Just today I received an email wondering if it is possible to create custom labels in FundRaiser. The organization is member-based and they wanted to be able to make their own name tags with particular information from the database displayed.
Here was my response, and it may be helpful for you, too:
Habitat for Humanity/7 Rivers Maine came to FundRaiser looking for a more powerful software to help with their fund raising. They were using an outdated version of software which they acquired through the nationwide Habitat for Humanity umbrella organization. Now they were finding that software too limiting. In their work, Habitat for Humanity/7 Rivers Maine coordinates the labor of volunteers with contributions of money and materials to build modest, affordable housing. For that reason, excellent tracking of volunteers and gifts of money and goods are crucial to their mission. They needed to be able to easily enter, categorize, and report on these key areas. Read more...
Many of you may know that the training office at FundRaiser Software is detached from the main business office which is in West Plains, Missouri. Our training office is in Arizona, originally in Tucson, but now in the smaller-than-West-Plains town of Oracle. Having this separation can be a challenge, as it tends to make communications both less frequent and more crucial to achieving our common goals, and it tends to lead to a sense of disconnection from the company.
In a meeting today, it hit home that, as the training manager, I need to have a better sense of "connection" to our users; to be more accessible; and to bring more of the finer points of using FundRaiser software to the table than can be presented in a classroom (read: webinar) setting. As a part of the solution to that challenge, I'm turning to "blogging" to be able to present ideas, hints, tips, tricks, and answers to questions from you, our users.
Many of you may know that the training office at FundRaiser Software is detached from the main business office which is in West Plains, Missouri. Our training office is in Arizona, originally in Tucson, but now in the smaller-than-West-Plains town of Oracle. Having this separation can be a challenge, as it tends to make communications both less frequent and more crucial to achieving our common goals, and it tends to lead to a sense of disconnection from the company.
In a meeting today, it hit home that, as the training manager, I need to have a better sense of "connection" to our users; to be more accessible; and to bring more of the finer points of using FundRaiser software to the table than can be presented in a classroom (read: webinar) setting. As a part of the solution to that challenge, I'm turning to "blogging" to be able to present ideas, hints, tips, tricks, and answers to questions from you, our users.
You can now view all of the training videos at any time, if you are a FundRaiser user with current support. Just log into the Customer Portal and click on the Training Video tab. There you will see links to:
Gilda's Club of Western Pennsylvania has multiple events running concurrently every year to support the variety of services they offer. The organization provides a meeting place and activities for people affected directly and indirectly by cancer. Debra Markovich, Executive Assistant at Gilda's Club of Western Pennsylvania uses FundRaiser Professional on a daily basis. To help keep event information well organized and easy to access, Debra finds the Campaign Management module particularly helpful. "I use it a lot. It really works well," she says."Last year we had two big campaigns going on all year. One was a mortgage reduction campaign, and the other was an annual fundraising campaign.... click here to read the full story
Undertaking a 'full-throttle' development program can have its dangers, especially when it involves implementing new software. Ward Orem, CEO of the Lisner-Louise-Dickson-Hurt Home, has seen organizations go down because they became tangled in their own technology. For that reason, when he recognized the need for software to support the Home's new development efforts, he took some important precautionary measures. "I want to make sure that the Home is here in the future," says Ward. "Up until 5 years ago, we didn't have an aggressive development program. Our work was supported by an endowment but not a huge one. Whatever modest development efforts we made were scribbled on notes and kept in a binder"... click here to read full story
This week I was reminded how important it is not to just do a good job but to be able to SHOW that you have and can do a good job. Calculating ROI (Return On Investment) on fundraising activities such as events or appeals is one way to do this.
Judy Nerl has done this with some of Our Lady of the Holy Spirit's outreach activities. She gathered figures to show which activities were generating more income. In this she needed to know the balance between incoming donations and outgoing expenses. The organization runs a large and historically rich facility on a tight budget. The facility serves as a spiritual center for the Catholic Church. Among the Center’s many activities this year, are events and retreats for high schools students.
This week I was reminded how important it is not to just do a good job but to be able to SHOW that you have and can do a good job. Calculating ROI (Return On Investment) on fundraising activities such as events or appeals is one way to do this.
Judy Nerl has done this with some of Our Lady of the Holy Spirit's outreach activities. She gathered figures to show which activities were generating more income. In this she needed to know the balance between incoming donations and outgoing expenses. The organization runs a large and historically rich facility on a tight budget. The facility serves as a spiritual center for the Catholic Church. Among the Center’s many activities this year, are events and retreats for high schools students.
This week I was reminded how important it is not to just do a good job but to be able to SHOW that you have and can do a good job. Calculating ROI (Return On Investment) on fundraising activities such as events or appeals is one way to do this.
Judy Nerl has done this with some of Our Lady of the Holy Spirit's outreach activities. She gathered figures to show which activities were generating more income. In this she needed to know the balance between incoming donations and outgoing expenses. The organization runs a large and historically rich facility on a tight budget. The facility serves as a spiritual center for the Catholic Church. Among the Center’s many activities this year, are events and retreats for high schools students.
FundRaiser Online works exactly like the current version of FundRaiser installed on your computer. The difference is that you can run it from anywhere that you have internet access: home, office, library, hotel room.... you name it. You can let board members or other people have access to it, and you can limit what they can do and what they can see in the program, just like with the regular version of FundRaiser. Read more...
The Volunteer features of the Donor Portal integrate volunteering scheduling features on your website with your desktop version of FundRaiser. If you are a current FundRaiser user and are interested in being a beta tester for Volunteer features of the Donor Portal, let us know. Beta testing is starting soon. Now is your chance to give input into development as well as test and use the new features. Contact Autumn Shirley at 800-880-3454 ext 302
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
What could possibly be more refreshing on a hot Summer day then an icy granita? This is a wonderful recipe to make with the kids (or, why not have them do it while you sit by the pool), and there is also a fabulous adult version. Both are wonderful!
