GiftWorks Stories May 27, 2009

Over the last few years, we have heard many stories about how GiftWorks has made a difference for all kinds of nonprofit organizations.  When we're as busy as we are, we sometimes neglect to share them with each other and with you.  So yesterday we started a contest for our customers where they can share their GiftWorks stories and perhaps win software for themselves and another organization they care about. 

Here is the very first entry in our contest.  It's a great story and I can't wait to read and share more. Thanks to our friends at World Medics in Loma Linda, California for responding so quickly and passionately!  Enjoy!

"Fundraising research tells us that there are three things that donors want from the charities they support-timely acknowledgment, assurance that their gift was used as they directed and knowledge that their gift made a difference. Giftworks makes it easy to do all three.  Small charities need efficiency just as much as large ones do. Efficient communication and timely responses to donors keeps them on board with their support.

Once the gift is made, Giftworks makes it easy to write donor thank you letters and issue charitable receipts. Because the core of Giftworks is the donor database creating mailing lists for newsletters and other communication is easy.

Even the accounting and bookkeeping that are essential to meet board and donor expectations as well as  the annual IRS 990 oversight reports can been integrated with Giftworks. The bottom line is that it doesn't take a huge executive staff and a bunch of accountants in cubicles to make even small 501 (c)(3) organization run smoothly.

World Medics operates with a small budget and several hundred donors. When the shift was made to Giftworks a volunteer took over a paid secretary/treasurer position saving several thousand dollars that had paid for a stipend. The money saved was used to support the purchase of food processing equipment for a school in Kenya, pay the salaries of several teachers in Thailand, buy a satellite dish for a school in Mozambique and subsidize the dental education for students in the Philippines among other projects. Money saved on administrative functions just made the organization better at helping people.

Donors give, the charity does what it says it will do. Only the charity knows that Giftworks makes it possible."

-Maynard Lowry, World Medics