DonorDreams – Page 14 – The Healthy Non-Profit

Seriously?!? Why not just mug prospective donors?

January 20, 2012 DonorDreams Donor-centered fundraising, Fundraising

I have been simmering over an email I received a few weeks ago from a dear friend. In that email, she shared with me an invitation that had been sent to her by a non-profit organization to whom she had never contributed a penny.

For all of you “relationship-based” fundraising professionals, I encourage you to take a deep breath and have a seat. (Note: I’ve changed the names to protect the innocent and avoid embarrassment). Here is the gist of what the invitation said:

Please join us for a cocktail reception
to kick-off our annual campaign
<<Date>> & <<Time>>
Hosted By Mr. & Mrs. Smith
<<home address>>
A minimum donation of $500 is requested

If you wish to learn more about the agency,
please call the Executive Director.

After reading this email invitation at least 10 times, I was speechless; however, I think this YouTube video best captures how I feel.

Seriously?!?

Here is someone who is NOT a donor. The invitation was an email blast and not personal. There was no prospect cultivation done in advance. When you take these facts together with the “minimum contribution” request, I am left speechless. AND . . . just when you think it couldn’t get any worse, the invitee is told to call the executive director if they have programmatic or mission-based questions. WOW!

I apologize for my tone this morning, but things like this offend me because prospects and donors deserve better. Philanthropy is not about the “grab-and-run” fundraising approach . . . it is about connecting with people, discovering their dreams, and helping them put their charitable giving to work in a way that will help their dreams become reality.

I am left wondering if the volunteers who emailed this invitation were “taught” to ask in this manner. I know that it sounds crazy, but don’t human being typically do what they observe? If this is the case, then the non-profit agency who initially solicited these fundraising volunteers must be guilty of not possessing a “culture of philanthropy”.

This, of course, begs the question: “How can you change an organizations culture and instill a sense of philanthropy into it?” Thankfully, the fundraising sector has an awesome organization in The Association of Fundraising Professionals. I came across this awesome 2011 article titled “Building a Culture of Philanthropy” that speaks to this issue.

So many non-profit organizations are talking about “donor-centered fundraising” nowadays, but what is your agency actually doing to put these principles in place? Please use the comment box below to comment on this organization’s fundraising approach or how you ensure your fundraising volunteers don’t do things like this. We can all learn from each other.

Seriously . . . Here’s to your health!

Erik Anderson
Founder & President, The Healthy Non-Profit LLC
www.thehealthynonprofit.com
erik@thehealthynonprofit.com
http://twitter.com/#!/eanderson847
http://www.facebook.com/eanderson847
http://www.linkedin.com/in/erikanderson847

What if a fundraising professional could start from scratch?

January 19, 2012 DonorDreams Fundraising

I recently met with a fundraising professional who has been given the opportunity to build a resource development program starting from scratch. On the drive home, I was mulling over the possibilities in my mind, and I must admit that the opportunity appears to be exciting. My thoughts quickly turned to all my fundraising friends who walked into existing situations.

When you walk into a non-profit with a resource development program in place, there is typically a staffing structure already there. A donor database decision has likely already been made. A resource development plan and strategy are laid out, and board volunteers already have expectations.

So, I started off my return trip home with the belief that any fundraising professional would give their left arm for the opportunity to start from scratch. However, as the miles passed, I kept coming up with daunting issues. I decided to pose just a few of those questions to the readers of this blog and see what you think:

How do you instill a sense of “philanthropy” into an organizational culture where it might not already exist?
If your resource development plan contained nothing but blank pages, where would you start if you need to start bringing in dollars immediately? Would you focus hard on grant writing? Or do you take a longer view and focus on cultivating relationship with individuals?
Do you acquire a donor database or a CRM?
What should the development department look like?
How do you engage volunteers who weren’t recruited with resource development roles in mind? Do you take a pass on trying to engage these people and work hard at identifying and recruiting different volunteers with fundraising skills?
When you don’t have any donors and no existing database, who do you start talking to? Who do you engage in planning?

