Case Study: How a Small Nonprofit Set Up a New Donor Database

Donor databases are a crucial tool for many organizations, but for small groups, selecting and implementing such systems can be a daunting task.

Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children (CASA) of Prince George’s County, Md., a small nonprofit, recently started shopping for a donor database. It has seven full-time employees, one Americorps volunteer, and an annual budget of $500,000.

Its development director, Kara Bundy, undertook the project by herself. Here, Ms. Bundy shares her process and advice for other organizations.

Goals for the New System

CASA wanted to develop a major-gift program, but it needed more data on individual and corporate donors to get started.

The organization had been relying on four systems, including Microsoft Excel, to run its programs and keep track of information, which meant that updating a single donor’s mailing address required logging in to several systems. For year-end appeals, there was no way to filter out donors who’d given during the year. Ms. Bundy was looking for an integrated system to eliminate those inefficiencies.

“As a small nonprofit, we’ve always had a ‘we’ll make it work’ attitude,” Ms. Bundy says. “I realized the possibility to have an integrated system where we’re not doing all this duplicative effort and that allows us to get a better picture of our donors.”

Ms. Bundy also wanted to upgrade the group’s technology to provide more-flexible options for staff members to work remotely, as well as to include a volunteer-management function.

Project Budget

The nonprofit hoped to pay between $3,000 and $5,000 for setup and data migration and around $100 in monthly fees. It was eligible to apply for a grant every three years to cover one-time, discrete technology expenses, and also for another grant that would allow it to hire a consultant to help develop a major-gift program.

Regardless of whether the grant came through, Ms. Bundy knew that the organization would be responsible for fees on a long-term basis.

“We’re trying to keep the monthly fee as low as possible,” she says.

Process

Ms. Bundy says she wasn’t particularly scientific about her search. She started by attending a free Webinar hosted by one vendor to get a baseline for comparison, and read a consumer report about different options. Preferring not to rely on client referrals from vendors, she solicited advice by posting on LinkedIn groups and talking to development directors at other organizations.

When the technology grant didn’t come through, Ms. Bundy worked out a deal with Charity Engine, a vendor that wanted to increase its number of small nonprofit clients. Its setup fees were less than what Ms. Bundy had seen from other vendors, and the system is fully integrated for donor, volunteer, and event-management information. It also functions as a donation platform, website, and email tool.

Staff and Leadership Support

Although Ms. Bundy tackled the search by herself, CASA did pay an information-technology specialist about $2,000 to help find a firm to convert the organization’s computers to Microsoft’s cloud-based Office 365, improve its servers, and assist with the transition to the new database.

Along the way, Ms. Bundy had to convince the executive director, who felt that the organization could “make do” with what it had, that a new system was necessary. Later, after the vendor came to the office for a product demo, the executive director “realized the utility and the efficiencies that could be created by eliminating duplicative efforts,” Ms. Bundy says in an email.

Timeline

There was no set schedule for CASA’s search. Ms. Bundy started looking in summer 2014 and signed a contract with a database vendor a year later, in summer 2015.

“It’s definitely taken up more time than I anticipated,” says Ms. Bundy, who currently works part-time and is responsible for marketing, grant writing, and the organization’s website. “I’m already handling a lot of different things.”

Lessons Learned

Ms. Bundy recommends that other organizations searching for a new database not overthink the process. She also advises nonprofits not to be afraid to ask for discounts.

“If a vendor seems too big or too expensive, have a frank conversation with them about your needs and your budget to see if there are any discounts or grants they provide,” she says.

Thinking creatively is important, she says. While some databases are built specifically for nonprofits, you can also use another system and customize it to your needs with a little help.

Most important, she says: Don’t compromise on what your organization needs; there’s always a database that will work. “It’s just a matter of finding it.”