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FundRaiser Basic The Best Little FundRaising Program In the World Users Manual Version 1.33 Effective Date: March 14, 1995 (C) Copyright 1994-1995 All Rights Reserved Worldwide by: Gene Weinbeck Professional Support Software 106 Garfield Ave PO Box 901 West Plains, MO 65775 USA Welcome to FundRaiser Basic, known affectionately as FRB; and thank you for choosing the baby of our fundraising-software family. If you're new to fundraising software, you may not fully appreciate what a novelty you've found! FRB is the Volkswagen Bug of fundraising software. It is the easiest to use (and learn) donor management program available in the world today. And FRB is complete, so you don't need any other program, not even a word processor. With FRB, you can: * keep track of up to one million donors, each with an unlimited number of contributions * print thank-you letters and labels easily and quickly * print deposit reports for your bank, bookkeeper, or executive director * target a particular group of potential donors to send an appeal letter to * print the appeal letter and labels for that targeted group * print a variety of reports for that same group, or another * upgrade later to the more powerful FundRaiser Jr. or FundRaiser Professional at a discount, and without losing any of your work You'll find that: * time-consuming tasks, like thank-you letters, get done quickly and almost without thought * you have more time to accomplish other important projects * you can locate any detail about any donor whenever you like * your donors appreciate the increased connection they feel with you and your organization, and so give more, and more often If you're looking for a fundraising program to automate the basic tasks of fundraising for you, that's easy to learn and to use, and which you can afford (even if you have to buy it yourself), then you're in the right place! Keep reading. Gene Weinbeck President and Chief Bit Byter Table of Contents Welcome 2 Hardware Requirements 4 Support Policy 4 Evaluation Period 4 License Agreement 6 Installation Procedures 7 Introduction 9 Basic Routine 14 Screen-by-Screen Reference 20 Opening Menu 21 Names Screen 23 Letters Screen 33 Printing Menu 36 Printing Thank-yous 36 Deposit Report 37 Donation Report 37 Appeals Letters 38 Criteria Selection 39 Select Printer Type 41 File Maintenance 43 Registration 44 Customization Menu 48 Importing 50 Form Letters 56 Overview 56 Mail-merge Functions 58 Mail-merge Fields 63 Troubleshooting 65 Miscellaneous Disk Errors 69 Backing Up 71 Running FRB through Windows 74 Running FRB from a Floppy 75 dBase Compatibility 75 -3- Hardware Requirements --------------------- All programs have minimum requirements that are necessary for them to run properly. FundRaiser Basic is no exception: Item Minimum Recommended --------------- ---------------------- ---------------------- Computer any IBM compatible 386 or newer computer Monitor any color VGA DOS version 3.30 version 5.0 or higher Disk hard disk or hard disk: 1Mb + 1Mb high density floppy per 1000 names Memory Conventional 640k (510k free) 640k Expanded* not required 1Mb (total of 2Mb) Printer any, including laser any * EMS memory must be LIM 4.0 compliant (which it probably is) Support Policy -------------- Support will be provided without charge on a priority basis to registered users during the three months following registration. Call 417-256-4280 during business hours (Central US time zone); or fax your question to us at 417-256-6370. You may also contact us by fax, email, or "snail mail". We also maintain a BBS on which you may leave questions, talk with other fundraisers, and download interesting fundraising information. Bugs will be fixed at no charge for one year following registration, if possible. If not possible, a full refund will be offered. Please see the section in this manual on Errors for a description of how best to notify us of a bug, so that we can duplicate it at our office and then fix it. Support will be provided to non-registered users, and to registered users beyond the free support period, on a non-priority basis. Extensive support, if needed, will be charged on a time-and-materials basis, charged to a Visa or Mastercard account. Evaluation Period ----------------- You may have received this copy of FRB in either of two ways: directly from us as a pre-registered copy, or as shareware from a friend, bulletin board, catalog, etc. In both cases, we make essentially the same offer to you: try it for up to two months, risk-free. If you don't like it, it will cost you nothing. -4- If you purchased directly from us: Give FRB a real workout for 2 months If after that time you decide that you don't like it, you may return the package of disk(s) and manual for a full refund. You must also erase all copies of the program from your computer(s). If you return the program, we'd appreciate your taking a few moments to tell us why. If you obtained FRB as shareware: You are encouraged to use FRB for 30-60 days prior to obtaining a permanent license (see the section in this manual on Registering). If after that time you decide that you won't use it, please erase it from your computer and