As I thought through some of these questions, my mind seized on well worn expressions like:

“The grass is always greener on the other side.”

and

“Be careful what you wish for, lest it come true.”

So, I toss the question open to you. Would you desire the opportunity to start over from scratch? Where would you begin? How would you tackle some the questions that I laid out above?

Please use the comment box found below to weigh-in with your thoughts. Who knows . . . that person I visited with might actually be a subscriber to this blog, and your feedback could be very insightful and valuable to them.

Here’s to your health!

It is time to call your Congressman!

January 17, 2012 DonorDreams Uncategorized

Dear DonorDreams subscriber:

On Monday, Marissa Garza used her “Mondays with Marissa” column on DonorDreams to post an article titled “How Can SOPA/PIPA Affect Non-Profits?” to educate all of us about the impact these two pieces of legislation could have on our agencies.

Regardless of whether or not you believe this is a big deal for the non-profit sector, I can’t help but come to the conclusion that censorship in any form that is directed at anyone is an assault on all of us. Jeremy Bentham said it best:

“As to the evil which results from a censorship, it is impossible to measure it, for it is impossible to tell where it ends.”
(Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/censorship.html#ixzz1jmTNdzMy)

As many of you know, countless internet sites are participating in a day long blackout on Wednesday, January 18, 2012 to protest this legislation and educate the public about the dangers of passing it. DonorDreams blog will be one of those sites who participates. So, you will not be receiving an email delivering any DonorDreams content in the morning.

Regardless of whether or not you support this legislation, please take a moment out of your day to learn more about it by visiting americancensorship.org. If you don’t believe that you’ll get unbiased information from this site, then please Google the search words “SOPA” and “PIPA” and sift through a number of different links.

Here’s to your health!

Non-profits can learn a lot from the Chicago Cubs

January 17, 2012 DonorDreams Fundraising

I attended the Chicago Cubs Convention this last weekend with my partner, father, brother and nephew. This is the 27th annual convention, and I think this is the fourth or fifth time I’ve attended with my family. As many of you know, I look for signs of philanthropy everywhere I go in life. It is one of my quirky charms. 🙂

It would’ve been easy to write about the $4 million that the Chicago Cubs have raised for charities with the proceeds from this convention, but I decided to look a little deeper this year. Not surprisingly, I found three things that the Cubs organization does at its annual convention that non-profit and fundraising professionals can take away from the experience.

A Sense of Accountability
Everyone in America knows the Chicago Cubs haven’t won a World Series in more than 100 years. This is the equivalent of a non-profit organization being unable to demonstrate community impact or program outcomes to its donors. To some people, it is surprising that the Cubs have any fans remaining with such an amazing inability to produce any return on investment (ROI).

However, the convention does something interesting for the Cubs organization. It gives fans the sensation they can hold the team “accountable”. There are sessions with ownership , management, coaches, and players. During those sessions, fans are permitted to ask questions and make comments from the floor.

While it is important for non-profit agencies to demonstrate ROI and impact, it looks like letting donors “hold you accountable” can go a long way when your ability to generate outcomes might still be a few years off.

It is all about the upgrade
It shouldn’t surprise you that the cost for last weekend was high (e.g. convention passes, hotel, and food). Tack onto this pricetag the cost of attending a few Cubs games throughout the summer, and it becomes apparent that being a Cubs fan isn’t cheap. However, this didn’t stop the Cubs from gently trying to up-sell me at every turn.

Have I considered attending spring training with the team in Arizona? What about signing up for a tour of Wrigley Field? Will I give some thoughtful consideration to upgrading from a fan who just attends a few games every year to a 9-Game Pack ticket holder?

I’ve met too many non-profit organizations who are afraid of asking their donors for more. The excuse usually given is that they’re afraid of “offending” those donors. Well, I can honestly say that I was never once offended by the Chicago Cubs and their vendors. I highly doubt most donors would either. However, I suspect that the key to not offending anyone is in how you go about doing it. In each of the previous up-sell examples, the Cubs had a very well-defined “case for support” (aka sales pitch).

