Mastery: Insights from DP Power Users (Client Panel with Heritage Conservancy)

So before DonorPerfect, our fundraising strategy was not as intentional. It was very much focused on sending out renewables, meeting with new potential supporters, and engaging them through membership support. But we did not have the tools to really be productive in relationship development Read More

So before DonorPerfect, our fundraising strategy was not as intentional. It was very much focused on sending out renewables, meeting with new potential supporters, and engaging them through membership support. But we did not have the tools to really be productive in relationship development and moving relationships forward.
Yeah, I think the old system also didn’t have the capability of what DonorPerfect now has, which was the contact notes, which actually allows us to track interactions with every donor that we meet with, that we have a conversation with, that we have either an ask out to or are working towards an ask. So that really helps us track those interactions.
So quickly went to work and realized the DonorPerfect hit all of the buttons for us very well. We’re not a large organization. We don’t have 10s of 1000s of records. It fit us in our sweet spot. We didn’t know who our people were. Who are they? What do they like? Where were they giving? Why were they giving? There was no story. So the minute we were able to put the right data in the right place, we were all able to look at what we needed for our own purposes and start to create that so
we’re actually able to have more personal connections with our member database, which we weren’t really doing previously. So I think that really helped, not only for major donors,
but those small donors too. And those interactions really absolutely and we’ve now been able to create sort of a project sheet, so it’s starting to create that straight line that’s coming from different funding sources. It’s sort of a double whammy of awesomeness for a major gift fundraiser, because sometimes you do have donors that really like to give to something specific. With
my team being out there having meetings, I’m constantly able to stay up to date on what’s happening when I log in the dashboard goals that Emily’s brought up earlier, we can really track where we are against our goal. And I would agree
that the Smart Actions is also a really great feature. I like to use it, especially when I see new donors come in, when there’s
a new member, we’re made aware of it with a smart action, we’re able to have reports sent to us at the end of the day every day, that outlines all the different contacts that have happened. DonorPerfect gave us the opportunity to take a bird’s eye view at our entire fundraising strategy, whereas we were able to look at what our goal was for the year and align the right people with the right opportunities
to make data driven decisions, to create these conversations. Yeah, like
that. Yes, it’s helping us share with them like how we’re seeing their philanthropy take place. To me,
being informed is paramount to being successful, and this is allowing me to feel and know that when I go and have a conversation, that I can have a very good, informed and successful conversation our organization, specifically, our challenge constantly is we are a very intangible mission, and so we have to get creative in How we tell that story and explain the impact of
it builds awareness. It spurs advocacy. Really helps your Mission,
absolutely you.
Yeah, hello, hello. Welcome everybody. My name is Sean Taro. I am a DonorPerfect training specialist. Welcome to DonorPerfect panel session. Sean. Sharing insights from Heritage Conservancy, one of our DP power users, hosted by MAC McClellan, senior Training Specialist. Take it away.
Thank you, Sean. So we have Heather, Emily and Katie with heritage Conservancy, as Sean said, and we’re just going to pick your brain for the next 20 or so minutes. Let’s just dive right in. So what was the moment that you realized that you needed to switch to a new platform, and how did you come to the decision to go with DonorPerfect?
So we were never really happy with our old database. It was a very dated database, database. It didn’t have the tools we needed to move relationships forward and really understand the background information for our donors. And then come 2021 the organizational decision was to really invest in a major gifts program recognizing that included tools. So after Heather was hired as our major gifts officer, at that point, we asked her to take a look into this, and she very quickly decided we need something better. So and Heather, do you want to talk about your experience then? Absolutely.
So I was hired, and as soon as I sat down at the desk and attempted to get into the system we had been working with, I realized very quickly that we needed a new system, and we needed something that was going to help us actually do real time storytelling with our donors, who they are, where they are, what they like, what they don’t like, and who’s the best person on the team to be talking with them, who makes sense for me as opposed to who makes sense for Emily and Katie, and how we can shape all of our other appeals throughout the year and our asks. And DonorPerfect just was perfect, and it’s the perfect size. It’s the perfect functionality. It gives us enough freedom to create the information in a way, in reporting and in storytelling that we need to do and now can do. I
would agree with that, as well as Heather and Katie have both said the old system that we had had just didn’t allow us to have that capability. So from my perspective, being able to engage with the lower level tier donors and create a community engagement program based off of our membership program. DonorPerfect allowed me to do that in a more intentional way. So that’s why we thought it would be best, excellent,
excellent. So if you can remember back to it, what was it like transitioning to DonorPerfect, and more specifically, do you remember? Was there a moment where each of you thought, this is going to make a difference, this is going to work, this is going to make things better.
I think really the tutorial was when we noticed, oh yeah, this is make a difference for what we want to do, but for a very specific example, I’ll talk about last year. Our year end appeal. Last year was a point where we had finally been using the database for a couple of years to its full extent, and we were able to maximize what was in there so it was able to inform us on how we should be making our year end asks. So we utilized a few different things. I’ll let Heather talk about a major gift that we had gotten confirmed, but then we were able to incorporate it into our year end mailing Giving Tuesday and our Christmas at Aldi appeal to really have this grand success, and we had the data behind it to tell us how to map that out and how to do it. Heather, do you want to talk about the first step there?
