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.

Schools improve donations by focusing on their most generous donors, part 1

Schools improve donations by focusing on their most generous donors, part 1

Read Part 2 here

When schools focus their donor cultivation on parents, alumni, and the close relatives of students and alumni, they are likely to see a very positive return. Knowing this has led to increased donations for several schools who are FundRaiser users. They know for a fact that these groups are their most generous because they clearly identified this trend in FundRaiser. Using these same techniques to identify common giving trends, your school – or other non profit— can clarify which of your constituent groups are most supportive.

Beginning to locate your most generous donors

Tracking donations for donor cultivation is easy to start. “It’s a simple matter of entering your checks into FundRaiser. Then all that information is there. If you enter it once, it’s there forever unless someone moves,” says Ellen Bouye, Administrative Assistant of Oklahoma Christian Academy and a FundRaiser Select user.

Once the basic data is entered, running some simple reports through FundRaiser, can help you locate your most generous donors and focus your fundraising efforts more fully on them.

Increasing donations through focusing on your most important constituents

Menaul School is one school that has used FundRaiser to help identify important constituent groups and, as a result, is experiencing increased donations. “This has happened because we changed who and how we are approaching things,” says Troy Williamson of Menaul School. “FundRaiser has helped by tracking where the money is coming from. Then you know who to cultivate, and can focus your attention where it will benefit you the most.” Troy is Director of Institutional Advancement, and a FundRaiser Professional user.

Troy has discovered that Menaul School’s most important donors are parents and alumni. and, as a faith-based school, churches. The most important of these constituent groups are parents. “They are our most significant donors,” says Troy. “Lately, we’ve been bringing small groups of them into the president’s office for coffee parties and telling them what needs to happen.” The parents are responding with increased donations.

Individual donors who have a strong bond

Another school that is experiencing increased donations is Mariemont. The increase is coming from many individual donors, says Mariemont Trustee and board member, Ann Pardue. Donations are tracked in FundRaiser, so that Mariemont can see where the money is coming from. “We’re not getting as many big donors and they’ve cut some of their donations, but we’ve seen more donors giving smaller amounts.” Ann is a FundRaiser Professional user.

Focusing on individual donors keeps donations high for Lansing Christian School, too. “We have received gifts to pay off our building. We have never depended on grants and organizations. It has always been private donors,” says Carol Feuss, director of the Lansing Christian School Foundation in Michigan, and a FundRaiser Professional user.

To learn more about how FundRaiser can help you with identifying your most generous donors

Look over the FundRaiser Family of donor management software

Schools improve donations by focusing on their mos...
Organizing a charity golf tournament

Related Posts

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

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