FundRaiser Blog
Birds of a Feather
Winter is on its way here in the Ozarks. The trees are putting on their bright end of year party dresses, the morning glories, who stood unruffled in 100+ temperatures, wilt in the cooler temperatures, and the squirrels bury their bounty here and there in frenzied anticipation of the deep cold. Perhaps we’ll even have a winter this year.
It is time for me to think about putting up our bird feeder. This will be our first winter here and I am eager to see what kind of visitors we get. There are always the bright cardinals and the pushy blue jays. These birds are entertaining but somehow I find myself enjoying the quieter finches and woodpeckers more. Some of our summer birds are already gone. The robins are few and far between, the hummingbirds no longer zip and fight from one flower to the next, and tiny grey birds can be seen practicing their formations for the long flight south. Soon they will be gone and the others who have stayed hidden in the greenery of summer will come out to be seen.
Your nonprofit organization may be seeing a similar migration. Those donors who move with the warm weather are often called Snowbirds. Depending on where in the country you are, your donors may be coming or going. This can definitely make your mailing process confusing. Fortunately, your FundRaiser donor management software can make this simpler. The software has a function called Alternative Addresses to help you keep track of your Snowbirds.
The Alternative Addresses function allows you to not only enter two different addresses for a donor, but to automatically schedule mailings according to when they will be at a specific address. In addition, you can choose not to mail to anyone with an alternative address. This can be very handy if you are sending invitations to a local event and it is unlikely far-away donors can attend, while making sure they get other important mailings. After all, like their feathered counterparts, Snowbirds don’t fly away forever!
For more information on using Alternate Address please contact Tech Support at 800-543-4131
