By Kevin Martone, GIJP Technology Program Manager
 
The GIJP Technology Program Team has worked with GIJP Mentor David Sharken to develop recommended changes to an organization’s Donor Management System (DMS) to effectively track and report on Legacy Program prospects, pledges, and gifts. The resulting document includes general recommendations that can be used for any DMS, as well as specific changes for those camps using DonorPerfect Online (DPO). Download the document now…

But there are many more ways organizations can fully leverage their DMS to make their work more efficient and effective. A few are described in this article: Customize, Store, Integrate, and Improve.

Customize it!

Years from now, do you plan to be in close contact with your donors? Will you be able to send a birthday card to each of your Legacy donors…for the rest of their lives? Be sure your stewardship of Legacy and other major gift donors sticks – by making your DMS work for you.

Most DMS allow users to add new fields, create new reports and queries/filters, and modify the values available in existing fields. The changes in the Legacy Program Technology Support document mentioned above are all customizations to the existing functionality. Is there data about your alumni you’d like to be able to report on? Do you want to be able to compare donations given to this year’s annual fund vs. last year’s fund? Are there reports that your Board is requesting that don’t currently exist in your system? If so, you may be able to customize your system to meet your needs. First step? Define your requirements so that any changes you make will help you meet your needs.

Store It!

Have you ever found yourself searching frantically for a major donor or Legacy pledge card? Need quick access to a copy of a personalized thank you note that was sent to an important donor? You may want to consider adding file storage functionality to your DMS.

The base version of many DMS do not have any file storage capabilities. However, some offer user’s the ability to purchase a new add-on that will allow them to store files with each constituent in the database. For example, Herzl Camp recently purchased the file storage add-on to their DPO system. It has been extremely helpful to them, mainly because they first determined specific requirements the add-on could help them meet:

1) Track all major gift pledge cards received (and copies of large gift checks)  in an organized way (their auditors request these cards)

2) Be able to access a copy of these files from any computer (since DPO is a hosted solution)

3) Keep important files in an easy to locate place in case there is staff turnover

Holly Guncheon, the Development Director at Herzl Camp, added that this service (which costs an additional $20/month with DPO) gives her piece of mind that the files are available where and when they need it.

Integrate it!

Do you struggle with managing multiple databases of similar data: camper registration, donor management, bookkeeping, alumni databases, etc.?  Some DMS allow you to integrate with other databases to reduce manual double-entry of data.

For example, DPO has an add-on to allow users to integrate their DPO system with Quickbooks. For an extra monthly fee, donations can be entered in only one place, but still tracked in both DPO and Quickbooks. This ensures fewer data entry errors and accurate financial reports in both systems.

Unfortunately there is no simple integration of data from various camper registration system with DPO at this time. However, check with your DMS provider: other vendors might have developed add-ons to integrate camper registration systems or other databases with your DMS.

Improve it!

Does your DMS frustrate you more often than making your work easier? Do you ever think, “This system MUST be able to do this!” but can’t figure out how to do it? There are other ways to improve your DMS (adding integrated online giving or prospect research functionality, for example), but the most important is training.

Take the time to master your DMS. We recommend regular refresher training to make sure you are taking advantage of the functionality available in your DMS. Consider your needs (how can the technology support your business processes?) and ask your vendor to cater the training to exactly what you want to accomplish. For our DPO users, don’t forget that Joe and Kevin can help you learn the functionality of your system as well.

Congratulations to the following individuals who will participate in our first GIFT (Grinspoon Institute Fundraiser’s Training) program. With so many applications this select group will pave the way with breakthrough projects that will inspire a new level of philanthropy and fundraising in their camps. Course work begins April 7th, 2010 with graduation scheduled for April of next year.

 by Jill Paul and Julia Riseman

In today’s tough economy for fundraising, individual Board members can no longer sit on the sidelines assuming someone else on the Board or staff is working on raising funds for their camp.  Every Board member can make a real impact on the camps’ ability to raise meaningful, significant gifts to camp, even if they never directly ask for a gift themselves.  This article provides the top ten ways that every Board member can actively support fundraising (and only one of them is “asking”). 