If non-profit organizations invested more time in crafting solid case statements focused on why special event donors should also become annual campaign donors, I suspect a lot more money would be raised.

Becoming part of the family
At one point during the weekend, I had to giggle to myself because I paid the Cubs a lot of money for the right to be their captive all weekend and permitted them to market to me. While this realization should make me feel stupid (because they should be paying me for that privilege and not vice versa), I really don’t feel that way. As a matter of fact, I feel lucky and a little privileged to have been part of the experience.

The Cubs made every one of their guests feel special and a part of their family. Everyone likes to “belong” to something (e.g. church, alumni associations, service organizations, etc), and the Cubs have created an experience that nurtures this feeling, which in the end helps them make a lot of money.

Non-profit organizations who put their minds to it can turn their marketing materials and donor recognition societies into a similar kind of experience for their donors. I suspect that those who do so will see their donor loyalty rates skyrocket.

In closing
As a lifelong Cubs fan, all I have to say is that I believe a World Series title is waiting for us right around the corner in spite of the fact that the Cubs have embarked on a major “team re-building project” this year. I guess hope does spring eternal, which is a good thing for some non-profit organizations.

Please use the comment box below to weigh-in with your thoughts. What opportunities do your donors have to hold your agency accountable? What are you doing to instill a sense of family among your donors? What are you doing to upgrade donors gifts and giving opportunities?

Here’s to your health!

How Can SOPA/PIPA Affect Non-Profits?

January 16, 2012 DonorDreams Fundraising, Mondays with Marissa, nonprofit, technology

The Final Frontier . . . The Information Superhighway . . . The World Wide Web . . . The Place Where Cute Cat Videos Reside.

Call it what you will, but the Internet as you know it might change drastically after Tuesday, January 24, 2012. On this date, the Protect IP Act (PIPA) goes up for vote in the Senate. If it passes, censorship will have a permanent home on the Internet. PIPA is the Senate bill of the more publicized SOPA bill that was in the House, both have to do with censoring the Internet.

What are PIPA and SOPA? What does this have to do with the non-profit world?

Well, let’s take a closer look.

The main idea behind both PIPA and SOPA is to stop online piracy and ensure that content creators get benefits (mainly monetary) for their work. While this sounds pretty fair, it’s the enforcement of the bill that upon further inspection has people concerned. A recent TechCrunch article does a nice job explaining the issue:

“The big problem with SOPA is in the way it is supposed to be enforced, namely by blocking domain-name system (DNS) servers of copyright-infringing websites. But DNS servers are a basic technical component of the Internet (they translate site names like techcrunch.com into numerical IP addresses computers can understand better). Once you start messing with DNS, all sorts of unintended problems arise.

Blocking DNS without a full adversarial hearing in a courtroom raises the potential for censoring speech and other lawful activities. It is also the same method China uses to block “offending” content from China’s Internet.”

Furthermore, Ars Technica explains that passage of PIPA encourages online companies to act independently of the court system.

“The PROTECT IP Act goes even further than forcing these intermediaries to take action after a court order; it actively encourages them to take unilateral action without any sort of court order at all.”

So what does this have to do with the non-profit world?

Since there is currently no definition of what an “intellectual property right infringement” might be, your site could get cited under SOPA or PIPA because of links you’ve included in your online newsletter or stories on your website. If your agency gets cited, donors and supporters who might be trying to find you online via Google or other search engines wouldn’t be able to see you in their search results.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but wouldn’t this have a tremendous impact on what you’re trying to accomplish with your online presence?

This post on nonprofitmarketing360.com provides more clarity on why ALL non-profits should care:

“Ostensibly, nonprofits do not present anything that would seem to threaten these conglomerates, but, under SOPA’s current terms, nonprofits will not get a day in public court if they are deemed of trafficking in any such material. Even if they did, what nonprofit has a cabal of lawyers and lobbyists to counter the plaintiff’s accusations?”

