Schools

Independent schools introduce our youth to the joys of learning and prepare them to be creative and contributing members of our society. We're pleased to support this important charge through our work. We also recognize that these organizations face particular challenges and circumstances in their fundraising efforts. Some of the particular needs we keep in mind when working with our independent school clients include:

  • You're fundraising in a defined and tight-knit community where every cultivation is “high-touch.” It's important that the contact information and personal relationships in your database are perfect.
  • Parent and grandparent participation can take many forms — donations, volunteering, etc. You need to track it all.
  • Pledge programs are an integral part of how you fundraise. You need an easy process for recording pledges, reporting on them, and sending reminders.
  • Fundraising appeals and reporting focus on who you're approaching — alumni, parents and grandparents (both current and past). Segmenting your mailing lists and getting your reports must be smooth.
  • Your work is easier when you have clear processes for sharing information with the registrar and the business office.

We needed expert guidance on using our Raiser's Edge® better and we got it from the Heller team. They know how technology works for healthcare fundraising – capital campaigns, major gifts, annual fund, and events. With their help we’ve been able to clean up our data, use less paper, and work smarter.

Julie N. Campbell
Director of Individual Giving

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NTC 2012
04/03/2012 - 04/05/2012

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Case Studies

Elgin Academy

Looking to upgrade to the latest version of the software within a tight budget, Elgin was also planning an ambitious capital campaign. We helped them upgrade and plan for campaign operational support. While keeping the project in budget, we helped them upgrade successfully, learn better ways to use the new version, and also advised on key changes so that they could accomplish more for the campaign with existing staff.

Boston Latin School Association

BLSA looked at the upgrade from version 6 to 7 of Raiser's Edge as an opportunity to streamline data and processes. After considering other consulting options, BLSA decided Heller would provide them with the best level of service. With a well-organized approach, the Heller team helped make their project pay off with a better-organized database, custom reports, documentation and training. Additionally, we also advised BLSA on the best technical and business practice approaches for integrating data from the web service into their Raiser's Edge without incurring additional manual entry.

Bishop Lynch High School

When Bishop Lynch called us in they were running Raiser’s Edge, Education Edge, and NetCommunity, but were struggling to share data and deal with the impact on users in multiple departments.  Like many integration efforts, this one had been sidelined by a strain on the resources enlisted to manage and maintain the project.  We started by outlining how their systems were currently configured and how they could be best aligned to better support their needs.  Then we set about creating documentation to help outline and control the flow of information between the three systems.  In addition to establishing a new workflow, we led targeted trainings and troubleshooting sessions with the staff.

Over the course of these trainings, we saw an opportunity for better communication between departments.  We brought together members from each department to facilitate an open discussion of how each department’s use of the system impacted the work of their colleagues.  This led to a better understanding of how the systems originally functioned in silos, as well as why and how they were now oriented to support the integration of each department and their respective system.  At the conclusion of our project, we assisted with resource allocation and additional staff training to ensure that the integrated systems continue to function optimally.