There are various types of fundraiser programs available for the average group, and most are very reasonably priced, including their upgrades. Three of them are: FundRaiser Basic, FundRaiser Select, and Fundraiser Professional, all available from fundraisersoftware.com. Now, these are by no means the only programs out there, but an overview of them will give a good indication of what all of them do.
These programs are basically known as donor management software. Some people like to use the phrase "donation management" instead as its purpose is to increase the effectiveness and efficiency at which a group is able to get donations. Still, to quote the Immortal Bard, Williams Shakespeare: "a rose by any other name." The programs are designed to allow nonprofit and philanthropic organizations to track their relationships with their donors. In many ways, the software is like CRM (Customer Relationship Management) programs that commercial businesses use to keep track of their customers.
In general, these programs manage, process and/or track various fundraising activities:
- Information obtained by talking to people in person, from a phone-a-thon, via a newsletter or by sending out mailings.
- All fundraising campaigns, seasonal, annual or other.
- Special events, such as banquets, sports tournaments and specialty festivals.
- Pledges obtained from phone-a-thons, and other methods.
- Membership lists.
- Grants obtained from individuals, government agencies and/or charitable foundations.
- Tribute gifts given "In Memory of" or "To Honor" someone.
- Catalogs of the products sold for fundraising.
With Fundraiser Basic, it currently lists for under a hundred dollars, easily affordable by just about any group. Yet, it can hold a list of 50,000 donors, including all data on them and contributions they have made. It has a word processor and mail merger that allows for mass mailings. Very useful for a group just getting started. The FundRaiser Select runs more, $1,200, and simply builds on the basic program, with a few more features. It isn’t until FundRaiser Professional, which costs upwards of $3,500, that some major upgrades come into play. It has more capabilities in terms of reports, merging functions and criteria for setting up groupings.
So, from just a brief overview of only three of the fundraiser programs available, it can be seen that they offer a powerful tool for groups needing help in managing their records.