Moreover, the effect of PIPA and SOPA goes beyond just impacting search results. It can wreak havoc with your ePhilanthropy efforts. Check out this quote from an article by Computer World:

“Basically, Sec. 103 will give the owner of any intellectual property the right to pursue private action against websites that they deem are infringing their rights. Under SOPA, IP rights holders will be able to ask payment providers such as MasterCard and PayPal to shut off services to allegedly infringing sites. They would also be able to ask Internet advertising networks to stop providing ads to the websites.”

So not only would the passage of these two bills affect your visibility on the internet, but donations taken via your website could be shut down as well if you are found to be in copyright infringement. Here’s a helpful infographic for more information.

In a nutshell, both PIPA and SOPA would cut off a resource many of us use everyday to communicate, research, and learn.

Can you imagine doing research for a grant and not having access to the information you need? Or what if your Twitter account gets taken down because you linked to a YouTube video? The landscape of the Internet will never look the same if these bills pass.

In response to a signed petition, the White House has recently come out against many of the main tenants of PIPA and SOPA, but this doesn’t mean the need for you to take action has passed.

This Wednesday, January 18, 2012 there will be a hearing on SOPA in the House of Representatives. In response, many popular sites such as Google, Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, Yahoo, Amazon, AOL, LinkedIn, PayPal, and WordPress will be participating in a blackout to draw attention to the issue of Internet censorship.

If you want to get involved in the process, you can contact your Congressperson at opencongress.org.

The media has neglected to cover PIPA/SOPA effectively. I hope that this post shines some light on how the issue of censoring the Internet could impact your everyday Internet life and the life of your non-profit organization. These two bills are just the start of trying to define the relationship between the government and the Internet. Even if they do not pass, there will be others that try. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject in the comments below.

What can fundraising professionals learn from a 3-year-old?

January 13, 2012 DonorDreams Fundraising

Yesterday, I was meeting a friend and someone I recruited to the Boys & Girls Club of Elgin board of directors almost a decade ago for breakfast. Well, I was a dunderhead and accidentally showed up 30 minutes early. While I was sitting there twiddling my thumbs, I couldn’t help watch this mother and grandmother having breakfast with their 3-year-old boy. By the time my friend showed up for breakfast, this young boy had blessed me with a fundraising epiphany.

After finishing his breakfast like a good little boy, he politely asked his mom if he could have a scoop of ice cream. She reluctantly agreed only because he had been so good. He turned his big baby blue eyes upon the waitress, who melted faster than any dish of ice cream, and he placed his order.

There was immediate joy and celebration!

The boy stood up in the booth and started jumping around and clapping his hands. I must admit that I haven’t seen a “victory lap” quite like this one. When the scoop of chocolate ice cream arrived, his mother reminded him of how important it is to use a spoon. After a minute or two, the spoon was abandon and this young boy had his face in the ice cream sundae dish.

Here is what struck me as I watched this unfold: this boy had a passion for ice cream. He didn’t care who knew it. He also didn’t care who witnessed it.

So, what in the heck does today’s blog post have anything to do with non-profit work or fundraising professions?

You need to discover your inner fundraising child and not be afraid of showing everyone your passion for fundraising and your agency’s mission!

Donors can smell a fake a mile away! Fundraising professionals who don’t love interacting and engaging with their donors are miserable people. They are typically ineffective and do serious damage to their agency’s resource development program before moving on to different pastures.

So, take a moment today and ask yourself the following questions:

When you wake up in the morning, do you get excited thinking about sitting down with a donor later that day?
Do you take it as a personal challenge to help donors figure out what they’re passionate about and link those interests with philanthropic opportunities?
Does hitting a special event or annual campaign goal give you a thrill unsurpassed by most other things in life?
Do you enjoy being able to share news with donors when program staff achieve program outcomes and community impact?

If you answered YES to these questions, then congratulations because you are in the right place. If this isn’t you, then I encourage you to do some soul-searching. Try to look like this boy I found on YouTube who is also enjoying his ice cream experience (however, he doesn’t come close to the boy I saw yesterday at Colonial Cafe).

