Fundraising with The Raiser's Edge - by Bill Connors (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A non-technical guide to The Raiser's Edge-the most widely-used fundraising database package on the market-for the fundraising professional

The first-ever guide to The Raiser's Edge database package for the fundraising professional, Fundraising with The Raiser's Edge: A Non-Technical Guide educates your nonprofit about what The Raiser's Edge can do for you and will help you more effectively work with the staff who are responsible for data entry and output.

• Helps your organization get much greater return on The Raiser's Edge, and use it to raise more money more effectively and with less stress
• Contains specific and clear direction on the key areas you should know without technical discussion
• Includes numerous checklists to give you practical takeaways

Providing you with the non-technical details you need to know to recruit, manage and retain quality database personnel, Fundraising with The Raiser's Edge: A Non-Technical Guide will help you in your day-to-day fundraising work without needing to become a database expert.

From the Back Cover

Praise for Fundraising with The Raiser's Edge^(R) A Non-Technical Guide

"Fundraising with The Raiser's Edge is a must-read for every fundraiser. We put so much time, energy, and money into managing our data. Now, with this guidebook, I'm ready to get much more out of The Raiser's Edge so we maximize our friend-raising and fundraising."

--Mark Stuart, Chief Development and Membership Officer, San Diego Zoo

"This book is a practical and easy to understand guide to The Raiser's Edge written for fundraisers by a fundraiser. Packed with real-life scenarios, it is a must-read for every user."

--Jim Bush, Executive Director, Charleston Animal Society and Former Enterprise Business Architect, Blackbaud, Inc.

Focus on your mission, not the mundane--let The Raiser's Edge(R) help you!

If you're a fundraiser for an organization that uses The Raiser's Edge software--whether it's with a hospital, school, museum or any other nonprofit--Fundraising with The Raiser's Edge: A Non-Technical Guide explains this powerful tool in a non-technical manner so you and your organization can focus on raising money instead of fussing with data.

The first book to take fundraisers step-by-step through Blackbaud's The Raiser's Edge software, this hands-on guide addresses the critical elements you as a fundraiser need to know about making optimal use of it for your purposes and working with your database staff, including:

• Structuring and organizing your fundraising with the software
• Finding and understanding biographical, contact, and giving information
• Working with your staff to generate mailings correctly and on time
• Managing the major gifts, grants, special events, and membership processes
• Getting recommended reports, lists, and other data out in useful ways
• Hiring, managing, and retaining your database administrator

No-nonsense and completely focused on your fundraising needs, this plain-English guide offers specific and clear direction for putting this popular program to work for your organization's unique needs.

Review Quotes

"The book has a simple premise: If you are smart enough to be a professional fund raiser, you're smart enough to learn to properly use the software. Connors' work has a 3-fold purpose: to enable the professional to work with database staff to meet objectives with the least possible confusion and stress; to familiarize the professional with the parts of the database that it is necessary to master, in order to best utilize it; and, finally, to enable the organization's staff to set up, maintain, and maximize the database's usefulness. The fact that Connors meets these objectives in a concise and readable manner makes this book a "must-have" for every professional fundraiser." (SanFranciscoBookReview, June 2010)

About the Author

BILL CONNORS, CFRE, is an independent consultant and trainer on the Blackbaud fundraising software The Raiser's Edge. Until June 2005, Bill was Principal Consultant for Fundraising Systems for Blackbaud, having helped found the Blackbaud consulting program in 1998. He has been providing consulting and training on The Raiser's Edge in the United States, Canada, the UK, and Europe since 1995. Bill also worked for Junior Achievement as the Director of Development in Arizona and as Director of Field IT for the national headquarters, overseeing the roll-out of The Raiser's Edge in the field offices.