Haiti, I’d love to talk about it. We’re fundraisers. We could talk about annual appeals all day. What I had noticed in hiring and being the major gifts officer and really creating this program here for heritage, it was clear to me from the get go that we needed to build five and six figure gifts and just really start to build that portfolio of donors. And of course, with DonorPerfect, we were finally able to see who they were, and from that, find the people, and from that, find the person who we were able to have a conversation with, Katie and I about a six figure Challenge Match for our annual appeal. It was a successful meeting. They said, yes, thank God. And so with this fixed six figure match, it was $125,000 we were able to build a really robust end of the year giving campaign, where we incorporated the annual appeal Giving Tuesday and our mission appeal at our year end gala to really help maximize that match. And it worked really, really well. And so I’m just really grateful we were able to reach out to those donors and have an in person conversation. And. Really start to get some six figures in our portfolios and in our year end numbers. Yeah,
and the way the data worked in DonorPerfect allowed us to really segment out our lists for annual appeal mailing. So the data that we were able to pull, the reports that we were able to pull, were allowing us to be more intentional in our asks, even through a mailing, which was never, you know, possible before. So it really made a difference.
That’s good to hear. You’ve you’ve already touched on this one a little bit. But could we dive a little deeper into the ways that DonorPerfect has changed the way that your organization fundraises? Are there specific features that have really kind of turned the page for you.
There’s definitely a couple things that I’ll start with. As the director, I have to see what’s going on in a broader view. To start trying to see, you know, what, where do we need to refocus our energies, what’s going well, what do we need to add some support towards so those dashboard goals when we first log in are so essential. Every single day, we can know exactly where we’re at, and it’s like, oh, we’re behind on our event fundraising. We need more sponsors there, and we can get together and talk about how we’re going to do that, how we’re going to refocus the other piece that’s really essential in my role is the contacts feature, which we definitely did not have in the past. My team is out there meeting with all different supporters and donors and partners businesses. So it’s not like we’re always in the office at one time to really talk about what’s happening, update everyone, so I’m able to see those at the end of the day, we get a report of all the contacts that were entered, so I know what Emily did that day and how that relationship has progressed. And if I see that person in the public, I know what the last communication was. If they call me, I know what the last communication was. So that contacts feature I think I use more than anything else in the system. It’s been absolutely essential.
Oh, me, I’m next. So I would say everything that Katie just said, Yes. Dashboard. Really great. Super helpful. When we have our team meetings, everybody’s on the same page now most of the time. So it’s great. It’s really helpful. I mean, listen, let’s not make it like we’re that perfect. We’re getting there. We’re getting there. So I would also say for me, the donor search integration is you got to have it. You can’t not have it, especially for a frontline fundraiser, just being able to push a button, see that information, have it live in their record, refer to it when you need it. And with that, being able to through the screen, designer, adapt the way that you’re you can create the information that you want to see. And so we’ve been able to sort of change and put major donor information where something else used to be. We utilize the bio section for when we have events and we have to create guest BIOS to prep our board members and other people. So we’re able to really maximize what’s in each of the tabs and the sections, which is just kind of help from the micro to the macro level, and it’s great.
And for me, I think smart actions is really great feature. In terms of what I’m trying to do in my efforts in fundraising, is build our membership program with the $50 and above donations. And so just being able to see the Smart Actions and get alerts when new donors are coming in allows me the opportunity to then put it on my calendar, to write a handwritten note to thank them, which is just a more personal touch that we have that we just didn’t have before. So I think that’s a really great feature.
Yeah, I will definitely shout out the contact feature. Working with clients. People get really surprised when they find out that you can use DonorPerfect for more than just the donations, and everybody seems to love the Smart Actions, so it makes me happy to hear your team shout those two items out specifically. So actually talking sort of about the contacts and the Smart Actions, how have those tools helped, and how has DonorPerfect In general, helped grow your connections with your constituents.
Well, the really great news is we’ve more than doubled our fundraising income since 2021 so if that carries a lot of weight for sure, and I think the reality of it is, we’re just able to have more intentional conversations with our donors, where we’re more informed. We know what gets them excited about our mission. We know where they are in the relationship with us and when they’re ready for an ask. We’re able to, at the beginning of the year, put a really, really informed strategy together about who needs. To be aligned with what projects and who’s ready for an unrestricted gift. Everything is so data driven now. So then when we meet with our donors, it makes sense to them, it appeals to them. So that’s really the big piece we’re able to build upon.
I would even say Katie, I think for even the the two of us when we meet with board members, it’s really helpful to have just as well from board and even just one on one connections we all feel. I mean, at least I can speak for myself. I feel like I can come from an informed place when I’m talking with anyone from a board member to a prospective donor or a current donor, anybody that’s sort of in, in the mix with us and part of our giving community. It just we I feel more confident as a fundraiser, because I know what I know, and if there’s something I don’t know, at least I can figure out a way to find that information.