Where do you find your passion for non-profits and fundraising? How do you know if the non-profit mission that you’re working for is the right one for you? I would consider it an honor if you would share your story on the DonorDreams blog. Please use the comment box below. Perhaps, your story will inspire others to discover their inner fundraising child.

Here’s to your health!

Strategic special events?

January 12, 2012 DonorDreams Fundraising, Planning

Back in October, I outted myself as a fundraising professional who isn’t very fond of special events when the purpose of the event is to raise money. I don’t know how many times I’ve shared the link to Charity Navigator’s 2007 Special Events Study with subscribers to this blog. I’m sure it has been too many times, but I’ve haven’t seen anything else that more convincingly makes the case that special events cost more money than they raise.

However, my position on special events does change when the objectives associated planning and hosting an event are more inclusive than: “let’s make some money.”

So, some of you might be asking: “What other objectives could there be?” Well, try some of these on for size:

Engaging new volunteers from a different social circle in your community.
Introducing yourself to a new set of prospective donors from a different social circle in your community, and cultivating new prospective donors for your individual giving annual campaign.
Stewarding existing donors by providing them an enchanted evening awash in mission-focus.
Marketing and getting your agency’s brand into the media marketplace.

I think it is great if your agency wants to run a few (e.g. one, two or three) special events as part of its annual resource development plan. However, I encourage you to ask the following questions before doing so:

How does this event support other aspects of your fundraising plan?
Who is the target audience for each of your special events? Does this event really do a good job of engaging that segment of the donor marketplace?
Are you just sending invitations out to those who attended last year? Are you just blasting invitations out to your entire donor database? Or are you thoughtfully engaging your event committee in identifying new prospective attendees who fit within the target audience parameters you’ve set?
How are you injecting “mission-focus” into each of your events so new prospective donors are getting cultivated and current donors are getting stewarded?

There is something very powerful about throwing a party focused around your agency’s mission. If it is done haphazardly and all in the name of “raising some money,” then you most likely didn’t raise the money you thought you did (read the Charity Navigator report and look at both direct and indirect costs) and you also missed an opportunity.

However, if you are strategic in your approach to special events, then I suspect you are seeing improvements in your overall fundraising program and starting to attract new donors.

Is your non-profit organization “strategic” in its approach to special events? If so, how? Please use the comment box below to answer these questions. The one or two minutes it takes for you to comment might make a huge difference in another fundraising professional’s life.

Here’s to your health!

The Age of Austerity: Don’t cut your nose off to spite your face!

January 11, 2012 DonorDreams Uncategorized

Yesterday’s blog post introduced the idea that the non-profit sector might be entering into “The Age of Austerity” thanks in part to projected decreases in government funding. Today, we continue exploration of this topic by looking at what types of budget cuts are occurring and processes for responsible cutting.

First, I decided to ask my non-profit Tweeps on Twitter where they were making cuts and why certain things were off-limits. Needless to say, people were all over the place, and there was no consensus except around two things:

100 percent of respondents said they would start with cutting administration and management expenses.
100 percent of respondents also said they would start with facility maintenance cuts.

After an informal survey of my Tweeps, I did a little research using my best friend “Mr. Google,” where I found a recent article from the Wisconsin State Journal titled “‘New normal’: Nonprofits struggling with budget cuts“. Not surprisingly, a much more scientific survey than my informal Twitter poll found that approximately one-third of respondents plan on cutting or reducing programs services. This number is up from where it was in 2009, when 29 percent of respondents said they were cutting or reducing programs.

I suspect there are many non-profits who started cutting what they saw as “non-essential services” a few years ago. Now that there isn’t any more “fat to cut,” it is time to start cutting muscle.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that more and more non-profits are getting to the brink of collapse, failure and contraction. We see signs of it in the Wisconsin State Journal article where they point out that smaller agencies have no cash reserves. We saw it in the Guidestar report that I referenced in yesterday’s blog post. I even wrote about it during my new year predictions blog series at the end of 2011 — “2012 Non-Profit Trends and Predictions: Contraction Continues“.

