FundRaiser Blog

The FundRaiser Software Blog is an excellent resource for nonprofit organizations looking to learn more about fundraising, donor management, membership management, and much more.

The Season for Thanks - a note from our CEO

As the weather turns cooler and the leaves begin to drop, I always try to take some time off from the constant stream of news and information that is constantly coming at me, and spend some time reflecting on the things that I'm truly thankful for. Sometimes, especially given the current state of affairs this season, this can feel a lot like... exercise. What if I miss something? What if everything changes when I'm not paying attention? What if, what if, what if?

Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately), this has never actually happened. Indeed, the world always continues to spin, news always continues to happen, and nothing major seems to change overnight. Apparently, my inattention to the news has zero effect on the bigger picture, what a relief! With that in mind, I chose to dedicate my mental energy in November and December to gratitude. The first week was mostly a detox; it is surprisingly difficult to avoid clicking those juicy headlines, or opening my News app for a quick update! After the first week, things began to normalize and I could focus more on my actual intention of feeling grateful. I decided to make a list of a few the things that I'm most thankful for to share with the world (the FundRaiser blog reading world, that is). Without further ado, here's a very partial list in no particular order of the things I am grateful for every single day.

Continue reading
3975 Hits

The Pros and Cons of Engaging Volunteers in Fundraising

VolunteerFundRaisers

Dear Kim,

For years I have been told that board members and volunteers need to be trained and enlisted in reaching out, meeting with donors, thanking them and asking for support. I work somewhere that has prioritized that. But all of that comes with the cost of a lot of staff time. Some volunteers aren’t very good at it with training. What’s the downside of just having staff do that work?

Continue reading
6523 Hits

Can FundRaiser Track Volunteers?

volunteers

Many organizations separate volunteer management from donor management, which means that often two separate systems are involved. Volunteer Coordinators often rely on spreadsheets or personalized databases to track who is actively volunteering, when they work, scheduling, and even tracking availability, skills, or work preferences. Grouping these volunteers into teams or crews becomes problematic, because it is often a manual process. Since many volunteers also financially support an organization, wouldn’t it make sense to have them both in the same database?

Continue reading
2019 Hits

The Power of Volunteer Reports

volunteers-2

When it comes to keeping track of your volunteers there are several important pieces of information it’s helpful to know at a glance. Who are your volunteers? When did they work? How many hours your volunteers have worked and how much have they saved your organization over the course of a year?

Continue reading
1971 Hits

3 Things To Do When Your Campaign Stalls

52_3things

It’s never easy, or fun, when a campaign stalls. Running out of momentum halfway through a five-year campaign, for example, may leave you with what seems like an insurmountable mountain to climb to get going again. And there’s the impact to your organization, especially if you’re fundraising for a major project.

There are usually four reasons why campaigns stall. The first is a lack of prospects. Not having very many major donors, or a lack of donor cultivation (Did you know it can take 18 to 24 months to fully cultivate a major donor?) may leave your organization with a small amount of people from which to initially draw. The second main reason is a lack of infrastructure, such as a donor database, volunteer training, and methods of cultivating your donors. Good news! If you’re reading this blog, there’s a good chance you’re using FundRaiser Software, which puts you one step ahead and can help you with the first two reasons. The third reason is a lack of planning, including a campaign feasibility study. And finally, the last reason may be timing, which often is outside of our control such as an economic downturn happening in the middle of a long-term campaign.

Generally campaigns stall due to a combination of factors. So what can you do when that happens?

Continue reading
3643 Hits

Keeping it Simple on #GivingTuesday Can Work for You

IjamsGivingTuesda_20181023-185910_1

You can create a #GivingTuesday campaign that brings in donations and increases the visibility of your nonprofit, even if you don’t have much time. Cindy Hassil, Development Director of Ijams Nature Center, quickly created a campaign even in the midst of other year-end fundraising plans last year that did just that. Using resources she adapted from the Giving Tuesday website and some new and existing photos of the nature center, she created a personalized effort that raised awareness and brought in additional funds and new donors.

“The Giving Tuesday website has almost everything you’ll need to create your own campaign, from various logos and images to sample news releases and a planning calendar,” Cindy said. “We used our website, weekly e-newsletter, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to let people know about our campaign, and used graphics I created in Publisher by adding the Giving Tuesday heart image and several hashtags to photos. You don’t have to have graphic design software; you could use PowerPoint or just keep it simple by using hashtags with your own photos and the images you download from the Giving Tuesday website.”

Continue reading
2539 Hits

Giving Friends and Allies a Chance to be Donors

Poverty

Dear Kim:

We are a 19-year-old organization of mothers in poverty fighting for the lives of mothers and children who are on the front line in the escalating war on the poor. Our budget has generally been around $52,000—just enough to cover two staff salaries, printing, postage, volunteer stipends, and office utilities and phones. We combine grant writing, subscriptions sales, fundraising events and private donations from quarterly fundraising letters to support our work. Several years ago, we lost our major funder and we have had difficulty getting smaller grants for our work in the last three years since welfare deform lost its “sexy” topical appeal. To survive with our reduced budget of less than $20,000, we have only one part-time paid staff person, our website was disconnected, and we did not replace our copy machine when it died. Consequently, we are accomplishing less work, so it is even more difficult to get grants. We do not want to quit at a time when single-mother families in poverty are suffering nightmares unimagined ten years ago: millions of US single moms forced to quit college; 37 percent increase in infant deaths in cities like Milwaukee; hundreds of thousands of moms and children homeless every year; tens of thousands of moms living with zero income after reaching unrealistic welfare time limits; tough competition for awful jobs paying even less than before, and so on.

