Fundraising Software Blog : Fundraising CRM News from DonorPerfect

The Truth about Email Usage for Non-Profits

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Biedermann) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:23:00 +0000

It seems painfully clear that non profit organizations should use email as a way to communicate to their donors, right? So what would you guess is the percentage that non-profits primarily use email to communicate to their constituents? 75%? 50% ? 20%? (Or if you are in the more optimistic crowd, 95%?)

The fact of the matter is that it's tiny. Our own research suggests that only 10-20% of non profits track emails for their donors on any regular basis. Most non profits only use email for their core constituents- staff, board members, and volunteers. Donors are entirely a separate animal.

If I were to guess, the average email list for an average small non profit would be ~1000 for an active email organization (ones in the 10-20% category above), and only about 100 email addresses or less in the second category.

The real problem facing non profits is actually not sending email, it's collecting them AND keeping them up to date. That's hard and takes real effort- staff resources- which most people think would be better staff on mission related activities (though one could certainly argue that collecting email for communication purposes is VERY mission related).

What's your experience? Does your non profit primarily use email to reach out to ALL of their constituents or just a fraction?

Fundraising IS Rocket Science...

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Biedermann) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:32:00 +0000

My last blog post seemed to generate a lot of buzz (well, not in the comments yet) but in the emails I received from some other fundraising industry insiders.

Though we are in challenging times, it's important to stay focused on the bigger picture. At DonorPerfect, we're focusing our energy helping our clients retain the donors that they have. While average donation amounts are declining, it's critical to keep and retain donors for the long term.

As a result, as a company we've actually seen a great increase in business in the last part of the year as non-profits are struggling with ways to raise funds or simply keep their funding the same. After all, while the results were down across the spectrum, there was still a large group - 40% - that actually grew their fundraising last year.

Fundraising is hard. It really is rocket science. You would never try to build a rocket ship without the right tools and materials, so why limp along with the equivalent of hammer and chisel with Excel or Microsoft Access? It doesn't make sense.

In other news, my partner and colleague, Doug Schoenberg, recently blogged how cell phone fundraising is effecting the Haiti relief efforts.

Overall, I think cell phone fundraising is great- for the right organization. Unfortunately, people may jump to the conclusion that they need to start fundraising via cell phones, when in reality their chances of success are actually quite small.

Consider this:

The maximum cell phone donation is $10. The average online gift is $120.00. That means you roughly need 12 times (1,200%!) more donors to give via cell phone simply to make up the huge loss in the average donation amount. Can you realistically see your donor base grow 12 times? It's not likely. Your resources will be more effective if applied elsewhere in your organization.

Before people start drinking from the mobile giving kool-aid drinking fountain, they really need to make sure they have their best practices established. Creating and maintaining a direct mail program, on-line giving, major donors, newsletters, annual program, special events, capital campaigns, etc., all take a good deal of time and effort. To date, all of these fundraising techniques will be much more effective than mobile giving and should be considered first and foremost as the best bang for your buck.

2010 - Light at the End of the Tunnel?

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Biedermann) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:44:00 +0000

Now that 2009 is in the books and our clients have had a chance to enter all of their data for December, it's time to review the fundraising results for the year. It's not pretty.

2009 will likely be the worst year-over-year performance in the non-profit sector since 1956- the year the Giving USA Foundation first began publishing annual reports of philanthropy in the USA.

Because DonorPerfect is a SaaS (Software as a Service) based CRM fundraising software solution, we are able to aggregate the fundraising results of all of our clients. In a sample size of 468 clients that have been using our software for at least 3 years, giving in 2009 dropped 10.77% vs. 2008.*

The bad news doesn't stop there unfortunately- the average gift for this same group of clients dropped from $530.68 in 2008 to $475.94 in 2009, a 10.3% decline. (Note: this includes all gifts- direct mail, major donors, pledge payments, on-line, etc.) The average on-line gift amount collected through our web based giving solutions, WebLink and DonorPages, also declined 12.3%, from $139.17 in 2008 to $122.12 in 2009.

However, as this post is titled, there is some good news, and it could be the light at the end of the tunnel.

In the holiday period (November and December 2009), giving actually increased by 2% over the same period in 2008. In addition, on-line giving increased nearly 65% for all of 2009 vs. 2008.

What does all of this mean?

First of all, if you are in the group that raised more in 2009 vs. 2008 (and that is still nearly40% of you) - congratulations! You are well ahead of your peers. If you dropped some but less than 10%, you're still doing well compared to the average. Finally, if you dropped more than 11%, now is not the time to panic. Similar to all financial trends, fundraising goes in cycles, and this one is no different.

