Database Coding

Masterclass
Tracking your Fundraising Success
I’m going to demonstrate the process
of developing a donations coding
structure for your organization’s
fundraising database.
Why is this significant to fundraising?
 Two Types of Data:

1. Donor Data 2. Donations Data

 Today we will focus on Donations Data

GOAL:
A clear set of codes that correspond to your fundraising plan
and allow you to report back on your progress
 Terminology for Donations fields

• Fund = What you are raising money for / what the money raised is put
towards.
• Campaign = How you're raising money at a high level. The major
philanthropic initiatives your organization undertakes.
• Appeal = The specific activities you use to raise money.
 Common Donations Coding Mistakes:

1. Inconsistently using data entry fields

2. Making codes up at the time of data entry
3. Using the same code across multiple fields
4. Not having a way to link the fundraising database codes to the finance
system codes
5. Not representing the fundraising plan in the database
 Example Fundraising Plan
Activities you use to Budget How you raise funds Gift Type What we're raising
raise funds (Appeal) (Campaign) money for (Fund):
Direct Mail & $25,000 Donations from individuals One-time Gifts General Operating
Digital Giving Tuesday Monthly Gifts Support

Leadership Giving Circle $100,000 Major gifts One-time Gifts General and/or
Recurring Gifts / Specific Programs X
Pledges

Grant writing $100,00 Foundation grants Specific Programs Y

Virtual Gala $50,000 Special event revenue Tickets General Operating

Auction Support
Donations
Sponsorships
5K Run $25,000 Registrations
Donations

Bequests $10,000 Planned gifts Special Projects

How do we translate this ⬇️ into this ➡️
Activities you use to Budget How you raise funds Gift Type What we're raising money for
raise funds (Appeal) (Campaign) (Fund):

Direct Mail & $25,000 Donations from One-time Gifts General Operating Support
Digital Giving Tuesday individuals Monthly Gifts

Leadership Giving Circle $100,00 Major gifts One-time Gifts General and/or Specific Programs X
0 Recurring Gifts /
Pledges

Grant writing $100,00 Foundation grants Specific Programs Y

Virtual Gala $50,000 Special event revenue Tickets General Operating Support
Auction
Donations
Sponsorships

5K Run $25,000 Registrations

Donations

Bequests $10,000 Planned gifts Special Projects

What you're raising money for – AKA Fund

What we're raising Becomes Fund

money for:
General Operating General Fund
Support
Program X Specific Program X Fund
Program Y Specific Program Y Fund
Special Projects Innovation Fund

Capital Fund
Endowment Fund
Restricted Fund
Etc.
How you're raising money (high level) – AKA Campaign

Fundraising Strategies Becomes Campaign

Donations from individuals Individual Giving (IG)
Major Gifts Major Gifts (MG)
Foundation grants Foundation Giving (FG)
Special Events Special Events (SE)
Planned Giving Planned Giving (PG)
The activities you use to raise money – AKA Appeal

Fundraising Activities Becomes Appeal

Direct Mail Holiday IG – Direct Mail Holiday 2020
IG – Direct Mail Spring 2021
Digital Giving Tuesday IG – Giving Tuesday
Leadership Giving Circle MG – Leadership Giving
Grantwriting FG – Foundation Grant
Virtual Gala SE – At Night at Home Gala 2020
5K Run SE – Run for Fun 2021

Bequests PG – Bequests
 Campaign & Appeal Hierarchy

Campaign Appeal
Individual Giving (IG) IG – Direct Mail Holiday 2020
IG – Direct Mail Spring 2021
IG – Giving Tuesday
Major Giving (MG) MG – Leadership Giving
Foundation Giving (FG) FG – Foundation Grant
Special Events (SE) SE – At Night at Home Gala 2020
SE – Run for Fun 2021
Planned Giving (PG) PG – Bequests
 How money was raised What it is raised for
Campaign Appeal Fund
Individual Giving (IG) IG – Direct Mail Holiday 2020 General Fund

IG – Direct Mail Spring 2021 Program X Fund

IG – Giving Tuesday Program Y Fund

Major Giving (MG) MG – Leadership Giving Innovation Fund

Foundation Giving (FG) FG – Foundation Grant

Special Events (SE) SE – At Night at Home Gala 2020 Capital Fund

SE – Run for Fun 2021 Endowment Fund

Planned Giving (PG) PG – Bequests Restricted Fund
Etc.
 Sample Donations – December 2020

