Robert Weiner

NOVEMBER 10, 2011

I'm planning a new workshop on selecting donor databases, focusing on the question, "Why is this so friggin' complicated?" The system needs to be intuitive for fundraisers, but streamlined for fast data entry. Some initial thoughts: The maxim "Fast, cheap, or good -- pick two" is true. How can you know what you don't know (e.g.,

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Database Donor Analysis System 122

Robert Weiner

FEBRUARY 24, 2012

I've been enjoying the discussion in the Chronicle of Philanthropy's LinkedIn group in response to the question, " What's a good, affordable donor database program for a small non profit? " (you'll probably need to join the group to read the responses).

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Database Donor Linkedin Map 136

Robert Weiner

JANUARY 13, 2009

The flip side to my list of donor databases would be a list of systems that no longer exist. Donor Access. Donor Access. Tags: Donor Databases Fundraising Advancement Services. This probably isn’t as useful a list, but it’s short so here goes: SYSTEM. GroundSpring. First Chair. Third Sector Systems.

Database 100

Database Donor Associations System 100

Robert Weiner

JANUARY 11, 2009

I thought it might be useful to compile a list of all of the commercial donor databases I’m aware of. This list came from my head, my bookmarks, and lists compiled by NTEN and Idealware for their donor management software surveys (and I’m not certain all of these are actually donor databases). Donor Quest.

Database 100

Database Donor Kintera Oracle 100

Robert Weiner

MARCH 17, 2013

I've redacted the message to anonymize the vendor: Dear _, I thought you might be interested in a recent analysis of low cost fundraising software, conducted jointly by independent organizations Idealware and N-TEN. A colleague forwarded the following email from a vendor and asked how I think a potential buyer should respond.

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Rate Database Donor Analysis 138

Robert Weiner

JANUARY 7, 2016

The title of this edition is " Advancement Services: Enhancing Fundraising Success." CASE has just published the third edition of its guide to Advancement Services. The book was a labor of love for over 2 years by 25 of advancement services professionals, led and edited by the esteemed John Taylor. I'm honored to have written two chapters.

Service 100

Service Fundraising Chapter Guide 100

Robert Weiner

AUGUST 8, 2012

The following is a compilation of online discussions of faux donors trying to scam colleges, schools, and nonprofits. The donor promised his patent would completely fund the university, wipe out the national debt, and make America the happiest place on Earth. BTW beware potential donors who only correspond using cap lock.

St. Louis 122

St. Louis Charity Donor New Hampshire 122

Robert Weiner

JANUARY 29, 2009

Lokey, who has appeared on The Chronicle’s list of America’s top donors every year since 2000. How could a small institution with big aspirations engage donors with significant financial capability? What do you see as the ED’s role in working with major donors? Tags: Fundraising.

Mind 100

Mind Donor Proposal America 100

Robert Weiner

NOVEMBER 17, 2009

Very few speakers or attendees reported using these tools for fundraising, though. UC Berkeley talked about a badge that donors can post to their Facebook pages after making a gift ("I Feed The Bears"). It's not an explicit fundraising appeal, but they might start using fundraising badges for class campaigns in the future.

Social Media 112

Social Media Guam Badge Media 112

Robert Weiner

FEBRUARY 10, 2009

Beth titled her post Are Fundraising Groundswells A Massive Opportunity or Distraction for Nonprofit Organizations? And yet a year later, when nothing has changed for all the other millions of families, those donors become disillusioned. Tags: Social Media Online Fundraising. and didn’t reach a conclusion either way.

Social Media 100

Social Media Media Fundraising Social 100

Robert Weiner

JANUARY 7, 2009

I’ve previously posted resources for nonprofits coping with the economic downturn ( Coping with a Troubled Economy , Fundraising Survival Guide , Economic Effects on Philanthropy ). The impact of long recessions on giving varies by donor types. Tags: Fundraising. in years without a recession and increases of 6.2%

Gift 100

Gift Fundraising Comparison Foundation 100

Robert Weiner

MARCH 4, 2010

It plays Habitat's name, Haiti relief, and pure greed -- it claims you can earn big tax-free commissions as a fundraiser. Fundraising (at least in the U.S.) doesn't work this way -- commissions violate the Association of Fundraising Professionals' code of ethics. There are so many things wrong with this pitch.