The key to maintaining your results is still the same this year as in the past- retain, retain, and retain your donors. One of the worst things to do is to 'give your donors a rest' or cut your fundraising expenses. Such thinking will quickly turn loyal donors into lapsed donors, and the end result will be MUCH less revenue, especially now since you need it the most! Worse, your results will geometrically suffer in the coming months as donors who are 'resting' lose interest in your organization and give elsewhere.

So, stick to the fundamentals, and maintain your mailing/solicitation frequency. The giving climate will turn around and things will get better- it's inevitable!

* Note: Results based on a sample size of 468 clients using DonorPerfect Online for at least 3 years, raising at least $10,000/year/client. Total raised was $763,047,713.86 in 2008 vs. $688,871,107.30 in 2009 , or a 10.77% decline in fundraising gifts. Totals include all payments and gifts-in-kind.

Update! New Website, New Version!

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Biedermann) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:52:00 +0000

If you're reading this now, then chances are you took notice of our brand new website launch!!!

While we've always been proud of the information we provided on fundraising software on our old website, it was clear that we needed to redo everything and give DonorPerfect a new look moving forward.

The website is part of a new wave in design for DonorPerfect. For the past 25 years, we want to make sure that ALL of our software, including our website, takes the latest and greatest technology to make it easier for our clients to fulfill their mission. The website and our new client area will make it easy for non profit organizations to understand and realize the benefits of professional fundraising software.

But we're not just talking about our web site either! Several weeks ago we launched our latest release of DonorPerfect Online! Updated with a completely new look and feel, DonorPerfect Online has now set the standard for what easy to use online fundraising software should look like. Personally, I think it makes Apple look uncool, but I'll plainly admit I'm a bit prejudice and you can judge for yourself:

The DonorPerfect Online Dashboard. Menu items are now organized at the
top of the screen, and client resources are available in the lower left.

A Sample Constituent/Donor record. Actions, such as attaching a file or viewing an
information sheet are logically grouped together at the top of the screen.

Whether or not it's 'Apple' cool, I think it's crystal clear that the new version and new website will make it easier for non profit organizations to raise more money and save valuable time to focus on their mission.

If you haven't seen the new version, try DonorPerfect today!

NCDC, Inc. 500

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Biedermann) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 16:37:00 +0000

The summer goes by pretty quickly, and with Fall just around the corner, the start of fundraising conference season kicks in again.

This season we kicked it off with another visit to the National Catholic Development Conference, held in Crystal City, VA. The conference was very well attended, and it was great to see everyone again and also some new faces.

As you may have been noticing on the recent Twitter feed, we'll be announcing some news- and we were able to share that with the attendees at this year's conference. October 6th is the date, and the newest release of DonorPerfect Online Fundraising Software (Fall 2009) will likely turn out to be our largest ever! Look for a post soon with screen shots as we get closer to the date.

I also had the opportunity to attend the Inc. 500 conference held just a couple of days later. This conference attracted some of the best and brightest entrepreneurs, and it also wasn't surprising that philanthropy was on quite a few agendas. I think the key points about building successful companies and organizations really centered on two key concepts- persistence and execution. (It also didn't hurt to know a few other successful people as well, of course)

Finally, I had some interesting travel experiences as well. On my ride back to Philadelphia, the train was delayed for security reasons. Why? Because Vice President Joe Biden rides Amtrak. Not sure where he is though- I didn't see him except for the extra security in place.

New Partnership...

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Biedermann) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 01:24:00 +0000

What happens when you combine the good work of two fundraising software companies with the same philosophies?

You get the new DonorPerfect - LifeLine partnership, making it easy for LifeLine users, who need on-line access to their data, convert to DonorPerfect Online.

It all started several years ago, when we were converting a client from LifeLine to DonorPerfect. We were having trouble with the data extraction, so we thought a call to LifeLine was in order.

To our pleasant surprise, not only did we receive the help we needed, but also affirmation from LifeLine that they knew they were a success when someone outgrew their program!

Flash forward a couple of years, and I reached out to the CEO of LifeLine, Barry Genzlinger, to see if it makes sense for us to work together. Lifeline has always been a good solution for small non-profits, but if they wanted web-access or other features (like online donations or QuickBooks Accounting integration), what would they do?

Answer- DonorPerfect Online.

In just a few short months, we worked out an agreement whereby LifeLine customers would be able to convert to DonorPerfect Online with no data transfer fees. This is quite valuable, as previous data conversions from LifeLine cost anywhere from $500 to as much as $4000, depending on the size of the database and the usage of the system. Because of the partnership, this fee can be eliminated, making it easier and more cost effective for LifeLine clients to convert to DonorPerfect Online.

We're proud to partner ourselves with Barry and all of LifeLine- I really believe both companies are the best at delivering comprehensive software at the best value for our respective segments of the non-profit industry. Working with Barry was delightful- if you ever get up to New Hampshire, near Lake Sunapee, let Barry know! I'm sure he'll be glad to meet you!

