Fundraising with The Raiser's Edge: A Non-Technical Guide

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