These pages will provide information, articles, examples, etc. on customizing the Raiser's Edge to fit your organization's needs. I also provide consulting services for the Raiser's Edge (including migration, upgrades, etc.) in Los Angeles and Northern Colorado. I have two target audiences: the Director of Development & the department's "database person".

It seems that far too many Development Departments in the Nonprofit World consider their donor database an unwelcome source of aggravation. The prevalent attitude is "I'm not a computer nut. I'm supposed to be finding creative ways to bring in money! I'm a people person dammit!" To them the computer is a source of pain and grief that just gets in their way, and sadly there are understandable reasons for this attitude:

• Effective operation usually requires some sort of dedicated database expert with a skill set that is completely beyond the organization's existing I.T. department.
• Databases are inherently messy, meaning it is really hard to keep the information clean and reliable.This goes double for constituency databases that track donors, money, volunteers, contact organizations, and lots of other strange data.
• Nonprofit Development Departments love to customize the way they operate. They are constantly looking at how to exploit their creativity to bring in new money. They resent any implication that they need to adapt their methods to accommodate a piece of software!
• Inaccurate data results in the department looking stupid. Mistakes are embarrassing because they are visible by the very people who are supposed to give the organization money.
• Reconciliation of financial data with the Finance Department can be problematic at best, and often results in redundant copies of the same data.
• Non-technical Development Officers don't really know what information is available to them, how the software can help them, what they can expect, etc.
• Operating the software requires a pretty technical skill set. Retraining staff and volunteers can be frustrating at best.

Does any of this sound familiar? If so, these web pages are for you. I have spent the last three years working with these issues and have found some startling conclusions:

• Many "outside specialists" are wasting time and money by forcing the Nonprofit to jump through the same (expensive) hoops regularly, instead of automating and cleaning the processes. Most operations can and should be (almost) one-click solutions that the Development Staff can do without outside assistance.
• The staff often perform tedious, repetitive tasks regularly. Intelligent solutions can cut menial daily operations dramatically, thus saving time, money and sanity.
• Organizations have no idea what unused features are available to make their lives easier. (And these can also help them to bring in money!) Unutilized resources can cost more in missed-opportunities than the training costs.
• The Development Department doesn't know how to customize the software to operate the way they do.
• The security of the very private constituent information is paramount, and yet the I.T. departments have not done their due diligence to protect it. A few hours of work can help make sure that a volunteer doesn't walk out with highly sensitive information on a floppy disk in his shirt pocket.

There are a number of software solutions for donor databases. The most popular package is the Raiser's Edge by Blackbaud, Inc. In some ways it may look like a 2000 lb gorilla because it really is designed to do everything! It is also rather expensive, but most nonprofits find themselves inevitably migrating to it once they attain a certain size. Fortunately, it is generally a really decent product. It underwent a complete rewrite in version 7 and the results are worth it!

My writings are going to focus on a few primary categories:

1. Migrating a homegrown database to the Raiser's Edge.
2. Cleaning up the database, and changing the way your organization uses the Raiser's Edge. (Including security policies!)
3. Designing customized solutions to help your fundraising efforts.
4. Using the (optional) RE:VBA and RE:Open modules to add power to your customizations.
5. Working with Bulk Mail and mailing houses. Getting the most service for the best price.
6. Project Management practices and templates for accomplishing these tasks.

I want to emphasise the last point. It will save you a tremendous amount of time and money by identifying specific tangible goals, working them through completion, covering issues of documentation and training, and evaluating how well your goals were met. Otherwise "database issues" become one of those things that just l i n g e r s . . .

If you have any specific questions you would like to see addressed, or are looking for consulting services to help you save money by streamlining operations, e-mail me at resolutions@zoneent.com.

written materials and original images copyright © 2003 by Murray Todd Williams

site issues, problems or corrections? contact webmaster@murraywilliams.com. Page last updated 13-sep-03 17:02