FundRaiser Blog

The FundRaiser Software Blog is an excellent resource for nonprofit organizations looking to learn more about fundraising, donor management, membership management, and much more.

3 Tips for Appeal Letters

68

We’re into the end of the year giving season when many organizations are sending out appeal letters. This is a busy time for many nonprofits between Thanksgiving, Giving Tuesday, and then Christmas and last minute donations before the New Year rolls around. Yet, it’s important to give as much thought, if not more, to the appeal letters you send during this time of year. Your donors will most likely receive more of them and each one has to stand out.

Here are three tips to get you started.

Continue reading
2712 Hits

Three Things To Prepare For Holiday Mailings

64

As we enter the last quarter of the year, many organizations begin to think about their holiday fundraising campaigns. The holiday season, including the end of the year and all the associated holidays, is a big time of year for sending appeal letters and in the US, the January tax letters indicating the giving that had happened during the previous calendar year. Before you begin creating these mailings, try taking these three steps to ensure they’re reaching the right people and are cost effective for your organization.

Continue reading
2408 Hits

What do you do with motivation codes?

62_header

It’s easy to get overwhelmed with the coding of gifts in any donor management software. There’s motivation codes, which track what prompted your donor to give, and purpose codes, which track the way in which the gift will be used. Once you code a gift, other than running reports for the month (or year), what can do you do with them?

Continue reading
2330 Hits

The Value of a Salutation

blogheader_0723

As many of the letters being sent transition from paper to digital and even email is being replaced by text messages and push notifications on apps, it’s important to think about whether we still have a place for formal salutations. While politeness and courtesy will never go out of style, too often when we call someone Mr. or Ms., such titles are eschewed for the person’s first name. When appealing to donors, what salutation should you use?

Continue reading
2070 Hits

Creating Value with Non-Ask Events

ask_events_header

Most of the time organizations offer donors reciprocated value. They send thank you notes in response to donations, preprinted labels in the hopes of receiving a donation, tickets when purchased, or other tangible things received either in response to or in anticipation of a donation. This isn’t bad, but it’s very reactive. It assumes the organization has a quid pro quo relationship with its donors.

To start thinking proactively, it’s important to work on non-reciprocated value. This is something that you can offer to your donors for free without asking for a donation or any other consideration. When it holds real value for them, it becomes memorable.

Continue reading
1677 Hits

The Who, What, and When of Tax Summary Letters

The Who, What, and When of Tax Summary Letters

What is an End of Year letter? Usually it is one of two things:

a letter which contains a summary of all donations that a donor has made to your organization in the past year. This is sent in January, to help donors with their taxes.an appeal letter which is sent in November and December to solicit donations.

This article will go more in depth about tax summary letters. You might be surprised at the return you get from this simple and helpful correspondence.

Continue reading
24851 Hits
Wait a minute, while we are rendering the calendar
password protection donor prospects donation history donor engagement grassroots campaign recurring gifts general motivation endowment campaign foundations donor attrition rate online donations word processor accounting software new version volunteers direct mail membership benefits add ons change of address updating look and feel welcome packet raffle Thank You operational costs grants technical support ticketsales Tickles correspondance training tip transparency membership programs FundRaiser Hosted adding personal notes to letters donor preferences online donations appeal letters donor contact information happiness nonprofit fundraising PayPal Facebook campaign Task List importing csv office #GivingTuesday giving history updates campaign management on site training annual maintenance plan mission driven animal rescue publicity materials donor upgrading donors how-to videos event management tribute gifts features how to handle auction gifts fundraising security motivation code lapsed donor development director End of Year Letters anonymous donors in honor of donations new nonprofit product news memorial giving GivingTuesday legacy giving Network for Good fundraising letters National Change of Address arts gift notes field charity golf tournaments Constant Contact FundRaiser Spark Excel campaign customer service support donor recognition NCOA processing donor source Facebook pledges role of nonprofits In-Kind gifts holiday giving donor advised funds membersip benefits prospects solicitors annual campaign Crowdfunding Campaign mode code capital campaign Groupings holiday premiums donor targeting monthly giving announcements planned giving backing up data Company culture Thanksgiving brick campaign relationship tracking Reminders major donors advanced tab salutation large donations new features ROI donor attrition email targeted mailings flash sales pictures user interface FundRaiser Basic planning mailing gift acceptance policy small donations community broadcasting alumni community supported gardens auction passwords SYBUNTS vacation new donors reports data analysis donor relations customer portal social media Donor Portal Cloud board members donor loyalty government grants donor retention ticket sales segmenting donors repeat donors entering auction gifts upgrade communications gift entry LYBUNTS tech tip case study corporate sponsors spare fields Codes donor slip increasing giving amounts Snow Birds major gift prospects Congratulations custom page Volunteer module New Year donor retention rate personalizing letters giving levels understanding giving trends spreadsheets moves management GoFundMe project correspondence follow up training new leadership data conversion banquet data entry holiday letters building donor relationships letter templates operating systems tax summary letters volunteering merge notes Importing Data disaster relief letter texting donors the Ask Personalizing user spotlights thank you letters Alternative Addresses Resiliency overview budget Reporting to IRS appeal community arts nonprofits donor profile merge fields phoning donors

Connect With Us

  800-880-3454 ext 3
  Email Us
  Request More Information
  Monday-Friday
      8:30AM-5:30PM CST

Customer Portal Login Form

User Name:
Password:

If you are not sure about your Customer User Name, please call 800-543-4131 and we will be able to help you.

Or you have lost your password, Request Password