Hospice uses Progress CRM module for ‘Light Up a Life’ campaign
Howard Lake | 22 November 2007 | News
Chelmsford-based Farleigh Hospice has worked with Fisk Brett, developers of Progress CRM fundraising database, to develop a module to help it run its Christmas Light Up A Life campaign, one of its major fundraising events of the year.
Light Up a Life is the Hospice movement’s way of remembering loved ones at Christmas by asking supporters to dedicate a Christmas tree light to them.
Gary Hawkes, Head of Fundraising at Farleigh Hospice, worked with Fisk Brett to ensure that the ProgressCRM database could help maximise the potential of this event.
“As one of the major campaigns bringing in funds,” he said, “we realised that we needed a ‘supporter-centric’ database that would enable us to build relationships with our supporters, and to manage their pledges in a sympathetic and appropriate way. We had already upgraded our contacts database to ProgressCRM, but wanted to have even smarter functionality to do Light up a Life justice.”
Hawkes and Fisk Brett configured a special module for the Light up a Life campaign, which is now in action. The campaign began in early October with a mailing to warm selection list from both the main contact and supporter database, supplemented by a cold list from a mailing house. Campaign leaflets, printed with their own source codes for tracking by the module, have also been distributed around churches and other local outlets.
Donations are received in a variety of forms, and each one includes the request to hold one or more names for a ‘light’ on a Christmas tree and an entry into a book of remembrance. Sometimes, requests are received to put particular names on specific trees or for certain services, and these are recorded in ProgressCRM. Donors receive an acknowledgment letter with the memoriam names confirmed within a special card.
Now, in late November and through to December, ‘lighting up’ services are being held throughout the hospice’s area.
Hawkes explained how the module has made managing the campaign much simpler. He said: “The database’s ‘Light up a Life’ batch entry module developed for us captures all the necessary information including details of the donors, checking against our existing contact list, and with the ability to quickly create new contacts and Gift Aid declarations.
“It also allocates a ‘batch number’ date, source code such as existing supporter, or which new list or which leaflet used. We enter amount, transaction type (in-memoriam being default), and payment method with the ability to create a payment plan if we get a standing order.
“The module also records the charity type, and the details required for the services’ cards and their in-memoriam names. These can be multiple names per donation which will be assigned to a card which can include up to five names chosen from a picklist of previous names used by the donor.
“The batch processing and printing of the letters and cards is very simple, as is the management of standing orders, Gift Aid declarations and other financial transactions.”
The Light Up a Life module is available to other hospices using ProgressCRM.
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.