So, how should a non-profit organization go about making these tough decisions? Here are just a few tips:

Always go back to your mission and ask: “how will this cut impact our ability to fulfill our mission?” Obviously, you would prioritize your cuts so the ones that affect mission the most are some of the last cuts you’d ever consider making.
Are there things you can do to save money that are less painful than others? (e.g. Can you stretch a project (and its costs) out over a longer period of time? Can you re-bid certain services such as insurance or building maintenance?)
Stop trying to hide these discussions from key donors. Invite your biggest supporters into the discussion so they can better understand how and why certain decisions are being made. For those not at the table, develop a communications plan to inform them of why certain cuts were made (not just that they were made). No one likes a surprise — especially donors. Remember, this is a way to get lots of smart people, who care about your mission from different backgrounds, around the table and focused on your problem. Please don’t approach this with a hidden agenda to secure more money from your supporters. They are surely able to see through this, and it’ll feel disingenuous.

The bottom line is that non-profits who find themselves cutting services run the risk of harming their program outcomes and community impact. Once this happens and donors see it, fundraising dollars will start drying up, and you know what they say about being on a “slippery slope”. Next thing you know, you’re at the bottom of that hill and you’re going out of business.

Of course, there is a another road to take. Stop exclusively focusing on cuts-cuts-cuts and start focusing on engaging donors and fundraising activities. I’m not suggesting that you stop cutting. There are most likely smart cuts your agency can make, but I’m suggesting you do so while implementing an aggressive resource development plan.

In my research, I found an amazing white paper written by David Maddox of John Wiley & Sons which was reprinted with permission by The Grantsmanship Center. The paper was titled “Strategic Budget Cutting“. It really is an amazing resource with great ideas and process. I encourage you to check it out!

Is your agency in cost cutting mode? What are you cutting and what aren’t you cutting? It is easy to say “use your mission statement to filter these decisions,” but how have you effectively done that? If you are both cutting and trying to do more fundraising, have you had much success? Please use the comment box below and weigh-in with your thoughts because we can all learn from each other.

Here’s to your health!

The Age of Austerity: What does that look like for non-profits?

January 10, 2012 DonorDreams Uncategorized

I love to wake up on Sunday morning and watch the news shows. This past Sunday my favorite show — Meet the Press — hosted one of the Presidential debates for the Republican field. During that debate, one of the journalists or candidates used the phrase “Age of Austerity” in regards to government spending and programs.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes phrases just get stuck in my head, and I gnaw on them like a dog with a bone. This is what happened when I heard “Age of Austerity”. At first, I spent a lot of time processing what that looks like for government (e.g. more taxes to pay off accrued debt and reduction in services like police, fire and garbage). However, my mind quickly wandered to the non-profit sector and the questions started to snowball:

Could the non-profit sector be entering into an “Age of Austerity”?
What could this end up looking like for non-profits?
What could the societal consequences be when so many people rely upon non-profits to “fill the holes” in our social safety net (especially when government austerity likely means creating more holes in that safety net).
How many non-profits will tighten their belts to the point of going out of business because they can’t achieve their mission? And how many non-profits will look at merger opportunities?
Where will the cuts come from? Heck, most non-profits already stretch their resources too thin.

I believe that we might be on the brink of this “Age of Austerity” where donors demand more services, outcomes and impact with smaller and fewer contributions to pay for that demand. Consider the following few data points from Guidestar’s recent non-profit survey:

One-fifth [of survey respondents] projected decreases in operating budget for 2012 …

About half of survey respondents are facing declines in revenue from sources other than contributions (which includes government funding) or had less than three months of operating expenses in reserve. Similar percentages reported that their organizations rely on a limited number of funders, and more than half (52 percent), reported declining or flat philanthropic contributions.

Lots and lots of questions! LOL — Welcome to my world. However, the following question is the one that I’ve been stuck on for a few days:

Are some austerity measures better than others when trying to fulfill
your non-profit organization’s mission and achieve community impact?

