FundRaiser Blog
7 steps to increased donations for schools using a donor database
Schools can significantly increase incoming donations by clarifying who their most generous constituent groups are and then focusing development efforts on those donor segments. Several FundRaiser users have done this, with excellent results.
1. Enter your donation amounts into your database
The first step to locating your most generous donors is easy. “It’s a simple matter of entering your checks into FundRaiser. Then all that information is there,” says Ellen Bouye, Administrative Assistant of Oklahoma Christian Academy and a FundRaiser Select user.
2. Code gift entries by constituent group
This is most easily done at the time you enter your checks, but you can go back and code older donations, too.
Troy Williamson, Director of Institutional Advancement at Menaul School has found that their most generous donors are parents. “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,
3. Regularly look at reports to identify most generous donor groups
Once you have entered and coded donations by constituent groups, you are ready to see the trends. Create reports that show the total amount given by separate groups and compare them. Do this on a monthly basis and you will get a clear grasp on who is giving, by group. Then follow up with personal contact.
Some schools have increased donations by coding alumni as to their graduating year. By doing so they discovered that some years are more generous. For instance, Menaul School has discovered that the most generous alumni class years are from the 1940’s – 1960’s. Bishop McDevitt School has discovered that their most generous alumni are from the 1960’s – 1970’s.
4. Institute online giving for younger populations of givers
Bishop McDevitt School has also increased donations from younger alumni by promoting online giving. "They like to give online and to receive notices online,” says, Kate Hagerty, Director of Institutional Advancement at Bishop McDevitt. Bishop McDevitt School uses FundRaiser Hosted which integrates with their website to reduce data entry.
5. Have a good system for tracking relationships between donors
Relationship tracking is a big help in making contact with potential donors. Troy of Menaul School uses the FundRaiser relationship tab to ease the potentially first awkward moments in a personal meeting. “I go to the relationship section to find out who a person is related to before we do a face to face meeting. I may have met their brother, sister or daughter, and then I can mention that connection. It creates a place to start.”
6. Promote memorial/in honor giving
When graduates learn that a previous classmate has died, they often want to contribute in memory of that person. “For awhile there can be a flurry of memorial of donations,” says says Jim Hodges of Menaul School, a volunteer responsible for data entry. FundRaiser helps makes sure that the correct acknowledgements are made to the donor and the family of the deceased person, something which can be complicated without the assistance of memorial giving features in your software.
7. Keep up with your database entries
"Left unattended, databases will turn into piles of mush,” advises Robert Weiner , technology consultant. Careful routines are needed to avoid that happening. It pays off in real support. “It’s important to keep it up is because that is where we get a large part of our donations. If we don’t keep this accurate we will fall short of our goals. That’s the bottom line,” says Jim of Menaul School.
Learn more about how FundRaiser can help your school increase donations
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