“The Campbell Awards recognize exceptional performance in nonprofit service, and we congratulate AccuFund for this achievement,” Said Dirk Rinker, President of Campbell Rinker. “The favorable customer feedback we received validates the high quality of AccuFund’s product and support.”

In addition to the likelihood of product referral, the study included topics such as user satisfaction, feature preferences, purchasing habits and organizational dynamics. To read a summary report, click here.

To create and carry out a successful presentation:

1. Do your research. What problems, challenges, economic factors, etc., impact your organization and its clients? How does your idea or program address those issues? Make sure you have all the facts before you try to persuade your audience.
2. Make it relevant. Paint a detailed picture of how your idea or program will best serve your clients. Tailor your information to the interests of your audience. Board members want facts and figures; supporters may want to know how they are helping individual clients.
3. Be professional. Create an attractive presentation that includes graphics and takeaways. Graphics are easier to understand at a glance than a long paragraph of text. A summary sheet or brochure helps your board members or supporters remember key facts later, perhaps when sitting down to write a check or taking a vote on the program. If you don’t have the expertise to do this yourself, get help. If your presentation looks sloppy, you diminish the perceived value of your idea or program.
4. Come prepared. Remember to practice, practice, practice–and make sure you’re ready to answer any questions that could come up. If you’re prepared and confident, and you present relevant information, then your board members or supporters are more likely to trust you.
5. Engage your audience. When appropriate, ask questions that enable your audience to interact with you and see you as a problem-solver. The more involved they are, the more they will remember what you’ve said and feel invested in your idea or program.
6. Always ask for something. Every presentation should have an objective, a request, a next step. Give your audience a compelling reason to take the next step now.

By following these simple steps, you will ”wow” your board members and supporters and generate excitement about your proposal.
Using donor management software can help keep your books in order and your transparency with your board. Learn more about our Automated Donor Management Systems.

To read the full product review, visit www.cpapracticeadvisor.com

Institutional advancement professionals and development officers must not only cultivate prospective relationships with major donors, they must also provide ongoing stewardship of donations, past and present. It is a massive responsibility to balance needs and priorities of your organization’s donor base.

This blog outlines the top 23 things great fund development officers keep in mind every day, but especially as they enter into their first days on a new job. (Please feel free to add your own wisdom to this working checklist to help you manage new major gift officers in your institution.)

#1 – Know your audience
You must be able to successfully identify potential major donors. These are individuals who have both a personal interest in your organization and the financial means to give.

Finding the right prospects takes research and time. Development officers for smaller organizations might want to poll board members for their lists of prospects. Larger institutions typically have massive databases, and must strategically segment their lists to target the prospects most likely to give.

You can start with your favorite search engine for some brute-force researching or utilize some of the in-depth wealth research tools available in your constituent management system or online. Accessing the right web sites can provide insight on capacity, inclination, and motivation, so you can seek out the intersection of capacity and interest.

#2 – Use your scarce resources wisely
Just because an individual has a high affinity for your organization doesn’t necessarily mean they will have capacity to give immediately. Recent graduates, for example, usually fit into the high affinity/low capacity category when it comes to alumni giving. They are fiercely loyal, but cash poor, for now. Keeping them engaged is critical to long-term loyalty and interest in giving back.

#3 – Keep your pipeline full
Experienced fundraisers actively pursue prospects more likely to give immediately, while also cultivating potential future donors. It’s important to have prospects in every stage of the development cycle to ensure stable long-term funding.

#4 – Knowledge is a powerful ally
Every prospect has a story and it’s up to you to find that story. There are some important things to know about a prospect that may not seem obvious, for example:

• Who was their roommate in college?
• What sorority or fraternity were they in?
• Have they just gotten a new job? (Linked in would tell you that.)
• What are their kids’ interests?
• Do they give to other charities such as their local hospital, theater, etc.?

Understanding your prospects’ background builds stronger relationships and knowledge about your targets helps focus priorities. The more you know about a prospect, the better you’ll be able to identify high capacity targets for major gifts.

