Q. What about Online Fundraising?

Online fundraising helps you raise funds from the casual visitor to your website as well as the people who directly sought out your website for online donations. A Donate Now button can add a significant revenue stream to your organization. Online fundraising helps target people unable to attend a fundraising event as well as people who did not receive your fundraising literature for one reason or another. Online fundraising has limitless possibilities.

Online fundraising is simple to begin and we offer the tools necessary to add a Donate Now button to your website and begin taking advantage of this revenue stream. Our Donor Portal offers you the interface you need to turn your existing website into a fundraising website - directly raising funds for your cause.

Online fundraising incorporates a donation processing component into your website so the visitor to your site has a seamless way to donate to your cause. Think about how powerful online fundraising can be. The power of technology can help you present a compelling story raising awareness of your issues. The viewer can be profoundly impacted by the right story, with the right imagery and then immediately be able to press a button and donate to your cause. There is no delay between receiving the message and being able to donate - Online fundraising is a powerful tool that is taking the fundraising industry by storm.

Online fundraising software coupled with our donor management software provides the non-profit organization with a powerful combination and all the latest technology. The competition between fundraising organizations is fierce - there are many more organizations and causes competing for the generosity of the same target population. It is becoming more and more critical for non-profit organizations to increase their revenue streams - online fundraising is the next frontier.

Online fundraising can help you truly see what messages are resulting in the highest conversions to donations. You can set up your website and our software to track which messages are resulting in the most people clicking on the "donate now" button. This will help you streamline your fundraising efforts and save money on non-productive fundraising collateral.

Q. Do I need Seperate Computer for Client/Server?

A. You do not have to have a dedicated server machine to run client server.

Advantage Database Server (ADS) is the name of the software that fills the role of the "server" in the client/server model - FundRaiser itself is the client. You don't have to install ADS on a separate computer. If you have no need for a dedicated server machine in your organization, you install ADS on the same computer that you have FundRaiser installed on.

The decision to move exclusively to client/server was not an arbitrary one and the move is necessary for the continued development and improvement of the software. A lot of thought and discussion went into this decision, and since our relationship with your organization has only begun recently, I'd like to reassure you that this sort of event does not happen often, nor do we take it lightly. In the over twenty year history of the company we've only stopped supporting a product once before - FundRasier for MS-DOS.

I'd also like to reiterate that this is not a decision you have to make right now. The special pricing on the client/server upgrade ends on June 30, but support for your current version won't end until approximately mid-year 2014 - that's based on our planned release date for FundRaiser 5.0. So you have a while before you have to make the decision.

Even after the release of FundRaiser 5.0, any previous version of FundRaiser will continue to run for your organization. You are always welcome to stay with your current version and not worry about any future costs.

Q. Can I connect to FundRaiser Remotely?

FundRaiser Online keeps all the responsibility of technical aspects of the setup of the program with FundRaiser.

FundRaiser Client/Server does allow for remote access to the data, however it requires one of the following options to be met.

Virtual Private Network (VPN) - This would allow access from outside your network from a remote computer that would virtualize the presence as if the remote computer was connected to the local network. Then you would run Workstation Setup from the Remote computer accessing the Server computer.

Remote Desktop - This allows a remote computer to access a computer that is connect to the local network and have access to run programs as if the remote user was at the desk of the local computer. Examples - Windows Remote Desktop, Citrix, Goto MyPC, Go-Global.

Please let us know if you need assistance with connecting to FundRaiser after one of the above options are met.

Q: Can I export the Microsoft Address Book

1. Start up Outlook Express.
2. Click on the File menu, and then select Export, then select Address Book by clicking on it.
3. The “Address Book Export Tool” window will open with two choices. Select “Text File (Comma Separated Values” then click on the Export button.
4. The “CSV Export” window will open. This is where you specify a name for your exported file.
5. Click on the Browse button to select a different drive or folder where you want to save the newly exported file. It is a good practice to make a note to yourself of where you are saving the file.
6. Click on the Next button after you have assigned a name for your file.
7. You will need to select the fields that you want to export. You can select or deselect a field by clicking in a box next to the field name. When there is a check mark, the field will be exported. If there is no check mark, the field will not be exported.
8. Click on the Finish button.
9. Close the Address Book Export tool.

To import into FundRaiser, first open the program.

1. Click File, and then select Import – ASCII/dBase Files.
2. The Import from ASCII file window will open.
3. Click on the Browse button and go to the location where you saved your exported file.
4. Click on the file name, and then click on the Open button.
5. You will be asked if you have made a backup. In the event that something goes wrong with the import, it is much easier to restore your FundRaiser database from a current backup. If you have made a backup, click on the Yes button.
6. You should be on the Determine File Type tab. You should see a message something like “File Type is ASCII Comma-Delimited text file.” Put a check mark in the box to the left of the words, “First line contains field names (not actual data). Click on the Open button.
7. When you see the words, “Go to the Field Matchups page now”, click on the Field Matchups tab.
8. Match up the field names. Select a field in both the Incoming Fields column and the FundRaiser Fields column, then click on the Add >> button. You can look at the data in either file by clicking on the Browse Data tab.
9. Check all of the tabbed pages to see if there are any entries that you need to make. When you are ready to import, click on the Set Defaults Tab. Click in the box to the left of the words, “This page is OK – Ready to Import”.
10. The Import button will become active. Click on it when you are ready to Import.
11. You should see a window that tells you how many records were imported and account number of the first imported record.