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.

Managing Tribute Gifts with FundRaiser Software, part 1

Tributes

Tribute Gifts are in a class by themselves when it comes to fundraising. They can require a bit more management than "general" gifts, but they can also offer you the opportunity to acquire new donors that might otherwise not be involved with your organization. They also offer existing donors the opportunity to show their respects by giving to a cause they already deem worthy.

Tributes can be made for people or pets, a fact to which many animal-oriented nonprofits will attest. Tributes to the living are the "in honor of" kinds of gifts, while tributes to the deceased are the "in memory of" gifts. "In honor" of gifts may be motivated by an event such as a wedding, anniversary, birthday, graduation, or other important moment for congratulations.

Continue reading
7307 Hits

Keeping Track of Memorial Giving in FundRaiser

MemorialGivin_20180523-204123_1

With Memorial Day just around the corner, it might be a good time to mention a couple of ways you can keep track of memorial gifts in FundRaiser.  We call them "Tribute" gifts, and they can be in memory of departed loved ones, or in honor of living individuals, or even in celebration of some life event or other.

For FundRaiser Professional users, there is a built-in module, appropriately called "Tributes" to handle the recording and subsequent correspondence for these types of gifts.  In FundRaiser Select, the Tributes module is available as an "add-on" module for a modest price.  But even in Spark, which has no specific facility for tribute tracking, one can devise some practices to follow and report on tribute giving.  Let's see how they work.

Continue reading
2376 Hits

Re-Asking In Honor/Memory Donors

Re-Asking In Honor/Memory Donors

Dear Kim,

We receive a significant number of donations in honor/memory of individuals. Most are one time donations. Is it proper to add these donors to our ask list?

Continue reading
3843 Hits

5 Simple Ways to Publicize Your Memorial Giving Program to Donors

5 Simple Ways to Publicize Your Memorial Giving Program to Donors
Memorial giving reminder on flap of reply envelope
Example of reply envelope text. This is the First Witness reply envelope, and the text is on the back under the flap. It has generated much of their memorial gift donations.

Memorial giving feels good. A donor is able to give to an organization they or a loved one values, and at the same time express a positive connection to someone important to them. Because of the all-around 'feel good' of memorial giving, organizations who successfully promote this kind of donation reap the benefits not only of the gifts, but also the extra good feelings associated with the gifts.

Letting your donors know that they can give to your organization in honor of someone can be very simple and straightforward. Becky Lindberg of First Witness Child Abuse Resource Center and a FundRaiser Select user says, "it is such an easy painless way to keep people connected to your program."

Continue reading
11191 Hits

Managing Tribute Gifts with FundRaiser Software, part 2

Managing Tribute Gifts with FundRaiser Software, part 2

In last week's blog post, I discussed the general donor management issues for working with tribute donations. Here, I will go into more of the specifics of working with these gifts in FundRaiser.

The general flow of tribute gifts can be explained better, perhaps, with an example. Let’s say that a prominent citizen of the community has passed away, and that the family has requested that donations be directed to your organization. You might first enter that citizen’s name as an honoree in the Windows | Tributes section, along with the family member to whom notification should be sent. It is good to prepare this ahead, because you may receive many donations and you will want to respond promptly.

Continue reading
4377 Hits

Successful Tributes Fundraising Increases Donations and Positive Feelings

Successful Tributes Fundraising Increases Donations and Positive Feelings

Nonprofits who make it easy for donors to give gifts in memory or honor of someone, increase both donations and positive feelings towards their organization... especially when the follow-up on your part is handled well. Joan Young, a volunteer at Kairos Dwelling, who are FundSelect users, says that the key to managing tributes is understanding that two different letters are usually sent: the normal acknowledgment letter to the donor, and then an additional letter, called the notification letter, that goes to the family member of the memorialized person. Tracking both of these letters requires some attention.

The American Animal Hospital Association Foundation receives 800 or more memorial gifts a month."Veterinary practices will have a client who has a pet that passes away. The vet then makes a memorial donation to the program in memory of the animal," explains Tamara Fox. She says to deal with this volume of tributes, "being organized helps."

Continue reading
5173 Hits

Don’t Forget to Reach Out to Tribute Donors’ Families

Don’t Forget to Reach Out to Tribute Donors’ Families

Dear Kim,

Would it be tacky to add to our mailing list names of people from whom we have received tribute donations — in particular, the families of people for whom we receive “in memoriam” donations? In my eagerness to enlarge our donor base, I’m wondering if I’m wandering into the realm of bad taste? What do you think? —All alone with my memory gifts

Continue reading
4343 Hits

Inspiring Donors To Give Donations As Gifts

Inspiring Donors To Give Donations As Gifts

Does your nonprofit make it easy for donors to give donations as a special gift? Not only are these kinds of donations good fundraising, they also create positive feelings towards your organization. "More and more people are catching on– giving gifts in honor of holidays, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries," says Becky Lindberg of First Witness Child Abuse Resource Center. For the non profit organization, "it is such an easy painless way to keep people connected to your program," adds Lindberg.

