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.

Using FundRaiser to Increase Mission Impact

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I’ve worked at FundRaiser for many years now, and for all of that time I’ve been deeply inspired by the work our customers do. Committed to a wide range of missions, the nonprofits using FundRaiser actively make a difference in our world. 

Given that sense of admiration, of course I decided to try my own hand at the fundraising part of nonprofit work. What I’ve learned is that each time I use FundRaiser to help raise funds for an organization I care about, I succeed. I also learn something new about the whole process of fundraising, and I get better for next time. That all adds up to more funds to help achieve what I’d like to see happen in the world. An example, in the first year of using FundRaiser, I learned the value of some very basic donor management practices:

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Creating My First Fundraising Mailing

Creating My First Fundraising Mailing

At FundRaiser Software, staff members are experts in helping nonprofit organizations use our software. We have learned a lot about the how-to's of fundraising from our customers... but very few of us do it ourselves. For me, over the years, I've become eager to try my own hand at it. Yesterday, my wish came true as I mailed out my own first fundraising campaign. The experience was both fun and humbling, giving me a new and deeper appreciation of the work that our customers do daily! 

Let me say at the start, that the organization I volunteer for has done well for more than 35 years tracking donors by spreadsheet and memory. It's understandable that when I suggested using a FundRaiser program they were wary. This year, however, the other volunteers at the organization agreed to let me have a go at it... as long as I was the one working with FundRaiser.   

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3 Tips for Exporting Data to Spreadsheets


Why Export Data to Other Programs??

You know, from my point of view, "why" is a question I don't always feel inclined (or capable) to answer.  Sometimes the best answer to "why" is simply "because".  Why export?  Because I want to export.  It's a valid reason, and so it behooves us at FundRaiser to make it as easy as possible to perform the task, even though it's a relatively little-used task when compared to most features of the program.  We don't need to know "why" you want to export, but YOU need to know HOW to export, and here are some tips to get the job accomplished in the best possible way for your purposes.

1.  Export or Print to File??  Choosing the right method.

Under the File menu, the "Export" option enables you to send data to various file formats that can be easily read by other programs.  The ASCII/dBase option gives you several choices, but the most common for spreadsheets is the CSV (Comma-Separated-Values) file format.  Exporting, however, has some limitations, in that you can only export fields that are available in the "Field Selection" list.  You may have noticed that only "statistical" gift data can be exported, rather than individual gift information.  So, when you need to export that type of information, the best bet is to use the "Print to Excel" option found in almost all reports (like the donation/deposit reports).  While this option will not be as "clean" as exporting to a CSV and then opening the resulting file in a spreadsheet, it WILL allow you to bring those multiple gifts into play.  So, the first step to exporting is to decide the level of detail you need, and either choose to Export (less detail) or Print to Excel, using a report (more detail, but more cleanup needed in the resulting Excel/spreadsheet file).

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2 Situations When You Might Want to Consider Using Access or Excel for Donor Management


With the proper template (and there is one for nonprofits included with Access), it's not too difficult for someone with a modicum of computer savvy to put together a program to handle the basics of fundraising using either Excel or Access. However, remember that the fundraising world is not static, and neither should be your fundraising program—continuing maintenance could become a drain on your time and resources.

In our opinion, there are two situations in which using Access or Excel (or similar products) might make sense.

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8 Ways to Know If You've Outgrown Your Homegrown Software


In this modern technological age, even the smallest nonprofits are likely to use some type of software to help with fundraising. These fall into two general categories:

commercial "off the shelf" donor management softwarehomegrown or custom programs.

The homegrown varieties are most often constructed using Microsoft's Access or Excel because they are the most readily available products from which to create a database. In our many years working with small to medium-sized nonprofits in various capacities, many organizations have come to us looking for a solution to having outgrown their homegrown programs. This experience has taught us a number of lessons that may be helpful if you are thinking it may be time to purchase fundraising management software.

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Why I want the environmental organization I volunteer for to use a donor database instead of Excel spreadsheets

The environmental organization I volunteer for is important to me, so it followed that when I discovered they were using Excel spreadsheets to track the donors who help make it happen each year, I suggested that we use a FundRaiser Software program instead.

My co-volunteers were leery about moving from Excel to a donor database. They don't know me as any kind of expert on non-profit fundraising. They feared that using a donor database would simply complicate matters. Excel spreadsheets are free and everyone knew how to use them. Their questions led me to do some research so I could tell them more clearly why I was making my suggestion. Here's what I turned up:

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

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