GiftWorks on the Road: We'd Love to Meet You In Person! February 26, 2010 By Mary Pat Donnellon

In March and April we will be at several tradeshows and would really enjoy the opportunity to meet with as many current and future customers as possible!  We'd also love to connect with our current and potential consultant partners.

Here's where we'll be, please email us at info@missionresearch.com if you'll be there too, and we can plan to meet you in person!

March 10 and 11:  Mary Pat and Karen will be at the SCANPO (South Carolina Association of Nonprofit Organizations) 2010 Annual Conference in Hilton Head.

April 6: Mary Pat and Karen will be at the PANO (Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations) 2010 Annual Conference in Harrisburg.

April 8-10:  Mary Pat and Steve will be at NTEN (Nonprofit Technology Conference) in Atlanta.

April 11-13: Mary Pat, Ellen, and Karen will be at AFP International in Baltimore.  We are going to be hosting a little get-together one evening there - let us know if you'd like to be on our invite list!

We hope to see you soon!

Mission Research Wins Technology Award Friday February 15, 2010 By Mary Pat Donnellon

Mission Research, makers of GiftWorks, was proud to be a finalist as Technology Provider of the Year at the Pennsylvania TechQuest's 18th Annual Technology Awards Gala Friday night in Harrisburg, PA.  Techquest is all about keeping Pennsylvanis a "leader among states and nations in the deployment of advanced technology and the infrastructures and workforces that accomplish the same." 

We are proud to be among 3 finalists out of many nominees for Technology Provider of the Year, which is given to a company that enhances the strategic processes and/or operations of its customers and is recognized as a technology provider of choice.  Our flagship product, GiftWorks, is now used by more than 10,000 nonprofit organizations around the world, and we are thrilled to be recognized in our home state for our work.

Here's Dave Weaver, Mary Pat Donnellon (me), and Steve Fafel with our Technology Provider of the Year Finalist award!

Excellent Webinar on Building a Development Committee February 12, 2010 By Mary Pat Donnellon

Hundreds joined us yesterday for an extremely informative webinar on Building a Development Committee.  It was so good that I will forgive presenter Linda Lysakowski, AFCRE, for highlighting the warm, sunny weather in Nevada, as we here in Pennsylvania are still digging out from 3 feet of snow!

Linda shared with us how a board Development Committee can help a charitable organization in many critical ways that include:

• Helping to create a philanthropic culture in an organization
• Creating and implementing a fundraising plan
• Motivating and leading the board in fundraising
• Identifying, cultivating and soliciting donors
• Leveraging their connections and contacts for the benefit of the organization

She also reviewed the ideal structure of the development committee and the "job" requirements for committee members.  We would be happy to share Linda's powerpoint with you - please email us at info@missionresearch.com and we get it right out to you.

The GiftWorks team is committed to helping nonprofit organizations rise to the next level, through great software, of course, but also through these monthly webinars.

Next up on March 18:  Renowned author, speaker, and consultant Mal Warwick on How to Write Successful Fundraising Appeals.  You won't want to miss it, so register here today!:  https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/627683320

Another Client Story: Cat's Cradle February 11, 2010 By Mary Pat Donnellon

Earlier this week I reprinted a story from our February eNews letter highlighting the new-found efficiencies an organization found through GiftWorks.  Here, Cat's Cradle (also featured on our home page) talks about how they were able to quadruple their donor database through a dedication to growing it with consistent capture of information through all its outreach and then continuing to "slice and dice" that information to refine and acheive even more. 

GiftWorks Helps Cat's Cradle Quadruple its Donor Base; Donations Follow

Following the nationwide movement to spay/neuter the exploding population of cats and dogs, Cat's Cradle was founded in Harrisonburg, Virginia, in 1998, to provide no-kill alternatives for stray cats. Early efforts offered reduced-price sterilizations and vaccines to anyone who found a stray cat and was willing to keep it. Inevitably, Cat's Cradle found itself fostering cats and kittens and finding homes for them.

In 2001 the Board decided to focus on spay/neuter and Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR). Raising over $30,000 locally and through grants, they soon opened the Shenandoah Valley Spay Neuter Clinic which has the capacity to perform over 10,000 cat and dog surgeries a year. Cat's Cradle volunteers became adept at rescuing neglected and abandoned cats, getting them veterinary care, and finding homes for them.

With a slim staff (FT Director Josie Kinkade and 3 PTs) but a cadre of volunteers (who do 80% of the work), Cat's Cradle currently provides about 2,000 sterilizations a year and over 300 high-quality adoptions among their network of foster homes. As Director Josie tells it: "Back in 2005, a time we'll call "B.G." (Before GiftWorks), we considered it a great day when we made $400 at a yard sale or $300 at a chicken barbecue. We would fix a few cats, then stop and raise some money, then fix some more. Information was kept on a spreadsheet - lots of detail, but no way to get at it to use it creatively." 

"Before GiftWorks, we considered it a great day when we made $400 at a yard sale or $300 at a chicken barbecue."

