Guest: Brian Larsen, Donor II
Host: Sean Bailey, Philanthropy-Journal

Part Two

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Bonnie Worth

Dear Brian, My name is Bonnie Worth, Director of Bristol Township Senior Center in Bristol, PA. I am currently using Microsoft Office Professional 4.3 with the Microsoft Access Database. We are in the process of upgrading to Office 97, Professional edition. I have been using the package for membership, donor and special event needs. I find it easy to use. There are a wealth of inexpensive multimedia tutorials available from beginner to advanced, and lots of free/low-cost support add-ons available . But, I am also considering adding a comprehensive fundraising package. My hesitance in doing this is a lack of knowledge of these programs. I have heard of many names of programs, but have never tested any. Here are my concerns:

Bonnie (cont.)

1. I am the only full-time employee with the program. Although we have close to 100 dedicated volunteers, most are not computer literate. (We are taking steps to remedy this by creating a Technology Learning Center for Seniors). 2. For the volunteers that are computer literate, I can use inexpensive Multimedia software tutorials to teach them about the database and how it is used with merges, etc. If we add a comprehensive fundraising package, training costs could be very expensive. 3. I also understand that good fundraising software is very expensive, without even taking training into account. Would the improvements be that substantial over Access used within Office 97?, or would it be better to expand on my current Access Databases? 4. Are the fundraising software packages more targeted to larger nonprofits (such as universities and national organizations)? As a smaller nonprofit (with mixed business and social service demands for efficiency), is there an affordable fundraising package that will meet our needs and that is relatively easy to learn, with excellent support products available? In one other question, I have not begun to delve into the full relational capabilities of Access? How would these capabilities make our data more powerful? Thank you for sharing your expertise in your interview. I found the information you gave to be very valuable. And thank you for considering my dilemna. Bonnie Worth

Brian Larsen

The concerns that you have raised are very valid, especially for a one person shop such as yours. The use of volunteers to operate software systems has been, in my experience, a difficult task. The training required is time consuming on the part of the organization and the lack of consistency in the input of the data is evident. This usually is the result of multiple individuals with various levels of expertise. Also volunteers do not usually work everyday like a paid staff member.

Brian

The statement that good fundraising software is very expensive depends on what you expect and need from a software package. Some organizations1 needs are not as great as others, especially if they are new to fund raising or a smaller organization without a full-time development person . There is software available that is priced from $500 to $3000 that would meet the needs of many organizations. Campagne Associates has software in this price range. I would encourage you to request information from various companies and tell them what your budget concerns are and that you will make use of volunteers in operating the system. After you review the information sent, you can determine if a system offers you the capabilities you require for the development efforts of your organization. If you determine that you can make changes to your existing system and meet your current needs you may consider sticking with what you have along with using the relational capabilities of your current database.

Brian

The largest factor to consider in developing you own system is the amount of time you have to program and the knowledge required to design a system that will meet your organizations future needs. The more comprehensive software systems available are designed to handle all aspects of a development office. These systems include information a development professional requires to effectively perform his/her job as well as the proper record keeping for annual gifts, memorials, pledges, planned gifts, capital campaigns, and major donor cultivation. They should have ample and sophisticated reports. Any comprehensive system will require careful planning on your part and the vendor1s to determine the proper use of a system prior to any training and implementation of the system. Their systems1 costs are higher but you will end up with a professional tool for a professional development office. Your concern about support is very important. Without good support you will not be able to benefit from the full capabilities of a good software system. You don1t want to have the type of support from a vendor where the most common response is that 3the system wasn1t designed for that2. This can occur with systems that are on the lower end of prices. Often times these systems are marketed as not requiring any training for the user. The majority of those systems often end up on the shelf or are used only as expensive mail list managers. I hope I have addressed you concerns and wish you well in your fund raising efforts.

Jamie Kozma

My name is Jamie Kozma and I am Special Projects Manager for a Planned Parenthood Affiliate. We have had a fundraising database for years and data entry has not always been consistent. The database has many multiple entries for the same people and thousands of old/erroneous entries. The database desperately needs cleaned out--where should we start?

