Karen Schaller is enthusiastic about the GiftWorks User Group. A fundraising database consultant, she has discovered that participating in the group on LinkedIn can be like going to a conference: you can "take the opportunity to talk with your fellow fundraisers, uncover new heights to aspire to, explore possibilities that others have already worked out (no need to reinvent the wheel!), and find solutions to issues you haven't conquered," Karen explains.
Duke Speer of CorTech, which brings the strategic use of technology to fundraising professionals, is also a regular participant in User Group discussions. “The most interesting exchanges occur when a user raises a question and seven or eight others chime in with their ideas, experiences, disasters, connections," Duke says. "Everyone emerges with more insight, better strategic background, and refreshed enthusiasm--ready to take fundraising to the next level.”
The GiftWorks User Group on LinkedIn, open exclusively to GiftWorks customers, consultant partners, and staff, is now more than 1,500 members strong. It's a place where you can converse 24-7 about what’s working for you in GiftWorks and what’s not. Many use the group to find a quick answer to a technical problem that’s blocking their immediate progress. Others check in frequently and thrive on interactions and discussions that interest them. They get a sense of where others in the nonprofit world are focusing their time and where they are headed.
"Everyone emerges with more insight, better strategic background, and refreshed enthusiasm"
Many of us got our start in fundraising when someone gave us a little time to help us begin; the GiftWorks User Group is a place where we can pay that investment forward by sharing what we've learned with those who are not as far along the path. When many of us participate in this open and generous way, fundraising in general benefits from the dynamics of a healthy nonprofit community.
Despite the huge variety of missions represented in the group, all GiftWorks users share the same need to maximize the power of their database as the best tool for making their fundraising efficient and effective.
The User Group on LinkedIn complements the GiftWorks user manual and tech support services, Karen explains. It does more than tell you how to do something; "it can offer the best way, based on others' experiences." The group offers "an open line to others who may be using their GiftWorks database in ways you haven't even dreamed of yet."
And "the beauty about user groups,” says Karen, “is that access is limited to members who have been verified, so you know you’re among other professionals who share the same goals and challenges.”
Want to jump on the LinkedIn bandwagon? Sign up to join Karen Schaller, Duke Speer, and GiftWorks business development director Ellen Mowrer for a virtual lunch on Tuesday, June 15, from noon to 1:30 Eastern time. They will share tips and tricks on participating in the GiftWorks User Group, present a review of many of the questions and answers that appear there, and provide an opportunity to present your questions to the experts in real time.
Ellie LaCasse, a friend of GiftWorks, is officially retired from fundraising but is forever a community volunteer.
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