Case Studies

www.CrossTalk.org

About 10 years ago, key members of CrossTalk ministry took a step back from their work, and realized they weren’t getting where they wanted to go. “We had a lag of four to six weeks in responding to people who contacted us. When we got around to contacting them they were irritated and didn’t care anymore. We were failing,” says Caleb Weiss, Development Director. CrossTalk uses radio, television and internet as a major part of their outreach ministry.

Caleb knew that donor management software could help, but theirs was more of a liability. “We had some kind of membership tracking software at that time. It took more work to use than it saved. We were also using several Excel spreadsheets. We needed a software product that would help us do our job without having to put so much into it.”

First step toward successful donor relations

At that point, they purchased FundRaiser Basic. “We knew that, in addition to purchasing new software, someone needed to be specifically responsible for getting out responses to our donors. Jennifer Weiss, our database manager and in charge of donor services, took the job on, and in a few weeks, she was able to bring the response time down to twelve days,” says Caleb.

www.tnliteracy.org

Four years ago, Tennessee Literacy Coalition needed a system to better organize their donor information. “We had a series of spread sheets. They were the only tools we had. We had no system at all,” says Suzy Newton, Executive Director for the Coalition. The Tennessee Literacy Coalition is a statewide organization focused on helping adults with limited literacy skills.

Choosing whether to buy or to build your own

Finding something that would work at a price she could afford was a challenge. “We had two choices: We could buy donor management software, which I wasn’t sure we could afford, or we could create our own. I knew that if I really worked at it, I could develop an Access database of sorts, but I didn’t really have the skills to do it well,” Instead she decided to look for donor management software.

www.interfaithoutreach.org

Mailing list help needed

The mailing list was in major need of upkeep at Interfaith Outreach Association when Beverly Maslow was hired as Executive Director. “We needed to get things in order,” she remembers. Interfaith Outreach Association serves as a catalyst to bring the faith community together to provide help and hope to people in need in Central Virginia.

“We had so many names that weren’t viable on the Excel spreadsheets that the organization had been using to track contacts. I couldn’t figure out any connection to the organization at all for some of them,” says Beverly.

www.lutheran-mideast.org

When Jan began work at Lutheran Mideast Development, she urgently needed a low cost, easy-to-use database. The one the organization had been using was a custom written program with no support or HELP file to get it running again. Now, it was couldn't be accessed or fixed, due to a computer crash, lack of HELP files or in-person support.

Lutheran Mideast Development ministers to the Kurds in Turkey. The organization’s work focuses on Kurdish women and children who have been impacted by war. Lutheran Mideast Development is a FundRaiser Select user who started out with FundRaiser Basic.