Transitioning from FundRaiser Basic to Spark: Donor Codes

FundRaiser Basic offers three codes for donor records: a category code, a source code, and newsletter preferences. These three codes provide an excellent foundation for transitioning into FundRaiser Spark or even Select or Professional. Let’s look at each of the codes.

Within FundRaiser Basic the category code commonly is used to segment donors based on their relationship to the organization. While FundRaiser Basic allows for one category code, in Spark (as well as our other products) donors can have unlimited category codes. This means increased information for direct targeting of your donors.

It helps to think of a source code as the “how did you hear about us?” question that is sometimes asked by companies. When fundraising, it’s beneficial in determining which outreach effort generated a donor or a prospect and can be used to gauge the effectiveness of outreach efforts. Within Spark, you can actually use the source code for your donors to run reports based on how they came to your organization. Basic does not have this capability.

The newsletter preferences allows you to choose whether a selected individual would like to receive emailed newsletters or correspondence, printed and mailed newsletters and correspondence, or no newsletter. In FundRaiser Spark, these options are expanded to include both mass mailings, such as appeals letters as well as thank you letters. There are also options for “excluding from general mailings” and ensuring year end letters are sent.

While the process to move from Fundraiser Basic to Spark may seem daunting with the additional codes and options, our support and training staff are right beside you to help you through the transition. From importing your Basic data to helping you with the new workflows for sending thank you letters and reports, we’ll help, and you’ll soon be taking advantage of all the new features.

To learn more about how FundRaiser Spark can help you expand your donor base register for a tour or if you are already a FundRaiser user, contact FundRaiser Technical Support at Support@FundRaiserSoftware.com or 800-543-4131.