Many FundRaiser users also work as the bookkeeper for their office or interface closely with their organization's bookkeeper. FundRaiser makes this as simple as possible with its integration features for QuickBooks and Peachtree accounting programs. Good people plus good software make an office run well. In our office, the people part of our bookkeeping equation is Mary Badiny and we all interface with her most happily.
She's worked as a bookkeeper all her life, starting during college as a way to support herself. “While I was going to school for a business degree, I got my first bookkeeping job. The woman who interviewed me for that first job said, 'I really need someone with experience, but I'm going to give you a chance.' She became a kind of mentor to me, and we were both happy with how it went. I've been a bookkeeper now for 41 years," says Mary. "You'd think I'd be burned out, but I found the perfect office de-stressor. It's my garden. Of course there is stress, like no rain for 3 months, but it’s a totally different kind and it gives me the right balance."
"I've got a lot of experience with QuickBooks,"; she says. "I like that Josh has fixed it so that all the income gets transferred over to QuickBooks automatically." This avoids double-entry and works similarly to the way that FundRaiser integrates with our user's accounting software.
Mary likes her job at FundRaiser because she gets along so well with other staff members. "It's my favorite place because the people here are friends. Working with friends, we talk about a lot of things, and then go to work. You can share your hurts."
Outside of the FundRaiser office, Mary is very active in the community. She is known as one of our community's leading gardeners. "One of the things that I like about gardening is that you never feel you have arrived. How many years has the spring arrived, but you never get tired of it. It is in your soul. How many years have the peonies bloomed, but I always love it."
She volunteers through her church. "I love my church. The thing I enjoy the most right now is being part of the church's visiting committee. We visit people that are hurting. It doesn't matter who they are; they don't have to be a church member. We just visit people. I find that if you just listen, people just want to talk. I come away drained and fulfilled, because everyone you visit is happy that you came. Time is something that is a very valuable gift. People say, 'Thank you made my day, you made my week!' just by visiting. Not by being anything, just your body."
Mary is a lot more than a body in the FundRaiser office. She is part of what makes things run well, both because of her bookkeeping skills as well as her presence, as a friend.