FundRaiser Blog
Personally Speaking
This past weekend I volunteered to play guitar as a part of the Earth Day activities at Oracle State Park, where my wife, Nanette, volunteers on a regular basis. The park is about to close for the summer, since the state is not providing funds any more, but a group has formed, called Friends of Oracle State Park, to coordinate volunteer efforts and raise monies to keep up the trails and structures and all that's required even for a small (4,000 acres) park. I was happy to spend an hour doing something I love to help folks maintain what they (and my wife) love, and it's something I'd readily do again. I must admit that, for someone who works almost solely with non-profits, I don't give of my time as much as some others, but, then again, I'm rarely asked. This little glimpse of myself is offered in order to illustrate some uses for FundRaiser, of course.
From the little personal information in the previous paragraph, one could reasonably assign several category codes to my name record in their FundRaiser database. Remember that category codes are used, for the most part, as non-gift-related aspects of a person's life. This means that codes with descriptions such as "guitar player", or "music interest", or others, might be created and assigned, in order to have the ability at a later date to pull names of people with similar interests. And, although it doesn't mean that I'll play at your event if asked, it does mean that you'll have the facts you need to pull a list of people you want to ask to volunteer services or talents when the time comes.
The point I'm trying to make, then, is that, when you get personal communications from your donors, take the time to consider what information you've received and how it can be used in the future. Sometimes it's the "secondary" information that becomes important later. Chances are you'll be creating and assigning more codes and giving yourself an easier way to group people together based on common interests or talents. Time spent when the communication occurs can reward you with a wider selection of names to choose from in future endeavors.
