Questions to ask any donor system in a demo

Ask your own question, not theirs

A demo is built around the questions the product answers best. Bring three of yours, typed the way you would say them: "How much did we raise in September?", "Who are my top twenty donors this year?", "How many monthly donors do we have and what is that a month?"

Ask it to show the rows

Click the number. You should see the exact gifts or people behind it, and they should add up to the number on the screen, to the cent. A total you cannot trace is a total your board will not trust.

Ask a follow-up

After the first answer, ask "and last year?", "only monthly donors" or "who are they?". A useful system keeps the thread instead of making you start again.

Ask why, and who to call

"Why did last year's appeal come in where it did?" and "Who should I call tomorrow?" are the two questions that turn reporting into a plan. Look for a named person, a reason you can check, and a step.

Ask something it should not be able to answer

Try "break giving down by donor age" if you never recorded ages. The right answer is a plain "it can't answer that yet". A confident number here is a warning about every other number.

Ask what was counted

Every answer should say exactly what it counted: which dates, whether refunds were subtracted, which funds. If the answer cannot tell you, neither can you when the board asks.

The questions Steward answers today

Amount raised, gifts and donors for any period; this year against last by fund, month or campaign; average, median and largest gift; new donors and donors who came back; retention and first-year retention; monthly donors and their monthly total; pledges outstanding; volunteer hours; campaign progress and event revenue; who to call, who is drifting and why an appeal came in where it did; lists such as donors in a town or gifts over an amount not yet thanked.