Maintaining accurate and up-to-date donor records is an integral piece of every charity’s fund development infrastructure, and the third installment of “FUNDRAISING DOs & DON’Ts” speaks about its importance.
DO invest in a reliable and user-friendly donor management software or CRM (Customer Management System). Collecting, organizing and safely storing data regarding individual and institutional donors is an inescapable requirement for building a sustainable base of support. All donors have unique giving abilities, connections, areas of interests and values they share with the organizations they support. From their first point of contact, each donor embarks on their own personal journey of helping a non-profit obtain the resources needed to create real positive change in the community. To help navigate and ensure each donor’s philanthropic aspirations are fulfilled as they follow their respective path, board and staff must continually track several vital metrics.
In addition to basic contact information, significant monetary variables that are recorded include donation history, average gift size, giving frequency, impact areas of interest and appeals supported. Arguably more important is the personal and non-financial data affecting a donor’s association with a charity that is inputted including marital status, academic achievement, status of employment, place of residency, and other community issues supported.
Reviewing and analyzing the secured data enables charities to plan, strategize and manage future funding campaigns, coordinate fundraising communications, identify emerging major gift prospects and grant-making opportunities, and reduce their dependency on core funders. Of greatest importance, CRMs and donor management software helps organizations cultivate meaningful relationships with their benefactors and volunteers. Ultimately, growing a highly passionate base of long-term support empowers non-profits to take control of their fundraising destinies.
The cost of your average CRM or donor management software ranges from $20 to $150 per month, but the good news is that there are products geared towards the specific fund development needs of every charity size and type. While Raiser’s Edge, Donor Perfect and Salesforce are best suited for large organisations, there is a growing list of packages that are ideal for smaller non-profits like NeonCRM, e-Tapestry, Keela and Network for Good.
Be sure to assess your organization’s data management needs before selecting which system is right for advancing your donor relations’ practices. Below are some links that can help discover the optimum system for your non-profit:
https://doublethedonation.com/top-nonprofit-crms/
https://recharity.ca/top-nonprofit-crm-software/
https://blog.close.com/crm-for-nonprofits/
DON’T merely rely on spreadsheets or graph paper when maintaining donor records. The quest to construct a committed, enthusiastic, and diverse donor base that allows your organization to make large strides towards realizing its mission demands impeccable donor data management by your fund development team. Without clean updated donor records:
· Communications and interactions with constituents become distorted and fragmented;
· It’s difficult to identify and evaluate major gift prospects;
· A charity’s donor information is at-risk of being compromised;
· Relations with donors are less personalized;
· Donations are not consistently recognized or adequately processed, and;
· A charity’s ability to generate vital revenue and resources is jeoparidized.
The issues that your team works so hard to fix should not go unresolved because your organization employs sloppy or severely outdated data keeping methods such as standardized Excel spreadsheets. You are obliged to the communities whom you serve to invest in a feasible and appropriate fundraising CRM or data management software to ensure that all philanthropic information is accurate, complete and safely stored.