I believe the answer is probably obvious — YES. However, I don’t believe there is any consensus around what cuts are better than others. For example, should an agency pull back on certain programs and focus more intentionally on core programming? Eliminate middle management and flatten the organization chart? Change executive leadership and hire a less experienced/less costly who might have more upside in the long-term? Reduce the size of the fundraising department?

In an effort to find some clarity, I’m going to ask my Tweeps and other social media friends to weigh-in with their thoughts. I’ll report back tomorrow on what I find out. Of course, you are very much encouraged to use the comment box (see below) and share your thoughts.

Here’s to your health!

Choosing the Right Donor Database is like Buying a Car

January 9, 2012 DonorDreams Fundraising, Mondays with Marissa, resource development, technology

Welcome to “Mondays with Marissa” at DonorDreams. Every Monday throughout 2012, we will start your non-profit week off right with a technology related topic before returning our attention to donors, fundraising, resource development and all things non-profit. We hope you enjoy Marissa as a new addition to the DonorDreams family!

Having a donor database that fits the needs of your organization can make a world of difference. So, how do choose the right one? When I sat down to think about it, it is a lot like buying a car.

There are some people who are more impulsive with their car buying than others. They walk into a dealer knowing they want a blue one with a sun roof and satellite radio. While others take their time to research and test drive different models; finding a car that has exactly what they need at a price they can afford. Both consumers get what they want, but the consumer who went with the second approach might have gotten a little more for her money. Let’s apply that strategy to finding the perfect database solution for your organization.

First, you want to make a list of what you are currently using. This not only includes the current donor database you are using (if you are using one), but the types of computers, any paper filing systems, the technological competency of the people responsible for maintaining the database, etc. Everything you are using to keep track of donor interactions should go on this list. It would be helpful to break down each item into as many details as possible. For example, when cataloging the types of computers being used, list how old they are along with the installed operating system. Next to each item, make sure you include a small statement about how well the item is satisfying the needs of the organization. Being specific now will only help you later.

I should note that if there are plans to upgrade technology, expand staff, or change facilities soon, make sure you have all of those details as well. The database you choose will exist in that environment. So, you might as well plan for it.

Second, you want to prioritize the requirements that you want included in your new donor database. This is the fun part. Don’t think about money. I’ll say it again because I know, working at a non-profit you probably don’t hear that very often — don’t think about money. The goal is to figure out what features are needed for the software of your dreams. Think about the functional requirements such as the need for data back-up, ability to print, run reports, can it run on both Mac and PC, does it need to run on both Mac and PC, does it offer a secure log in, is the design customizable, etc.

Next, turn your thoughts to donor management. What functions do you need included to successfully manage your donors? Some items might include: scheduling, reminders, calendars, events, employee matching, the ability to export to Quick Books, and forecasting.

Make your lists detailed and long. Then sit down and prioritize the list into what is needed most. This isn’t to say that you won’t be able to attain everything on your list, but having priorities will help steer you to the right vendors.

Third, investigate your options with the available vendors. (To help you narrow the field, you can check out sites such as techsoup.org and idealware.org.) Then you’ll want to take the information you receive from the vendor and see how it closely matches your lists. This, of course, is where money comes into play. When thinking about the total cost of purchasing a new database system remember that it includes: equipment, maintenance, training, implementation, customization, downtime during conversion and tech failures. Also, don’t forget to question the vendor to make sure that they are a good fit for your organization. Do they have customer service hours when you need them? Do they have a large non-profit customer base? After considering all of these options, choose the product that will work best for you. It might turn out that the best solution is continue using what you already have or switch to using a CRM.

Oh yeah, don’t be afraid to ask for references and check them!

Finding a new donor database that works best for your organization is not so different then buying a car. By assessing what you have, listing what you need and researching what’s out there; you can walk into the dealer as an educated consumer and can walk out with the product that meets your needs, most of the time at the price you had in mind.

Here’s to your health!