GiftWorks Takes the GuessWork out of Mailings May 15, 2012 By Ewlacasse

“Before we had GiftWorks, I relied on Jerry, my compassionate postmaster, to help me sort my mailings for bulk rates,” reports Mary O’Donnell,  President (and co-founder) of the Amyloidosis Foundation, a national nonprofit which works towards raising awareness of the disease, supports research through a grant program, and helps patients and their families. ( Amyloidosis is a disease that occurs when substances called abnormal proteins build up in your organs--the heart, kidneys, liver, spleen, nervous system and gastrointestinal tract—interfering with normal function.  Amyloidosis is rare --c. 3,000 patients diagnosed annually.) There is no cure, but many patients are able to manage their symptoms with medical treatment.  O’Donnell started the foundation in 2003, after her husband died of the disease.

“Initially with a small mailing list, the complications of bulk mail were not a problem, but as our list grew (it’s now 7,000), ordering and batching pieces for mailings became a nightmare.”  About three years ago, The Amyloidosis Foundation purchased GiftWorks, and the mailing function was a Godsend.

“The more we use GiftWorks, the more functions we discover; for example, we can now use codes to generate reports on how many responses there have been to a particular mailing, how much money raised, etc.”

“And I’ve just done reports with the new mapping, so we can see how many of our donors live within a 50 mile radius of our zip code---to measure whether there is enough of an audience to sponsor a Walk event.”

The Foundation operates on a shoestring—with three part-time staffers.  A new person will soon be hired to manage the database, freeing up Mary’s time for more educational and strategic programming—and providing someone to get the answers when the Development Director “needs to know.”  O’Donnell quips, “With GiftWorks we now have a handle on our core stuff (data, reports, mailings), and we’re looking forward to exploring the higher functions GiftWorks provides, once someone has the time to devote to making the most of our database!”

O’Donnell is anticipating two improvements that will come with the release of GiftWorks 2013:

• Greater integration with Constant Contact will synchronize mailing lists, donor profiles, subscription changes, and email bounces.
• A new tool to verify and cleanup donor addresses in GiftWorks.  This will help verify information, cleanup inconsistencies, and prevent the waste of money on improperly addressed letters.

Thanks, Mary, for sharing your GiftWorks experience with us!

 

Support Doubles the Value August 26, 2011 By Ewlacasse

“Sometimes I call 5 times a day, but usually about 5 times a month, depending on what I’m tackling!” jokes Kim Stutzman, Executive Director of the Clarke County Education Foundation (CCEF).  Who does she call when she gets stuck?

The GiftWorks Customer Care Team!

Because CCEF purchased the SmartPlan when they upgraded to GiftWorks 2011, Kim can utilize phone support every business day from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm (EST) in addition to free email assistance.

Clarke County, Virginia, is a small agricultural community of 13,000 in the northern tip of Virginia. An evolving culture and economy means that children no longer can-–or want to--assume a future on the farm.  To better prepare students for success, Clarke County schools have adopted an aggressive posture to help all the community’s children compete in today’s changing job market; not an easy task in a small rural community without substantial resources. To support major school projects and provide scholarships, parents and a local banker created the Clarke County Education Foundation (CCEF) in 1991.

When Kim transitioned from CCEF Board Member to the only paid employee about a year ago, donors files were managed manually or on spreadsheets.  Wanting more ways to “slice and dice” her existing donor records, Kim implemented GiftWorks. (She learned about GiftWorks at a conference for MidAtlantic Consortium of Education Foundations.)  With GiftWorks she can easily find a donor’s gift history or relationships.  She also uses the Pledge function to remind donors of the date they've chosen to make for  their annual gift.

In 2005, the Foundation led a Science Summit bringing together Clarke County high school students and Nobel laureates, professor, and politicians around the subject “Science and Creative Thinking.” The Foundation’s Dictionary Project puts a dictionary in the hands of every third grader in public and private schools in the county.  Other funds support:  Auditorium, Bridges, Science camps, playgrounds, BookFest, and athletic team grants.

Kim considers GiftWorks a significant contributor to the success of her organization. She states that the design is “professional and organized” and Customer Care makes GiftWorks even more enjoyable to use.

