Database 101

Now that you've made it through the holidays and have a moment to take a breath, it's a good time to do some nonprofit housekeeping to prepare for your 2010 fundraising and program planning. And the key to all your efforts is your database.

Ask yourself: can you use your database to do these essential functions?

Provide basic demographic and organizational information:

• Quickly find mailing addresses, 9-digit zip codes, email address, phone numbers (including cell phones), and appropriate salutations for all of your clients, donors, and volunteers
• Tell what age people are, and whether they have children (and if so, how old)
• Track program participation and ticket purchases by year and specific event/program area
• Identify folks who do not want their names/addresses exchanged or shared
• Look up all past board members, find out when they served, and on which committees

Let you know about your donors and donations:

• See and date every donation made over at least the past ten years
• Track specific interests of individual donors i.e. specific program interests, community affiliations, level of involvement in your organization
• Look up donors who have given to special appeals and/or like to give for specific programs or purposes (such as scholarships)
• Find out who has been the contact person/solicitor for each donor
• Differentiate between donations of cash, stocks, materials, and volunteer time
• See which fundraising events your donors have attended
• Provide detailed information about donors who have committed to multi-year donations, monthly contributions, and/or planned gifts
• Find lapsed donors
• Identify which donors want to remain anonymous and/or prefer not to receive phone solicitations
• Track all foundation, corporation, and government donations over the history of your organization including contact person's name and phone number

Document the work of your volunteers:

• Track the number of volunteer hours by month and year
• Find volunteers who like to help out with specific tasks and/or events
• Look up volunteers with specific skills i.e. carpentry, hauling, fundraising, finance, etc.
  
• Identify the volunteers who have given the most hours per year

Create and print reports, letters and labels including:

• Customized solicitation and thank you letters
• Donor lists by fiscal year, amount given, and zip code
• Reports tracking in-kind donations
• Volunteer lists by year, month, and task
• Mailing labels and name tags for specific purposes.

This may sound like a daunting task (and may require a re-evaluation of your chosen software), but the work you do now to put your database in order will benefit your organization for years to come.

Fundraising Stocking Stuffers

Recent news and polls have decidedly mixed messages for nonprofits right now; some predictions are gloomy, others surprisingly hopeful.

The unemployment picture continues to be bleak and people are still being cautious about spending. Yet according to an American Red Cross survey, only 20% of those polled planned to reduce charitable donations this year. In fact, 68% of respondents agreed that it is even more important to give right now because of the economy; 59% said that making charitable donations gets them into the holiday spirit. And folks who had their salary and/or work hours reduced this year were no more likely to cut back on donations than those whose employment has remained secure.

Even so, these continue to be challenging times for fundraising that call for creativity and extra hours in order to raise the money for your good work. Here a few simple and inexpensive Christmas "stocking stuffers" for your fundraising program:

• Use free social media. Are you on Facebook? Twitter? if not, now's the time. It's a great way to get the word about your organization, send invites to events, and ask for donations.
• Try new internet-based tools. Check out this website about a way for supporters to contribute $5 to your organization when they give someone a gift card: http://www.givecard.com/. Consider registering your organization for a possible donation at http://facebook.com/ChaseCommunityGiving. If your organization serves school-age children, take a look at http://www.escrip.com - donations come from participating merchants, and all your supporters have to do is sign up.
• Seek out corporate matching gift programs. Many local corporations - including Charles Schwab Company, Autodesk Inc., and Wells Fargo Bank - will match employee donations. Publicize and take advantage of these opportunities (for a list of businesses with matching programs, email me at cjay@horizoncable.com).
• Ask your local bank to help out. Many banks have charitable giving programs. Tamalpais Bank contributes to a customer's chosen nonprofit based on account balance; Bank of Petaluma dedicates money annually for the management of each branch to make gifts to nonprofits of their choice. Talk to the place where you do your banking; ask members and supporters to do the same.
  
• Reconnect with lapsed donors. It's likely that you have lost a significant number of donors in the past two years, but don't give up. Try reconnecting them to your organization by asking them for modest donations via a phone-a-thon or a focused email/snail mail appeal.

Whatever strategy you use - whether it be personal contact, email, snail mail, or the internet - continue to speak from your heart about the importance of your mission. Every dollar counts, and every donor counts.

Giving Thanks

With Thanksgiving approaching, now is a good time to focus on gratitude for all the people who contribute to the work of your organization, and to make sure you are communicating that gratitude.

Some ways to express your appreciation:

• Lists. You can publish and post lists acknowledging volunteers and donors on your website, via email, with printed lists on the walls of your office/facility, and in your print newsletters. People love to see their names on lists.
• Thank you cards. Always thank people, with a personal note, for their volunteer hours and donations.
• Appreciation events. Plan appropriate and fun annual events honoring your donors and volunteers. Offer wonderful food and entertainment.
• Announcements and articles. Send press releases to your local newspapers honoring the contributions of special volunteers and donors; post articles on your website, in your enewsletter, and your printed brochures.
• Awards. Create organization awards for volunteers of the year and/or month; nominate your most hard-working volunteers for special local awards.
• Gifts. Send a donor free tickets to one of your events. Take your staff out to lunch after they have completed a big project. Give the president of your board a bouquet of flowers.
  

Thanking donors:
Always be sure to promptly thank a donor for all donations with a letter including the approved IRS language, plus a personal note, sent via first class mail. But don't just stop there: continue to thank and communicate with your donors throughout the year using email, newsletters, letters, postcards, phone calls, published donor lists, a thank you phone-a-thon, an annual donor appreciation event.

Thanking volunteers:
Thank your volunteers each time they help out, with a handwritten postcard sent first class mail. Keep track of their hours so you can specially acknowledge longstanding hard-working volunteers. And don't forget that your Board of Directors is your most important volunteer crew. Take every opportunity you can to personally express your appreciation for all the work that they do - especially when there has been conflict, differences of opinion about who is in charge, or if the organization is experiencing significant transition and/or challenges.

Thanking your staff:
It's easy to get so busy and stressed out with deadlines and funding pressures, particularly in these challenging times, that you may forget to thank your staff for their work. Know that even the smallest gesture of appreciation will make people feel better, facilitate better working conditions, and foster greater collaboration.

A little gratitude will go a long way towards building donor relationships, sustaining volunteers and board members, and creating a positive work environment for your organization!