Haiti 122

Haiti Fundraising Spam gMail 122

Robert Weiner

FEBRUARY 3, 2010

San Francisco's Fundraising Day will be happening June 16 at the downtown Marriott. We've programmed sessions on online fundraising with Madeline Stanionis, social media with Jeff Patrick, database selection with Eric Leland, and an open discussion session with me and Michael on whatever tech topics the attendees bring.

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San Francisco Fundraising Database Social Media 100

Robert Weiner

SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

The NonProfit Times ran the story The Evolution of Donor Management And Its Fundraising Future , which deals with how technology is transforming the way nonprofits interact with donors, particularly online. I was interviewed for two articles that were published recently. And the Chronicle of Philanthropy ran 'But It's Free!'

News 100

News Interview Philanthropy Interaction 100

Robert Weiner

FEBRUARY 10, 2010

Idealware recently released its Fundraising, Communications and Outreach. Unlike their earlier guides (to inexpensive donor databases, content management systems, online donation tools, etc.) this one is an actual book (84 pages, paperback) and costs actual money ($19.95, plus, I assume, shipping and maybe tax).

Software 100

Software Guide Communication Fundraising 100

Robert Weiner

JUNE 3, 2010

Yesterday I spoke on a fundraising panel at Compasspoint's Silicon Valley/Peninsula Nonprofit Forum and mentioned a variety of resources. Here they are, with links: Donor Retention. AFP's Fundraising Effectiveness Project: [link]. The Agitator’s post “No New Donors!&# [link]. Attracting New Donors.

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Resource eBook Social Media ROI 138

Robert Weiner

JANUARY 27, 2012

Idealware’s Consumer’s Guide to Low Cost Donor Management Systems reviewed 30 systems, the majority of which don’t come from Convio or Blackbaud. I’ve also been compiling a list of every donor database I come across at https://socialsourcecommons.org/toolbox/show/1661. I’m more concerned about the top end of the market.

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Blackbaud Convio Open Source Product 222

Robert Weiner

NOVEMBER 2, 2010

If you have an urgent call to action, a way of reaching a mass audience, and don’t mind not being able to identify, steward, or resolicit most of the donors who give via text, mobile giving can definitely be effective. That will bring down the startup and monthly costs and allow you to identify your mobile donors.

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System Time Paypal Donation 138

Robert Weiner

MAY 10, 2013

All of these things and more help to keep our records up to date and give them better information and more time to fundraise and friendraise. Advancement Services Best Practices Databases Donor Databases' Michelle Kolak. Assistant Director. Advancement Services. Columbia College Chicago.

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Database Chicago Mail Phone 162

Robert Weiner

JANUARY 22, 2010

She's trying to make the case for investing in Advancement Services at a college that seems to only want to invest in fundraisers. In his blog post on evaluating fundraising programs, Measuring Success The Buffett Way , Jason McNeil asks What measures might Warren Buffett use to evaluate development effectiveness?

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Service Retention Evaluation System 183

Robert Weiner

FEBRUARY 11, 2011

No one is going to fire an effective fundraiser because she’s bad at data entry (although they might get her an assistant who will handle the entry). Donors will give online and misspell their own names, or leave the caps lock on. Acceptance. Some things have to be fixed by your office or by Development Services.

Data 195

Data Listserv Database Policy 195

Robert Weiner

AUGUST 17, 2009

Target Analytics' Index of National Fundraising Performance for the first quarter of 2009 had nothing but bad news. All of the industry sectors analyzed in the index had revenue declines over this period, and all but one sector had declines in donors as well. Tags: Fundraising Nonprofit Management TechSoup. He says: read more.

Retention 100

Retention Metrics News Analytics 100

Robert Weiner

DECEMBER 19, 2011

As the calendar year draws to an end, charities (and ideally, donors) are focused on year-end donations and tax deductions. So if the charity did not process the charge until January 2012, the donor would be treated as making the gift in 2012 rather than 2011, as she intended. Here are a few scenarios for U.S. Note: I am not a lawyer.

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Process Donation Montana United States 271

Robert Weiner

AUGUST 30, 2012

Today the news is that Blackbaud is killing off Common Ground , one of the two donor management products (aka CRMs or Constituent Relationship Management systems) that they acquired from Convio. In what was said to be an unrelated development, they also announced the departure of Gene Austin, the former CEO of Convio.