Brian

I would recommend you run a duplicate checking on names and addresses. If your program does have this feature you could at least run a listing by last name , first name. The same thing could be done for addresses. The practicality of this would of course depend on the number of records in your system. Once you have determined which records are duplicates you would then need to combine them into one record. Some fund raising software allows for this function. If you have telephone numbers for the names in your system this may prove helpful in identifying duplicates. Records that contain bad or inconsistent gift entries are a more complicated process to clean up. If the gift is recorded on the wrong person or for the wrong amount then going back to manual records to verify is your only option. If the coding of information related to the gift is inconsistent or possibly incorrect, you might be able to reconstruct an accurate set of codes based on dates or fund codes, if they exist in your system. Your current software provider should be able to assist you in this effort. I can tell you that prior to converting any software to our fund raising system we provide frequency analysis and correlation analysis on existing data and then develop the game plan for resolving data discrepancies. We also have the tools to accomplish this programmatically thus reducing manual efforts.

Mark E. Speltz

Hello. I am a Development Assistant at the Smithsonian Institution. Our division,SITES, is currently going through a period of growth and are capabilities are expanding. We would like to get a database that is handy for special events and donor information. What systems do you recommend and/or what companies should I look into? Thank you very much for your help.

Brian

I would suggest that you get a copy of an October issue of Fundraising Management magazine. This issue has all the software related to fund raising listed. Of course I would hope that you would consider our software, Donor II.

Barb Ferris

I am president of a non-profit that facilitates a lot of training workshops. I would like to put the training manuals on CD with an accompanying users guide and sell them to NGOs around the world. Where do I look for a company that will help me publish a CD. Thanks for your help.

Brian

I am not really familiar with firms that do that since we do all of ours in house. I can suggest you might try some of the CD duplicating services such as DiscPress at www.discpress.com

Esther Sharon

To Mark Speltz and Brian: FYI guys, Smithsonian's ex-director Tom F. is now EVP at YIVO Institute, where they use Donor II ESPECIALLY useful for events: NOTE: Camille at Donor II and I devised and designed incredible events reports: detailed reports for Development Director (that was me), less detailed reports for lay leaders, semi-detailed for EVP,event lists by donors, by companies, lists by TABLES (greatest way to organize seating!), lists by pledges, donations...AND the piece de resistance: the guest/table number list to pass out to guests, the latest rage at events so people cna network (tacky, nevertheless the nobless like it) however you want to do it...

Esther Sharon

To Dan from May 2: data base for Mac: Claris company puts out Filemaker Pro, a wonderful very friendly flat data base. Don't remember their address (Seattle??) but they're in all the stores and the d.b. may cost $75-$150 at the worst. It's really a terrific, flexible data base, you can do easily design it, set it up, and teach ANYONE to use it (data entry). Report layouts are a sinch in this one. Be careful not to get additcted, it's a fun piece of work. Good luck.

Dan

Do you know the name and addresses of databases that are compatible with Macintosh?

Brian

The following three companies offer software for the Macintosh:

Brian

Campagne Associates 491 Amherst Street Nashua, NH 03063 800-655-3489

Brian

Softrek 2350 North Forest Road, suite 10A Getzville, NY 14068 800-442-9211

Brian

Trac, Inc. 610 Cowper Street Palo Alto, CA 94301 800-676-5831

Hillary House

I am the executive director of a network of community centers that is being funded by our county government until the end of 1998. After that, we will have our charitable status and will be fund raising. Our current budget is at 121,000 a year and will obviously grow. What database recommendations do you have for a non-profit at this stage of the game?

Brian

I am sorry but I don't know of any groups that provide that service.

Brian to Hillary

Based on your current size, I would suggest that you consider one of the intro level packages available. Campagne Associates has a system for less than $1000 that can address the needs of an organization with limited resources Jeanne McKeithen Our office is considering using Windows Office 97 for our development database. What do you think of this for approximately a 30,000 name database? Is it user friendly? Capable of tracking and linking donors? I liked DonorPerfect but we can't afford it at this time.

Brian

Windows Office 97 has several applications that might help you with your tracking, if your needs are fairly basic and you have the time to develop the database. It is user friendly to a degree at the surface level , but as your demands of the application increase you will need to get training on its use in order to accomplish the level of tracking you may want to advance to.

Rosie Melia

Brian, I am the general manager of a non-profit performing arts organization. Our current database holds approximately 10,000 records -- names and addresses of donors, ticket holders, board members, etc., as well as mailing lists we send our season brochure to. The database is about 6 years old, and was custom designed to meet our needs years ago. Its use is limited and I need advise on where to go from here. How do I find information on database software specifically designed for fundraising? What are the advantages of using that type of software vs. Microsoft Access? Thanks for any advise you can give me.