One of the processes she uses for the mailing for the annual October gala is zip code select. Rather than mail to a donor living in California (or someone else unlikely to attend), Lisa-–a GiftWorks Senior Customer Care Associate - helped Kim screen her general list for distant zip codes which eliminated wasted time, materials, and postage.

Kim also appreciates that GiftWorks allows her to personalize the many different types of communications she keeps in the Letter Library. She estimates that she has at least 18 different donor letters and 25 different donation letters.  She uses the appropriate letter to make specific references to scholarships, grants or projects of particular interest to the addressee.

She also called for help when she was unable to format her letters to fit appropriately on her letterhead.  Lisa provided instructions on how to format a template so that a new design isn’t required when board members change.  “This is a real cost-saver,” said Kim. With a color printer, the letterhead is created with the letter—eliminating the need for reams of preprinted stationery.

 "GiftWorks has been a significant tool for our nonprofit organization, says Kim.  "Having our database of donors and all the mailing and report functions at my fingertips has saved considerable time and money that can now be spent enhancing the Clarke County Public Schools."

Tear-Jerkers or Not? July 27, 2011 By Ewlacasse

Selecting a photo to represent your mission—in an ad, PSA, brochure, solicitation—is always a challenge.  There is the inclination to show the desperate conditions of the people you serve, the conditions you seek to change.  On the other hand, you’d like to show the results you can achieve with the donor’s help.  Which is it?

The Austin (TX) Humane Society, with the aid of their ad agency Door Number 3, recently reported  a measurable positive response when they dropped their grim spots about animal abuse and neglect  last year and replaced them with more cheerful messages focusing on lifelong bonds and emotional connections between owners and their pets.

They changed the tone of their website with humorous videos starring talking animals and an on-line game called “Trap Cat,” educating players about the charity’s efforts to spay and neuter feral cats.

Results have been impressive. By the end of 2010, the Austin Humane Society reported a 13-percent rise in contributions, not including bequests and other planned gifts, reports Amanda Ryan-Smith, director of development. During the first half of 2011, the upswing is maintaining: the charity’s 2010 year-end appeal based on the ad campaign’s approach generated $100,000, double the amount it had raised in 2009.

Increased giving has not been the only benefit of the new marketing strategy. Animal adoptions also increased last year and have continued to grow. From January through April of this year, for example, the humane society has placed 838 pets with new owners, up from 770 during the same months in 2010. What’s more, the charity doubled volunteer hours in 2010.

Perhaps the appeal of “desperate” depictions works in the short run with animal lovers.  It just may be that, in today’s world, hope and documented results are a better, and longer-lasting draw.  If you make such a change, be sure and document the results, and be sure to let us know!

GiftWorks’ Features Enhance Efforts for CoDevelopment Canada June 1, 2011 By Ewlacasse

“Right now, we’re testing a Mother’s Day appeal, and we can watch the results coming in daily,” Jen Kirk, Director of Development at CoDevelopment Canada (CoDev), reports as one of her favorite things about GiftWorks.  Beyond just maintaining the database, Jen finds that many of the features of GiftWorks give her important information that she needs, and with clarity.

When they are designing a campaign, they consider fundraising industry standards, what their campaigns usually generate, and set an expected rate of return for the new effort.  They can then evaluate the rate of return as it happens using the tools built into GiftWorks.

“Reports and Smart Lists functions make it easy for us to compare giving patterns with previous years and keep on top of any donors who, unexpectedly, do not respond,” Jen adds.  “Another advantage of GiftWorks is that it automatically uploads information to a donor’s file—when a mailing is sent, or a newsletter, or a receipt--giving us consistency in recordkeeping without having to go back and update donor files.”

CoDevelopment Canada is a not-for-profit that works for social change in Latin America and in Canada.  Since 1985, CoDev has been improving the lives of women, workers, and communities by linking groups in Canada with organizations in Latin America working for social justice.  Some of the global issues they tackle are protecting workers’ rights, improving public education, strengthening grassroots initiatives, and promoting fair trade. You can learn more about their work at www.codev.org

When you donate to CoDev,  you become a part of a group of caring individuals and organizations committed to global justice. CoDev is a membership based organization and has a monthly giving program called ‘Partners in Solidarity.’ In 2005, the CoDev Endowment Fund was launched in celebration of 20 years of building sustainable and equitable global development. A gift to the Endowment Fund, held at Vancity Foundation, plants the seeds for global justice and ensures a long-term legacy of growth for CoDev.

