As fundraisers, we love talking to donors about how THEIR gift can make a difference to help make the world a better place. But we don’t often talk about the best gift YOU can give as a fundraiser to help your manager sleep better at night.

Well, I’ll tell you.

The best gift you can give your managers and leaders of your non-profit is to enter all your donor information, communication, touches, phone calls, notes, etc., in your donor database.

And, you don’t have to spend any money to give this greatest gift!

At Veritus, we talk a lot about “working your plan” and “understanding your donor’s passions and interests.” But we haven’t talked too much about the importance of recording all the information about your donors into your database.

I mean, it’s not sexy. It’s kinda boring. And, personally, I think it’s a tedious task. I can truly empathize with you on that. But it’s essential. It must be done.

And, if you are motivated because you like giving gifts, besides your manager and leaders of your organization, you are also giving a gift to the fundraiser that comes after you. Too often, I hear from frontline fundraisers that have just started working at a new organization with little to no information about donors. Their predecessor didn’t enter anything into the database!

Think about how a donor feels when a fundraiser calls them up and says, “I’m sorry. I don’t know how involved you’ve been, except for how much you’ve given….” That’s a terrible spot to put that fundraiser in.

And if this has happened to you, I’m sure you don’t want your successor to have to go through that misery like you did.

I heard from a manager recently who has fundraisers all over the country. Besides looking at revenue, she’s reviewing the agreed upon KPI’s for her fundraisers, like meaningful connections, donor visits, etc. While the revenue is right in line with goals, her fundraisers were reporting barely any actions over the last three months. Rightly so, the manager is thinking, “Are these gifts just coming in on their own? Because it seems like no one is talking to donors.” Turns out, the fundraisers have been way behind in entering in donor information and communication.

From the manager’s perspective, she is saying, “Look, if it’s not in the database, it didn’t happen.” Well, the fundraisers got the message and got caught up; and now, going forward, they enter in data as they work with each donor.

I think you understand why this is important. But here is one last reason. Entering all your donor information and communication honors your donors. If done well, the information you are entering will tell a story of what your donor is passionate about, why they are passionate about your mission, what motivates them to give to your organization, what they find interesting, and how the relationship has grown over the years.

This allows anyone in your organization to “know” the donor. And for a donor to be “known” is also a gift.

If you find yourself either not entering this information or perhaps you are “behind” a bit, I urge you to get caught up and to dedicate yourself going forward to maintaining good records. It truly is an amazing gift you can give.

Jeff