To tackle this problem, in 2005, Josie researched available donor database software and selected GiftWorks. "It was a robust, easy-to-understand program with lots of features and flexibility, and affordable for our small operation."

With GiftWorks, Cat's Cradle manages direct mail, their eNews, and keeps track of donations and pledges. "Being able to "slice and dice" information in order to communicate effectively with donors and volunteers is the best part."

"Being able to "slice and dice" information in order to communicate effectively with donors and volunteers is the best part."

Josie continues, "Since 2005 (after Giftworks), our mailing list has gone from 1,800 to over 6,000. The average donation amount has nearly doubled, as have the number of donations over $1,000 and total donations.  Our yard sale in 2009 yielded $8,000.

But that's not the important part.  The important part is that, with the help of GiftWorks, Cat's Cradle has spayed and neutered thousands of cats and dogs in our community.  And the results are coming in — there's been a 15% drop in intake (and subsequent euthanasia) at local shelters since 2005!"

Josie concludes: "Aptly named, GiftWorks has helped us put our generous donors' gifts to work — saving lives."

Cat's Cradle's Website: www.catscradleva.org

Compelling Client Stories February 7, 2010 By Mary Pat Donnellon

We just published our February eNewsletter which had three compelling client stories.  I think they captured the essence of the transformation that GiftWorks can help inject into an organization. I am going to reprint them here this week just in case you're not on our email list or you zipped through your inbox before reading the whole enewsletter.  (You can get on the email list by subscribing here).

The story below emphasizes the efficiencies an organization gains by using the right software.  If a nonprofit spends hours or days on activities that really should take alot less, it might not be serving its mission as well as is could be.  If you could save 5 hours a week, or 1 whole day a week, what would you do with it? I suspect you would do alot...

Please comment if your organization has identified or implemented operational efficiencies that others may benefit from! 

Haiti: Emergency Aid and In It For the Long Term
In a critical time for its mission, Health and Education for Haiti is thankful for the efficiencies that GiftWorks has brought to their operation.

"This month Health and Education for Haiti has three medical teams operating in the Jeremie area of Haiti (approximately 100 miles west of Port-au-Prince)," reports Treasurer Richard P. Gustafson. Each team (consisting of 8-14 health care professionals — doctors, nurses, pharmacists) serves one week — providing basic medical care; in more challenging cases (requiring surgery or ongoing care), they refer patients to other providers in the region--and cover the costs of the patient's care.   

Since their organization relies so heavily on outside help, the GiftWorks Volunteers Add-in is especially valuable. "The ability to track all of our volunteers and their skill sets is critical.  Our medical mission coordinator can easily identify which doctors have gone on missions, their specialties, and our experiences with them.  It enables us to fill our missions, such as the current crisis, with the right providers at the right time," according to Gustafson.

Health and Education for Haiti was founded in 2008 to provide medical services, education, infrastructure, and basic needs to less privileged Haitian citizens. In many areas of Haiti, the only functioning organizations in the lives of the villagers are their local Catholic parishes; Health and Education for Haiti works with these parishes to provide better lives for Haiti's citizens.

Beyond the current crisis, Health and Education for Haiti works in four program areas: medical missions, education (sponsoring students and supporting teachers), infrastructure(communications, water, power), and basic needs (developing sustainable food and shelter). They work primarily in the Grande-Anse Department (province) in Haiti, which has historically been underserved by both the Haitian Government and International Non-Government Organizations (NGOs).

Donations are received online and elsewhere — and 100% of donated funds goes directly to the services in Haiti. The Board itself underwrites all of their fundraising, general, and administrative expenses.

Health and Education for Haiti has used GiftWorks software for about eight months; "it's really helped us to improve our focus on mission delivery.  The software has reduced the administrative tasks around our fundraising.  The integration between GiftWorks and QuickBooks has enabled us to enter information once and have it appear everywhere we need it. ("Before using GiftWorks we had to enter our donor information into QuickBooks and Excel [for mail merge], and also enter the donation information into QuickBooks and Word [for receipts and thank you letters].) Now we are able to enter all of this information once into GiftWorks, and it manages all the other activities for us."

For more information or to donate to Health and Education for Haiti, visit http://site.hehonline.org. 

 

Newest Endorsement: Alabama Association of Nonprofits February 3, 2010 By Mary Pat Donnellon

The GiftWorks Team is proud to announce our newest endorsement and partnership with the Alabama Association of Nonprofits!  This is the 14th state nonprofit association to partner with GiftWorks to bring simple, powerful (and affordable!) fundraising software to its membership.  We welcome the Alabama Association and all Alabama nonprofit organizations into our fun, knowledgeable, and ever-growing community.  

Let me once again encourage our US readers to join your state nonprofit association or the National  Council of Nonprofits.  The nonprofit sector speaks louder and more forcefully when it speaks together, and these association are true advocates for the sector in many, many ways.  Never has it been more important for nonprofits to stick together and work together. Joining provides significant benefits too - well, just check out Alabama Association of Nonprofits website to get an idea of the value a membership provides.