(Also see Sacred Heart University Policy Statement regarding fundraising)
First WSHU maintains our own database: ‘Memsys’
We receive all checks and enter the data in our data base.
We have designated a User Defined Field in Memsys for the University’s Donor Number (‘Razor’s Edge’ Unique Identifier).
We have gotten approval for the wording of our thank-you letters, and send out thank- you letters on our stationary, not the University’s
On the first of each month, we provide the IA department with a file of all pledges and payments received in the previous month.
This file ties to our deposit receipts by batches (Credit cards, checks, stock transfers, and cash)
The University uploads the data in to a separate fund in ‘Razor’s Edge’. If the donor also gives to the University (Alumni, Athletics, Board, Faculty or Community) the amount given to WSHU shows as a ‘soft’ credit on the information page.
All those who only give to WSHU, and no other area of University Fundraising, are marked as “Do Not Contact” in ‘Razor’s Edge’
By the 10th of each month, IA (Intuitional Advancement) provides a list of all new donors in ‘Razor’s Edge’ and we update our database.
This system seems to provide what each party was trying to protect in the process.
University IA wanted:
- To know about all gifts (from who, how much, and were they from Alumni, Board Members, or Faculty (this was important in providing giving statistics)).
- To ensure that gifts were properly acknowledged, and receipted for tax purposes (including how we acknowledged Fair Market Value of premiums).
- To have one central fundraising file for the entire University.
WSHU wanted:
- To insure that the donor did not get the impression that the gift went to the University.
- To be able to properly thank and track the gifts to the station.
- To be able to produce our own mailing lists, e-mail blasts, and fundraising letters.
- To use a data base that produced reports in ways it was easy to respond to CPB reports.
- To use a system that allowed us to set up fundraising breaks and program times for pledge drives.
- Allowed us to take real-time Web gifts during pledge drives.
The only item that needed to be further explained was why it was important to identify the gift as coming directly to the Station and not to the University. We stresses the research of Audience 98, that it was the “programming” that generated the gift, and if we wanted to cultivate the donor to become an annual, and possibly larger donor, we needed to create a close link to the gift paying for the programs, and having the University acknowledge the gift added an layer of separation to that link. #