Category

Donor Database

Jun 29
0

Salesforce Tip: Entering Non-Standard Donations

By | Donor Database, Operations and Development, Volunteer Management

Not all the donations your organization relies upon come in the form of cash, check or credit card.  In-kind donations can be essential, whether they come in the form of donated office equipment or auction items to raise money at an event.  Donors will often declare the value of their item, but you may want to track and report on these donations differently than cash.

To facilitate reporting, we recommend creating a distinct record type for In-Kind Donations on the Opportunity object.  Include a custom field called “Estimated Value” so that you can reserve the “Amount” field for monetary donations.

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Jun 16
0

Salesforce Tip: Tracking Board and Committee Members in Salesforce

By | Donor Database, Volunteer Management

As the Director of a non-profit agency, the most important relationship you have is with your board of directors.  Board members are often your “super-donors”: they give their money, they give their time, and they give their connections to help you pursue other funding opportunities.  You want to keep careful track of board members present and past.

501Partners recommends two primary ways to keep your list of board members up to date.  One involves Affiliations and the other Campaigns.  Each has their particular strengths so you can choose on the basis of how your particular board is constituted and how they participate in the life of your organization.

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Aug 30
0

Raise Money Online – NOW!

By | Donor Database, Nonprofit Tech
Boyce-Beatboxing1

Dave Boyce getting the Social Media for Nonprofits crowd bouncing to the beat

At a recent Social Media for Nonprofits seminar, I learned how small nonprofits across the world are raising millions of dollars.  In fact, according to Fundly CEO Dave Boyce, online fundraising totaled $30 billion last year and will grow an additional $10 billion this year.  Fundly has raised approximately $280 million for nonprofits across 25,000 campaigns.

So, who gets online donations?  “People who ask for it,” according to Boyce.  He suggests a  simple step-by-step approach.

  1. Launch.   Don’t aim for perfection and you really don’t learn anything until you launch.
  2. Choose an achievable amount.  Donors like to hit goals.
  3. Be specific. Tell donors the exact purpose for the money, the amount needed and the time frame (< 3 months).
  4. Set giving levels such as “feed a family for a day” or “feed a family for a month”.
  5. Share your story – what compels donors to give through you?
  6. Launch with email blasts, Tweets, Facebook postings, etc.
  7. Keep communicating:  email weekly – just 2-4 lines; post to Facebook daily; Twitter a lot.
  8. Recruit help – board members, volunteers, partners, celebrity endorsers and ask them to ask their followers to participate.
  9. Celebrate!  Let your followers and supporters know when you get your first donation, when you reach $1,000. etc.  The point is to celebrate early and often.

Dave saved the best for last when he regaled the crowd with a stirring Beatbox.  I wish I had set my iPad to video!