Why Fundraising Software?

Many groups devise ways of keeping track of their donors using Access or Excel. See this article for eight ways to know when it’s time to invest in an off-the-shelf fundraising software program: How to know if you've outgrown a program like Microsoft^® Access or Excel.

Other organizations may be trying to maintain their donor relations with QuickBooks^®. See this article to understand the limitations of accounting software when used to replace donor management software: What Are the Limits of QuickBooks^® For Your Donor Management.

Fundraising software (more properly called "donor management software") helps you keep track of your donors and prospective donors and all the information associated with them, including contribution data. It helps you manage your donors by dealing with routine correspondence chores, and helps you manage your fundraising activities with a variety of reports.

Developing relationships with your donors is central to all fundraising efforts. Regular contacts that convey the importance of your mission through stories that touch your donors hearts or incite their passion keep the donations coming in. It takes a human to truly connect with another, but good software simplifies the mechanics of the process so that you can focus on what you do best.

Most organizations find that using a donor management program increases donations and reduces costs, while reducing stress and frustration. Here's how:

• Organized data maintenance: all donor information (name, address, phone, etc) and giving history, plus notes about a person is in one place, which is easily accessed. In addition, you keep track of which mailings the donor has received, what events she attended, why he gives to your organization, and lots more. Pretty much any data you can think of gathering, you can and should keep in this program.
• Increase your level of fundraising with less time and aggravation: Whether it's simply automating the printing of thank you letters, tracking the effectiveness of 4 different variations of a mailing, or implementing a new membership program, donor management software will make it possible.
• Increase your productivity: Reports that track each fundraising activity (appeals letter, newsletter, event, etc) and show you just what works and what doesn't will impress your Board of Directors, and give you the information you need to make improvements. Tracking volunteer efforts, board member visitations to major donors, printing lists of donors and phone numbers for a phonathon . . . the ways a donor management program can help are limited only by your imagination!

Any donor management program should be able to help with each of the following:

• record-keeping
• letter-writing
• sorting donors into groups
• reports
• Ideally, there should be a growth path so that you are not stranded at a later date with a program that you have outgrown.

So, now that you know what donor management software can do for you, why should you choose a FundRaiser program?

 

Which One Do I Need?

The task of finding new fundraising software can be a daunting one; even for seasoned fundraising professionals. The purpose of this page is to help clarify some of the differences between our three programs: FundRaiser Basic, Select, and Professional, and to help you determine which one might be the best fit for your organization.

Keep in mind that there are many resources available to you on this website that will help you with your evaluation process. Our Sales Team can also be very helpful in determining which program will suit your needs best, and FundRaiser Support is always available to help you with your technical questions.

A common misconception about donor management software is that the bigger your donor list is, the bigger the program you will need to manage it. This is not necessarily the case - we have organizations with fewer than 500 donors using FundRaiser Professional, and others with lists of over 20,000 donors who are quite happy with FundRaiser Basic... and everything in between.

There are three main factors that you should consider as you begin evaluating fundraising software:

1. The ways in which you communicate with your donors. For example: direct mail, email, or personal telephone calls.
2. The different methods of donations you accept. For example: Pledges, Tributes, Split Gifts, Soft Credits, Memberships, etc.
3. The information you would like to track about your donors. For example: correspondence, giving patterns, events they have attended, interests, etc.

If you aren't sure that you even need donor management software at this point, you may want to start with a discussion of the primary functions of donor management software, and what each of the FundRaiser programs can do in those areas.

Keep in mind, we are the FundRaiser Family. FundRaiser Software makes it easy to upgrade from one level to another. You never lose any time or money when you do, so there's no harm in starting small now.

Here are some links to pages that will help you with the process of determining where to start your evaluation:

• Start with the "If you do this, then you need...." list.
• Differences between FundRaiser Basic and Select will give you a better idea of the main differences between the two programs.
• Differences between FundRaiser Select and Professional completes the tour with a list of differences between our two upper-level programs.
• Looking for one specific feature? Check out our comparison chart of features.
• Want to give each program a trial run? Ask for a free brochure and demo cd.

Finally, talk to us. We encourage you to speak with Sales and Support about your requirements and goals for your organization before making any purchase decisions.

 

Comparison Chart

FundRaiser Family Comparison Chart

Features/Products
Feature
Recommended Max Donors	50,000	Unlimited	Unlimited
Unlimited Gifts Per Donor
Printed Correspondence
Batch Printing of Thank-You Letters
Print Labels and Envelopes
Target Mailings
Simple Reports
Donation Report
Deposit Report
Built-In Reports	Three	15-48	49
Print End-Of-Year Letters
Integrated Word Processor
Import Feature
Segment Donors	Two Codes per Donor	Unlimited Donor Codes	Unlimited Donor Codes
Segment Donations	One Code per Gift	Five Codes Per Gift	Seven Codes Per Gift
Code Management
International Features
Export Capability
Customization
Duplicate Checking
Canadian User Features
Backup System	Not Automatic
Alternate Addresses		Unlimited	Unlimited
Project Management
Multi-User Capability
Contact Management
Email Correspondence
In-Kind Donations
Bulk Mail Features
Password Protected Access
Recurring Donations
User-Defined Spare Fields		Three
Event Tracking
Pledge Tracking		Optional feature
Volunteer Management		Optional feature
Membership Management		Optional feature
Tributes Management		Optional feature
QuickBooks Integration		Third-party Integration	Third-party Integration
Wintix Integration		Third-party Integration	Third-party Integration
Online Donations		Optional; Requires Credit Card Processor	Requires Credit Card Processor
Star Donor Integration		Third-party Integration	Third-party Integration
Premiums Management		Optional feature
Phonathon Management		Optional feature
Donor Portal		Optional feature	Optional feature
Online Volunteer Sign-Up		Optional feature	Optional feature
Complete Campaign Management
Soft Credits
Split Donations
Relationship Tracking
Rapid Gift Entry
Unlimited User Defined Spare Fields
Matrix Report
Pricing
Single-User Version	$149-$179	$1200+	$3500+
Optional Modules	N/A	$300-$500	Included
Multi-User (up to five)	N/A	$500	$1000
Client/Server (add'l users)	N/A	See Pricing	See Pricing

Case Studies

Is donor management software right for you? Will it solve the particular problems facing your organization? The following case studies cover a wide variety of organizations and fundraising activities, and show how many of the features of FundRaiser work in real life situations.

If you are already a FundRaiser user, we hope you'll find inspiration and tips in these stories of other users.