This week has been much more like a normal Ozark spring with cool crisp mornings and warm gentle afternoons. The frantic pace of the past few weeks has slowed to a lazy crawl and the succession of blooms and leaves is no longer a blur. The blackberries have put forth their snowy blossoms, flirting with the bees that so admire them. They are

short lived, each day shedding their tender wreath of petals to leave only the bristly globe that will, in time, become a glossy blackberry.

I suppose the best part of this season is the anticipation it inspires. In my mind’s eye I see neat garden beds overflowing with a riot of tomatoes, squash, beans and peppers. Those blackberry blossoms are destined to become fragrant ebony jam. The mint that is threatening to overflow its pot will become next winter’s sweet hot tea.

Anticipation can be a very powerful tool to inspire enthusiasm for an event as well. Once your event or activity is well planned, let your donors know about it with Fundraiser’s Mass Mailing function. By using the FundRaiser Word Processor to create personalized letters and emails and sending them out at the appropriate time, you can arouse interest and excitement about your organization and your endeavors..

A word of caution: While it is possible to cut and paste letters from Microsoft Word to the FundRaiser Word Processor, it is not advisable. Microsoft Word has “background coding” that you can’t see and FundRaiser can’t understand. Cutting and pasting directly from Word to FundRaiser can result in unexpected effects. You can minimize the probability of this by first pasting the text into Notepad (found in ALL PROGRAMS>ACCESSORIES) and then copying and pasting the text to FundRaiser..

If you have questions or would like some assistance with using the FundRaiser Word Processor, please contact FundRaiser tech support at 800-543-4131 or at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we would be glad to assist you.