Random Ramblings...

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Biedermann) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 01:44:00 +0000

Summer's here and like most everyone else, I've been busy and neglecting certain things- hmmm, like this blog. I think my own advice from several posts ago suggested that a good blog strategy is not necessarily the frequency of communication but the predictability of it.

Unfortunately, I've been unpredictable lately.

I have only a few excuses- summer being one of them- and apparently the number of 'tweets' I send from watching the Phillies (Yes, I am a die hard Phillies fan).

So here's a few random thoughts I wanted to share:

Deceptive Credit Card Sweepstakes.

On the radio the other day, I heard that TD Bank (a major banking institution here in the NorthEast) is offering a summer sweepstakes whereby their Debit cardholders can win a prize if they 'swipe and sign' instead of entering in their PIN number when making a transaction.

Why is TD Bank encouraging their customers to sign a receipt instead of using their PIN? Simple. Just follow the money. By classifying the transaction as a VISA/MC purchase, TD Bank (or their affiliates) can charge more than if the transaction is using a PIN number. That is, they can charge the merchant/business 3% instead of 1% or even less. That adds up- and quickly. No wonder TD Bank is willing to give away $50,000 to make it happen but the end result is that everyone else loses. By encouraging these transactions, businesses have to pay more in fees which inevitably leads to higher prices which hurts everyone. So the advice of the day? If you are going to use a Debit card, try to use your PIN. You save the merchant money which will be passed onto you in the future in the form of lower prices.

For non-profits, it works the same way. If your organization has the capability to process Debit cards with a PIN, or better and you can use ACH (Checking/Saving Account info)- you can save your organization a lot of dough (and you don't have to win a ridiculous sweepstakes to get it).

DonorPerfect Roadmap Roadshow

Tomorrow and Wednesday I'll be presenting the DonorPerfect Roadmap Roadshow (TM). Nearly a thousand clients have already signed up but it's not too late! Check your email for the invitation or login to your client account for more information. This 45 minute presentation will highlight our direction for DonorPerfect and outline plans for our impending release of DonorPerfect.NExT- scheduled for October 6, 2009!

Social Network Fundraising

As many of you know, we've been offering a Social Network Fundraising solution for over a year now. Called DonorPages, this groundbreaking solution makes it easy to enable your constituents to raise money on your behalf. We've got a ton of success stories, and with that success we recently promoted Rob Strickler to manage the division. Rob just launched his blog here, so take a look- DonorPages is simple the most powerful, easiest and cost effective solution in the marketplace!

Sound the Alarm?

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Biedermann) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:12:00 +0000

As it does every year, the Giving USA Foundation released its annual study of giving in the USA, and it reported charitable giving dropped 2% from 2007 to 2008. Here's a Washington Post article, along with the actual press release. Though a drop of 2% sounds reasonable considering our country's current economic turmoil, the drop could actually become much worse in 2009- read on if you dare!

Back in December of 2008, I blogged about our analysis that showed DonorPerfect clients donations were actually up 4% in the preceding 12 months (October 2007-October 2008). Using the same data analysis technique and aggregating our clients' results, we now show that overall giving for DonorPerfect clients for the entire calendar year of 2008 vs. 2007 remained relatively flat, increasing .5% (the mean result was -.8%). Note that this is higher than the Giving USA data, and it’s consistent with our multi-year analysis that shows DonorPerfect fundraising software clients improve their fundraising results by 1% to 2% above the national average of all non-profits.

Given that our clients were up 4% in the first 10 months of 2008, the flat results for the year mean that fundraising was down significantly in November and December. Our analysis shows a drop of nearly 18% in that two month period, an unprecedented decline.

What's does that mean for 2009? Well, our analysis for the 1st quarter shows an 8.4% decline vs the prior year. This shows improvement from the huge drop at the end of last year, but unless this improving trend continues, there is a good chance that overall giving in the USA in 2009 may be down more than 2008’s -2%, perhaps even as low as -10%!

The obvious fear is that cash-strapped nonprofits will need to reduce services at the very time when they will be needed most.

The good news is that this does not have to be a foregone conclusion. After all, Americans are still some of the most generous people in the world. Our data shows that there are still many nonprofits that are maintaining – even growing their donation levels using DonorPerfect. Yes, it may be harder to reach your goals in 2009, but there are still many opportunities to reach out to supporters with a compelling message and achieve success.

Burning Money...

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Biedermann) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 02:10:00 +0000

Just tonight I came across this. It's certainly funny, and probably will work for them. (Heck, even this blog post will likely increase their traffic).

However, shouldn't this large company start reducing their inflated prices instead of spending their money on this????

http://www.nonprofitnetworknews.com/index.php?o=DonorPerfect&n=Jon

There comes a time when enough is enough. Marketing is one thing, frivalous spending, at the detriment of your NON-PROFIT clients, is another.

