DonorExpress NewsLine

Hello From DonorExpress Software
This newsletter is a publication from the staff of DonorExpress Software. Our intention is to share with our DonorExpress users and other interested organizations valuable operational information along with TIPS on how to better use our software. We hope that you will look forward to receiving this newsletter. Please feel free to respond back with suggestions for future issues. Comments

Interesting Thought To Ponder
Spring is the season that seems to kick off the fundraising event season. Some organizations rely on one large event each year while others have almost more events than they can manage. No matter the number, the rules are the same.

"Fundraising is the gentle art of
teaching the joy of giving."

- Hank Rosso -

A Few Things Can Make A Big Difference
Annual fundraising events are, in the short term, a great way to raise money but many organizations overlook several key areas that could take their event to a new level. The details of the event seem to be well covered, but there are some pre and post-event details that are many times neglected. Events are NOT just about raising money. They are a way for you to "Tell your story". They are a way for you to have direct contact with your supporters. And they are also a way to express your appreciation to those that support your organization.

Keeping Your Story First
Fundraising for the long term is more about using your events to put and keep your organization in the mind of the community. Define "Your Story" in a way that explains in detail what your organization has done, is doing or is going to be doing. Give your supporters good reasons why they should continue to donate to you instead of any of the other organizations courting them. The "Telling your story" part of event fundraising should start months before the actual event and could be the theme for the event. A successful event will leave participants talking as much about your organization as as they do about the wonderful time they had at the event. Be sure that you include "Your Story" in all your pre-event promotions.

A Word of Caution About Dates
When planning the date for your event, pay close attention to all other community events that may be planned for that same date that could rob you of success. I experienced this first hand when a local nonprofit planned a great event on what seem to be the perfect summer weekend only to find that several other large organizations also thought it to be a perfect weekend. What could have been a great fundraising event quickly turned into a mediocre fundraising event because of the wrong date.

Plan The Event Follow-up
Never plan an event without having a plan for the follow-up. Making it through the pre-event and the event is 2/3's of the total event. Develop a plan on how you want to promptly thank all volunteers for their support and hard work. Decide on how you would like to acknowledge all donors who participated in making the event a success. Thank you letters should be drafted well ahead of time so they can go out immediately after the event. Prearrange a follow-up review meeting with your staff and board members to evaluate the event in an objective way while it is still fresh in everyone's mind. The follow-up is actually the start of next years event.

Summary
Events are not just about raising money. Fundraising events are designed to give your organization the chance to get maximum community exposure with your name and message . Do not wait until the day of the event to "Tell Your Story". Tell it in all along the way with your event promotions. Do not assume that because you have a nationally known name that people will understand why this event is important to helping you achieve your goals. Be aware of other community events when planning your event date so as to maximize your participation. Pay as much attention to the event follow-up as you do to the pre-event details. Be prompt in acknowledging your volunteers and the donors who participated. Be honest with your evaluation of how the event ran and what needs to be changed for next year. By following these simple suggestions you can increase the effectiveness of your fundraising events.

DonorExpress TIP Of The Month
In the last release of DonorExpress version 7, we introduced a new feature for mailing to groups. This helpful utility is found under Admin Tools/Letters and Mailings/Group Export and like many new tools is often overlooked. In the past, trying to create a mailing list from several different groups resulted in a list with duplicate names when a contact was in more than one group. This feature allows the user to create a list from many different groups without the problem of duplicate contact names. It is also the quickest way to pull a list of contacts in one group.

To use this feature:

1. Click Admin Tools and select Letters and Mailings. At the Letters and Mailings screen select the Group Export Tab.
2. The Group Export screen will list all the Groups in your database. You can click on a group to select it or click again to deselect a group.
3. Once you have the groups selected, click Create List to query the database for the contacts in the selected groups. The pop-up message box will display the count of contacts selected.
4. Now you can use the View List option to view or print a list of contacts.
5. Next you can export the list to Word or Excel for doing a mail merge or to send to your mailing house.
6. The last options is to create a Donor Correspondence record for each contact if this is something you need to track.

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Thank you for your time and interest in DonorExpress Software.
Bob Holder
DonorExpress Software
PO Box 1126
Boone, NC 28607
828.264.2577
info@donorexpress.com
www.donorexpress.com