Yeah, and I think just in general, the whole interface of DonorPerfect allows us to have the opportunity to build relationships with our donors and our member base. And that’s the goal that we have had from day one, that we really want to build relationships, make connections in the community, and this allows us to have more intentional ways of doing that. So it makes all the difference.
Yeah, no, your donors and your volunteers and your members, they want to feel like they belong, and it sounds like you’re able to use DonorPerfect to help them feel like they’re part of your organization. All right. My last question for your team is, if you can give us a peek behind the curtain gearing up for your next fundraising campaign, have you changed how your team defines success versus before you started using DonorPerfect?
I think in general, it comes back to, did they have that meaningful experience? Is this? Is this really speaking to their philanthropic journey? Are we having success? Are we growing these relationships? Are we starting to see them move from just coming to an event and getting to know us to starting to make donations to becoming a supporter in our major donor circle, or, you know, signing up for our legacy society. We’re starting to see that roadmap in the Data database, and that’s showing us our successes.
I think I have a little bit of what Katie’s feedback is, and I will share that I think I might have a more Show Me the Money type of goal when I think about success. So for me, defining success in the short time I’ve been here and we’ve had the system, it’s the relationship building, for sure, but for me, it’s really being able to look at the numbers like in real time, where is everything and what’s growing what isn’t, and being able to kind of be fluid in meeting the need, right? So, right? Like Katie said, events are not quite where we want them. Okay, guys, let’s like, reshift. How do we build this? Okay? Wait unrestricted to restrict it’s here. And just that success of being able to be more proactive than reactive in our fundraising strategy is just it’s game changing for us, because we’re able to now forecast need. We’re not We’re not constantly in the current. We can really start to look at current, feel more confident about it, but also be able to forecast the future at the same time. So it’s feeling like we’re finally hitting that stride and being able to meet both parts of the fundraising timeline,
like both of those things are so important, the relationship building, like Katie had said, but also just the numbers of where things are, especially as we’re approaching the middle of the year. For us, fundraising wise, we are sort of at this like almost reset period. So being able to make those informed decisions in the middle of the year and course correct or shift or rethink strategy really is game changer for us. Yeah,
awesome, awesome. We have a little bit of time, and there have been a few questions popping up, so we’re just gonna, we’ll do a quick little lightning round here. The first question that I want to ask is from Jennifer, were all three of you part of onboarding? And what was that first year like they’re brand new to DonorPerfect. They’re three weeks in. They don’t know what to do. They don’t know what to expect. So let’s, let’s put Jennifer. Was fears to rest.
All three of us were included in onboarding. It’s been a couple years now, so I’m doing my best to remember back. I think overall it went really well. We had some growing pains because our data was pretty messy in the old system, because it wasn’t a great system. So it took some time to really clean that up, and even now we have gone back, we’re still trying to readjust a little bit, but DonorPerfect has helped us to do that this year as well. But the onboarding went pretty quick. I think it was a what do you guys remember? Maybe, like, a couple months until we really were using it full speed? Yeah,
it felt like, like two or three months. And I will say, shout out to Sean, because if we had one question, we had 10 at any given time, and you fielded them all
to say this
in truth, like, don’t be afraid to ask a question, and when you don’t know, ask for the guidance and things to be repeated if you’re not quite sinking in or anything like that. Yeah, yeah,
yeah. The trainings were definitely helpful as well. Yeah, they were great. The in person trainings
quite critical. Yeah, yeah.
All right. And where, where do you suggest that people like, where would you recommend people start to kind of maximize the platform? Is there, like, one area that you suggest people check out first when they’re getting used to doing it perfect, and that’s
from Dana. I mean, for me, it’s the reporting. I go straight to the reporting. It does two things. It tells you if your data is correct and if it’s not, how it needs to be fixed. And it’s a really good way to learn your data and where it lives, and like how all of those fields interact, and like what information is missing or not missing. So that, for me, is where I always start. I don’t know about Emily or Katie,
and then looking back, go ahead, Emily, I’m sorry
I was going to echo exactly what Heather said, reporting is absolutely like a good, helpful first step and just seeing where everything lays out, and then kind of fixing what needs to be fixed from there, right?
Yeah, definitely start with the data.
Excellent. All right, and I know Sean will be rejoining us here in a minute, so let’s just see if we’ve got one more question to do. Everybody wants to know what Smart Actions are, so check out our Lean session. If you are somebody that’s interested in that. Yeah, actually, I think we think we got them all all taken care of. So I just want to take a moment to thank each of you for joining me here today, and also, I mean, we’ve been working with you and bothering you for for weeks, if not months. So thank you for your continued patience, your willingness to work with us. Happy to do it, working with our busy schedules.
Yeah, happy to
do it. Happy to be here.
All right, and that bling brings us to the conclusion of this session. Thank you heritage Conservancy and thank you audience for attending Mac session. We hope you had some great takeaways, and are looking forward to learning more about some of the DonorPerfect features that the heritage conservancy team found useful. Next up is Arlene Lessie with unlock the power of lasting donor relationships, and Sarah Lalonde with Tap into the art of donor storytelling. Thanks for stopping by. Everybody. Have a great day. Thank you.
Bye.