Fundraising with The Raiser's Edge

A non-technical guide to The Raiser's Edge-the most widely-used fundraising database package on the market-for the fundraising professional

The first-ever guide to The Raiser's Edge database package for the fundraising professional, Fundraising with The Raiser's Edge: A Non-Technical Guide educates your nonprofit about what The Raiser's Edge can do for you and will help you more effectively work with the staff who are responsible for data entry and output.

• Helps your organization get much greater return on The Raiser's Edge, and use it to raise more money more effectively and with less stress
• Contains specific and clear direction on the key areas you should know without technical discussion
• Includes numerous checklists to give you practical takeaways

Providing you with the non-technical details you need to know to recruit, manage and retain quality database personnel, Fundraising with The Raiser's Edge: A Non-Technical Guide will help you in your day-to-day fundraising work without needing to become a database expert.

Acknowledgments xi

About the Author xiii

Introduction xv

Chapter 1 Organizing Fundraising 1

Getting Started with the Raiser’s Edge 2

Accessing Campaign, Fund, and Appeal Records 3

Defining Campaign, Fund, and Appeal 5

Funds 10

Appeals 12

Campaigns 14

Other Considerations 16

Summary 20

Note 21

Chapter 2 Prospects, Donors, and Other Constituents 23

Who Should Be Recorded in the Raiser’s Edge 24

Who Should Be a Constituent 26

Constituent Tabs 29

Constituent Tabs for Optional Modules 58

Tools for Fundraisers 62

Summary 64

Chapter 3 Gifts and Giving 65

Gift Types 67

Gift Tabs and Concepts 69

Functionality by Gift Type 77

Adjustments 82

Constituent Giving Totals 83

Understanding Gift Processing 85

Summary 92

Chapter 4 Direct Marketing and Other Mailings 95

Four Steps 96

Step 1. Output Format 98

Step 2. Recipients 99

Step 3. Fields 112

Step 4. Field Content 115

The Mailing Process 120

Staff Training 123

Reporting 124

Putting This Together 124

Summary 125

Chapter 5 Events and Membership 127

Events and Membership in Context 127

Events 128

Membership 135

Summary 140

Chapter 6 Major Gifts and Grants 143

Basic Major Gifts Fundraising Tools 146

The Life Cycle of a Major Gifts Donor in the Raiser’s Edge 151

Protecting Your Prospects 171

Major Gifts Process Reports 173

A Word to Corporate and Foundation Fundraisers 177

Making It Happen 178

Summary 179

Note 179

Chapter 7 Reporting, Lists, and Other Output 181

Output Tools 181

Dashboards and Reports to Run 189

Event, Membership, and Volunteer Reports 199

Custom Reports 200

Summary 201

Chapter 8 Database Oversight 203

Development or IT? 203

Database Administrator Roles and Responsibilities 204

Hiring 216

Retention 220

Version 8 of the Raiser’s Edge 222

Summary 223

Conclusion 225

Appendix A Converting to and Implementing the Raiser’s Edge 229

Purchase Process 230

Project Participant Training 230

Project Planning 230

Conversion and Business Process Development 231

Custom Reports and Customizations 233

Final Push for Go-Live 233

After Go-Live 234

Appendix B Database Administrator Task List 235

Technical Oversight 235

User Oversight 237

Data Oversight 240

Summary 243

Appendix C Policy and Procedure Documentation Example: Generating Direct Mail File 245

Criteria for Include Query 246

Criteria for Exclude Query 246

Merge Query Results 247

Parameters for Export Files 247

Uploading Data 249

Marking Appeals and Packages on Constituent Records 249

Bibliography 251

Index 253

"The book has a simple premise: If you are smart enough to be a professional fund raiser, you're smart enough to learn to properly use the software. Connors' work has a 3-fold purpose: to enable the professional to work with database staff to meet objectives with the least possible confusion and stress; to familiarize the professional with the parts of the database that it is necessary to master, in order to best utilize it; and, finally, to enable the organization's staff to set up, maintain, and maximize the database's usefulness. The fact that Connors meets these objectives in a concise and readable manner makes this book a "must-have" for every professional fundraiser." (SanFranciscoBookReview, June 2010)

BILL CONNORS, CFRE, is an independent consultant and trainer on the Blackbaud fundraising software The Raiser’s Edge. Until June 2005, Bill was Principal Consultant for Fundraising Systems for Blackbaud, having helped found the Blackbaud consulting program in 1998. He has been providing consulting and training on The Raiser’s Edge in the United States, Canada, the UK, and Europe since 1995. Bill also worked for Junior Achievement as the Director of Development in Arizona and as Director of Field IT for the national headquarters, overseeing the roll-out of The Raiser’s Edge in the field offices.

Praise for Fundraising with The Raiser’s Edge^®: A Non-Technical Guide

“Fundraising with The Raiser’s Edge is a must-read for every fundraiser. We put so much time, energy, and money into managing our data. Now, with this guidebook, I’m ready to get much more out of The Raiser’s Edge so we maximize our friend-raising and fundraising.”

—Mark Stuart, Chief Development and Membership Officer, San Diego Zoo

“This book is a practical and easy to understand guide to The Raiser’s Edge written for fundraisers by a fundraiser. Packed with real-life scenarios, it is a must-read for every user.”

—Jim Bush, Executive Director, Charleston Animal Society and Former Enterprise Business Architect, Blackbaud, Inc.

Focus on your mission, not the mundane—let The Raiser’s Edge® help you!

If you’re a fundraiser for an organization that uses The Raiser’s Edge software—whether it’s with a hospital, school, museum or any other nonprofit—Fundraising with The Raiser’s Edge: A Non-Technical Guide explains this powerful tool in a non-technical manner so you and your organization can focus on raising money instead of fussing with data.

The first book to take fundraisers step-by-step through Blackbaud’s The Raiser’s Edge software, this hands-on guide addresses the critical elements you as a fundraiser need to know about making optimal use of it for your purposes and working with your database staff, including:

• Structuring and organizing your fundraising with the software
• Finding and understanding biographical, contact, and giving information
• Working with your staff to generate mailings correctly and on time
• Managing the major gifts, grants, special events, and membership processes
• Getting recommended reports, lists, and other data out in useful ways
• Hiring, managing, and retaining your database administrator

No-nonsense and completely focused on your fundraising needs, this plain-English guide offers specific and clear direction for putting this popular program to work for your organization’s unique needs.