DonaMail (or CMS) System, New, Interview --- 0022-19 ZZ all

                                                  - - - Rejoice in the Lord always ... again I say Rejoice !!! - - -

                            TO:  Interested Ministries                                                                                FROM: Jim Bramer, Retired CPA-Auditor
                                                                                                                                                           FILE:  0022-19/all   

                             RE:   DonaMail System, New,  Interview                                                    Originated:  July  2002                                 

    Below is a hypothetical  interview  between members of the M)inistry F)inance Team - MFTeam and an Interviewer. MFTeam members are  PAT  (Ministry Executive),  LEE  (Volunteer Board Treasurer), and/or  FRAN  (Business Administrator and/or  Ministry Computer Bookkeeper).  Both will be directing you to Internet resources, or links. The numbered XXXX references below are links within this www.bcidot.org Web Site.

Interviewer:

        Today we are interviewing  Fran  who is the Business Administrator of this Ministry.  The topic has to do with what we call DonaMail (Donation and Mailing); or computer data base systems that track donation records and people (as a minimum their current mailing address).  We will use the term DonaMail during this interview   This is a topic that is vital to the financial well being of almost every Ministry and a resource that the Ministry Finance Team  must carefully manage.  Please read  0021  on this topic where we basically maintain that your DonaMail records should NOT be integrated within in your regular fund accounting system, like QuickBooks. A  DonaMail system provides batch totals to post to the appropriate accounts/funds when a deposit is made. 
        We understand,  Fran,  that you folks recently changed from one DonaMail product to another.  Please give us some perspective on all of this.

Fran:

        OK.  First let me say that I appreciate that at  0078  your www.bcidot.org  provides some DonaMail, as you call them,  products that are available out there.  This includes the two products that I will discuss with you.  The ABC DonaMail product was our first product and the XYZ DonaMail product is what we have changed to recently.  Oh, by the way,  our Ministry is a Church that handles over $500,000 a year and we have just under 800 people that we deal with.  Many use the term CMS-Church Management Software/Systems to describe such products.

Interviewer:

        This is what I want to focus on during this interview,  Fran,   You folk were not pleased with the ABC DonaMail  product and , as I understand it,  are just now effectively using the new  XYZ  DonaMail product.  First tell me what you expect XYZ  DonaMail  to provide the Ministry.

Fran:

        Mainly,  we want to keep donation records within our DonaMail system by Giving unit .... usually this means by family.  This includes provision of such as the following:

  •   Total donations by Fund .....  so it will provide the deposit batch totals for our needed Fund Accounting. 
  •   Maintain Pledge, or Faith Promise, records so that the Donor, and the Ministry,  knows if pledges are maintained.  Report such info upon request.
  •   Provide quarterly giving reports ..... usually accompanied by some type of covering letter.
  •   Provide annual calendar year giving report totals in early January .... to accommodate needed info for Donor tax deductions, etc..

Interviewer:

       OK, that is the Donation side of things .... what about for other purposes?

Fran: 

      Of course, we want accurate names and the most current address (snail and email) so it can be used for multiple Ministry contact purposes. This will include at least the following:

  •   Send out Ministry contact/news mailings to families; via Email as much as possible..
  •   Make selected mailings to applicable members of the family.  Examples include:  children or youth;  Sunday School or small Ministry groups;
  •   Produce selected Event name tags;
  •   The small group mailing or name tag portion of the DonaMail system must be readily available for use by staff and/or volunteers.
  •   The system is to include applicable family/individual photos.
  •   Restrict access to the donation info to only specified staffers/volunteers.
  •   We do NOT want the staff and/or volunteers to be maintaining some other type of Excel docs or Database file for such purposes -- or doing their own thing.   We believe such an effort is redundant and poor management of the same Ministry data. 

Interviewer:  

        Sounds great ....  apparently the ABC DonaMail product was not able to meet these needs.  Please be specific ... what did they not provide?

            Fran:  
              
                We found the ABC DonaMail product continually  'freezing'  on us and we had to start all over again;  in essence the product support was very poor -- very frustrating!!!!.  Further, the staff/volunteers did not find it easy to access the system and then use it's info to meet their needs -- it was not that user friendly.  They ended up maintaining their own records, primarily using Excel.  Further, we were not comfortable using this for our Building Fund pledge records so we have this in a separate set of records.

Interviewer:  

        Then I suppose you now have solved those problems with the XYZ  DonaMail  product.  

Fran:  

        Well, it looks pretty good so far now that our learning curve is pretty well behind us.  We had a few of the usual  'hiccups' , but it sure was wonderful for them to take all of our data in the ABC DonaMail system and automatically move it to the  XYZ  system.  In order to make use of their features we were required to do some re-keying of data, but nothing of consequence.  It is wonderful to get answers to our  "how come"  problems or issues.

Interviewer:  

           Do you have any advise to offer to a Ministry either obtaining or using DonaMail resources? 

Fran: 

         Well,  only to be sure that they have satisfied customers before you buy and you have done plenty of testing of the product as you would be using it, etc.    

Interviewer: 

        One more thing ......  did your Ministry give any consideration to using a DonaMail product out on the Web, or  Internet?  You will notice that  0078  refers to such ASP products.  We understand that any authorized person can access such data via the Internet.  Even to the extent that anyone, with authorization, can update their own individual portion of the Ministry's non-donation DonaMail system.  Even view their current and past giving record maintained by the Ministry.

            Fran: 

                    No, but it would seem something like that would have some merit.

Interviewer: 

        Thank you very much, Fran. 

                                       Frequently Used Terms below include:

ASP =  Internet/Web, rather than desktop, based software systems.
DonaMail = Contraction of Donation and Mailing
Giving Unit = Usually a family, as apposed to an individual
MFTeam = Ministry Finance Team, or MFT
QB = QuickBooks
 

        This Publication originated in July 2002 and was   .  UPTD: December 02, 2008   

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       (1) An Onliner Document, or WRIT (Writing), may be applicable to all Ministries, or it may be designed for a group like: Evangelical Church, School, Missionary Agency or Organization, Christian Camp / Conference, or other named group.
        (2) WRIT format include the perspective of   Jim@bcidot.org  via IOMs (Inter-Office Memos) to the Ministry Finance Team (MFTeam); THRDs, a hypothetical Online conversation with members of the MFTeam; GLEANINGS, or Scripture within context of the MFTeam; FWIW; A periodic editorial (For What it is Worth); TRUISM, or believed Ministry Finance principles; and FAQ, response to Frequently Asked Questions.