don't send us any money - although we wouldn't mind hearing how and why it failed to please you. This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman (OMB) can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442-9427 or send a CompuServe message via CompuServe Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. The OMB may be contacted by FAX by sending to the ASP FAX number: (616) 788-2765. In communication with the OMB please include a telephone and/or FAX number if available. _______ ____|__ | (R) --| | |------------------- | ____|__ | Association of | | |_| Shareware |__| o | Professionals -----| | |--------------------- |___|___| MEMBER -5- License Agreement ----------------- You may share this program (FRB.EXE) with anyone you choose. You may not charge for sharing a copy unless you comply with the provisions in file "Vendor.Doc". If you do not have a copy of this file, and wish to distribute our software for a fee (as in a shareware catalog), please contact us. This authorization will be automatically granted to distributors recognized by the (ASP) as adhering to its guidelines for shareware distributors, and such distributors may begin offering FundRaiser Basic immediately (However PSS must still be advised so that the distributor can be kept up-to-date with the latest version.). It is your responsibility to determine if the program will work reliably on your equipment and for your particular business environment. That's why a money-back guarantee and evaluation copies are made available to you. Professional Support Software / Edgewalker Enterprises Inc. (PSS/EE) disclaims all warranties relating to this software, whether express or implied, including but not limited to any implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, and all such warranties are expressly and specifically disclaimed. Neither PSS/EE nor anyone else who has been involved in the creation, production, or delivery of this software shall be liable for any indirect, consequential, or incidental damages arising out of the use or inability to use such software even if PSS/EE has been advised of the possibility of such damages or claims. In no event shall PSS/EE's liability for any damages ever exceed the price paid for the license to use the software, regardless of the form of claim. The person using the software bears all risks as to the quality and performance of the software. This agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of Missouri and shall inure to the benefit of PSS/EE and any successors, administrators, heirs and assigns. Any action or proceeding brought by either party against the other arising out of or related to this agreement shall be brought only in a state or federal court of competent jurisdiction located in Howell County, Missouri. The parties hereby consent to in personam jurisdiction of said courts. - 6 - Installation ------------ FundRaiser Basic may not simply be copied to your hard disk. All the files have been compressed so that they will fit on as few disks as possible for shipping; they must be uncompressed by the installation program. Also, the installation program checks the integrity of the files on the floppy disk(s) to make sure that the disks were not damaged in transit. The experienced computer user may wish to read the instructions on the next page. 1) Turn on your computer. The bottom-most line of the screen should be something like: C> or C:\. If not, then someone has installed some kind of "shell" program or menuing system on your computer; ask him/her to help with this installation. 2) Put the first FRB disk, labelled Disk 1 of x (depending on your disk type) into your floppy disk drive. Be sure to close the disk drive door. 3) Log on to that disk by typing: A: and pressing Enter. Note: if you have more than one floppy drive, the drive to the left or above the other is usually drive A; the other will be B. You may use either drive. If using drive B, then you would type: B:. 4) If you have more than one hard disk drive, decide which drive you want FundRaiser Basic installed on. If, like most people, you have just one hard disk drive, it is almost certainly drive C. FRB will be installed in a sub-directory called \FRB, which the program will create for you. 5) Type: INSTALL X and press Enter where X is the letter of the hard disk drive on which you want FRB installed. 6) Follow the instructions, changing disks if instructed to do so. When completed, take the disk out of the disk drive. 