Raise your hand if you had a Trapper Keeper in middle school! 

Even if you didn’t, you probably can picture it in your mind: a brightly colored three-ring binder with inside pockets and folders for all your papers. It folded up tightly into one, tidy package and fastened with a Velcro strip. Those worksheets, quizzes, assignments, and notes weren’t going anywhere inside the Trapper Keeper.

No longer would you be plagued with misplaced papers stuffed inside textbooks or folded in the bottom of a locker. No more were you forced to divide your schoolwork among multiple folders, binders, and spiral notebooks.  

The Trapper Keeper was the ultimate organization tool — putting everything a student needed at his or her fingertips, all in one place.

Donor development teams would be well served to take a tip from what middle schoolers have long known: having everything organized in one place increases efficiency, productivity, accuracy, and efficacy.

Having donor information scattered here and there — in that filing cabinet, or on this email system or spreadsheet — is, at best, a clerical nightmare and at worst, a data disaster waiting to happen.

An integrated, all-in-one software package that offers multiple features for donor data management is the answer for donor development teams who want to maximize their resources, boost their organization, and ultimately, see their donations increase.

Why Your Organization Needs an All-in-One Data Management System

Software that’s integrated with multiple features offers many benefits:

• It’s more efficient and multiples all your efforts. It keeps your data clean because you’re not trying to manage data across multiple systems (donor system, email system, paper files, spreadsheets, etc.). There’s no duplicating work because you weren’t sure what information you had already collected; and often, multiple tasks can be accomplished from existing data, as it is used and cross-referenced.

• Clean data allows for better segmentation and personalization, which is critical to donor development success. Customizing communications and outreach with donors is only as effective as the data upon which it is based. Having data in an integrated system increases the likelihood that it is both correct and complete.
• You can track engagement, not just giving (when your system tracks emails, events, purchases, etc.). A sophisticated, all-in-one donor management system “follows” the donor throughout interaction with your organization. This trackable data helps you build a relationship with the donor, which makes your communications with him or her more effective.
• Bottom line: an integrated, all-in-one donor management software system makes you and your team more productive, saving you tons of time and money and making you even more! 

If your current donor management system is just not cutting it anymore, it’s probably time for a change. Sure, you could choose a Trapper Keeper, but those are best for the middle school crowd.

For your nonprofit, we’d recommend an integrated, all-in-one suite of donor data management tools. Donor.com offers an ideal solution featuring email management, event management, financial tracking, reporting, and more.

Give it a try for free!