Most nonpro;ts try to make due with general
purpose business software like Excel, Microsoft
Access, FileMaker Pro or QuickBooks to keep
track of mailing lists and donations. ;ese are
good software products, but they aren’t designed
to provide numerous critical features necessary
for successful fundraising. It’s no surprise that
organizations that start out with such programs
soon encounter signi;cant fundraising problems.
should also be able to easily modify and
create your own unique, professional reports.
;;;;;;;;;;;;;
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Some key areas that help nonpro;ts raise
more money are Campaign E;ectiveness,
Donation Summaries and Analyses, Grant
Tracking, & Constituent Reporting on
individual donors and their giving histories
Q. How can I raise more money with
fundraising software?
Constituent Relationship Management
(CRM)
Fundraising software can allow you to store
and manage data for all your constituents
– donors, volunteers, board members,
event attendees, etc. in one database. ;is
means tracking the type of relationship
the constituents have to the organization
(e.g. contact management history, interests,
volunteer availability, etc.) and also to each
other (e.g. same employer or college, similar
interests, etc.).
Targeted Fundraising E;orts
Fundraising software helps you reach the
right people with the right message! From
generating targeted solicitations to keeping
notes on potential major donors, good
fundraising software provides the tools for
communicating, tracking and managing
your campaigns and results. Remember, the
number one reason why people give money
is because they are asked. If you do not have
the right tools to track your constituents,
you will never be able to raise more money
because you won’t be able to ask the right
people in the ;rst place.
Powerful Reporting & Analysis
All good solutions will include powerful
reporting and analysis tools to track donors,
uncover hidden trends, re;ne solicitation
activities and analyze your results. You
Q. How can it help me save time?
By automating time-consuming tasks, such
as entering a record and gift once and having
it automatically acknowledged, posted to
your ledger and sent to your accounting
software, you can save immeasurable hours –
to say nothing of avoiding costly errors and
omissions.
Comprehensive Donation Processing
No matter the gift type or method of
donation, good fundraising software
provides a fast and accurate process for
entering, recognizing and managing every
gift and pledge.
;e are many unique types of gifts that
nonpro;ts must handle such as Pledges,
Soft Credits, Restricted Gifts, Matching
Gifts, In-Kind Donations, Split Gifts, and
Memberships. General purpose accounting
software typically doesn’t provide a simple
way to properly record & process these types
of gifts.
;is article has been provided by
DonorPerfect Fundraising Software. A
brief complimentary video and a PDF
version of this article, which includes
additional information, statistics and
graphics about why the right software
matters, are available at:
www.donorperfect.com/
FundraisingSoftwareInvestment
For more information, please call 800-
220-8111 or visit www.donorperfect.com.
Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas
Nonprofit Arts Leader
Among MacArthur Fellows
The John D. and Catherine
T. MacArthur Foundation, in
Chicago, last week announced
the 23 recipients of its 2010
MacArthur Fellowships. Commonly referred to as the “genius
awards,” the fellowships single
out individuals from disparate
disciplines who show creativity,
originality, and the promise for
continued innovative work.
Twelve women and 11 men
won this year’s awards; they
range in age from 30 to 72.
Each fellow receives $500,000
over five years, bestowed with
no strings attached. Of the
group announced today, 16 fellows work at academic institutions or other nonprofit organizations.
Among the winners are two
devoted to nonprofit careers
in the arts and humanities:
Sebastian Ruth, who founded Community MusicWorks in
Providence, R.I., to promote
music as a vital force in urban
social change, and Jessie Little Doe Baird, who directs the
Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project, a volunteer-run
group in Mashpee, Mass., that
teaches local Indians to speak
their ancestral language, which
ceased to be spoken around the
mid-1800s.
Following are the 2010 fellows, along with their institutional affiliations and a synopsis
of how the MacArthur Foundation describes their accomplishments:
Amir Abo-Shaeer, 38, director and
teacher, Dos Pueblos Engineering
Academy, Goleta, Calif. He inspires
and prepares public high-school students for science and math careers
using a curriculum that integrates
applied physics, engineering, and robotics.
Jessie Little Doe Baird, 46, co-founder and director, Wôpanâak Language
Reclamation Project, Mashpee, Mass.
A linguist, she studies and teaches
Wampanoag (also called Wôpanâak),
the Algonquian language of her ancestors, as part of an intertribal effort to
revive the long-dormant language.
Kelly Benoit-Bird, 34, associate professor of biological oceanography, Oregon State University, in Corvallis. A
marine biologist, she uses acoustic-engineering technology to explore the
previously invisible behavior of ocean
creatures and address questions about
the structure and behavior of food
chains.
Nicholas Benson, 46, owner and creative director, the John Stevens Shop,
Newport, R.I. He is a third-generation
stone carver, calligrapher, and designer known for distinctive architectural
lettering by hand.
Drew Berry, 40, biomedical animator, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute
of Medical Research, Melbourne, Australia. He illuminates cellular and
molecular processes for a wide range
of audiences through scientifically accurate, visually engaging three- and
four-dimensional renderings.
Carlos D. Bustamante, 35, professor
of genetics, Stanford University School
of Medicine, Calif. He combs DNA sequence data for insights into key questions about the mechanisms of evolution, origins of genetic diversity, and
patterns of population migration.
Matthew Carter, 72, co-founder and
principal, Carter & Cone Type, Cambridge, Mass. A type designer, his recent work focuses on developing highly
legible fonts for computer screens, including the small screens of low-reso-lution, handheld devices.
David Cromer, 45, theater direc-
tor, New York. His interpretations
of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town and
other staples of the 20th-century the-
ater repertoire honor the original in-
tention of each work while providing
audiences with more psychologically
complex performances than previous
renderings.
