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Newsletter, February 2008

By Karen Graham, Director of Business Development

Nonprofit Neighborhood

Fundraising Module Enhancement

We've added an option to the Personal Search page called Number of Contributions , which allows you to search based on the number of gifts a person has ever given.  You'll find it in the Summary Contribution Criteria section. 

New Clients

Saving Grace , formerly known as Central Oregon Battering & Rape Alliance, provides comprehensive family violence and sexual assault services and promotes the value of living life free from violence.  In conjunction with a new name, web site and logo, Saving Grace will adopt thedatabank as their new CRM.  They chose the Fundraising and eMarketing Modules.

Twin Rivers Center for the Arts in Mankato, MN, is serving as a unified voice for the arts by bringing together nonprofit arts and culture groups, individual artists, arts-related businesses, area academic institutions, business and government. Shannon Robinson, Executive Director says, "We chose to work with thedatabank because of its affordability, ease of use, and its customization to our specific needs in the community we serve. They have been wonderful to work with - incredibly helpful every step of the way."

Reflecting on a Decade

thedatabank Co-Founder Chris Hanson muses on our first year:

As I think back on the first year of thedatabank a few things come to mind:

It's difficult to put things into perspective but 1998-1999 was the height of dotcom mania.  During that first year Mark and I met a lot of people who offered a lot of “interesting” advice such as, ”the Internet is changing the basics of business. Revenue no longer matters, it's all about market share”.

Two years later, Mark and I were at a luncheon with many of these advice givers where a well-known venture capitalist started her talk with, “I see dead companies”.

Late in our first year of operation Mark and I headed to Washington D.C. to exhibit at a nonprofit technology conference. We had spent a fortune ($100) on a banner to hang in our display and had our desktop computer, with 17” CRT monitor, shipped to DC because the cost for Internet at the conference was way too much. As far as I can tell, of the 2 dozen dot.com companies at that conference only 2 are still in operation, thedatabank and an online giving company called Entango.

In many ways that period of dot-com craze seems far away, and yet you still see reminders like companies that have spent millions of venture capital funded dollars on flashy advertising campaigns to promote their “greatest thing since sliced bread” product. They continue to spend millions more each year than they make, in a vain attempt to be the “market leader” whatever that means.

I feel fortunate that I was too old, and perhaps too experienced, when we started thedatabank to think that there was anything more to running a good business than providing a quality product that customers wanted, and making a little bit more money than you spent.

Meet the Staff

Melissa Imboden, Marketing Communications Specialist

At thedatabank since: 2006

What she likes best about her job: Waking up in the morning and knowing I'm helping make the world a better place, working in an environment with people who are like-minded.

What she does in her spare time: Spend time with my family and friends, travel, shop, wait for warm weather

Famous person she would like to have lunch with: Amelia Earhart. I want to know what really happened to her!

Tip du Jour

Send an Action Alert in 6 Steps

Now that the legislative session is in full swing in many states, it's time to sharpen your Databank skills. Here's a quick refresher:

The Action Alert Cheat Sheet - pin it to your bulletin board for easy reference.

Karen's Blog

Finally - a REAL blog!

What is DonorMax?  Who is Karen Lemke?  If you know the answers to these questions, you might also remember the very first "Karen's Blog" from the January 2004 issue of our company eNewsletter.  (Back then, our enews had 56 subscribers.  Now we have 1343.)  With more clients, more users, and much more traffic on our web site, we are exploring other communication channels. 

Introducing...

thedatabank's blog

You won't find this linked to our web site yet, because we're doing a sneak preview through our enews.  Write back and tell me what you think , or comment on this post.

Here are a few goals for the blog:

• Keep clients up to date on the latest product changes
• Help you get to know our staff in a more personal way
• Collect feedback on issues and product ideas
• Educate folks via expert guest bloggers and article links

Karen

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