What is a Donations Database (Donorbase)?

Many orgnizations, nonprofits especially, rely on fundraising as an important source of income. Often, federal tracking agencies as well and donors themselves need accurate reports of where the money came from and where it is going. Donorbases can get very complicated depending on the tracking and reporting needs.

Generally, donorbases track who gave money to the organization, but this is not as simple as it seems. Names, addresses and other contact information is prety straightforward; the amount given over time - not only individual gifts, but totals per quarter and per year as well - get more involved. There is also the issue of earmarking some of the money for different funding streams, which means you have to keep track of a total for the donor, but seperate sub-totals for the recipients. What if a person from the same household but a different name contributes? Now you have a split total for the individual and the household. Also, you might want to send the top-ranked donors monthly newsletters, mid-ranked donors quarterly reports, and one-time donors get a single update and request for another donation.

As you can see, donorbase start from a basic principle but get complex very fast; they require a lot of advance planning to set up. They also might need to be tied into other databases you already have or want to implement.

This document was prepared with the help of Mentor Greg Sadetsky, russiste@microtec.net