Options for doing Surveys

Does thedatabank offer online surveys? Yes, we do offer web forms for online surveys, and this may or may not be the best choice for you.

If you need to collect personalized survey results into your Databank, have us create a customized web form to collect that information.  For example, say you want to email your membership a link to a survey, which asks them to indicate which topics or issues they are interested in, or categories they fit into.  This information will be used to target future communication, so it must be attached to the individual; it's not anonymous.

If you want aggregate, anonymous results, use specialized survey software.  For example, say you want to know what percentage of your membership makes over $100,000 per year - they might not tell you that unless it is anonymous.  In that case, try one of the tools listed on Idealware or check out Civic Science.

Proud

Last week, for the first and probably the last time in my life, I cried over the election results.  And they were not tears of sadness.  

Even the most conservative people I know, who certainly did not vote for Obama, are proud that America has elected a black president.  The significance of this did not sink in for me until election day.  (After all, I did not consciously consider race when I made up my mind about whom to vote for.)  Last Tuesday, I listened to a fellow GOTV volunteer, an African America grandmother, talk with great emotion about how inspired she was just to see a black person's name on the ballot.  She thought she would never see this in her lifetime.  It gave me goosebumps.

So I'm proud to be an American today.  And I'm proud to be associated with so many nonprofit clients that saw success in this election, whether that success is defined as getting an endorsed candidate elected, passing a ballot measure, registering and turning out voters, or continuing to provide food and education and art while the rest of us were focused on the election.

Stickers as member premiums

Do labels and bumper stickers really make a difference in direct mail response?

I received a fundraising solicitation in the mail today* and along with the usual letter were a sheet of personalized mailing labels and a logo sticker.  I thought to myself, why do they spend the money to include these?

The next item in my mailbox was a marketing magazine, featuring an article on...guess what...the use by the Human Rights Campaign of mailing labels and bumper stickers, in their membership renewal mailings.  Here's what they found out by testing:

[HRC] mailed one version of its direct mail piece with address labels, another version without it.  Packages with labels had a slightly better renewal success rate than those without labels - and did well enough to justify the cost of the labels.

From "An Equal Exchange," by Vicki Powers, in Deliver, November 2008

Many of thedatabank's clients are grassroots nonprofits, and the lavish premiums sometimes offered by cultural organizations are not appropriate in this context.  But it sounds like some inexpensive stickers might encourage donors to stick with you for another year.

*Incidentally, the request was from an organization that is serious about building their prospect list - they asked me for a demo of the Databank, and now they're asking me for money.

6 Concerns for Tough Times

Earlier this month at the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits conference, I spoke with many people who are deeply concerned about how the economy will affect their organizations' funding and the people they serve. My prediction is that these 6 things will become increasingly important in the year to come:

1. Ensuring that individuals continue to support you with their donations - even increasing their giving to meet increasing needs. Detailed tracking of your donors' histories and interests helps you be more strategic and more responsive. Consider adding some customized major donor tracking to your Databank, to note details and followup tasks.
2. Diligence about grant writing and compliance, so you don't miss any opportunties. Our new Grant Management package helps you track applications and deadlines right in your Databank.
3. Organizing and inspiring people to advocate for the people or cause you serve. Our upgraded Advocacy Module, being rolled out this month, gives you an even more sophisticated way to get people in touch with policy makers.
4. Building strong relationships with your volunteers and allies so they remain loyal to you, even during difficult times when other concerns are vying for their attention. Frequent, personalized emails, sent through PowerMail, tell a vivid story and keep your mission in the minds and hearts of your supporters.
5. Paying more attention to tools like your Databank, to make sure you are getting the most out of that investment. Ask your account manager to make some suggestions or refer you to one of our consultant partners. And make sure to take advantage of our live trainings and online tutorials.
6. Considering the financial stability of vendors you rely on. thedatabank was the first company to offer a web-based CRM for nonprofits, and sometimes I wonder if we will be the last one standing! We're feeling the pinch just like everyone, but after ten years we are still following a smart business strategy that keeps us profitable and stable.

After much scrutiny in the last decade, the nonprofit sector has a chance to shine, by tapping into the compassionate awakening that some say is occurring. Doing so requires not only vision, but also attention to the practical details.

Measuring Marketing

I wanted to share this post from a blogger I follow:

e.politics: online advocacy tools & tactics » Measuring the Effects of Social Media Marketing

Although Delany is specifically writing about social media marketing, I found his questions useful for evaluating any type of marketing.  He points out the usefulness of a CRM (like the Databank) for helping you measure results, but also wisely cautions against focusing on what is measurable over what really matters.

TIP: Speed up Meetings & Events Data Entry

Does your organization have lots of meetings and events on your calendar? If you do, you've probably noticed it can take a LONG time to save a new meeting, or to save changes to an existing meeting. That's because you have to wait while your Meetings & Events RSS feed is rebuilt. The feed contains ALL of your upcoming meetings and events.

The wait is unproductive. We've addressed it in 3 ways:

1. We've optimized the RSS generation. It's about 5 times faster now than it used to be.

2. When you duplicate a meeting, the RSS isn't rebuilt. We assume you'll need to change the duplicate before it's ready for publication.

3. We've given you the ability to bypass RSS generation when you save a meeting.

To bypass RSS generation, there's a new checkbox on the Edit Meeting page, down by the Save Changes button. By default it's checked, meaning the RSS WILL be rebuilt. Un-check it to bypass RSS generation. Do this each time you save, except leave it checked on your last Save. This way you only rebuild the RSS once, when you're done with all your changes.

Your RSS feed is automatically rebuilt every night, so even if you forget to rebuild it, we've got you covered - it'll just take a little longer for your changes to get to your subscribers.

Using the Databank in Google Chrome

It seems to work fine!

I downloaded Google's new web browser, Chrome, when it was released on Tuesday.  Since then several of us at thedatabank have been using the Databank application in Chrome, and so far we haven't found any compatibility problems, just a few quirks that aren't specific to our software.

Is anyone else using the Databank in Chrome?  Notice anything different?  (If so, please comment on this post.)