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.

Make It Count


For those of you who haven’t spent much time on the phone with me while unraveling one of the many mysteries FundRaiser may present us, I’m an old-fashioned girl. I cook most everything from scratch, make cheese, and sew some of my own clothes. Don’t get me wrong, I like electricity and indoor plumbing as much as the next girl, but I feel strongly that technology should be a helper, not the sole reason for doing something.

 

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Just a Spark...

I live in Arizona (not Missouri, where our home office is located) and sparks are not normally welcome at this time of year, due to dry conditions and fire hazards that, each year, cost millions of dollars in loss of habitat and homes. So when our CEO, Autumn Shirley, told me about a new product we’re releasing, called “Spark”, with a tag-line of “Start something big”, my first thoughts were of some rather large wildfires that we’ve had here in the West.Well, I came to grips with my regionalized knee-jerk reactions, and took a look at this new arrival, and now I see what all the hoopla is about.

Many FundRaiser users are with organizations that have modest database needs, and a tight budget. That is, after all, why we released FundRaiser Basic (www.fundraiserbasic.com), originally: to have an “entry-level” offering that would help small nonprofits grow to a level that allows them to step up to FundRaiser Select or Professional (www.fundraisersoftware.com) when Basic’s abilities are no longer enough. And it’s that same thinking that prompted us to a modular approach, allowing customers to start with Select, for instance, and add modules for functionality as needed (like Pledge, Membership, and Volunteer management modules).

Over the years, one of the problems we found with that approach was that the cost of even Select was too much more than that of Basic. It was just too big a step for growing organizations to make all at once. And, for some, even Select has more functionality than necessary, like too many codes, too many data fields, too many options, etc.

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Personally Speaking

This past weekend I volunteered to play guitar as a part of the Earth Day activities at Oracle State Park, where my wife, Nanette, volunteers on a regular basis.  The park is about to close for the summer, since the state is not providing funds any more, but a group has formed, called Friends of Oracle State Park, to coordinate volunteer efforts and raise monies to keep up the trails and structures and all that's required even for a small (4,000 acres) park.  I was happy to spend an hour doing something I love to help folks maintain what they (and my wife) love, and it's something I'd readily do again.  I must admit that, for someone who works almost solely with non-profits, I don't give of my time as much as some others, but, then again, I'm rarely asked.  This little glimpse of myself is offered in order to illustrate some uses for FundRaiser, of course.

From the little personal information in the previous paragraph, one could reasonably assign several category codes to my name record in their FundRaiser database.  Remember that category codes are used, for the most part, as non-gift-related aspects of a person's life.  This means that codes with descriptions such as "guitar player", or "music interest", or others, might be created and assigned, in order to have the ability at a later date to pull names of people with similar interests.  And, although it doesn't mean that I'll play at your event if asked, it does mean that you'll have the facts you need to pull a list of people you want to ask to volunteer services or talents when the time comes.

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Case Study: Life Radio Ministries

Life Radio Ministries needed to update their donor management software. "We were using something that had served us well enough over the years, but it was becoming extremely expensive to maintain, as well as being outdated. We decided to look for something that was more reasonably priced and which had stayed up with technology," says Joe Emert, General Manager of Life Radio Ministries.He was looking for features that allow him to create a personal, 'high touch' connection with donors...Read more ...

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

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