How one volunteer's excellent data entry routine helped turn around a fundraising downslide

Menaul School has turned its fundraising downslide around. They've worked as a team to do it, combining in-person fundraising with strategic changes to what they record in their donor database and backed up by meticulous data entry. Each of these jobs is accomplished primarily by a different person, who excels at it. The data entry work is entrusted to a special volunteer.

Through steadfast attention to detail, volunteer Jim Hodges makes sure that correspondence goes out in a timely fashion and accurate data is in place when reports are needed for evaluation and planning.

Having the data at your fingertips when you need it

Jim emphasizes the importance of entering the data correctly and consistently. “That’s the most important part of my work. If I make a mistake and put something under the wrong code or fund, when we do a report on that aspect, it will cause that report to be in error.”

He coordinates with the school’s business office. “They keep the official financial records and our office tracks the donation details. Our office combines the office of institutional advancement and the alumni office. I do the data entry for both groups. I record each donation and generate a daily report. To do this, I am given a copy of all the checks and other forms of donations as the business office gets them. Then I enter them into FundRaiser,” says Jim.

“I get a copy of the check because we need to know everything for data entry. For instance, we need to know check numbers so we can put that in the thank-you letter. I get one or more copied checks on a page and the original envelope. Sometimes that is our envelope that we’ve sent out and it has information on the flap of the envelope.”

1, 2, 3... Jim’s routine to ensure accuracy

To avoid errors, Jim has a step-by-step routine.

First, he numbers the checks that he receives. As he works through them, he checks them off. “That way if I do three or four and all of a sudden I get a phone call, I know where to start when I come back.” As he numbers the checks, he writes on them what motivated the donation. “For instance, one of the mothers had a fundraiser at her house. As those checks came in, I would write ‘MOMS’ on them as I was processing them.”

After that is done, he separates the checks by motivation, for instance MOMS, United Way, or unsolicited. Then he enters the data.

After he’s made all the entries, he runs a test report. Then he does a total on the checks and compares it to the report. “Maybe three quarters of the time I’m correct and the rest of the time I have to find my mistake. Usually the problem is that I might have skipped one.”

Sending out the correct thank-you letter

Another part of the job for Jim is sending out thank-you letters for the donations received. In FundRaiser, he can select a specific letter for each gift as he is doing donation entries. Menaul School has several different thank-you letters, depending on the amount of the donation, and the kind of donation. The letters have been set up ahead of time in the built-in FundRaiser word processor. They are revised at least once a year. “Each year we have a theme. For instance, last year’s theme was ‘Be a part of it’,” says Jim.

With the letters all set up ahead of time, and the correct one selected during the data entry process, all Jim has to do is print them out and pass them along to be signed. Gifts over $1000 receive a thank-you letter signed by the president. Gifts less than that are signed by the development director.

“We also receive quite a few In-Kind gifts, and have a special thank you letter for that,” says Jim.

After printing out the letters, he separates and distributes them to the appropriate person. Once the signature is obtained, they come back to Jim to be mailed.

Who knows who – relationship tracking

The relationship feature, which is so important for donor cultivation, is maintained by Jim, too. New students who are related to other people in the database come in every year. Jim gets lists of them and enters the contacts and their relationships to others into the database. “We might have the mother, father, or grandparents in the database and then we will want to mark that connection.”

“Relationship tracking can be time-consuming. It’s not easy to do at the same time as entering donations. I set aside a specific time for it. Sometimes one record will take 15 minutes to do and the next might take 5 minutes,” says Jim.

Most important tip for newcomer

Keeping up the data pays off in real support. “It’s important to keep it up because that is where we get a large part of our donations,” says Jim. “There are always changes to records, for instance change of addresses from returned envelopes. We also receive one or two obituaries a week and we need to update the database. The bottom line is that if we don’t keep this accurate we will fall short of our goals. Data needs to be maintained to ensure accuracy.”

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