Fundraising Software ResultsPlus Ensures Strategic Growth of Educational Organizations

In the non-profit industry where staff and resources are often as miniscule as budgets, it is not uncommon to find organizations simply unable to dedicate the human resources necessary to develop ever deepening donor relationships.

For most non-profits, this can seriously impede the growth and development of the organization.  In the case of the Page Education Foundation and the Hopkins Education Foundation, both located in the Twin Cities, Minnesota area, the lack of growth and development were not just a risk to the organization - but an impediment to the young adults whose development depended on the organizational support that could only be achieved through effective fundraising.

Holistic Visions for Our Children's Future Derailed by Flat Visions of the Present

The Page Education Foundation (Page), located in Minneapolis, MN, is a small 501(c) (3) with a yearly budget of just over one million.  Its mission is to increase participation of Minnesota’s youth of color (African American, American Indian, Asian American and Hispanic/Latino) in post-secondary education. Carolyn Jones first joined the Foundation in 2006 as Administrative Director and found the opportunity presented equal parts of reward and frustration.

Our vital donor relationships were, for lack of a better term, automated by very flat, very non-robust software,” states Jones.  “The only information it provided us was the date and amount of the last donation received from any given individual.  By not even illustrating their total donations over time, we were unable to discern their total level of commitment to our organization.”

Across town, Elisa Titus, Executive Director from the Hopkins Education Foundation (Hopkins), found herself challenged by similar concerns.

The mission of Hopkins, an even smaller organization is to provide resources for educational innovations and enhancements that fall outside the scope of its district budget.  Like Page, Hopkins found its progress limited by fundraising software offering little in the way of detailed reporting on its donor base.

The database we were saddled with was created by a contact no longer with the organization,” states Titus.  “Our foundation is made up of a few extremely dedicated individuals who do not have the luxury of time built into their workdays and processes,” states Titus.  “The way our database was set-up, we could not even pull a simple alphabetical list of all our donors.  This alone ensured that any pull of data would require a degree of time consuming manual effort.”

The foundations found themselves in a similar spot.  They both required a solution detailed enough to foster relationships only attainable through deep understanding of donor behavior, yet simple enough to provide this information with only the touch of a button.

Seamless Insight into Educational Commitment

“We work with a lot of non-profits, but the stakes are always higher when it comes to education,” states Mark Gerber, a regional account manager with Metafile, creator of the fundraising software solution ResultsPlus.  “More so than others, these organizations are susceptible to strict budget constraints outside of their control. By working with children, the efforts of these organizations have a direct result on our generational future.”

Metafile began working with both the foundations in 2006 at the request of Titus and Jones.  In the consultation phase, Gerber, a seasoned account manager, saw many concerns he’s become accustomed to over the years.

"Like nearly every organization I’ve worked with, these foundations simply wanted the ability to efficiently develop relationships with their donors for the benefit of their organizations and the people they serve,” continues Gerber.  “In the case of both, the software they were using would not support this initiative and, if anything was a deterrent.”

With Metafile’s fundraising software, ResultsPlus, Gerber introduced Titus and Jones to a world of efficiency and insight they had never experienced but always needed. 

“In the non-profit world - every last bit of data is important - from donation amounts and triggers, to spouse’s names and children’s birthdays,” continues Gerber.  “When introducing Titus and Jones to ResultsPlus, I illustrated first hand how their ability to instantly create donor groups - and to create queries based on every bit of information - would forever elevate their organizations to the next level.”

ResultsPlus, by employing a revolutionarily user friendly interface, ensures new users can be trained to experience its benefits instantly, particularly as it relates to developing donor lists based on sortable information.  Further, these lists can be produced in less time than many organizations are accustomed to spending simply logging in to their current databases.

For Jones and Titus, this feature was key in the development and deployment of acknowledgement letters or targeted communications to their donor base.

“Deployment of acknowledgement letters and requesting donations for specific causes is one of our foundation’s primary methods of fundraising activity,” states Jones.  “Prior to implementing ResultsPlus, we were often forced to send every donor the same letter.  Now, we are able to pull specific groups out of our database, based on causes they’ve donated to in the past, and target our letters directly for maximum effectiveness.”

For Titus of Hopkins, in addition to personalizing communications to external donors, the process of sharing data with internal contacts was simplified immensely.

“Our board of decision makers is made up of individuals who come from a business background and speak in a language of data we were never before able to respond to,” states Titus.  “With ResultsPlus our organization has taken on a new level of professional efficiency as any request for data to support our causes or efforts can be produced within the time span of a keystroke.”

Furthering Educational Initiatives Through Strategic Planning

Less than two years after implementation, Jones and Titus have had to get used to a new keyword being added to their everyday vocabulary:  strategy.

"It's hard to believe that just over two years ago when I began working with the Page Foundation, we were developing initiatives based on so little information about our donor base," continues Jones.  "Now, each step in our efforts is based on the type of strategy that can only be developed by taking into account as much objective data as possible."

In addition to the strategic benefits experienced by Jones and the Page Education Foundation, Titus and the Hopkins Education Foundation have become accustomed to a working environment free from worry that an outdated software system generated.

"Each day we use ResultsPlus, we learn of some new benefit it can provide us and are able to develop or modify our high level strategies in kind," continues Titus.  "Better yet, whenever we run into something we have yet to experience, Metafile's dedicated support staff is always on hand to walk us through a new opportunity."

"In education, the most important organ is the brain," concludes Titus.  "ResultsPlus has fit in nicely as the brain of our organization."