#5 – Understand their motives
What is the prospect’s affinity to your organization? What will motivate them to give? Better yet, what will motivate them to want to have a long-term relationship involving investment into your programs?

#6 – Nurture first, then solicit
The development cycle starts with getting the prospect’s attention; providing something that piques their interest; creating desire; and then motivating them to take action.

• Consider these top conversation starters for discussing a major gift:
• Being asked by someone you know
• Volunteering with the institution
• Being asked by clergy
• Reading or hearing a news story
• Being asked at work
• Receiving a letter asking you to give
• Receiving a phone call
• Viewing an advertisement, in a printed publication or online
• Seeing a TV commercial

#7 – Get their attention
Your prospective donors are being bombarded by noise–from their business, from other charities clamoring for their attention, from the trials of everyday life, and more. Amplify your voice and your cause above the din of tweets, beeps, and emails by being personal and creating an exceptional donor experience.

#8 – Communicate benefits
What value does your organization bring to the potential donor? How does your organization differ from others? The key to successful engagement is demonstrating benefit, either directly to the donor, or indirectly via goodwill created by donation. Provide donors with reasons to champion your cause above others.

#9 – Be a great storyteller
Once you have the prospect’s attention, you must get their interest. Create a story showing the benefit of giving. Showcase your organization’s accomplishments and goals for the future, and create a connection linking your prospect’s past to the institution. Take the time to remind prospective donors of their history with your organization.

#10 – Create a sense of community
Highlight your ties to the community and what you’re doing on the home front. Demonstrate the benefits your cause brings to a donor’s community. And remember, community doesn’t have to be tied to location. Create a community based on interest; for example, sports, military veterans, or cancer survivors and their family members, etc.

#11 – Motivate giving
Major donors truly want to help the community, but they also want acknowledgement for their support. Recognize and reward them for their actions by establishing defined recognition plateaus. It’s possible a particular reward or incentive could “push” a donor into the next level of engagement. But, remember to be flexible, too. Never force a major donor into a prescribed giving campaign when it may limit the overall lifetime giving potential of that donor.

#12 – Cultivate interest in low affinity, high capacity prospects
It’s your job to find these types of donors and convince them to send a little piece of their money in your direction. This is a three-step process:

• Find the high net worth individuals.
• Learn which of these individuals make charitable donations.
• Create the story that flows their charitable dollars to your cause.

# 13 – Communicate need
Clearly communicate how you will use the funding for which you are asking. Answer this question: “What will donors’ money accomplish?” Provide the facts of what you do with a $1,000 donation, a $10,000 donation, and a $100,000 donation.

#14 – Don’t be sloppy
Savvy donors respond to careful attention to detail and a professional presentation. Even the formatting on your envelope can make a difference. Be a stickler for grammar, punctuation and appropriates titles.

#15 – Make it personal
Cultivate major gift prospects by involving them in the activities of the organization or inviting them to visit the organization. Don’t forget to show your appreciation with a small token or personal note.

#16 – Make the right ask
Be specific and actionable when you finally solicit your prospective major donor. If you’ve done your research on the individual, you should be able to push them right to their limit of giving, without scaring them away. Provide reasons why you’re asking for the specific amount and why you need it. Be flexible in both the type and timing of the donations you accept and always, always be gracious – whether or not the person agrees to give. You never want to burn bridges because the “no” of today might be tomorrow’s “yes.”

#17 – Discover untapped sources of support
Consider all the people who, over the years, have benefited from your organization (as students, alumni, educators, community supporters, etc.). Those people may now be in a position to give, but they simply haven’t been effectively asked to contribute in a way that‘s meaningful for them.

#18 – Thank your donors
Make your donors feel special by recognizing their gift personally, openly, and honestly. It’s important for your donors to feel a sense of pride and satisfaction in supporting your cause – so recognize and thank each one. The options are endless: from press releases to tweets to plaques. You can’t thank your major donors enough.

#19 – Cultivate the ongoing relationship
Help your donors feel good about their donations. Regularly update them on your progress in the community. Invite them to special events, such as graduations and opening night galas.

