The book of
Proverbs says, "a man of knowledge increases in strength."
If a ministry leader wants to have a strong funding program,
he or she needs to KNOW important information on the history of
relationships and the giving patterns of the ministry's friends and
donors. Listed below
are 25 database categories that could be maintained in the
ministry's database. Compare
your current database fields with this list.
Begin to add field to your database and increase the amount
of information you gather on the people who have an interest in your
ministry. (Note: To
track this type of donor information, you can add customized fields
to your existing software or purchase a professional fundraising
software package that has these information fields pre-programmed).
1.
Donor's name (be
sure it is spelled CORRECTLY).
2.
The title the donor prefers to use (i.e. - Mr., Miss, Mrs., Dr., Rev., etc.).
3.
The preferred informal salutation (i.e. - James = Jim, Richard = Rich, Rick, or
Richard?)
4.
The complete current address.
5.
The creation date of the donor's record (also provide a category to show the date changes
are made).
6.
The source of the record (i.e. - letter, personal contact, referral,
attended an event, etc.).
7.
Home telephone number.
8.
Work telephone and fax number(s).
9.
E-Mail address and/or cellular phone number.
10.
Occupation(s).
11.
Actual or approximate birth year (i.e. - decade born: 1920's, 1930's, 1940's,
1950's, etc.).
12.
The dates all gifts were received.
13.
The size of all gifts received.
14.
Record of appeals (with dates) that
have been sent to the donor (and
any response).
15.
The type of gifts received (i.e. - General Fund, Emergency
Appeal, Scholarships, Building, etc.)
16.
The dates of and summary comments from personal contacts
(visits, letters, phone calls, etc.).
17.
The frequency of contributions (one-time, occasionally, annually, monthly, etc.).
18.
The results/response of any phone solicitation.
19.
Year-to-date giving totals (YTD) .
20.
Number-gifts-given-this-year (NGY).
21.
Life-time-to-date giving totals (LTD) .
22.
Number-gifts-given-to-date (NGL).
23.
Pledge commitments (i.e. - amount promised, amount given, remaining
balance).
24.
Place for personal notes (i.e. - interests, children, hobbies, leadership
roles, etc.).
25.
Major gift ranking (i.e. - 1 = Potential for $10,000 or more, 2 =
Potential for $5,000+, 3 = Potential for $2,500+, 4 = Potential for
$1,000+, 5 = Potential for $500+, 6 = Potential for planned gift or
estate gift).