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Blackbaud Convio Database Austin 264

Robert Weiner

FEBRUARY 8, 2009

As a fundraising operations geek, I wonder how this works on the back end. Will the Twestival organizers send tax receipts to the donors, or will that fall to charity:water? Will charity:water get contact information for the donors so they have the opportunity to steward them and build ongoing relationships?

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Raise Twitter Contact Gift 100

Robert Weiner

JULY 17, 2009

The findings included: 96% of respondents accept matching gifts (down from 99% in 2008), but only 60% actively ask individual donors to request matching gifts. 67% said they include matching gifts when calculating donor recognition in gift clubs or other donor recognition levels. Tags: Fundraising. in last years' survey.

Gift 100

Gift Practice Survey Technique 100

Robert Weiner

NOVEMBER 14, 2009

The results of two new surveys paint a bleak picture of the effectiveness of social media for fundraising and volunteer recruitment. It concludes that: Social technologies are not delivering much in terms of fundraising or attracting volunteers.

Social Media 100

Social Media Volunteer Media Social 100

Robert Weiner

JANUARY 27, 2009

The findings included: Although 99% of respondents accept matching gifts, only 67% actively ask individual donors to request matching gifts. 72% said they include matching gifts when calculating donor recognition in gift clubs or other donor recognition levels. Tags: Fundraising Advancement Services.

Gift 100

Gift Practice Survey Museum 100

Robert Weiner

SEPTEMBER 20, 2012

One of the discussions during NTEN’s community call about Blackbaud’s purchase of Convio was whether the nonprofit community should band together and build its own donor management system rather than being dependent on for-profit vendors. That discussion continued on my blog. I expect it will be strengthened by this move.

Blackbaud 171

Blackbaud Convio Database Statistics 171

Robert Weiner

FEBRUARY 17, 2009

, and the subsequent TechSoup discussion , I’m posting an analysis conducted by Sarah Grosvenor , the Assistant Director of Annual Giving at Willamette University , on the potential for mobile fundraising at the University. Sarah granted me permission to share her findings with the world. " read more.

Raise 100

Raise United States Analysis University 100

Robert Weiner

MAY 4, 2010

Resources : My article Finding the Perfect Fundraising Database in an Imperfect World includes a section called "To RFP or not to RFP" Idealware article: The Perfect Fit: A Guide to Evaluating and Purchasing Major Software Systems. Tags: Databases Donor Databases IT Management Nonprofit Technology Software.

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Software Database Phase Proposal 112

Robert Weiner

MARCH 20, 2009

A new study released by Blackbaud’s Target Analytics division suggests that first-time online donors do not become recurring donors. One-time Internet givers to the 12 organizations who reported their fundraising data in January gave a median of $27 more than those who made single gifts by mail. read more.

Donor 100

Donor Online Giving Mail 100

Robert Weiner

FEBRUARY 20, 2009

Twice in the past week I’ve come across online fundraising campaigns in which the fundraiser promises to do something embarrassing when the goal is met. Last week, Holly Ross, NTEN’s Executive Director, posted a video appeal for her attempt to raise $10,000 for scholarships to the upcoming Nonprofit Technology Conference.

San Francisco 100

San Francisco Fundraising NTEN Video 100

Robert Weiner

FEBRUARY 9, 2015

Push-to-sync online donations: sync donors and donations with CRM in a single click. Sync event information: registrants, event donations, fundraisers, and team information seamlessly flow into CRM. Process recurring donations based on donors'' schedule of giving. Donor Databases Fundraising Nonprofit Technology Software'

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Change Database Module Hosting 100

Robert Weiner

JANUARY 5, 2010

I've been thinking about what it takes to run a great Advancement Services operation (aka Development Services, Development Operations, Development Systems, the fundraising infrastructure, the back office). staff, fundraisers, and other colleagues) and externally (fielding inquiries and resolving problems for donors and prospective donors).

Service 171

Service Policy Law System 171

Robert Weiner

MAY 4, 2012

The Department of Justice signed off on Blackbaud's acquisition of Convio last week, and it looks like the deal will close this week. This is just the beginning of the story. I expect that it will take at least several months, and probably several years, before the dust settles and we know what's left behind.

Blackbaud 122

Blackbaud Convio Story Support 122

Robert Weiner

MAY 7, 2012

Blackbaud completed its purchase of Convio. The next adventure starts today, as we wait to see what the future holds for their various systems.

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Convio Blackbaud System Database 138