The 80/20 Rule

You’ll be successful if you faithfully do the best you can with what you have

The 80/20 rule says that you can do 80% of the work in 20% of the time.

The same is true when it comes to fundraising and your donors.

Fundraising isn’t an exact science but…

80% of your donors will contribute 20% of your income

Another 15% of your donors will contribute another 30% of your income.

So that means 50% of your income comes from just 5% of your donors!

See why it important to keep, and work hard to grow, your database of supporters?

One more important thing you must know about that 5% who donate 50% of your income. Most of them will have been on your database for quite some time and they started off as part of your 80% of smaller givers.

So treat everyone with care and respect – just like Jesus commanded. The 80 20 Rule

Record Your Donor Details

Here is a simple Excel spreadsheet as a starting place for recording your donor details.

Download

Read a little more on CRM systems.

CRM Software

There are literally hundreds of options for a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system for your ministry. There are some free options but usually they are limited to a short time or a small number of records.

One truly Free option worth exploring is TNTConnect

As CRM software is a rapidly changing field you are probably best to do your own search. But before you do here are some questions you should consider. Start by thinking about Strategy.

Are you doing agressive donor acquisition or more focussed on retention activity?
What Details do you want to store? For Who? Donors, Customers, Volunteers?
Where do you want to house your data? Locally? Cloud?
How many donors do you need to manage?
What questions do you need reports on?
How many people will need access to your donor details on a daily basis?
What other systems do you need to work with? eg email lists, websites, events, social media?
How will you manage Privacy and Security?

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