“Giftworks saves us time and gives us many options right at our fingertips so that we can steward our donors better,” Jen Kirk concludes.

The Winner of the "Tell Us Your Story" Contest - Michigan’s Student Mentor Partners January 27, 2011 By Steve Fafel

Student Mentor Partners (SMP) works with Detroit youth who are at-risk of dropping out of high school because of the impact of family poverty and because they have experienced difficulty managing the academic challenges of school.  SMP provides provide an adult mentor to help each student succeed in high school.  SMP partners with and provides partial tuition to quality private schools offering an alternative to the many failing public high schools in Detroit, and engages families and community resources on the student’s behalf.

 Support from our donors is a major factor for the success of our program.

“We knew we needed donor database software but we could not afford the big ticket software packages,” reports Sister Canice Johnson, RSM, Founding Member and Vice-President of Student Mentor Partners.  “Limping along using Excel spreadsheets to keep track of our donors, we found it difficult to generate the information we needed both for fund development and for our program with low-income youth. Imagine our surprise to find that the makers of GiftWorks understood the financial needs of nonprofit organizations?  When we learned of their commitment to providing a highly comprehensive package while keeping the cost low, we felt hope.”

Since importing our Excel spreadsheets to GiftWorks, we can easily access the information on current donors and add new donors as we connect with them. Using SmartLists to identify those targeted for any project, mailings are easy! Regular maintenance of the database is likewise simple and swift.

In our program, each student has a long-term mentor to increase the likelihood of success and readiness for college. In GiftWorks, we can easily match our mentors and their mentees. We can update reports of our students and the schools they attend. We also code our graduates and reconnect with them for “where are they now” success stories, for volunteer involvement and, once they graduate, for them to become donors themselves! 

GiftWorks is an asset in fund development, too. We can easily identify our major donors and foundation grantmakers—over the history of the organization or simply for the past fiscal year. We can match Sources (those who referred new donors) with those they introduced, making it easy for us to encourage the Sources’ ongoing fostering of their friends.

“We are delighted to have found GiftWorks. It makes our work less frustrating, more efficient, more productive—making us more effective in our commitment to youth who are needy both academically and financially. GiftWorks has been a great boon and a blessing to Student Mentor Partners!”

 

New SMP students gather outside partner school Bishop Foley during their week-long “How To Succeed in High School.

December nonprofit of the month: The Butters Canyon Conservancy December 3, 2010 By Mary Pat Donnellon

by Ellie LaCasse

The wild landscape and wildlife habitat of Butters Canyon were suddenly threatened by residential development. At the headwaters of Peralta Creek, which winds its way through various neighborhoods in Oakland, California, on its way to the San Francisco Bay, the canyon supports a wide variety of native plants and birds, as well as animals that traverse the canyon on their way between other open spaces.

A group of neighbors living along the rugged canyon formed the Butters Canyon Conservancy to preserve the canyon as a green riparian and wildlife corridor and to keep it accessible for hikers and bicyclists to enjoy. Over nine years, through donations and grants, they had already protected a number of properties.

"Without GiftWorks, it would have been nearly impossible to get an idea of historical donations from donors."

In 2007 the last land parcel—expensive, buildable, and right in the middle of the canyon—came up for sale for $225,000. Acquisition of this lot would be the keystone of the project.

Conservancy treasurer Paul Dries turned to the organization's GiftWorks database to identify major donors who might make be able to make this last purchase happen. “Without GiftWorks, it would have been nearly impossible to get an idea of historical donations from donors,” he reports.

Paul had installed GiftWorks in 2006 to manage the Conservancy's donor information—and completed a much-needed transfer of the group's donation records from a collection of Excel spreadsheets to a real donor database.

