fundraising back office show
DESCRIPTION
Presentation for South Shore Grants on March 4, 2011. Topics including managing fundraising information, processing gifts, and regulatory requirements.TRANSCRIPT
Organizing the
Fundraising Back Office
March 4, 2011Tim Mills-Groninger
South Shore Grants
2 Organizing the Fundraising Back Office
• Goals and outcomes• Who you are and • Why you came• Ground rules: Interrupt, there are no silly
questions• Difficult problem: I have a friend who…
Introductions
3 Organizing the Fundraising Back Office
• Fundraising– Soliciting support
• Advancement Services– Back office functionality– Managing donor and prospect information– Receiving, Recording, and Receipting gifts– Analysis: explaining the past and predicting the
future– Insuring compliance
Mapping the Universe
4 Organizing the Fundraising Back Office
Why Individual Giving is Important
• Money• Creates a deep pool for major gifts• Proof of community support
5 Organizing the Fundraising Back Office
Gifts by Source
Scale = billions
6 Organizing the Fundraising Back Office
Gifts by Destination
http://www.givingusa2010.org/
7 Organizing the Fundraising Back Office
• Donors– People who have made a gift
• Prospects– All carbon-based life forms except for above
Types of Individuals – Part One
8 Organizing the Fundraising Back Office
• Connection – Who they are and how they relate to your
organization• Capacity– How much they can give
• Commitment– If not you, who? How they relate to the cause
Types of Individuals – Part Two
9 Organizing the Fundraising Back Office
• Warning: Desire ≠ ability• Cost of research• Cost of data entry• Your ability to utilize information
Demographic information
10 Organizing the Fundraising Back Office
• Name – easy• Address(s) – kinda easy• Age – depends• Phone, email – depends• Family/Social relationships – surprisingly hard
Demographics
11 Organizing the Fundraising Back Office
• Ask the donor• Ask their friends – peer screenings• Participation data• List appends
Demographic Resources
12 Organizing the Fundraising Back Office
• Will we really use this?• Is it legal? (probably) • Ethical? (depends)• What is the ROI?
Demographic Questions
13 Organizing the Fundraising Back Office
• Prolific Greek writer• Known to you, but not disclosed– Most common process– Importance of non-disclosure and confidentiality
• Unknown to you– Small gifts – not a problem– Larger gifts – get your lawyer involved
Anonymous
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• Irrevocable transfer of an asset without reciprocal consideration to the donor
• Keyword: Quid Pro Quo• Benefits broad population
Defining the Gift
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• Last entity to control the resource• Name on the account• Soft credit of related parties• Third party processors– United Way– Network for good, etc– For profit v. nonprofit
Defining the Donor
16 Organizing the Fundraising Back Office
• Publications 526 and 1771• Amount received • Disclosure of Fair Market Value (FMV) of
benefits received• Optional: Date of Control• Avoid tax advice
Key IRS Issues
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Sample Receipt
18 Organizing the Fundraising Back Office
• A legal and enforceable promise (contract)• Hard to enforce• DAF problems• Write down/off
Pledges
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• Date of control– Cash – in hand– Check – deposit– Credit card – transaction clears
• Fees– Processing and related are your cost of business– Will confuse some credit card donors
Cash Gifts
20 Organizing the Fundraising Back Office
• Describe the property received• Decline to assign value• If pressed, say
“which you assigned a value of $...”• Partial interest issues
Stock and Other In-Kind
21 Organizing the Fundraising Back Office
• Legal, accounting, etc• Not a gift• Worth a thank you• Work around – pay them, and let them write a
check
Gifts of Service
22 Organizing the Fundraising Back Office
• Support for Annie to go to X• Use of vacation house for silent auction• Decline of an honorarium• Gifts to a club on your org’s behalf• Silent auction item with no published value• A company’s name and URL in printed
program
Let’s Play Gift or Not a Gift
23 Organizing the Fundraising Back Office
• Three day deadline• Threshold? Try 1₵ • Include appropriate thank you
Processing and Receipting
24 Organizing the Fundraising Back Office
• Memorials/In honor of– Conversion to annual giver opportunity
• Soft credit– Spouse, employer, influencer
• Matching– Mainly opportunistic– Appends are available, but consider ROI
Other Record Keeping
25 Organizing the Fundraising Back Office
• Online• Direct Mail• Individual solicitation• Special Events/Auctions• Raffles • Contracts, trusts, etc.
Gift Vehicles
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• What you’ll take• What you’ll refuse• Who decides
Gift Acceptance Policy
27 Organizing the Fundraising Back Office
• Gift accounting v. financial accounting• Reconciliation at deposit level• No need for individual detail– But many accountants insist
• Shared credit for net change of non-gift contributions
Accounting
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• Who will use?• ROI?
Selecting Fundraising Software
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• Buy• Build• Rent/SaaS
Software Options
30 Organizing the Fundraising Back Office
• Local installation• Tendency to over-buy• Worthless without training
Licensing (Buy)
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• Cheaper long-term• Mature off-the-rack market• User groups and other support options
Pros of Purchasing
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• Underestimation of upfront costs• Lack of custom fit• Overestimation of product sophistication
Cons of Buying
33 Organizing the Fundraising Back Office
• Raiser’s Edge/Donor2• DonorPerfect/ResultsPlus• Giftworks/eTapestry
Popular Products
34 Organizing the Fundraising Back Office
• Exactly what you need• Tendency to under-plan• Development is training
Build – Custom Development
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• Custom fit• Cheapest solution per feature• Forces complete process analysis
Pros of Building
36 Organizing the Fundraising Back Office
• What you said, not what you meant• Feature creep = most expensive solution• Frankenstein-like monster kept alive by moody
contractors or staff
Cons of Building
37 Organizing the Fundraising Back Office
• In house: FileMaker/Microsoft Access • Consultant: Using above products– But what do you care?
Build Options
38 Organizing the Fundraising Back Office
• Software as a Service or “The Cloud”• Lowest up-front investment• Same buy/build issues
SaaS
39 Organizing the Fundraising Back Office
• Low monthly rate • Backup and technical issues outsourced• Use anywhere
Pros of the Cloud
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• Most expensive option over long-term• Provider-driven upgrade schedule• Beneath the hype is just software
Cons of SaaS
41 Organizing the Fundraising Back Office
• Saleforce.com• DonorPerfect• eTapestry
SaaS Options
42 Organizing the Fundraising Back Office
• Constituent Relationship Management – CRM• Social networking and engagement
Beyond Fundraising
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• Promote laziness: dupe check early• Address correction request• Adhere to standards• Eschew secret lists
Data Hygiene
44 Organizing the Fundraising Back Office
• Celebrating uniqueness• Too much overlap• Idiosyncratic history
Constituency and Other Coding
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• Donor/solicit• Board• Connection• Capacity• Commitment
Good Codes
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• Former Board• Event interest• Too narrow of a connection
Bad Codes
47 Organizing the Fundraising Back Office
• Confidentiality Statement• Physical – desktop and files• Network• Application
Security
48 Organizing the Fundraising Back Office
• IRS• HIPPA • FERPA• PCI• State Registration
Compliance
49 Organizing the Fundraising Back Office
• Ibid: Gift Acceptance Policy• Gift processing guidelines• Data governance standards• Cross training
The Advancement Services Plan
50 Organizing the Fundraising Back Office
• Indentify gaps – quality and standards• Commit realistic staff and financial resources• Involve the development committee• Check your work/come up for air
Homework
51 Organizing the Fundraising Back Office
Thank You