#20 – Go full circle
Stewardship is one of the most important aspects of a fundraising professional’s career. Always keep prospects informed about what their donation accomplished. You must have concrete answers for where money is going and why it’s needed. Establish and maintain credibility with your donors by demonstrating the return you are getting on their investment. Specificity and clarity will help get major gift givers on board with your campaign.

#21 – Track your contact efforts
It’s important to maintain accurate records of who you’ve asked, what you asked them for and how they responded. Some institutions will say “if it’s not in the donor database, it didn’t really happen.” Although keeping track of every communication involves more effort on your part, it allows you to create a clear record of your interactions with the prospect. This is especially helpful when another development officer moves to a new job and you “inherit” their prospects. Having a full history of all their previous interactions with your team is a powerful asset.

#22 – Create raving fans
References from major donors, detailing their satisfaction in the results of their donations, can help turn skeptics into potential givers.

#23 – Stay positive
Despite a struggling economy, giving is at near-record levels, and the wealthiest individuals still tend to give the most. According to recent survey by Fidelity Charitable, “the majority of American donors (72 percent) plan to maintain or increase their level of charitable giving this year compared to last year. This number is up from 63 percent in 2010.”

Conclusion
Your major donors are your partners. Treat your major donors the way you would treat any great business partner. Provide tangible, local results from the work of your organization. Communicate with your major donors often about your organization and when they give, recognize them publicly. These basic, tried-and-true steps will lead to success.

If you’d like to learn more about how you can maximize Grant Funding, click here to download a free and informative webinar.

AccuFund, Inc., provider of financial reporting and accounting software for non-profit, municipal and government organizations, today announced it has received the Campbell Award for Highest Customer Satisfaction. The award is based on customer feedback in an independent nationwide survey conducted by research firm Campbell Rinker. The firm polled 1,987 users and purchase decision-makers of accounting software at U.S. nonprofits, finding a high proportion of AccuFund customers would recommend the AccuFund Accounting Suite to others.

“The Campbell Awards recognize exceptional performance in non-profit service, and we congratulate AccuFund for this achievement,” said Dirk Rinker, president of Campbell Rinker. “The favorable customer feedback we received validates the high quality of AccuFund’s product and support.”

“Providing our customers with outstanding service as well as an accounting solution that meets their needs is our number one focus,” said Peter Stam, president of AccuFund. “Our continuous product enhancements, training programs and dedicated support are all centered on maintaining satisfied customers.”

The Campbell Rinker survey was conducted online during August and September of 2011 and included topics such as user satisfaction, feature preferences, purchasing habits, and organizational dynamics. The study found that 8% of nonprofits use an Internet-based accounting solution as opposed to a software product installed on a local computer or server. That number doubles the 4% who reported using an Internet-based solution in a 2009 Campbell Rinker study. AccuFund offers both installed software and an online hosted version of the
AccuFund Accounting Suite.

Details from the Campbell Rinker survey’s comprehensive report, which is available to software companies, can be found at: campbellrinker.com/reports/SNP.html

About Campbell Rinker
Campbell Rinker has provided market research to nonprofits and the companies that serve AccuFund Press Release, and is a member of the Council of American Survey Research Organizations (CASRO) and the Marketing Research Association (MRA). Questions and requests for Campbell Rinker can be sent through campbellrinker.com/contact_us.html.

About AccuFund
AccuFund, Inc. provides scalable accounting software systems to nonprofit organizations and government agencies. The AccuFund Accounting Suite fulfills the market’s need for an accounting solution that is more sophisticated than off-the-shelf products, yet much less expensive, complex and difficult to use than the higher end offerings. AccuFund’s products are available exclusively through Value Added Resellers (VARs) located throughout the United States. The VARs provide AccuFund’s customers with cost-effective onsite training and installation assistance.

For more information on how AccuFund can improve the accounting process for your organization, give us a call at 503.648.9051.

- Be sure to set your posting parameters.

• In Sage Fund Accounting go into administrations under organizational preferences and select ‘set posting dates’.
• In AccuFund, set your posting window under the set up area.

