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.

Save Time and Minimize Errors using Recurring Gifts in FundRaiser Software


The Sacred Heart Radio case study includes a reference to a feature in FundRaiser, called Recurring Gifts, and I want to point out to everyone that you don't need the Donor Portal version of the program to take advantage of it.  It is particularly helpful for those with Donor Portal, since it not only allows a donor to set up their own regularly-scheduled donations, including bringing them into FundRaiser, but also allows for special "thank you" letters dependent on whether a payment is accepted, rejected, a card is expired, or about to expire.  But even if you don't have the Donor Portal, recurring gifts can save you a lot of time, if you have one of the following situations:

Donors on a payroll deductionDonors who supply credit card or bank info for regular withdrawals

If, for instance, you have 50 people who give on a monthly basis, regular as clockwork, the same amount each time, you can save a lot of time by entering the donation only once per person (as a Recurring Gift setup) and then have FUndRaiser produce the actual gift entry each time it comes due.  You can offer each of the donors a preference on what day of the month they'd like their gifts processed.  Once a Recurring Gift is established, it's just a matter of running the utility to process Recurring Gifts to have FUndRaiser build the gift records.

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Case study: Ease of use for staff and donors of online donations helps Sacred Heart's fundraising thrive

logo for Sacred Heart Radio

Sacred Heart Radio is fortunate in their problem—they need to process lots of online donations. For this reason, Beverly Hill, office and database manager for Sacred Heart Radio, was eager to implement the automatic entry of online donations that is offered through the FundRaiser Donor Portal. Sacred Heart Radio is a national Catholic radio station. They are users of FundRaiser Professional with the Donor Portal for online donations.

Successfully promoting online donations

“We promote online donations strongly and it is working for us. As a radio station, we have access to the airwaves. We use public service announcements that say ‘visit us online and click donate’,” explains Beverly.

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7 steps to increased donations for schools using a donor database

increasing donations for schools large and small

Schools can significantly increase incoming donations by clarifying who their most generous constituent groups are and then focusing development efforts on those donor segments. Several FundRaiser users have done this, with excellent results.

1.    Enter your donation amounts into your database

The first step to locating your most generous donors is easy. “It’s a simple matter of entering your checks into FundRaiser. Then all that information is there,” says Ellen Bouye, Administrative Assistant of Oklahoma Christian Academy and a FundRaiser Select user.

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Looking Ahead

The brilliant colors of Fall are beginning to blaze here in the Ozarks.  I see crimPiawacket helps himself to his son blushed sumacs nestled among the stalwart green of the oaks.  Oaks are the last trees to change color, calmly keeping their glossy green raiment as a lovely backdrop to the riotous colors of less sedate trees.  Acorns and walnuts rain down and the grass grows with spring-like abandon.

All of this color and abundance tends to make me forget we are heading into the cold, drab days of winter.  Days when all is quiet and still and where growth happens unseen below fallen leaves and brown grasses.  I always long to take some green with me into winter and this year I am determined to do so.  I have spent the last month designing a hydroponic system for growing wheat grass.  The idea was to be able to feed the few critters I want to add to our home without having to depend on outside hay.  I accomplished this, but since I am currently “critterless” with the exeption of a few cats, I am now considering using it to grow salad greens all winter.  What can be better that eating a fresh picked salad as I watch the snow fall outside? 

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

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