Data Hostage Crisis!

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Biedermann) — Thu, 21 May 2009 22:01:00 +0000

Nothing frustrates me more than when companies take advantage of their client's relationship to make it difficult for them to switch to another company. After all, needs change over time, and what may be best today may not be best tomorrow.

Example: Wireless Industry. For years, once you had a cellular telephone number, you could never change carriers/vendors unless you also changed your number. Of course, no one wanted to do that, because they didn't want to become disconnected from their social network. Luckily, the FCC enabled Wireless Local Number Portability, and now it's easy to switch carriers and keep your local number, though the carriers fought this tooth and nail!

What does this have to do with non profits and their data?

Many fundraising software companies go out of their way, on purpose, to make it extraordinarily difficult to switch to another software. Our industry is not immune- some vendors in the Health Care industry do the same thing, here, and here.

The easiest way to get your data out of ANY system, is to ask for a comma-delimited file, for each table in the system, with the field names in the first row. This allows anyone to open the files in something as basic as Excel or Microsoft Access, and see the data that they own. For example, in DonorPerfect fundraising software, you can always download your data in this format at any time- it's easy to do and does not cost anything extra.

However, in systems from some companies- it's impossible. In fact, the vendor actually goes out of their way to create a way where the download process is either complicated, impossible, or- worse- so complex that it takes someone with a graduate degree from both MIT and Harvard to decipher the data.

For example, in eTapestry, the only way to get gift, contacts, and other 'journal' information is to download one HUGE 'flat' file that contains all the records from these separate tables. The problem lies that the field names they provide do not match the actual data- they actual re-use field names and export different data in the fields based on the type of record!

For example, the field name maybe called "Gift Date" but for some records in the file it's actually the 'Contact Date'. This obtuse process makes it extremely difficult for any normal tech person to understand the data, and significantly increases any costs associated with moving from their system or even understanding what you own.

Worse, many times you can't even export the data at ALL because the system (being web-based) simply times out. To be candid, though, eTapestry is not alone in this area. Some vendors, such as PledgeMaker, charge at least $500 to export this simple format. Others, including Kintera, Convio, and SalesForce all time out if you export 'too much data'. Basically, you can try to export your records, but the system can't do it.

Their common solution? Try to separate the export process, starting with Last Names from A-C, then Names from D-G, etc. Or, export less fields, because more fields takes too long.

Is this a valid solution??!?!?

HECK NO!

Non-profits should be mad that they are taken advantage this way. If the tools provided by the vendor cannot download their data, in a reasonable time, then choose a different vendor. Giftworks, for example, stores their client's data in an easily accessible Microsoft Access database. Others that provide a simple export option include DonorQuest, DonorPro, Donor2, Exceed, MatchMaker, Sage 50, and LifeLine.

What's the lesson here? Change happens. Make sure that your non-profit is covered so that if (when) they do switch, you account for all of the hidden charges and fees in your evaluation. Look for secret 'gotchas!' like additional fees for exporting data or minimum contract lengths (in some contract, it's 5 years!) Never commit for more than 2.

After all, it's YOUR data. You should always be free to get it back since you owned it in the first place.

DonorPerfect is # 1

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Biedermann) — Mon, 11 May 2009 14:29:00 +0000

In a recent survey by Idealware, DonorPerfect had the most "Best Bets" and the most "Excellent" ratings- far more than any other fundraising software solution.

Now, for years, it's been difficult to objectively rate the different fundraising software solutions that are available on the marketplace. In the past, surveys have been attempted, but most of them were not independent at all (You had to pay to be included and/or the results were biased in many different ways (For example, a company having a response rate that is completely disproportionate to their actual market share typically means that the results were unduly influenced by that company- and surprise! it's always in their favor.)

Now, for the first time in my memory, an independent organization finally succeeded in the herculean task for evaluating the myriad choices that non profit organizations have when choosing fundraising software. The independent non-profit group Idealware evaluated 33 separate fundraising software solutions, and in the end DonorPerfect came out on top (by a landslide) for the most recommendations and the most 'Excellent' ratings in the survey.

Here's the news from Yahoo Finance:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/DonorPerfect-Fundraising-iw-15144332.html

Here's our internal press release:

www.donorperfect.com/top-rated-fundraising-software

Finally, here's the links to the actual survey (Free Registration required):

www.nten.org/donor or www.idealware.org/donor

We're proud of our showing and we believe these results reinforce our commitment to the non profit community to provide the best fundraising software that money can buy.

I'm also grateful for our dedicated team of developers, account managers, support personnel, trainers, and marketing pros- we have a great winning team and if you are a non profit organization looking for great software, please consider DonorPerfect.