Now GiftWorks enabled the Conservancy to readily identify major donors and invite them to a few small events to raise the funds needed to make this last purchase and retire the conservancy's debt. Its first Celebrity Bartender and Silent Auction, held in 2009, featured newly elected Oakland mayor Jean Quan, while Monte Poole, a popular local sportswriter, awarded tickets to games of the Golden State Warriors and the Oakland Raiders. Poole was the celebrity bartender for the 2010 event, which attracted more exotic auction items—a South African safari trip, a getaway at a condo in Palm Springs—and netted three times the profit.

With the funds raised, the Butters Canyon Conservancy was able to purchase the final parcel of land.

Paul reports other ways in which GiftWorks is of value to the Conservancy. For example, tax preparation has been much easier since the arrival of GiftWorks.

The IRS requires an analysis of donors to determine the percentage of public support. With GiftWorks, the data is well-organized and easily accessible. I can recap 5 years of donations by individuals. The report writer and SmartLists help me list the donors who have given $5,000, identify contributors who have given more than a certain percentage of total contributions for the past year, and find other data that the IRS requires. Once I customize the reports I want, I can save them to use again next year.

Since all the directors of the organization are volunteers, they try to keep time commitment down by being as efficient as possible. Paul finds that GiftWorks is a key element in managing his volunteer time.

The Butters Canyon Conservancy’s work is not done. Future plans include working with creek preservationists, native plant and wildlife biologists, watershed specialists, and parks and recreation specialists to further interest in conservation of precious open spaces against the encroachment of development. They also seek grants for conservation, restoration, and mitigation on their precious ravine.

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Ellie LaCasse, a friend of GiftWorks, is officially retired from fundraising but is forever a community volunteer.

Improved productivity: A GiftWorks customer story December 1, 2010 By Mary Pat Donnellon

We thank Lauri Lee, director of institutional advancement for the Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island, for contributing this story.

The Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island educates pre-kindergarten through fifth grade students in millennia of Jewish tradition, knowledge, and values and provides comprehensive general education skills and tools. The school focuses on academic excellence in both general and Judaic studies, encouraging creativity and critical thinking in an atmosphere of Jewish ethics and morality. We emphasize mutual respect for deeply held differing beliefs and worldviews, while encouraging the equal participation of boys and girls in all aspects of the school’s intellectual and communal life.

Giftworks is affordable, dynamic, and easy to use.

Until we purchased GiftWorks in 2009, we were attempting to maintain our ever-changing database using Microsoft Access. Since we acquired GiftWorks, not only has our development and fundraising productivity increased, we have been able to keep track of considerably more data regarding our constituent base:  alumni, community members, and current families.

GiftWorks is both affordable and user-friendly, and it has enabled us to remain competitive in an increasingly difficult economy. We have a very small institutional advancement department (one person!), and without such a dynamic and easy-to-use program, we would not be able to generate the lists and mailings that we need in order to maintain contact with our constituents. Thank you!

Mission enhanced: A GiftWorks customer story November 23, 2010 By Mary Pat Donnellon

We thank Stephanie Brady of the Independent Living Center of Joplin, MO, for submitting this story.

The mission of the Independent Living Center of Joplin, MO, is to increase the independence of people with disabilities. In 2003, we began using GiftWorks to assist us in achieving our mission. Through GiftWorks, we have streamlined our donation programs; increased our ability to track donation requests; provided better follow-up regarding donations, pledges, and grants; and developed a better direct-mail campaign. All of these have helped us to increase our income while also increasing the efficiency of our donation programs.

We were faltering because we did not have the tools necessary to enhance our mission through effective donor management.

The Independent Living Center has been an independent, nonprofit organization assisting people with disabilities since 1995. From the time we opened our doors until we began using GiftWorks, we tracked donations using a basic Excel spreadsheet. We had no official process for tracking requests and no effective way to generate donor and prospective-donor mailings. We often did hand counts of donations received, and managing tax receipts was a cumbersome process. We rarely tracked in-kind donations, which are an important aspect of nonprofit revenue. Often we lost donors due to difficulties in tracking their donations or providing correct documentation for them to use on their taxes. We were unable to accept pledges because we did not have an effective way to ensure that the pledges were ever collected. We were faltering because we did not have the tools necessary to enhance our mission through effective donor management.