Brian

The best place I can recommend to find information on software specifically designed for fundraising is to get a copy of October issue of Fundraising Management. All of the software packages are described along with telephone and addresses of the companies. The Philanthropy Journal and the Chronicle of Philanthropy also have listings in the back of each issue of companies that provide software. The advantages to using software designed for fundraising is that you are purchasing ,in addition to the software, the expertise of the individuals at the company. This expertise is available at the time of training and through on-going support. For most of these companies, all they do is work with non-profits and their fundraising efforts. The ability to receive these professional services with software translates into more time for you to get your job done. Professionally designed software will have included documentation, help systems and training workbooks. The software will include features that you might not have anticipated a need for until it is too late. Often when an organization starts to develop their own system they do not realize the amount of time it will take and the dependence they have on the staff person who developed it and then moves to another job. If I sound like I am not an advocate for organizations developing donor tracking systems it's because of all the systems we have converted organizations from that began that way. I would suggest you explore all the available software to see if you can find one that meets your needs and is within your budget.

Sheila Walker

I represent a coalition of health, education and social service agencies that want to create a resource directory (or data base of available LOCAL services on the Internet to better serve families and children. I know this is a very general desciption, but I am wondering if you know of any commuities have created a really comprehensive service like this? Our borough (as we are defining our community) is about the size of West Virgina. Perhaps you have visited Palmer or Wasilla Alaska. Can you provide any ideas for where I can look for models? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you Sheila Walker Community Resource Coordinator Mat-Su Agency Partnership

Brian

Shelia I really don't know of any services like that. Perhaps Sean Bailey or some of the people reading this might have an idea.

Brian

Does anyone know of organizations that donate gifts of computers and equipment for a non-profit?

Brian

Most major companies have a program to give hardware to non-profits. You should just start calling around your area and asking what their guidelines are. Another source is the Gift-In-Kind Clearing House at (704) 331-3477.

Esther Sharon

Esther Sharon:Hi Brian! Re: Also Access Remember me? 'was Esther Kaplan at YIVO, the one who gave you suchpains - but I taught them how powerful Donor II and how to use (nearly) all its features. Now I'mback home in Israel & my old name is back, too. Still in "development" more than ever at SorokaMedical Center of the Negev. Have you and the guys put out your Donor II Windows version yet?Here I am, establishing the Development Office for this huge hospital in Israel, and guess what: nodata base. It's making me ill, Brian. Lists are flying, it's unwieldy. I can't get my Donor II. What doyou think about my designing Access according to what I remember from Donor II? 'Cause that'swhat I'm doing. I know I will NOT be able to get customized data base nor do I want to experimentwith customized d.b.'s for fund raising in Israel, tho I'm sure they're out there. Actually, what I'vefound is that many/most companies and organizations have inside geeks who customize build babydata bases with whatever systems they're in, no matter how old. I think everyone's customized to thecazoo and I want to avoid that. I really want to know what you think of Access and also Act,whichwas recommended to me. I do know that Access can do everything I want, because I had had acorresponding office to mine in the US that I "made" use Access so that I was able to receive fromthem ALL the reports on lists, events, pledges etc. from them in just the way I wanted injust the timeI wanted. Can't wait to hear from you. Give my special regards and love to Camille who is anextremely lovely.

Brian

Esther it is good to hear from you. It sounds like you have your hands pretty well full at the hospital. As to designing a system based on Donor II all I can say is be prepared to spend a lot of time telling your programmers what you want. The Donor II for Windows software is available. For your information it is written in Access. I can tell you that took three years and a staff of programmers to create. I can assure you that the reason programmers say it will be complicated is because it is complicated to develop a good system. Access can appear to be a very easy system for a user to setup. If your needs are simple and you don't need the ability to relate records it may work for you. You need to think about the amount of time you want to spend with a programmer to design a system. Your time and the programmers is very expensive. It is less expensive in the long run to purchase a good system that you can be using immediately. I do understand that sometimes it is not in the budget or that your needs may be so unique that you may not have a choice. I believe that Access would provide you with a better tool than Act which was designed for sales tracking. It was good to hear from you Esther . Please stay in touch to let us know how things are going.

Esther Sharon

So good to get your reply. Didn't know Donor II's written in Access - fantastic. So at least I had the right idea. I'd never presume to actually write Donor II, but I am trying to get some of the features I remember into my program. KISS (my motto, you know what that is - keep it simple stupid - for stupid users which most of us are). Re computerware donors: I suggest going to website: button which is the Forbes 500 list of Industry Listings - Computers & Communications. These companies ought to be interested in donating. Of course you can go back button to get addresses etc. Best to all at Donor II.

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