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.

Grow Where You Are Planted


I love weeds. That may seem very odd to hear from someone who enjoys gardening, but perhaps I am not a typical gardener. I must confess I’m terribly fickle when it comes to my garden. Each spring I succumb to the passion of lush, green spring and gaily plant far more than I can ever take care of. Inevitably the oppressive heat of summer squelches my enthusiasm and only those plants that survive the minimal tending I care to give them live to benefit from my renewed vigor with autumn’s chill.Despite these serious flaws in my gardening technique, I’m never without green in my life. For intrepid weeds soften my failures. Perhaps my favorite is the wild morning glory. Its rich green leaves cover a vine as tough and tenacious as barbed wire. These tendrils coil from dry, barren ground and climb to the sun upon anything they can reach. Yet from this ruthless creeper spring delicate ivory blossoms that sing to the sun for only one day. It is truly heartening to see beauty spring from what seems to be nothing.

Nonprofit organizations often have the same issue with hardware and software. You spring out of what seems to be nothing, pulling resources from volunteers and donations from the community you serve. Purchasing up to date computers and hiring someone to set up and maintain them is frequently out of your reach, financially, although I’ve seen some pretty amazing things done with the bare minimum.

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FundRaiser's oldest websites were cutting edge... at the time

Screenshot of FundRaiser's second website from 1996
FundRaiser website in 2003

The internet has developed so quickly over the past decade that it’s hard to remember how things looked even just a short while ago. With FundRaiser going live with a new website this week, I began to wonder what our earliest websites looked like. I talked to Gene Weinbeck, founder of FundRaiser, and he was happy to share some memories and a few images of earlier websites. When did FundRaiser first go online? Gene: Our earliest website went up about 1994. It looked like a DOS program. It was done in Times New Roman only, and for sophistication, it used bold and underlining. We don’t have any screenshot of that… no one thought to save it!

What made you go online at that time?

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Client/Server: A GeekSpeak Analogy

A couple of years ago I wrote an article about the differences between our Multi-User versions of FundRaiser and the Client/Server versions of FundRaiser.  And you may want to visit that article for a more technical explanation of things, but in this week's blog I'll attempt to give you the short version.

Client/Server versions can allow more than one person to use the program simultaneously, like Multi-User versions, but that's not their real purpose and strength.  Speed with safety is the real benefit to Client/Server versions, speeding up processes while insuring that no data becomes corrupt or lost.  Most "regular" versions of software are installed directly to the computer at hand, and that computer does all the work, so it's called a "stand alone" setup.  On networks of computers, it can be advantageous to have the program installed on a special computer called a Server, and allow other computers (Clients) to run the program over the network.

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

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