FundRaiser Blog

Marcy Weinbeck (right), with friends at the West Plains Sustainability Festival

While studying in Germany, I lived in the southern part of the country where lots of holidays were celebrated. It seemed like nearly every week there was some official reason to take a day off. I was often confused by exactly what was being celebrated, but I still thought the custom was great.

Many years later, when I began working at FundRaiser, I was happy to learn that part of the company policy was to give us all one three-day weekend every month. One of the most popular holidays we have at FundRaiser is Happiness Happens Day, which comes at the beginning of August. There is no doubt that having a non-traditional day-off does create happiness.

Sherry of FundRaiser tech support is breaking ground in her job, just like Lois Lane, Girl Reporter and hero of my younger days. "People find it interesting that I'm a woman doing tech support," says Sherry. "This is still definitely a male-dominated field. Despite the fact that I am the only girl here in FundRaiser tech, I don't find that a handicap at all. I don't know if that's the company or if it is that if you learn enough to do the job, then any company would be happy to have you. Here, I'm not the first woman to do tech support. FundRaiser has a history of hiring women for the job."

Because FundRaiser prides itself on its high-level of tech support, great care is put into finding the right people to do the job. "Right now, there are two of us dedicated full time to doing tech support, myself and Jonathan," says Sherry. "We have different focuses. He is more interested in the fine tech details. I am more interested in the Big Picture. I think that is typical of women. So together we make a good tech team. He will delve into the fine details on a case, while my focus is trying to get people to be able to do what they want in the shortest amount of time possible."

Does your organization depend on volunteers to get its work done? Are you satisfied with your volunteer retention? Do you have a few problem volunteers that may actually be more trouble than they are worth, but who just won't go away? In one of my favorite articles written about volunteer management, Michael McKee addresses these points, distilling years of experience into a short article. When I talked to him to get his permission to post the article on the FundRaiser website, I found him to be as engaging and direct in person as he was as a writer, brief and helpful.

The Care and Feeding of Volunteers

by Michael McKee

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?

FundRaiser recently hired an expert in Social Media. This week, she’s starting work creating videos, educating staff about using Twitter, and creating a more lively presence on Facebook.  She’s been actively involved in social media for the last 4 years… since she was 12 years old. Yes, our newest staff member is just 16 and the daughter of Autumn Shirley, CEO of FundRaiser. Her name is Lily Brotherton and she is our social media intern.  

When I interviewed her this morning, our dialog took a slightly different direction than the usual interviews:

When Siena/Francis House began to grow, it also found the need to change how it was using FundRaiser. For one thing, with more staff members simultaneously using the software, FundRaiser was slowing down. For another, more users meant more need to coordinate work within the database.

Siena/Francis House is Nebraska’s largest shelter serving homeless men, women, and children, and growing quickly. In the past seven years, “we’ve grown from 86 to 222 beds for the men guests. Within 2 months of building the new men’s shelter, we were laying down mats for overflow. Depending on the weather, we now house as many as 300 to 350 men, women and children guests a night and serve 900 meals a day. We’re expanding our women’s shelter soon to double the number of women we can help,” says Marge Harman, Information Technology Administrator for the organization.

Are you using FundRaiser's Multi-User or Single-User license? FundRaiser is beginning a gradual phase-out of these licenses and a mandatory upgrade to a Client/Server license. The reason is that Client/Server is much faster and more reliable when accessing FundRaiser on your network.

Many of our users have already moved from multi-user to Client/Server. Here are the stories of a few of them, and why they like Client/Server:

• Fast organizational growth at Siena/Francis House had them chewing their nails over the slow operation of FundRaiser multi-user. They solved the problem by switching to FundRaiser Client/Server. Case Study: Siena/Francis House

• Keeping up with the work of a regional organization is no small job. It takes several people sometimes working simultaneously in FundRaiser to get the work done at Siloam Family Health Center. It gets done smoothly with FundRaiser Client/Server. Case Study: Siloam Family Health Center.

• The online version of FundRaiser includes Client/Server as part of it's core program to allow several users working from different locations to smoothly access the program. Bishop McDevitt High School uses it for that reason. Case Study: Bishop McDevitt High School.