With very simple techniques to get people thinking about making a memorial donation, you can simultaneously

Continue reading
7299 Hits

Joyful Tribute Giving

Joyful Tribute Giving

So my family had that conversation this weekend. The one that usually happens sometime at the start of November. My mother asked me, “so what do you want for Christmas?”. There’s a good chance similar conversations, centered around any number of the winter holidays, are happening in your donors’ households too.

I’m also hearing from a lot of organizations that are working to send out their holiday appeal letters.

Continue reading
4474 Hits

Memorial Tracking in FundRaiser


With Memorial Day just around the corner, it might be a good time to mention a couple of ways you can keep track of memorial gifts in FundRaiser.  We call them "Tribute" gifts, and they can be in memory of departed loved ones, or in honor of living individuals, or even in celebration of some life event or other.

For FundRaiser Professional users, there is a built-in module, appropriately called "Tributes" to handle the recording and subsequent correspondence for these types of gifts.  In FundRaiser Select, the Tributes module is available as an "add-on" module for a modest price.  But even in Spark, which has no specific facility for tribute tracking, one can devise some practices to follow and report on tribute giving.  Let's see how they work.

Continue reading
5142 Hits

5 simple ways to publicize your memorial giving program to donors

Memorial giving reminder on flap of reply envelope
Example of reply envelope text. This is the First Witness reply envelope, and the text is on the back under the flap. It has generated much of their memorial gift donations.

Memorial giving feels good. A donor is able to give to an organization they or a loved one values, and at the same time express a positive connection to someone important to them. Because of the all-around 'feel good' of memorial giving, organizations who successfully promote this kind of donation reap the benefits not only of the gifts, but also the extra good feelings associated with the gifts.

Letting your donors know that they can give to your organization in honor of someone can be very simple and straightforward. Becky Lindberg of First Witness Child Abuse Resource Center and a FundRaiser Select user says, "it is such an easy painless way to keep people connected to your program."

Continue reading
24835 Hits
Wait a minute, while we are rendering the calendar
Importing Data Excel upgrade capital campaign major donors Donor Portal repeat donors upgrading donors New Year Network for Good fundraising letters FundRaiser Basic announcements data analysis texting donors banquet memorial giving donor accounting software product news donor attrition personalizing letters passwords building donor relationships donor loyalty grants lapsed donor ticketsales Constant Contact raffle planned giving role of nonprofits segmenting donors community broadcasting donor relations legacy giving pictures on site training Company culture NCOA processing premiums data entry vacation data conversion general nonprofit fundraising merge fields solicitors increasing giving amounts prospects volunteering letter templates brick campaign spare fields spreadsheets customer portal follow up office donor prospects change of address updating advanced tab user interface features correspondence community supported gardens welcome packet relationship tracking phoning donors End of Year Letters Volunteer module annual maintenance plan overview pledges in honor of donations mailing foundations case study publicity materials giving history planning donor recognition Facebook campaign donor contact information social media mode code campaign management grassroots campaign development director mission driven large donations appeal how to handle auction gifts membersip benefits communications motivation code correspondance disaster relief gift notes field Task List auction new features letter gift entry SYBUNTS ticket sales monthly giving government grants donor profile animal rescue GivingTuesday word processor updates event management volunteers donor retention rate gift acceptance policy online donations targeted mailings Reminders holiday giving tax summary letters look and feel the Ask giving levels new version Personalizing donor retention donor slip Thank You membership benefits backing up data donor preferences Reporting to IRS campaign appeal letters online donations small donations password protection Alternative Addresses adding personal notes to letters user spotlights customer service budget Cloud annual campaign training tip salutation FundRaiser Hosted happiness membership programs National Change of Address Thanksgiving Crowdfunding Campaign new donors support #GivingTuesday arts charity golf tournaments transparency technical support Codes tech tip GoFundMe project PayPal flash sales custom page Facebook Resiliency donor advised funds direct mail Groupings holiday letters security community arts nonprofits tribute gifts add ons ROI importing csv endowment campaign board members motivation donor attrition rate alumni anonymous donors training Snow Birds thank you letters fundraising FundRaiser Spark Tickles donor targeting LYBUNTS In-Kind gifts understanding giving trends merge notes Congratulations new nonprofit reports corporate sponsors major gift prospects moves management donation history operating systems donor source entering auction gifts recurring gifts new leadership donor engagement email operational costs how-to videos holiday

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