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Fundraising
Software
All non-profit organizations and charities
require fundraising software to streamline the management of gifts,
pledges and donations they receive. An important income for many
non-profit organizations is planned giving, or deferred giving as it
is sometimes known.
The long term viability of any non-profit organization can be
ensured by securing commitments from various individuals for future
donations. Recording and tracking these planned donations by using
fundraising software enables non-profit organizations to facilitate
the planning required to set up planned donations and assist in
their management over time.
Another important source of income for non-profit organizations is
the small money donations made during a fundraising event. In many
countries donations to nonprofit organizations are tax deductible
and the ability of the software to generate accurate printed copies
of official receipts is vital. Storing this information for a number
of years is a legal requirement in many countries.
Not only must your fundraising software be able to keep track of all
these records, it must have the ability to analyze all the
fundraising campaigns you have run and identify which are the most
effective strategies. The fundraising software must also identify
repeat donors, so that they can be properly thanked. The
organization will also want to approach these donors again, during
future fundraising events.
Some fundraising software manufacturers build in the ability to rate
donors, making it easier to identify those people or organizations
who are the most likely to be top donors in any future fundraising
events.
Fundraising software must also have the ability to process credit
cards and must therefore integrate seamlessly with your bank
account. At the completion of each transaction, the donor's contact
details must be entered into a contact database and a letter or
email will be sent, which acknowledges the transaction and thanks
the person for their donation.
Another important function of fundraising software is the ability to
recognize and delete duplicate records. Many donors want to setup
recurring donations, so the fundraising software must have the
ability to bill donors on a monthly recurring basis. Needless to
say, accuracy is very important, so as not to cause the potential
donor any inconvenience or aggravation.
Additionally, because numerous donations to a non-profit
organization's fundraising event will be small in value. The
fundraising software must be able to accurately record and process
thousands of small transactions. Besides keeping records on each
individual donor, the software must be able to recognize when any of
these small donors makes repeat donations and account for them
accurately and in a logical order.
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