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.

Reconnect With Donors During This Difficult Time

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With the uncertainties in the world right now, you may be wondering how best to, or even if you should, reconnect with your donors. It’s understandable. Everyone has so much on their minds right now. And yet, there’s a good chance that people need the work that you’re doing. It’s important that you continue to let them know that you’re there, honoring your mission, even with everything that’s happening.

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Increasing the Courage to Asked Lapsed Donors to Give

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Sometimes all you need to make a change is to see things from a new perspective. Earlier this month, that happened for me, and it resulted in success for a fundraising campaign I was organizing.

As the campaign approached an important deadline, we were still short on our break even point. It was then that something lucky happened. A new donor mentioned how eager she was to be included in the line up of published sponsors-- she had been impressed when she'd read over the list of names from last year. Her enthusiasm for our sponsors was such a welcome breath of fresh air. It moved me out of the 'hard work to raise money' frame of mind, into a space of deep appreciation for the people who recognize and support the value of our work. 

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Short Take: Variations on LYBUNT/SYBUNT

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As we move into the second half of the year, it’s a good time to start thinking about donors who have given last year, or even some year, but not yet this year. Built into the FundRaiser reports are options for LYBUNT (Last Year But Not This Year) and SYBUNT (Some Year But Not This Year). These are both great tools to determine donors who have given during your last calendar (or reporting year if it’s different) year, but not this one, and begin to extend your outreach to those individuals.

However, did you know that in our groupings options, we offer even more variations on the traditional LYBUNT/SYBUNT criteria?

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Inviting LYBUNTS to Renew Support

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Dear Kim:

What is a Lie-Bunt?  I have some pro bono consulting from this high powered direct mail and social media person and she told me we have a lot of lie-bunts we should be asking.  I already feel stupid around her and don’t want to ask her what she means.  Do you have any idea? 

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Using FundRaiser to Increase Mission Impact

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I’ve worked at FundRaiser for many years now, and for all of that time I’ve been deeply inspired by the work our customers do. Committed to a wide range of missions, the nonprofits using FundRaiser actively make a difference in our world. 

Given that sense of admiration, of course I decided to try my own hand at the fundraising part of nonprofit work. What I’ve learned is that each time I use FundRaiser to help raise funds for an organization I care about, I succeed. I also learn something new about the whole process of fundraising, and I get better for next time. That all adds up to more funds to help achieve what I’d like to see happen in the world. An example, in the first year of using FundRaiser, I learned the value of some very basic donor management practices:

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A Kind & Common Sense Approach to Donor Relations

A Kind & Common Sense Approach to Donor Relations

 

Dear Kim,

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Moving Members Up The Giving Ladder

Moving Members Up The Giving Ladder

Moving donors up the giving ladder is one of the prime reasons to keep a donor database. Here are some tips for how to prepare to ask your members to move up the giving ladder.

Creating a Reality-Based Gift Chart

Compile an A to Z listing of all current donors and lapsed donors—no more than three years (excluding those whose reason for lapsing is known).

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How A Little Bit of Donor Outreach Created Campaign Success

How A Little Bit of Donor Outreach Created Campaign Success

In June, I tried my hand at my first fundraising campaign. I started with a basic mailing to loyal donors. You can read about my beginning efforts in my blog post here.   

After I sent the letters out, I didn’t have to wait long before our first donations came in. Loyal donors replied rapidly, and it was great fun to open the envelopes and see their notes and checks. 

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LYBUNT? SYBUNT? OMG LOL


What's in an Acronym?

In Kim Klein's blog article this month, she explains what the term LYBUNT means, which is a good thing, but there is another that is used in FundRaiser we need to know, too:  SYBUNT.  SYBUNT is similar to LYBUNT, but reaches further into a lapsed donor's past.  A SYBUNT has given "Some Year But Not This".  You can find both of these terms scattered throughout FundRaiser:  in the "WHO" section of reports and mass mailings (in the "MasterFile" dropdown), the "Common Patterns" section of creating a Grouping, and elsewhere.  They are just easier ways to describe certain donor situations.

Precisely, Generally Speaking

Once you know the definitions, you may run into another situation due to the business world view that there are two distinct types of years:  calendar and fiscal (which FundRaiser calls "Reporting" year).  FundRaiser's Reporting year is, by default, set to the calendar year, but can be changed to coincide with the fiscal year your organization uses for accounting purposes.  It's changed in the Options, General, Printing menu, and requires that you set the beginning month of the yearly period you want to consider for your Reporting year.  Be aware that, if you make a change here, you will need to run the Rebuild Statistics Page Data utility (in the Utilities menu) in order to make certain all the yearly totals reflect your reporting year, and that people are able to be put properly in their LYBUNT and SYBUNT places.

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Inviting LYBUNTS to Renew Their Support

Photo of cats

Dear Kim:

What is a Lie-Bunt?  I have some pro bono consulting from this high powered direct mail and social media person and she told me we have a lot of lie-bunts we should be asking.  I already feel stupid around her and don’t want to ask her what she means.  Do you have any idea? 

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

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