Field kit

Does This Add Up?

Thirteen two-minute checks for your nonprofit’s donor data

Thirteen questions. Each one is something you can look up yourself in a couple of minutes: open your database, pull one report, ask whoever enters the gifts. Nothing you answer leaves this page unless you choose to send it to us.

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Can you trust the list?

Whether the people in your database are who and where you think they are.

1The duplicate test.Search your donor database for your board chair’s last name. How many records come up for them?
2Ten random donors.Open ten recent donors. How many have both a mailing address and an email?
3Gone but still mailed.Is there a way to mark someone deceased or do-not-contact, and does anyone use it?
4The shadow spreadsheets.How many spreadsheets hold donor or contact information outside your database?

Where does it come in?

The doors records walk in through, and whether they get coded on the way.

5Event sign-ups.When someone registers for an event or volunteers, where does that record end up?
6The appeal test.Pull the total from last year’s year-end appeal. How long did it take?
7The unsubscribe test.Find someone who unsubscribed from your newsletter. Does your donor database know?

Can you answer the board?

The three questions a treasurer will eventually ask.

8Did they come back?How many of last year’s donors have given again this year?
9Books vs. database.Does last fiscal year’s total in your database match what your bookkeeper reports?
10Thank-you speed.Find your last gift. How many days until the donor was thanked?

Who holds it?

What happens to your data when one person is out.

11Who can run a report?How many current people can pull a report from your database on their own?
12The written-down test.If the person who enters gifts left tomorrow, is there a written note on how to do it?
13What you’re paying for.Do you know what your database costs a year, and which features you actually use?