A Recipe for Fundraising Disaster...

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Biedermann) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:14:00 +0000

What's the worst thing a non-profit organization can do to jeopardize it's long term fundraising success?

Stop fundraising.

Seems simple right? If you stop fundraising, you'll not only lose money now, but also lose future donors (and their future donation stream) not just once, but forever. After all, just run a recency report in DonorPerfect fundraising software and you will clearly see that the #1 reason why a donor gives again is directly related to the time since their last gift. That is, the longer the time length between today and their last gift, the less likely they will ever give again.

Yet I see organization after organization delaying or canceling their fundraising events. Why? Because they feel they need to give their donors a 'rest', likely because of the economy, and that the donors will be 'refreshed' if they wait.

My friends, that's not how it works. While it's true that some donors may respond favorably this way, you can't ignore statistics because the vast majority will not. Every day that goes by without a donation from your donors is another lost donor(s) that will not renew their giving.

Stick with your plan- keep fundraising. Even if the results are down year-over-year, you are still much better off by retaining donors so that they will give again, and again, and again, and again.

Update from AFP...

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Biedermann) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 01:36:00 +0000

We've been very busy lately, with the new release of DonorPerfect Online and our continued concentration on releasing our product Roadmap to our clients (It won't be released on my blog- check your email soon for more information about our exciting developments).

We did have some time to video tape some happy clients in New Orleans. There's no picture with this blog posting- I don't think one is needed.

New Spring 2009 DPO Release in time for AFP

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Biedermann) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 18:21:00 +0000

It's that time of year again, and this year we're looking to make a big splash at the Association of Fundraising Professional's (AFP) annual 2009 International Conference, held this year in New Orleans, LA. We'll be hard to miss- we're sending a whole team of people in Blue and White DonorPerfect fundraising software shirts to help people understand why DonorPerfect continues to grow and is the leader for small, medium, and even larger non-profit organizations.

We'll also be introducing our latest upgrade, the Spring 2009 release of DonorPerfect Online. This new release is packed with enhancements, and we're automatically releasing this week to everyone on the DonorPerfect Online system. As always, upgrades are automatic and are included FREE as part of our ongoing service to our clients.

The major part of the upgrade will be the release of our new business rules module, called SmartActions. SmartActions allow any organization to create their own workflow rules based on changes or events that occur in the software or database.

Here's how it works:

SmartActions™

Overview
The SmartActions module allows you to set up actions that your DonorPerfect Online system will carry out automatically when the specified "trigger" conditions are encountered. For example, if a gift of $500 or more is entered into DonorPerfect (the trigger), an email notification can be sent to the Development Director automatically and a call can be set up in the DPO Contact Manager (the actions). You can set up as many SmartActions as you would like. Create pop-up alerts and reminders, send emails, enter data into fields, launch websites – it’s all done automatically!

Benefits

Increase system configurability.
Save time by automating emails and other tasks.
Reduce the need for custom programming.
Run your nonprofit more efficiently.
Eliminate errors due to forgetfulness.
Improve effectiveness of new staff.

Features

Simple step-by-step wizard setup
Create Triggers when you open, create, edit, or save any of these record types:

Donor
Gift
Pledge
Contact
Other Info
Address record

Combine Triggers with filters to meet specific conditions.
SmartActions include the ability to:

Send email notifications to one or more staff.
Create a Contact or Other Info record.
Update a field.
Display a pop-up message.
Open a new browser window and display any web page or web site

All Actions can include merged fields for even greater flexibility!

We're really excited about this release and are looking forward to meeting all of our existing clients and meeting future ones. If you're an existing DonorPerfect client, stop on by to take a look! If you are new to DonorPerfect, we'd love to show you this great new feature and all of the other benefits of DonorPerfect that will make you raise more money and spend less time.

See you at the show!

Happy Customers

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Biedermann) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 17:58:00 +0000

Certainly one of the goals of any company is to have happy customers. While I know that we can never have enough happy customers, I was grateful to receive this unsolicited email from a client just last week.

=================================================================
From: Sean Marshall [mailto:XXXX@XXXXXXXXX.ORG]
Sent: Friday, March 13, 2009 12:27 PM
To: jgodoy@donorperfect.com
Cc: blevy@softerware.com; 'Bruce Steele'; 'Chad Kashub'
Subject: Great Job!

To All,

I want to take a minute to thank you for your amazing service. Here at
CureDuchenne, while we've had a DonorPerfect Online account for more than 3
years, we've never actually implemented it into our daily routine. As we
gathered together our disparate databases, we realized this would be a major
undertaking to get it all into one centralized location.

Working with Chad Kashub has been a pleasure. He helped us identify our
needs and directed us to possible solutions. His follow up and quick
response to emails is exemplary of what customer service should be.

