A relationship management system goes beyond moves management or prospect tracking. At the Association of Fundraising Professionals international conference in Baltimore last week Lisa Howley from Johns Hopkins University presented on Effective Relationship Management Systems.

She created a system for Wheaton College in Massachusetts with a development shop of ten and is creating one at Johns Hopkins where there is significantly more staff. The relationship management system goes beyond moving major gift prospects through the giving cycle by incorporating policies, such as privacy and gift policies, actual practices, the database and overall procedures. This addresses all sorts of issues around the kind of contact any donor might receive from the organization.

At Hopkins there are complications such as multiple schools and numerous development staff touching the same donor who may have multiple interests and affiliations with the school. However, even in a small shop it can be useful to create a smaller relationship management system addressing issues such as who, if anyone, must approve a solicitation before the donor is approached, what and how much data is recorded and tracked in the database, and what role volunteers such as board members have in touching donors. Creating a policy communicates expectations to everyone affected.

I view creating a relationship management system as a way of organizing development efforts so that everyone plays nicely in the nonprofit sandbox!