When we began researching donation databases, we were very impressed with all of the functions that GiftWorks could perform. When we took a tour of GiftWorks, the database was user friendly and met our general needs. But it was not until we began actively using the database that we truly understood how much easier our donation management would be with GiftWorks.

One of our favorite components of the database is the donor mailing section. With these mailing options, we can readily provide donation receipts, track our mailings, and customize letters to be used for future needs. The report options and tables are also very beneficial in helping us track our donor trends and areas in which we need to seek more funding. We use the reports to help our board of directors understand where we have been and where we are going with fund development. The management team has used these tools in developing long-range financial plans for the Independent Living Center.

I recommend GiftWorks wherever I go!

Due to growth in our organization, we also needed a more sophisticated way to track volunteers. After our success in using GiftWorks, we decided that GiftWorks Volunteers was the best investment for our volunteer program. We began using the program in July and are excited about how dynamic it is and how much information we can track using the system. It has freed up a great deal of our volunteer coordinator’s time, allowing her to focus more on the day-to-day needs of volunteers and the programs they support.

Using the GiftWorks database has greatly increased our capacity to receive and track more donations, helping us to further our mission. With additional resources (both cash and in-kind) we have been able to increase our services and have provided additional outreach to people with disabilities. I speak at conferences and meetings across Missouri and recommend GiftWorks wherever I go!

Organizational power: A GiftWorks customer story November 17, 2010 By Mary Pat Donnellon

We thank Sari Long, director of development for the Turkmenistan Youth and Civic Values Foundation, for contributing this story.

In 2005, six Peace Corps volunteers returned to the U.S. from two years of service in Turkmenistan and realized that their commitment to that country could not end with their homecoming. The following year, with no nonprofit experience, the group established the Turkmenistan Youth and Civic Values Foundation to help Turkmen students create a better future for themselves and their communities.

Through scholarships and grants for civil society projects, the foundation enables the positive development of a country with few resources. NGOs in Turkmenistan have a difficult time operating, so the foundation is one of just a handful of independent organizations investing in the country’s civic and democratic development.

Suddenly, the ability to track, segment, and acknowledge donations increased dramatically.

A year after its establishment, it became obvious that the foundation had outgrown the Excel spreadsheets and random emails it was using to keep track of donors, donations, and contacts. Though the annual budget of the foundation was tiny at the time, the board of directors decided to invest in GiftWorks.

Suddenly, the ability to track, segment, and acknowledge donations increased dramatically. Since the entire staff of the foundation worked on a volunteer basis, efficiency was paramount. With the ability to target donors and produce seamless, differentiated mailings, the foundation has grown dramatically and has become a pillar in the philanthropic efforts of Turkmenistan.

We now have a full-time executive director and a budget approximately twenty times what we started with, and we have positively impacted hundreds of lives in Turkmenistan. Without any reservation, our organization would attribute much of our growth and success to the organizational power provided by GiftWorks!

November nonprofit of the month: Renewal House of Danbury, CT November 10, 2010 By Mary Pat Donnellon

We thank David E. Lias, executive director of Renewal House, in Danbury, CT, for submitting this story.

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For the past 12 years, Renewal House has strived to save older homeless men and women in the Danbury, Connecticut, area from a life on the streets. The creation of the shelter was truly a grassroots effort. After the founder formed a board that incorporated Renewal House in 1993, it took five years of hard work before the first resident was admitted to the program.

Renewal House focuses on helping people as young at 58 who want to change their lives. There is no other facility in Connecticut offering transitional housing for older men and women. Over 90% of residents who have completed our two-year transitional counseling and housing program have maintained stable independent living afterward.

GiftWorks helps us to take advantage of opportunities to secure the funds needed for Renewal House to succeed and thrive, and it is easy to recommend to colleagues for a number of reasons:

• It has particularly intuitive operation for the user. This is especially important to Renewal House, which has only two employees to operate the agency.
• It demands minimal time for day-to-day maintenance of donor accounts.
• Functionally it rises to or even above the level of more expensive and elaborate database software.
• The GiftWorks team gives attention to helping nonprofits secure financial support by continuously offering how-to information through webinars, regular emails, and online discussions.

As Renewal House moves to web-based fundraising, we anticipate confidently taking advantage of additional services offered by GiftWorks.