iterating and testing new software to make sure our solution was the best fit for our customers – because we knew that without them, we wouldn't have a business.

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Lesson 2: Use data to make decisions

It's good to be guided by your values, especially as a nonprofit — but you shouldn't ignore the data you have. Sadly, many nonprofits do not use data to make decisions, even when it is available.

FutureFund provides a good example. Say you're a school group using our platform to run a fundraising campaign. The platform allows you to specify predefined donation amounts ($50, $100, $200, etc.). But how do you know these are the right amounts? Are you testing to find out? Are you comparing the amounts raised by similar campaigns (which is easy to do with our reporting tools) and identifying which variables make the difference?

Analytics is the lifeblood of nearly every successful technology company, because technology is only as good as how people use it. Nonprofits can benefit from adopting the same perspective: your mission is only as good as the amount of support you can generate, so you should always be testing and refining your approach.

Lesson 3: Keep your message consistent

Apple. Tesla. Google. I don't have to describe them logos — pop into your head when you read their names. This is the power of building a strong brand.

Small nonprofits lack branding and marketing. Many of them don't write well, don't have a logo, or even use consistent colors. Look at a university, and it's different. However, branding should also matter to nonprofits because it helps prospective donors get to know you and encourages positive associations.

Branding also ensures that when you leave, other people in your organization can continue to use the assets you've created. This reduces the work required when there is turnover within an organization – which happens all the time in nonprofits like PTAs as key positions often change hands from year to year.

If you don't build one brand that can stand on its own, you'll have to keep rebuilding it repeatedly, which kills your momentum and drains your resources. It's a bit easier if you're a school group as we offer to create logos and branding for you – but this can be debilitating for non-profits in other sectors.

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Lesson 4: Engage your audience

Startups actively drive customers — but many nonprofits struggle with getting people to donate. Having a cause that matters is just the tip of the iceberg.

At Square or Weebly, we were constantly asking ourselves what we could do to encourage user adoption. What can we do to show people that our solutions would make a difference in their lives and make the decision easier for them?

You can do the same with your fundraising campaigns. For example, schools using FutureFund can enable corporate matching to effectively double donor contributions and automatically provide tax-deductible donation receipts.

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Lesson 5: Share your successes

This relates to the third lesson above. As a general rule, most tech companies are social media friendly in ways that nonprofits are not. They are not ashamed to use viral communication channels. They post, share and signal increased coverage of their successes.

Nonprofits tend to be older, but that misses out on potential opportunities. Emails are great for a thank you, but a post that gets likes or comments is 10x more valuable because others can see it.

An efficient nonprofit has a bigger impact

The nonprofit world is also competitive, although it may not always feel that way. The success of your mission depends on your ability to get your message out, reach potential donors, and attract them to your cause—the same way startups market to their customers.