Donor ID First Last Name Amount Donation Appeal Campaign Fund Gift Type
Name Date
1012 Anne LeMesurier $50 2020-12-01 IG- Giving Individual General One-Time
Tuesday Giving Fund Donation
1013 Cathy Mann $5000 2020-12-05 MG – Leadership Major Giving Project X Pledge
Circle Payment

1045 Nicole Beatty $600 2020-12-01 IG – Giving Individual General One-Time

Tuesday Giving Fund
1031 Jackie Black $100 2020-12-01 IG-Giving Individual General Monthly
Tuesday Giving Fund
1032 Elvis Presley $250 2020-12-02 SE – Night at Special General Ticket
Home Gala 2020 Events Fund
1035 Minnie Mouse $250 2020-12-02 SE – Night at Special General Ticket
Home Gala 2020 Events Fund
1035 Minnie Mouse $50 2020-12-02 SE – Night at Special General One-Time
Home Gala 2020 Events Fund Donation
TOTALS: $6,300
How much money has been raised for each fund?
Sample Donations – By Fund - Totals
December 2020

Fund Totals December 2020

General Fund $1,300
Project X Fund $5,000

Totals $6,300
Where is our fundraising revenue coming from?
Sample Donations – By Campaign - Totals
December 2020

Campaign Totals December 2020

Individual Giving $750
Major Giving $5,000
Special Events $550
Foundation Giving

Planned GIving

Totals $6,300
How much did we raise on Giving Tuesday & from what donors?
Donations by Appeal = IG-Giving Tuesday - Detail
December 2020

Donor ID First Last Name Amount Donation Campaign Fund Gift Type
Name Date
1012 Anne LeMesurier $50 2020-12-01 Individual General One-Time
Giving Fund Donation
1045 Nicole Beatty $600 2020-12-01 Individual General One-Time
Giving Fund
1031 Jackie Black $100 2020-12-01 Individual General Monthly
Giving Fund

TOTALS: $750
 Common Questions:

• How do you distinguish between types of Special Event revenue?

• In our example, we had multiple types of purchase options for events:
• Tickets Campaign Appeal

• Auction Individual Giving (IG) IG – Direct Mail Holiday 2020

IG – Direct Mail Spring 2021

• Donations IG – Digital Giving Tuesday 2020

• Registrations Major Giving (MG) MG – Leadership Giving

Foundation Giving (FG) FG – Foundation Grant

• Sponsorships
Special Events (SE) SE – At Night at Home Gala 2020
SE – Run for Fun 2021
Planned Giving (PG) PG – Bequests
 Common Questions:

• How do you distinguish between types of Special Event revenue?

• Two possible options:
Use another donation field like gift type Include in Appeals
Campaign Appeal Type / Custom Campaign Appeal
Field
Special Events SE – Night at Home Gala 2020 Ticket Special Events (SE) SE – Night at Home 2020 - Tickets
(SE) SE – Night at Home 2020 - Auction
Auction Purchase Purchase

Donation SE – Night at Home 2020 - Donation

Sponsorship SE – Night at Home 2020 - Sponsorship

SE – Run for Fun 2021 Registration

Donation SE – Run for Fun 2021 - Registration

SE – Run For Fun 2021 - Donation
 Common Questions:

• We use 'Online' as an Appeal Code to track all online gifts. How do

we distinguish between different campaigns or appeals that receive
gifts online?
• Two important fields – Source & Payment Method.
• Source can be used to track specific platforms where transaction occurred.
• Payment method can be used to identify the exact payment method and/or a
combination of source and payment method.
 Common Questions:

• How do we use the database to hold ourselves accountable to

donors who donate to a certain project or program?
• That highlights the importance of having distinct funds and tracking donations
accordingly.
• We often see groups allocating every donation to a 'General Fund' as a catch
all.
 Common Questions:

• Looking back over the years, we have hundreds of inconsistent

historic codes. What should we do?
• See if you can gain insight from the codes you do have and try to change them
to fit your new structure.

OR

• Draw a line in the sand and start fresh.

OTHER QUESTIONS?
Thank you!!