Our experience with Bruce Steele was great as he was very helpful in the
needs analysis process. He was very helpful and took the time to answer all
of my questions. I know his service went above and beyond what was stated in
the contract. In addition, everything was done so quickly - way ahead of the
timeframe we had in mind.

Because of that, I'm grateful and congratulate you. I'm proud to recommend
DonorPerfect and its staff to everyone in our circle of influence.

Again, well done and thank you!

Best Regards,

Sean Marshall
Business Development Specialist
CureDuchenne
www.cureduchenne.org

CureDuchenne <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOhMLZCvb50> Video

That Was Really Smart!

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Biedermann) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 18:42:00 +0000

People like to be liked. One way to make that happen is to let them know how smart they are. Trust me, it works- How many times in the last few months has someone told you were really smart???? How did that make you feel? Pretty good, eh?

Well, I had the fortune of saying just that to a client of ours yesterday. This week we are holding our annual National Sales Meeting for all sales account managers, and part of the process is to conduct a client roundtable discussion where clients can share their opinions of DonorPerfect with our sales staff.

One of the clients, the Asheville Humane Society, led us through a demonstration of how they use DonorPerfect. It was a bit unusual to be on the receiving end of a demonstration, and it was very insightful.

At one point, the development director displayed our Comprehensive Analysis Report, which shows over 26 different fundraising statistics. Unfortunately, it did show a decrease in new donors acquired in the last 12 months- about a 15% drop. Interestingly, overall giving was flat, but the decrease in new donors was alarming.

Why? While the drop in new donors may not have an immediate effect now, it will CERTAINLY have an effect 1 to 2 years from now. And despite the current economic conditions, it could potentially be even worse in the future.

So they acted aggressively by increasing their acquisition campaign. Since they also use DonorPerfect to monitor the success of these campaigns, they were confident that they would achieve the desired effect to increase new donors and thus avoid a dramatic revenue decline in the future. What happened? It worked.

Now that's really smart.

News Bits...

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Biedermann) — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 19:06:00 +0000

In the news...

I opened the front page of my local paper today, and discovered that the Hunter Soccer Club, a local soccer club for youth in the area, lost $25,000 in on-line donations when the firm they used, Count Me In, Inc., went bankrupt.

Here's the article about the bankruptcy. Interestingly, the web-site still seems open for business.

Among other allegations, it was suggested that the company did not have a reserve built in for registration payments, and co-mingled funds from its customers and used those funds to pay expenses. This, my friends, is just another example of a Ponzi scheme, where registrations funds from new customers are used to pay off old customers. Like the recent Madoff scheme, it was inevitable that the scheme would fail, as expenses piled up and they no longer were able to continue to "rob Peter to pay Paul". What is extraordinary was that it appears to have lasted many years, collecting somewhere north of $175 million before it fell apart.

What's the lesson to be learned here? Organizations should use their own merchant accounts. This way, the money collected from credit cards never pass through the vendor, and is deposited directly with the organization. It's also why we offer WebLink, our online fundraising software to collect and process donations, registrations, and even purchases that then easily integrates with DonorPerfect.

More Local News...

Coincidentally, in the same local paper, I spied our own company news - SofterWare acquires Agena Informatique. While it isn't news to me, it is certainly an indication of our continued growth in the industry. We will now control an office in Quebec, and we plan to expand rapidly in the rest of Canada as we'll have an increased presence on the ground.

So it's barely a month in and it looks like some of my top ten predictions are already starting to come true. I wonder what's next? Stay tuned.......

It's Not Too Late to Fundraise in 08!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Biedermann) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 21:07:00 +0000

Now more than ever, your organization needs funds- what better way to get them than from your committed donors- especially those that lapsed in the final months of 2008.

These donors, traditionally called LYBUNT (for Last Year But Unfortunately Not This year) is a goldmine for your organization to target. If they gave in 2007 but not in 2008, why didn't they respond? What is it temporary? Perhaps things have changed?

I have the fortune to be involved in several community organizations, and in one of them, I emailed them two weeks ago to target their LYBUNT donors. Since they use DonorPerfect Online, it was easy- simply create a filter where Last Year's Calendar Year Giving (2008) = 0 and 2 Years Ago Calendar Giving > 0.

(We use last year and 2 years ago because we are running this in 2009. If we use Current Calendar Year To Date, it would only include those donations this month in 2009- that's not what we want)

We then created a Word template and used the automatic-merge functionality in DonorPerfect and mailed the letters. We used a very emotional story soliciting funds from our once dedicated supporters.

The end result? Guilt works. We hit a home run and raised an additional 12% of our annual 2008 total that we would likely not receive in the future. Best of all, these donors became re-activated donors, ready to give again in the future.

So go ahead, blame the economy but DO something about it. Use the LYBUNT feature in your fundraising software (like DonorPerfect) to raise more money!