• CrossTalk TV & Radio also uses FundRaiser Online version. They like how staff members can work both in the office and at home, viewing and editing the same data  simultaneously. Case study: CrossTalk TV & Radio.

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Nine years ago, Center for Community Arts began a capital campaign and simultaneously got a grant for their first paid executive director. They planned carefully and hopes were high. Knowing that they would need to keep excellent records, they had done a careful search for the right database. At that time, I wrote a case study about why they chose FundRaiser. It was one of the first I ever wrote here for FundRaiser, and now I wondered how things had gone after all these years. I gave Judy Austermiller a call to find out. Judy is the development director and primary user of FundRaiser still.

When I reached her, Judy told a story that other organizations can likely relate to:  how the economy had hit them and their capital campaign hard, and how staff turn over had added an additional challenge to doing their work. She also talked of how, in spite of these difficulties, the Center had kept on serving the community, and how FundRaiser has helped them do it.

As social media director for FundRaiser, I make posts and write articles for forums, facebook, blogs like this one, and newsletters. It's a job I really like, in part because of the ongoing challenge to understand and integrate how the new and emerging tools of online communication can be used to really add something to the conversation between FundRaiser and our nonprofit customers.

As I know that many of you are also dealing with a similar challenge, I'd like to occasionally share what I am learning and experiencing. If you'd like to share your thoughts, too, please feel free to join the conversation on our facebook page, or email me directly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Probably the most important thing to keep in mind, always, is to remember that for all its pizzazz, social media and online communication are about trying to make a connection with the people who want to hear from you and are interested in what you have to say. This isn't new, but sometimes the 'newness' of social media tools makes us forget that it's still always about understanding and meeting the needs of your audience, whoever they are.

Every time you write something, try to put yourself in the shoes of your supporters. If you do this,then you are starting from the right place. Nancy Schwartz, editor of the Getting Attention blog/newsletter for nonprofit marketing , is one writer who has some excellent tips and advice for staying in tune with your audience.

When WJIE switched to FundRaiser, they were close to the memory of a very bad experience with other software. They were so happy to be rid of that software and they hoped that they had solved their problem. Shortly after their switch to FundRaiser, I wrote a case study. You can see the complete case study here. This blog is just about what they are experiencing now, after three years of using FundRaiser. Did FundRaiser continue to meet their expectations? This is what Calvin Bader, Engineer at WJIE, had to say:

“Things have gone very well. We just came through our spring fundraiser. Our staff continues to be very happy that we’ve switched to the system. They like the ease of use regarding pledge entries and other gift entries.

“One of the things we like best is the Custom page. It saves us a ton of time during a pledge drive. It’s one of the main reasons that we are able to get things entered so quickly. In the past, with our previous system, it took a long time to enter pledges into the system. Everyone was staying late at night during the fundraising drive; and the following week, people were still entering information. Using the custom page in FundRaiser, we are done a half hour after going off the air. We’ve designed that page so that it allows us to do everything that we need to do on a fundraiser right on that one page. That way we don’t need to switch from tab to tab,” says Calvin.

Joshua and I have just returned from our second year attending and exhibiting at the National Religious Broadcasting Convention in Nashville, TN, and what a year it was! It was very inspiring to be surrounded by so many passionate and engaged community leaders! I have returned feeling refreshed, invigorated, and excited about what the future holds for us. I found myself thinking over and over, as I met some of the most amazing people, "This is what it's all about. This is why we do this."

We really enjoyed the opportunity to meet with some of our new customers from last year, as well as customers who have been using FundRaiser for years. At one point, Joe Emert and his lovely wife, Jenny (both pictured at right, along with myself), from Life Radio Ministries were chatting with us, when Eric Jingst and Aaron Darr from WLMB-TV40 walked up. Joe said he remembered reading their recent Case Study (published in February's newsletter) that they were using some parts of FundRaiser which he hadn't explored yet, and he'd like to talk with them about that some more to see if it could work for his organization. 

Gene Weinbeck, founder and lead programmer of FundRaiser, has also recently helped found a local nonprofit, the Ozark Small Business Incubator (OzSBI). OzSBI helps new business owners bring their creative vision to life. About his involvement in OzSBI, Gene says, "For me, starting a business is the most fun, it’s creative. By being involved in OzSBI, I get to share in the creative excitement of starting a business."