7) Now you're all set to start FundRaiser Basic. From the C> prompt, type: FRB, and press Enter. - 7 - Installation Notes for the Experienced Computer User ---------------------------------------------------- If possible, FundRaiser Basic should be installed in a sub-directory named FRB, since all updates will default to that sub-directory name. However, you may install it wherever you wish. FundRaiser Basic needs to have 22 file handles. If you do not have a FILES=22 (or higher) statement in your CONFIG.SYS file, then FundRaiser Basic will offer to put one there for you. If you want to run FRB from a floppy (see the last page of the manual for more information), you must have a high-density floppy for everything to fit. Please be advised that, even with a high-density floppy, the number of names that can be recorded will be limited, and that the program will operate VERY slowly. If you wish to manually install FundRaiser Basic outside of the installation program, simply call the self-extracting compressed files while you are in (the default directory is) the the directory into which you want FundRaiser Basic installed. For example, to decompress from drive A to B, type: A:FRB12 B: and press Enter. or, if this file is split into two smaller files, A:FRB12A B: and press Enter. A:FRB12B B: and press Enter. - 8 - Introduction ------------ Welcome to FundRaiser Basic, the most complete, easy-to-use, and inexpensive program available for "Tending Your Donor Garden". Menu System ----------- To begin with, let's point out that FRB uses a menu system. That simply means that, at most any screen in the program, you will be given several actions (the "menu") to choose from. Each action can be initiated by a particular keystroke; in most cases, that keystroke is the first letter of the word which describes the action to take. For example, to Add a new record of information (like a name with all its attendant data, or a code, etc.), the menu choice is A, denoted by its being highlighted. Pressing A (either upper or lower case) will initiate the process which allows you to Add a new record. Likewise, to Change an existing record, the menu choice is C, and pressing C will initiate that process. There are two types of screens in FRB: menu and data. A menu screen is simply a listing of choices from which you may select. Sometimes, choosing from a menu screen will lead to a data screen. In other cases, choosing from a menu screen will initiate another process, such as Printing. A menu choice will always be a single character (like A to Add), and you need not press Enter after pressing that key. However, when entering data (like a name or address), you must press Enter in each entry field to indicate that you are done with that field and to move on to the next. A data screen, like the Names Screen, is a display of information (like name and address) for a single record. Data screens have their own menus, which are displayed at the bottom of the screen. In data screens, you may Add, Change, Delete, Search, move Forward and Backward through the records, and more. ESCape key ---------- When you first enter FRB, the first screen you see is the Opening Menu. You might think of this as the top-most point of a pyramid. As you choose from this menu, you traverse down the pyramid to other parts of the program. To return up the pyramid, press ESCape once for each level you want to traverse. If you get lost, just keep pressing ESCape until you find yourself in a familiar area, or until you get all the way back to the Opening Menu. - 9 - F1= HELP -------- Be aware that you can, at any point in FRB, get HELP, by pressing the F1 key. A Help screen will be displayed which contains information about what you are doing at that particular point. This is called "Context Sensitive" Help, because it relates directly to the step that is being taken. Entering Data ------------- Entering data, like a name and address in the Names Screen, is easy to do, and quick to learn. There are a few conventions you'll find helpful: * When you have completed your entry of data into an entry field, you must press Enter to indicate that you have finished with that field. The cursor (the little flashing line) will then move to the next entry field. * To move backward and forward within an entry field, and without deleting any characters, use the left-arrow and right-arrow cursor keys. To move in one-word jumps, hold the Control key down while pressing the left-arrow or right-arrow cursor key. * To delete a character, use the backspace key (usually marked with a left-pointing arrow, and above the Enter key) to delete to the left, or the DELete key to delete the character under the cursor. * To insert characters, press the INSert key. You will notice that INS appears at the top of the screen, indicating that you are in INSert mode. Now anything you type will push the characters that are under and to the right of the cursor over (to the right) to make room for what you type. To go back to overwrite mode, just press the INSert key again. * To move up to a previous field, press the up-arrow key, even if the entry field is to the left of the current one. To move down to the next field, press either Enter or the down-arrow key. * To move to the beginning of an entry field, press Home. To move to the end of a field, press End. * To move to the first entry field on a screen, press Control-Home. To move to the last one, press Control-End. * If you have finished making your entries, and there are additional fields on the screen (that you don't intend to fill or change), you can press PgDn as a shortcut - instead of pressing Enter several times in order to complete the screen. - 10 - * For those old-timers who grew up on Wordstar, you'll be happy to know that the "magic diamond" is supported in FRB. If you don't know what that means, don't worry about it! Saving Data ----------- When you have pressed Enter on the last entry field in a