Continue reading
2452 Hits

Finding the Time for Grassroots Fundraising

Finding the Time for Grassroots Fundraising

Dear Kim,

I have tried to follow the advice in the Grassroots Fundraising Journal and from you, Andy Robinson, Stephanie Roth, and other grassroots fundraising experts. What you all say makes sense. Having said that, I hope you don’t find my question rude: where do you find the time to really implement all this advice? I am a relatively efficient person and I already work my 40 hours and then some every week. Being in touch with more donors, doing research on prospects, keeping our social media presence vibrant? Something is always not getting done. Any tips?

Continue reading
3554 Hits

Helping with Disaster Recovery in the Southern Ozarks

Helping with Disaster Recovery in the Southern Ozarks

The water has swept on from the floods that raged through this region less than 2 weeks ago. It took with it all that it had the power to carry away. It left behind not just confusion and debris, but also an opportunity for communities to rise higher than the water ever did, and they are doing so. All members of the FundRaiser staff were touched directly by the impact of the floods which spread over the entire region where the FundRaiser office is located. Each responded with energy and courage as matched their situation, and all have been left with a deeper understanding for customers involved in disaster relief.  

Tamara Lovan of Technical Support went right to work volunteering. "Heading to Carmichael Field to assist with sorting flood debris starting at noon. This evening we will be helping gather donations at the Civic Center," she wrote us after being one of the first to track down where the volunteers were gathering. 

Continue reading
3730 Hits

Short take: FundRaiser Overview Class

Short take:  FundRaiser Overview Class

 

Feel like you need a refresher on the software? Do you have a new employee or volunteer who will be helping your organization with FundRaiser Software? Our FundRaiser Overview Class is the perfect resource for this - and it is offered every week.

Continue reading
3920 Hits
Wait a minute, while we are rendering the calendar
motivation FundRaiser Basic correspondance direct mail donation history membersip benefits nonprofit fundraising texting donors relationship tracking personalizing letters solicitors donor tech tip Company culture Excel Tickles National Change of Address raffle online donations role of nonprofits building donor relationships arts volunteers donor contact information Thanksgiving announcements reports moves management passwords development director security FundRaiser Hosted monthly giving recurring gifts holiday letters foundations office board members email LYBUNTS donor attrition rate major gift prospects importing csv updates disaster relief thank you letters Personalizing Constant Contact adding personal notes to letters Resiliency data analysis Task List new leadership donor engagement donor prospects vacation gift acceptance policy holiday how to handle auction gifts Crowdfunding Campaign Importing Data alumni fundraising letters giving levels planned giving spare fields customer portal legacy giving budget look and feel flash sales training tip motivation code NCOA processing donor source spreadsheets premiums communications #GivingTuesday Alternative Addresses donor preferences mode code lapsed donor fundraising features donor advised funds GoFundMe project donor slip product news membership programs Reporting to IRS segmenting donors GivingTuesday correspondence add ons donor retention customer service data conversion Groupings Cloud annual maintenance plan giving history Donor Portal upgrade Reminders donor targeting Network for Good operating systems accounting software happiness auction the Ask large donations animal rescue ticketsales data entry FundRaiser Spark charity golf tournaments brick campaign follow up endowment campaign mailing welcome packet transparency new donors increasing giving amounts advanced tab custom page pictures corporate sponsors SYBUNTS appeal letter templates general donor relations small donations repeat donors merge fields technical support community supported gardens in honor of donations social media online donations End of Year Letters In-Kind gifts backing up data community broadcasting annual campaign support new nonprofit campaign user interface pledges donor attrition Congratulations user spotlights gift notes field event management Facebook campaign anonymous donors donor profile change of address updating training salutation capital campaign holiday giving volunteering banquet letter membership benefits overview grassroots campaign donor loyalty operational costs Thank You tax summary letters ticket sales tribute gifts word processor appeal letters upgrading donors donor recognition campaign management understanding giving trends major donors community arts nonprofits publicity materials gift entry password protection Snow Birds memorial giving prospects new features new version case study Facebook PayPal New Year Volunteer module targeted mailings mission driven grants entering auction gifts phoning donors Codes donor retention rate ROI government grants how-to videos merge notes planning on site training

Connect With Us

  800-880-3454 ext 3
  Email Us
  Request More Information
  Monday-Friday
      8:30AM-5:30PM CST

Customer Portal Login Form

User Name:
Password:

If you are not sure about your Customer User Name, please call 800-543-4131 and we will be able to help you.

Or you have lost your password, Request Password