Providing Nonprofits with Solutions

After many years of providing assistance to nonprofit organizations, we decided to bring our experiences together to create a consultant firm that provide solutions for nonprofits who face challenges both small and large. We have over 35 years of experience with helping schools and colleges, faith-based, healthcare, and human services organizations. Often times there are questions that does not require hiring consultant or there may not be enough resources within the budget. What is shared here is based on some situations we have encountered while working with organizations over the years.

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Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.

Henry David Thoreau

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Finding the right database

Choosing the right database for your organization can be extremely time consuming and frustrating.  Typically, for the person making the final decision, this is not their area of expertise.  What I have found majority of the time, is most users want to be able to hit the easy button and everything will work on its own.  Well it is not that simple.  However it does not have be extremely difficult either. 

There are different approaches to take when selecting a database, like understanding what information you are gathering about your constituents and how the information is being used currently.  Also look at what information you would like to gather and how you would like to use the information.  For instance, knowing how someone became connected to your organization, what type of events they attend, and/or which solicitations they respond to, can help you keep constituents engaged.  And if these things are important to you and will help increase donor participation, having a database that will give you this information will be important. 

Accessing your database is a consideration that is sometimes last on the list, but for me is at the top.  Having a database housed on your server or a hosted environment helps determine which software to choose from.  Housing a database on your server at times may appear more cost effective, and if you do not encounter many server issues then this decision may suffice.  There are other considerations that should be thought about, for instance, backing-up information daily, having access away from the office, and how to retrieve information if it is accidentally deleted.  The database coordinator or whomever is managing the database must make sure the database is backed up often.  It is recommended daily although some organizations may back-up once a week.  Unless your organization has an IT department or someone working on the server on a consistent basis, they can allow you access to your server away from the office.  What I have found is most smaller foundations/churches/schools do not have this type of access and if so some information may be restricted because of security issues.  Finally, again if you do not have an IT person/department, if any data is lost and/or deleted off the server, it is gone.  I know that sounds extreme but I have seen it happen.

Choosing to have a hosted database where the software company keeps your information on their server is my preference.  Typically you can log in from any where you have an internet connection.  If you have a meeting with a donor away from the office and take notes, you may want the option of putting that information in the database right away.  Your database manager will not have to worry about backing up the system daily.  If any information is accidently deleted, it can be retrieved with 48 hours (average for most companies).  One important feature I find very helpful is system upgrades.  Software companies are always doing things to enhance their products, typically if you are hosted you are automatically given the latest software upgrades. 

I know there are a lot of companies out there with a lot of different products, and it can be overwhelming, especially if you are not database savvy.  Here are a few databases I worked with:

Raiser's Edge - This database has a lot of bells & whistles, which can be a little too much for some user's.  But with the right modules added there is no limit to donor research, reports, and being able to keep up to date information on the overall health of your organization.  It works great for nonprofits and schools with a major development department.  I would not recommend for a church unless major fundraising is happening.  I also recommend Financial Edge should you need accounting software.  Gift acknowledgements are simple once it is set-up.  They have a lot of different options for training.

eTapestry - Another Blackbaud product which is first of its kind being completely online.  Photo directory, automatic reports, and the six degrees of seperation are great features.  It does a great job with managing donors in the same household.  It also can integrate with other accounting softwares.  Training is done remotely, however you can pay for someone to come out to your organization.

DonorPerfect - Offers both, hosted environments and/or housed on your server.  It is user friendly.  It has really good fundraising functionality.  It also has a feature that I enjoy, it can look at different fundraising trends, which can keep you up to date on what is working. 

Sage - Offers a couple different fundraising softwares: Fundraiser 50, which is really just scratching the surface in terms of a database.  Most smaller organizations tend to opt for this one without really thinking about their organizations growing.  If you are tired of using Microsoft Office products to keep information Fundraising 50 may be a decent option for you.  I would suggest the Fundraising 100 if you do not need an extremely powerful tool but something more than basic.  I was told from a representative at Sage that this software will not be offered next year but right now it is.  Sage just now launched an online product as well.  If you more power, Millennium may be the right tool for you.  It is comparable to Raiser's Edge out of all of their products.  Sage also offers MIP accounting software which is a leader in its field for a stand alone software.  It can be integrated with other fundraising softwares.  Getting trained was an issue that I encountered from Sage.

iMis - If you are looking to really build a database that really suits your needs and you have a large organization, iMis may be the product for you.  iMis has different suites which allows you to create a tool that suits your needs.

FellowshipOne - I will not go into a lot of the church softwares, however I do find FellowshipOne a really great tool for a medium to large church.  It is not extremely cheap as others.  However it gives you a blank canvas to work from and once everything is in place it is very easy to use.  If you are a pastor who is tech savvy, having the information integrate with your mobile phone will help you keep membership information up to date.

These are just a few products and suggestions.  Again if this is not your area of expertise, it may be a good idea to reach out to someone who can help you asses your organization's needs and wants, to get you a database that will work with your organization.  This does not have to be expensive. 

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Using your database

So often when I go into an organizations and assess their needs, one of the primary problems they face is the DATABASE. Your database is vital to understanding your constituents and keeping them engaged in the mission. 

Most organizations make the mistake of using the database just to track gifts.  Even though tracking gifts is extremely important, it is also just as important to understand why your donors give and what causes are important to them.  Having a full glimpse of how a donor became connected to your organization, who they have a relationship with, and how to keep them engaged to your mission can be done with the right database. 

It is extremely important to make sure that not only do you have the right database but also make sure that you have the right database manager/coordinator.  The right database should be able to grow with the organization.  It should also be able to give analysis on the overall health of your organization's fundraising efforts.  The right database coordinator will make sure that useless information is not housed in the database.  "Garbage in, garbage out" and the manager/coordinator will not allow "garbage in". Keeping that in mind when hiring for this position, you have to make sure that the database coordinator is part of the donor relations team.  This person will help bring to life the information within the database.  This person should also feel extremely comfortable with interacting with donors, volunteers, etc.  This position is the link in helping to execute the right message to the right people.

Next, I will discuss different databases and how you can find the database that is right for your organization.