Top 10 Predictions for 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Biedermann) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:30:00 +0000

Wow, time flies when you are having a great year....

I just returned from a vacation for a week with my wonderful wife of exactly 10 years, Susan. My parents even watched our four children, so this was only the 3rd time in 10 years we've had time to ourselves- it was wonderful!

On vacation, I came up with a (somewhat) whimsical list of Top 10 Predictions for 2009:

Despite all the bad news, giving in the US will still grow in 2009 as more and more new donors, especially the young, will step up to the plate.
At least 2 new companies will enter the non-profit industry space with great fan-fair. Another 3 will quietly rethink their business model or completely go out of business.
Blackbaud will acquire another, smaller, fundraising software provider as it would appear that's the only way they can continue to grow. Don't worry, it's not us- we're stronger than ever!
We'll continue to receive RFP's from prospects that require us to fill out 97 pages of information and produce 15 hard copies, only to discover that the only vendor they could agree on manufactures solar-cells. The reason? No one else was 'green' enough and that was a requirement in the RFP.
Sometime in the summer of 2009, DonorPerfect will surpass the 10,000 client mark.
Speaking of 'Being Green', the International AFP conference will offer recycling in New Orleans.
DonorPerfect will acquire one or more competitors as the economy takes it's toll on the industry.
The term, "Social Networking Fundraising" will continue to generate great buzz, though it will account for exactly .0001% of all donations in 2009.
"Donor Raising", where donors connect and find other donors who are NOT their friends or family will become the next 'killer ap'.
And Finally...............Direct Mail and other forms of traditional fundraising will continue to account for 95% of all fundraising activities.

Here's to 2009! What are your predictions???

Giving UP in 2008 vs. 2007!

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Biedermann) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:59:00 +0000

We just completed an initial analysis of giving patterns based on our current client base. Since we host the data for DonorPerfect Online, we're able to aggregate thousands of client's databases and provide some fairly interesting statistics.

For example, we know that in the last 12 month period, giving for DonorPerfect clients is actually up 4%. For those that just started using our fundraising software, the increase is even more dramatic, up 24%! These statistics are very similar to past years.

Probably the most interesting statistic was the following: Giving for DonorPerfect Online customers actually grew by 5% from Sept-Oct 2008 vs. the same period in 2007. In other words, despite the meltdown of the stock market, giving still increased during the same period over last year.

What does this mean??? Well, for one it's not all doom and gloom in the non profit space- certainly not to the extent that the main-stream press tells the story here and here. It's more like this great story about Americans still giving in uncertain times.

In fact, according to Giving USA, we find that:

Total giving in the United States has risen every year in current dollars
but one since recording began (in 1969). The exception was 1987, when a
tax change law the previous year prompted some people to "give early," so they
could maximize the value of tax deductions they could claim.

Source, "Giving during Recessions 2008", by Giving USA Foundation

Clearly, the sky is not falling, and while there are certain segments of the non-profit sector hurting (such as Food Banks), the overall sector is still in good shape.

While the numbers are not in for the all important giving months of November and December, I do think we should all take a deep breath, execute our carefully laid out fundraising plans, and record and analyze the information, hopefully with a great tool like DonorPerfect CRM Fundraising Software.

Since it takes a few weeks for all non-profits to enter all of their gifts, I'll be revisiting this topic in late January. For now, with history on our side, let's face the future with a more optimistic and balanced view of our donors.

A Perfect 10!

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Biedermann) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:21:00 +0000

As you can see from the picture, we had some excitement last week in the office with the release of Version 10.0 of our installed desktop edition of DonorPerfect.

The fun started early in the day on Friday when we posted over 300 "It's a Perfect 10.0" signs around our headquarters in Horsham, PA. And since our army of dedicated software developers, trainers, sales, marketing, and support personnel marches on its stomach, we also made sure that 100 donuts and 10 bagels were available.

Throughout the day we conducted Version 10.0 trivia. We put everyone's name in a hat, and pulled out 10 people. They then rolled dice to see who would play the trivia game- nearest to 10 won. If they answered the trivia question correctly, they received $10 (and since the answer was always, "Version 10.0" everyone won!). Next, the winner had two chances to roll a 10 on the dice, and in our last trivia contest of the day, Pam Stockunas, one of our incredible employees in our Support department, claimed the $100 prize.

Many thanks goes out to everyone in all departments to make this our best release ever. A new Special Event Module, (included free- no extra fees), and improved integration with Microsoft Excel will make it easier for our clients to raise more money more efficiently than ever before!

ps - And what happened to all those posters after Friday? A group of 'rogue' employees decided
to wallpaper my office with them. They're still up in my office- I kind of like it!