- Import your budget. You can import your budget into the General Ledger using an Excel Spreadsheet. Save hours of tedious data entry by using this feature in Sage Fund Accounting and AccuFund. If you need assistance with this, please feel free to give us a call.

- Watch emails for any last minutes updates on taxes.

- Be sure to know what forms you need to order and when to order them by.

• Sage Nonprofit Forms
• AccuFund Forms (enter ‘AccuFund’ in the ‘Software’ area)

Nonprofits and Government Agencies have been especially impacted by the lack of current funding and technology, and many have been holding on by a thread trying to keep their organization alive. However, if you are like us, you are starting to see positive trends that are real indicators of better times ahead.

To help, this edition of “Left Brained World” is dedicated to our top 6 recommendations to start 2012 with the tools you’ll need to keep your organization running at its best!

#1: Keep your ERP solution current
Discover Sage Fund Accounting v11.0

Sage Fund Accounting v11.0 (formerly known as Sage MIP Fund Accounting) is packed full of enhancements. From usability feedback within core product areas, quality reporting improvements, and a streamlined upgrade process- you’re sure to improve your day-to-day operations with this upgrade. Additional features include: an updated workflow and user interface; new functionality for Accounts Payable; additional options for processing sales orders; the ability to control appending entries and AP invoices using Set Up Modules; Grant Administration functionality; a timesheet refresh option; and more! If you’d like more information on this upgrade, click here.

Upgrade to HR v5
Anyone currently using Sage HR v4.6 or greater, now has the opportunity to upgrade to v. 5, which is packed full of new enhancements. Some of these include:

• Default work week hours and number of pay periods can be assigned by Processing Group.
• The availability of Data Export as an add-on module.
• A custom Report Writer for the HR module.
• Visible Leave Balance Accrual and Taken Balance.
• A lunch taken field on all timesheets.
• The ability to export Timesheets from View Timesheets.
• The comp time functionality on Timesheet III now accrues comp time rather than requiring the time to be paid out.
• A new formal leave request and approval process.
• The ability for employees to view their current and future leave balances on the Enter Leave Form
• And more!

#2: Automate Operational Processes

Increase efficiencies with automated Purchasing, Timesheets and Budgets
Automation is the key to improved efficiency and reduced time spent on busywork. Some great tools that can help you do this include:

Sage EWS
Sage EWS is a complete HR management solution (from Sage Nonprofit) which integrates with your HR and Payroll systems. It provides streamlined data entry, employee access to payroll history and W-2 information, an online employee timesheet entry and approval access, and more.

Microix
The Microix Workflow Modules (www.Microix.net) consist of three modules (Budget, Requisition and Timesheet) which fully integrate with Sage Fund Accounting. These equip your system with:

• The ability to easily collect employee timesheet data and automatically route them through an approval process.
• Requirement enforcement capabilities and purchase requests.
• And the ability to create budget worksheets for any time period.

#3: Utilize Intelligence tools

Stay informed with customizable dashboards from Visual Analyzer
It’s never been more important to be able to make fast decisions based on accurate and reliable information. Visual Analyzer was designed to support customization of dashboard features to give you easy access to the data you need. With ten interactive and customizable dashboards, Visual Analyzer provides comprehensive graphical views of your organization’s key information. Additionally it enables you to connect your back-office systems with your donor information helping you stay informed at all times.

#4: Build donor loyalty with integrated donor management

Improve capabilities to stay connected with your supporters
The right fundraising solution can help you get to the next level in your donor acquisition, and fundraising efforts. Sage Fundraising 50 can help you do this by providing:

• Increased productivity through an intuitive interface and built-in utilities
• Extensive Fundraising and Development Capabilities by: a) Promoting donor acquisition, cultivation and retention through comprehensive profiles, moves management, tickler tools and complete communication histories; b) Providing built-in event, volunteer, and membership management software; c) Saving you time and money by streamlining gift processing; d) Connecting you with supporters online.
• Flexible Built-in Reporting
• Customizability
• Remote Data Access
• And More!

#5: Increase efficiency with better grant management
Say goodbye to spreadsheets and hello to streamlined, collaborative and secure reporting!