10. Thank: Help write thank you notes to donors.  Send thank you emails. Make thank you calls.  You’ll be surprised by how much a personal, heartfelt “thank you” from a Board member means to a donor, since you’re not paid to say “Thank you.” Nothing is more important to future giving than thoughtful, timely recognition and real gratitude. 

9.  Show-up: Become an ambassador by attending camp events and reunions, and represent the camp as a Board member. Talk with people you don’t know.  Better yet, be willing to take a special list of two or three names of people to connect with at events.  Keep in mind three things the camp is doing this summer and share it with the people you meet.

8. Listen: Really listen to everyone who has a connection to camp, and find out why Jewish camping is important to them. Ask questions that help them see what is so valuable about camp in their lives today, listen to what people are passionate about, and learn what inspires them about camp. People remember what they said more than what they hear, so the better you are at listening and encouraging others to talk about camp, the better the results for fundraising.

7. Learn: …about fundraising. The lingo can be confusing… “Prospects”, “Cultivate”, “Steward”, “Campaign”, “LYBUNTS”, “Gift Pyramid”, “Annual Fund” ….what does it all mean?  The more you learn about fundraising and Jewish Philanthropy in general, the more comfortable you will be with your role in raising funds for camp.  Join eJewishPhilanthropy’s email newsletter if you haven’t already done so. Make sure you read the Grinspoon Institute’s monthly eNewsletter as well.
 
6. Tell your story: Tell the story of what makes camp so special – don’t take it for granted that everyone knows or remembers. Share your story of how camp touched your life or your children’s lives, and why you now support camp. Telling your story will inspire others. Write your story down for a newsletter.  Invite friends over for coffee and dessert to talk about the benefits of Jewish camp, and let them tell their camp stories, too. 

5. Lead: As a Board member, you hold the highest leadership role in the organization.  You provide camp with a clear future direction by ensuring that a strategic plan is in place.  Use the strategic plan as a governing tool to work on and resolve difficult problems that might be of concern to donors.  When a Board consistently focuses on the camp’s mission, actively works on resolving problems, plans for the future, and communicates a shared vision, it truly inspires the confidence of donors.

4. Give:  Make your own meaningful, significant gift to camp and consider a Legacy pledge.  Share your story of your giving with the rest of the Board, and explain the need for 100% participation of the Board in giving. Seek different opportunities to give in-kind resources or services (computer equipment, office supplies, transportation, furniture, professional services, etc.).  Give generously of your time on the Board, on committees, attending camp events, and volunteering.  Try this: in addition to your annual gift, ask the camp professional staff what is most wanted but currently unfunded, and fulfill an unmet need at camp.  Seeing the impact of all your gifts (time, talent, and treasure) is a wonderful, rewarding, and deeply satisfying experience.

3. Volunteer: Support the camp staff in the “behind the scenes” work of fundraising by volunteering to help organize events, solicit auction items, write notes on donor solicitation letters, serve on the fundraising committee, help host donor visits to camp, provide tech help for the Facebook Page, track down long-lost Alumni, edit newsletters, and so on.  Find out where you are needed and where you can make the biggest difference in support of fundraising…then get involved.

2. Share: In a confidential setting, review a list of donors and/or potential donors, and share what you know about them and their interest in supporting camps now or in the future.  Make sure the information is incorporated in the camp’s donor database. If you know someone well, offer to set up a meeting to talk about camp.  You are an important bridge between an impersonal database and a human connection and relationship to a donor. You can help identify with whom camp should plan on reaching out to and re-connect.

1. Ask: INVITE someone to JOIN you in supporting camp.  As you (and your fellow Board members) are actively participating in numbers 10 through 2 above, the last step, “asking,” is really transformed into a personal invitation, as in: “Would you consider joining me in making a meaningful and lasting gift to Camp ABC at this time?”   With careful planning, asking isn’t as hard as you might think.

Every Board member has an important role to play in supporting fundraising, and Jewish camp is depending on your special leadership to make fundraising strong and successful. Please let us know if you agree with this TOP TEN list, or if you have other ideas to add. Tell us what you are inspired to try after reading this list.  We would love to hear your ideas and learn from personal experience as a Board member.