GiftWorks: Nonprofit Fundraising Software

End of Year: Planning for 2008

My wife and I had a really great break for our first Christmas--we saw lots of friends and family, had a lot of fun shopping in downtown Lancaster (buy local!), and ate an inappropriate amount of rich food. But I tend to think about Mission Research even on breaks, and have been working on the 2008 plan in my head, on paper, and on the computer.

Planning for 2008 has been both challenging and exciting. It's challenging because we have so much we need to do, plus the things we'd really like to do but can't. It's exciting because the process of planning has led me back to the origins of the business, and I've been thinking a lot about our values, vision, and original goals, and the gap between that and reality. The planning should help close that gap, and shape the vision for the future.

Our planning process is led by me but it will be a group process spanning several weeks. We have a general plan & goals--shipping a significant upgrade, releasing an exciting new product, and improving every part of the company--but in the process we've learned we should change the way we do some things, the way we measure our efforts, and the way we plan and execute. It's not easy work, but it's worthwhile.

Do you have a 2008 plan? How do you go about planning? For me, it's this: review mission, values, and long-term goals, and use that to inform determining 2008 goals, the plans to get there, and the resources and roles needed to support the plans (we have multiple departments, whose plans will work together for the master plan).

We'll also look at communications, work environment, professional development, etc and weave those into the larger plans. It sounds like a lot but with focus the outcome should be solid and fairly simple.

Wish me luck, and let me about your planning process!

The Christmas Break

Mission Research closes down for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, and New Year's day. The online store is available, but support and sales phones and email are not monitored during these days.

The company will be open the 26th through the 28th, then again on January 2nd, 2008. We're looking forward to serving you for yet another great year!

2008 will bring new products, upgrades, and some exciting learning opportunities. Keep in touch, and stay safe over the holidays. We truly appreciate your business, your feedback, and the good that you do in the world. It bring sall of us at Mission Research tremendous joy and satisfaction to be part of enabling you to serve your mission better.

Thank you for all you do.

Charlie Crystle
CEO & Co-founder
Mission Research

Be Thank-Full

Sometime over that week between Christmas and New Years when you, dear fundraiser, are hard at work, recording those wonderful year-end gifts, I hope you take time to do that one thing. I hope you will pick up the phone and call the ten donors who made you smile this year, who made your heart leap, who made you once again understand in your gut just how critical your mission is to those depending on it.

You aim is to share from the heart your appreciation of their uncommon gift that went well beyond the sharing of resources. What they did for you is affirm the rightness of your commitment to the mission...and the myriad choices, compromises, and maybe even sacrifices you and your family made for you to be free to pursue this vocation of the heart. Tose donor deserve to understand the value of their uncommon gift by having returned to them a similar uncommon acknowledgment. Stewardship can rarely be sweeter.

Let's always celebrate donors of the spirit.

Help Your Donors

I know I’ve blogged about this now what seems like years ago but this issue has surfaced again.

In case you missed it, the IRS has tightened donor documentation requirements effective for all 2007 donations. Basically, they’re saying a donor’s records are no longer sufficient for documentation. Bank records or a receipt or letter from the nonprofit are the only acceptable documentations. So that means your donor’s donation list, checkbook register, MasterCard bill or Quicken/Money report is not going to cut it.

Here’s how can you help. After New Years, consider sending each 2007 donor a summary report of their giving for the 2007. GiftWorks makes that very easy. Just pull SmartList of all 2007 donations and Send Mail for these donations using a letter template with the donation table field inserted and…bingo…that’s it. With appropriate language around the donation table citing your concern for donor convenience and your deep appreciation for their commitment to the mission, you’ve provided a handy chart documenting their 2007 giving to you. You’ve also taken a nice first step toward cultivating your donors for 2008.

And Thank You for supporting us this year!

Ho Ho Ho!

With the holidays approaching, I've been thinking about how I can make a significant impact on the small nonprofits I track and support. I support them because I believe in what they are trying to achieve and, frankly, I admire the commitment of the people running them. These folks, often healing their own pain, struggle to help others In the face of so many challenges. I am blessed to be able to help them.

This year, though, I think its time for me to step up. If you 've been reading this blog, you know I'm a fan of GiftWorks, obviously. But what may not be obvious is I come to this position because I know in my heart...and by sad experience...what happens in organizations that don't have good tools. So this year I'm going to "gift" GiftWorks to one of my favorite struggling nonprofits.

Why? This strategic gift can produce benefits far into the future by giving these hard-working folks better tools, more time and so many more possibilities to educate and build community, communicate and connect, and solicit and raise more money. I see this as a vote of confidence in their dream.

So, what nonprofit can you reach out to give a hand up...one that will pay dividends day upon day well into the future? Consider helping your favorite struggling (or even just struggling with technology) nonprofit. For you, it might be your local neighborhood clinic, the volunteer fire company or that church down the street with a heart for outreach.

So join me and make a special gift of GiftWorks for impact this holiday season! Let's create change on a bigger scale!

Finding Purpose

In a recent Nonprofit Eye post, titled Nonprofit Job Hunting, author Pam Ashland lists out twenty links to quality websites that offer nonprofit job opportunities. This is a stellar list of job-hunter's tools

Why have I turned my discourse from the easy to learn and use GiftWorks fundraising solution to this everpresent topic? It is in recognition of the sad state of nonprofit employment, particularly with regard to fundraisers. Fundraising staff turnover is down, at last report, to averaging 18 months tenure. My sense is that this is a direct reflection of the unreasonable expectations placed on fundraisres by boards who do not understand fundraising. So educating boards remains a high priority for so many fundraisers.

But I write for other reasons. For example, because there are so many employed in the npo sector as the "minority" wage earner. We all know the drill: When the primary breadwinner moves so must the minority member. And now we are seeing an emerging movement of aging baby boomers, in or near retirement, and seeing npo work as the way they'd like to do more and do it for "right" purposes. For these I recommend Pam's list.

May you all find the mission and engagement, as professionals or volunteers, that feeds your heart and graces your soul.