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.

Preparing your fundraising database for what's coming next

Summe_20190621-191435_1

Summer can be a slower time of the year for many non-profit organizations, which gives us a unique opportunity to look ahead and prepare for upcoming projects.

Some of you have already begun preparing for your Fall fundraising campaigns. We are happy to help you get ready by setting up integrated online donations, creating new Pledge levels, or helping you accept and acknowledge Tributes gifts.

Continue reading
2256 Hits

Managing Tribute Gifts in FundRaiser Software, part 2

Tributes2

Managing Tribute Gifts with FundRaiser Software, part 1In 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
1706 Hits

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
7488 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
2497 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
11332 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
4471 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
5302 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
4460 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
7407 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
4580 Hits
Wait a minute, while we are rendering the calendar
segmenting donors new donors role of nonprofits welcome packet Volunteer module premiums moves management donor preferences event management community arts nonprofits Reporting to IRS entering auction gifts holiday recurring gifts features Network for Good annual maintenance plan mission driven raffle case study donor contact information donor retention training tip donor source appeal email membership programs large donations corporate sponsors merge fields letter templates transparency communications major donors motivation new leadership backing up data holiday letters data conversion community supported gardens brick campaign donor profile major gift prospects Crowdfunding Campaign how to handle auction gifts holiday giving adding personal notes to letters FundRaiser Basic giving history development director mode code Congratulations Reminders word processor mailing texting donors donor loyalty online donations government grants In-Kind gifts Facebook vacation accounting software National Change of Address board members custom page support nonprofit fundraising donor attrition volunteers thank you letters grants phoning donors increasing giving amounts tax summary letters gift entry reports updates salutation data entry spreadsheets Donor Portal FundRaiser Hosted correspondance fundraising letters donor slip user spotlights New Year planning new features Thank You donor targeting follow up passwords new version Resiliency endowment campaign donor prospects donor recognition Constant Contact banquet merge notes add ons targeted mailings membership benefits office auction Company culture training Task List donor End of Year Letters NCOA processing animal rescue spare fields social media in honor of donations technical support Groupings online donations arts correspondence motivation code budget donor attrition rate change of address updating how-to videos campaign overview look and feel GivingTuesday relationship tracking donor advised funds ticket sales GoFundMe project appeal letters lapsed donor alumni operational costs small donations password protection donor retention rate gift notes field solicitors letter happiness pledges disaster relief PayPal data analysis annual campaign Facebook campaign planned giving importing csv donor engagement anonymous donors donor relations user interface foundations upgrade LYBUNTS monthly giving Personalizing #GivingTuesday Importing Data announcements Tickles security understanding giving trends on site training grassroots campaign building donor relationships operating systems Codes charity golf tournaments giving levels tribute gifts Thanksgiving customer service flash sales donation history Snow Birds tech tip legacy giving FundRaiser Spark product news the Ask new nonprofit pictures community broadcasting publicity materials repeat donors Excel ticketsales upgrading donors prospects fundraising volunteering membersip benefits general Alternative Addresses capital campaign customer portal personalizing letters Cloud memorial giving campaign management direct mail ROI gift acceptance policy advanced tab SYBUNTS

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