OzSBI just opened its doors this fall. Gene is one of several people who have been working for the past 6 years on getting the nonprofit started.

Gene says he's used a lot of what he's learned from FundRaiser customers over the years. "For instance, we’re one of the few incubators in the world that has a membership program for the general public. It is an advantage because when people are members they feel more involved and connected. It is an additional source of income, and it helps spread the word about OzSBI."

"We are also using FundRaiser online to keep track of memberships and clients, and using the FundRaiser Donor Portal for donations, memberships, and soon for workshop reservations."

Now that OzSBI is working with clients, Gene will be involved as a mentor. “I’ve learned a lot about various aspects of business because of all my years with FundRaiser so I have something to share.”

What does the winning of broadcast awards have to do with donor management software? More than you might think!

WLMB-TV40 has been recognized for the excellence of its broadcasting with many awards, including 4 time winner of TV Station of the Year by NRB (National Religious Broadcasters) and 7 time winner of the Peoples Choice Award. Visible in their programming is a deep understanding of their audience, and this is where FundRaiser comes in...

Read more...

We are going to the National Religious Broadcasters Convention Feb 18 - 21, just a little over a week from now! We had a wonderful time last year; it was so invigorating and inspiring to be surrounded by passionate, engaged nonprofit leaders. We enjoyed so much having the opportunity to meet with some of our clients there, and we hope to connect with more of you this year, too. We'll be at Booth #463, and will be looking for you!

 

Yesterday, I heard a great simple idea on how to target newsletters to different segments of your mailing list. If you are sending out an email newsletter to your donors, you can easily customize that content to your donors' specific interests with a little reformatting.You are probably already including a variety of articles in order to appeal to a variety of interests among your donors. So, to help them connect to the specific content that interests them:

• First, create segments of your mailing list. You can use data in FundRaiser to do this, such as what motivated the donor to donate; are they volunteering at your organization; have they attended events; or similar data that helps you understand what your donor might want to hear about your organization.
• Then, when you are ready to send your email newsletter, simply make one copy of it for each segment that you have defined. Now, move the article that is of most interest to a specific segment to the top of the newsletter. Voila, send the appropriately formatted newsletter to each segment, and watch to see if your response increases.
  

Thanks to Heidi Tobias at Constant Contact for sharing this idea.

 

We're wishing smooth sailing at this busy time of year! How are things going with producing tax summary letters? If you run into questions about using FundRaiser, please contact us for help !    

 

It's time to produce Tax Summary letters (also called End of Year letters) again. They are usually sent in January after the last donation for the year is in. To help you breeze through this process, here's a coherent plan of attack for FundRaiser users.

Step One... Read More

Let me introduce you to Smudge, our office cat. Since early this summer, Smudge spends working hours at the main office. During non-working hours, she bunks with Gene Weinbeck, founder and lead programmer for FundRaiser. At the office, she snoozes on window sills, leaps over key boards, races up sectional dividers, and generally keep us from getting too serious.

She has quickly found a way into our hearts, and now no office gathering is complete without her. For the Christmas party, she happily joined us at Autumn and Josh Shirley's house for the celebration. She's very comfortable there, as it was her first home, after being rescued from a school parking lot. During the party, she lurked around our ankles, checked out Santa's hat, and enjoyed some cuddles from Marcy Weinbeck (in photo at right), co-founder of FundRaiser. 

This year at the FundRaiser Christmas party, we all seemed to be in a mellow mood... except occasionally our office cat, Smudge (more on that later). James Ware (in photo at left), our main sales rep, brought a pitcher of margaritas, and it is possible that this helped, but at least it didn't hurt. No dancing on the tables or other classic 'office party' humiliations. I'd say we enjoy being together, and the Mexican food everyone brought helped, too. I'm not sure it all classified as strictly Mexican, but it did classify as good and even interesting. Sherry, who works in FundRaiser Tech Support, brought cheese cake made from the milk of the goats she raises. If you've never tried her goat milk cheesecake, then don't wrinkle your nose... it is excellent.

Joe Salrin (in photo at right) spent the time relaxing from his work doing data conversion at FundRaiser. If you ever need to move your data from a previous program into FundRaiser, Joe is the one that you talk to.