Obama's Runaway Fundraising Success

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Biedermann) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:59:00 +0000

My partner, Doug Schoenberg, just posted a blog posting about Barack Obama's fundraising success.

Of particular interest was the notion of recruiting donors to match donations, and then facilitate communication between these donors who would otherwise never interact, further building community and commitment from the new donor.

It looks very compelling, not only for new donor acquisition, but for increased conversion rates for single gift donors to multiple gift ones.

International Fundraising Cuisine...

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Biedermann) — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 14:47:00 +0000

For the first time, we exhibited at the International Congress on Fundraising, held around this time of year near Amsterdam, Netherlands. This year they had record breaking attendance, and it was fantastic to get a world view of fundraising that's different from our own.

For example, person to person is BIG in Europe. It works like this: charities hire 18-25 year old solicitors with good looks, put them in uniform, and have them patrol the downtown area of major European cities, especially in the UK and Scandinavian countries. In fact, people now have a word for it- they call them "Chuggers", as in Charity Muggers!

Despite what they are called, the programs are indeed successful. It's my understanding an average Chugger will sign up a new donor once per hour. In addition, they don't ask for a one time gift- oh no, they are going much higher. They are actually able to persuade strangers to sign up for a monthly giving program, with an average monthly gift of $10 US.

As one can expect, attrition rates can be high- but they are actually very comparable to traditional pledge non-electronic programs and averages about 15-20% / year (Meaning the renewal rate is about 80-85%).

However, once a donor lasts into the second year, then their behavior matches that of a more reliable donor, and the attrition rate drops into the single digits.

Recurring revenue is critical for any organization, and it's one of the main reasons why these programs (at least from the non profit's perspective) are very popular. While 'Chugger' fundraising hasn't taken off in the US (and it might never), monthly giving programs can still be established through traditional solicitation requests, including direct mail and on-line fundraising.

In these uncertain economic times, organizations that rely on this type of recurring revenue certainly sleep easier at night as they know, with laser like precision, their future revenue stream.

Tales from the Road

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Biedermann) — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 18:41:00 +0000

I just finished exhibiting at the National Catholic Development Conference, held this year in Orlando. Typically referred to as NCDC, this conference hosts over 700 development professionals from about 500 catholic organizations across the US.

It's our fifth year exhibiting at the conference, and our first, in at least 10 years, that our booth and materials did not make the flight. Apparantly, they were hijacked to Texas instead, and we had to activate "Operation Conference Backup". Luckily, after a quick infiltration of a local 24 hour Kinkos shop and with help from our marketing gurus, we whipped up some materials and booth in

Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales"

just a few hours. Special thanks goes to both Chad Kashub and Sam Goldenberg for stepping up to the plate and helping out over the weekend.

The conference proved to be a major success as we were able to demonstrate our latest version of DonorPerfect, Version 10. Version 10 sports some new features, including a completely integrated Special Events module that makes it easy to plan, coordinate, and execute almost any kind of special event.

It's easy to record event details, such as venue information, expenses, and even auction items. Invite groups of constituents at a click of a button, and record responses just as easily. The module even tracks teams or tables in a drop-and-drag interface, making these assignments painless. Finally, over a dozen reports track the progress of the event, and comparison reports make it easy to evaluate one event against another. It's simply awesome!

Surely, the chief buzz at the conference was the state of the economy and its effect on giving. Though there were some exceptions, most people were resigned to the fact that this year would be tough and they were preparing for a decline in most revenue categories as compared to last year. An exception seemed to occur in major gifts and planned giving, which at least anecdotally, seemed to be on the rise.

The next several weeks will be very busy for us as we release Version 10- it's going to be very exciting!

Update...

noreply@blogger.com (Jon Biedermann) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 18:22:00 +0000

It’s going to be a busy next few weeks.

At the end of this week I’ll be in Copenhagen, Denmark and meeting with one of our largest international clients. They look to expand their implementation of DonorPerfect Online across the world, and are looking forward of using our multiple currency tracking and local custom settings to make each system work with their unique government regulations.

After returning for a brief home visit, I’ll be once again attending the National Catholic Development Conference (NCDC). This year it’s being held in Orlando, Florida, so my family will be joining me for some R&R and a couple of visits to Disney. Luckily, my father in law is joining us and he has graciously agreed to help with the kids while I’m at the convention.

Finally, at the end of this month we’re releasing our latest version of our desktop software, DonorPerfect Version 10. It’s like Christmas morning each time we release a new version- I can’t wait! Version 10 will be sporting some advanced features, including an integrated Special Events module to easily track, manage, and schedule almost any kind of special event. Like all of our new improvements, it was developed with flexibility in mind, and should fit any organization’s special event process like a glove. As always, the upgrade is provided as a FREE benefit to all of our clients enrolled in one of our support maintenance programs.

We’re targeting the release later this month- stay tuned!