Sage Grant Management helps nonprofit and government organizations maximize funding potential and provide transparency at the organization, program, and grant levels. This web-based grant receiving solution uniquely combines development, contact, and financial data to improve grant pipeline oversight while optimizing success tracking. Reporting and trend analysis become efficient and effective, resulting in organizations and agencies that are better equipped to serve their missions, constituents, and communities.

Sage Grant Management will help you to:

•  Strengthen your organization’s financial health by increasing grant funding and proactively managing the grants in process.
• Easily keep track of all projects, programs, grants, and contacts through an integrated relationship-based system, eliminating the errors and inefficiencies of disparate manual systems and spreadsheets.
• Collaborate with other associates to build better grant applications, keep track of deadlines, create budgets, and better manage the grant pipeline.
• Track success measures in a sustainable and credible way so that funders see your true impact, which will also help to maximize your organization’s funding potential.

#6: Go Green with Document Management
Find the documents you need faster while reducing waste

We have all been in the situation when a donor calls and needs a copy of a document. We put them on hold to dig through the filing cabinet where it “should be” and end up empty handed. It’s never a good feeling to have to tell them that you will call them back with the answer, but the reality is that things are not always put away correctly. Even if they are, it can mean digging through piles of paperwork. Document management is a technology that can help you eliminate that problem.

Document management software (DMS) rests in a central place that can be accessed right from your desktop. Documents are scanned in then indexed so that you can search for the document in any way that you may need. For example, if you are storing donation receipts, you may want to index them by name, location, and/or amount donated. This would help you to immediately find a copy of the letter with the donor on the phone. Most DMS systems have built in indexing options but you always have the option of customizing the indexing prompts to meet your organization’s specific requirements.

DMS takes accessibility a step further by making any phrase in the document searchable. If the field you need to find has not been indexed, you can type in the information you do know and the DMS will search through the text to find it. This search method is not as fast as indexing but it is extremely powerful.

Many times a document cannot be found because someone else in the organization has it in their personal filing cabinet or worse, sitting on a mess on their desk. When documents are stored electronically they can be accessed by multiple users simultaneously. The document will never be lost because the final copy is online.

Document management systems are a huge advantage to organizations that have piles of paperwork to manage and struggle to keep it all organized. It essentially removes the guesswork by storing everything in a central location and making all the content easily searchable.

There are several options for Document Management systems available, one of which is EZ ContentManager from ACOM which works directly with your Sage Fund Accounting solution without any custom programming needed! Click here for more information…

What’s worse, over the last 50 years, our consumption of paper has increased six-fold. Where we have improved technology, we have forgotten about the environment. What’s worse is that on average, most offices in America increase paper usage by 22% a year, which means in the net three and a half years your organization may double its usage and disposal of paper.

If companies and nonprofits in the United States cut their paper consumption by just 10 percent, we could prevent 1.6 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions. This is equal to taking 280,000 cars off the road.

The environmental and financial impact of paper in the workplace is astounding, but there is a solution that has proven to both reduce the amount of paper consumption while increasing workplace efficiencies, ultimately leading to overall operating cost reduction. The average cost of handling, filing and retrieving a single paper document can cost upwards of $360 a year! Consider these average handling and storage costs:
•    $20 to file a document
•    $120 to find a document
•    $220 to reproduce a lost document
•    $1,300 to purchase a fireproof cabinet
•    $7,500 to store 15 filing cabinets a year

The good news is – thanks to document management software we can make a positive impact and reduce costs internally…

Many areas of your organization that rely heavily on paper can be converted to an electronic process. A document management and workflow solution can provide you the option to electronically capture, index and save documents through various formats including fax, scan, or email. What’s more, some are designed to work directly with your accounting solution, enabling you to streamline your processes. From automating the routing and distribution of documents, to mimicking your company’s existing paper process in an electronic format – the implementation of a document management solution can be just what your organization needs to save money and the environment at the same time!

If you’d like to learn more about document management software, contact us. We’d be happy to discuss with you how you can save the environment and spend more of your funding on your cause – not on paper!