screen (or taken the PgDn shortcut mentioned above), you will have moved past the end of the data screen and your data will automatically be saved. Sometimes a question will first appear, asking "Is everything correct?". The point is that, except for the word-processing sections, you never have to explicitly do anything to save your data. It is saved for you, automatically, when appropriate. » Pop-up Pick-Lists ------------------- At several points throughout FRB, there are places where you can pop-up a pick-list or a "browse window" for more information. The most common of these are for when you must enter a code, and the pick-list gives you the code choices. These spots are all marked with the special character, » (double-right arrow). When you see this character, you can press Control-Enter to pop up the list. Once within this list, you can scroll through the list by pressing the up-arrow and down-arrow keys to move one line at a time, or PgUp and PgDn to move a whole screen at a time. To select a record (to select a code to use, for instance), just press Enter when that item is highlighted. With most lists, you can Add, Change, Delete, and Search for data, just as you do from within a standard data screen. Word Processor -------------- A simple word processor is built into FundRaiser Basic. While it has none of the features you expect in today's full-featured word processing programs (like block moves or spell checkers), its basic operation is the same. The word processor is used in the Letters Screen and in the Notes section of the Names Screen. * As you type, you need not press Enter at the end of a line. Your text will automatically "word-wrap" to the next line. You should press e only at the end of a paragraph, or when you want to indent the next line. * Use the up-arrow, down-arrow, right-arrow, and left-arrow keys, as well as the PgUp and PgDn keys, to move around in the text. Do not use the Enter key to move down as you would use - 11 - the carriage return on a typewriter. While it may sometimes appear as though it achieves the same end as pressing the down-arrow key, it may actually insert a "hard return" where a word-wrapped "soft return" was placed by the program, and may confuse your editing. * To move to the beginning of a line, press Home. To move to the end of a line, press End. * To move to the first line of the text, press Control-PgUp. To move to the last line, press Control-PgDn. * To delete a character, use the backspace key to delete to the left, or the DELete key to delete the character under the cursor. * To insert characters, press the INSert key. You will notice that INSert On appears at the top of the screen, indicating that you are in INSert mode. Now anything you type will push the characters that are under and to the right of the cursor over to the right to make room for what you type. To go back to the standard "overwrite" mode, just press INSert again. * To insert a blank line, press INSert, press Enter, and then press the INSert key again to toggle back to the overwrite mode. * To erase an entire line, press Control-Y. To erase a word to the right of the cursor, press Control-T. * There are two ways to exit the word processor. Pressing F10 saves your text and exits. Pressing ESCape leaves it as it was before, and exits. * If after editing a paragraph, it is filled with short lines and long lines, and you need to reformat it, first move to the beginning line of the paragraph and then press Control-B. Any lines that do not reformat invariably have a "hard return" at their end. To replace that hard return with a word-wrap soft return, move the cursor to that line, then press End to move to the end of the line. Then press DELete to delete that hard return. The line will then automatically word-wrap. Printing -------- There are several hundred different makes and models of printers being sold these days. While many adhere to a few basic standards, it is still a very confusing and complicated part of computing. In an effort to keep FRB as simple as possible, we wrote it to require as few printer codes as possible. In most cases, only a "reset" code is needed, which clears away any previous settings left by other programs. - 12 - If you have not yet selected your printer type from the Printing Menu, then the first time that you print anything in FRB, you will be asked what kind of printer you have. We have narrowed the "printer selection" possibilities to four: the Epson standard for dot-matrix printers, the Hewlett-Packard (HP) Laser Jet standard for laser printers, a "plain vanilla" option, and a "custom" option. See the section of Select Printer Type later in this manual for more details. - 13 - Basic Routine ------------- This section is designed to introduce you to the flow of tasks that will normally be followed using FRB. It is understood that every nonprofit organization works a bit differently from every other, and that you will be modifying the instructions found here to fit your organization's needs and workstream. It is hoped, however, that you will take the time to review the following pages, in order to familiarize yourself with the features of FRB. In most cases, fundraising tasks follow a similar pattern: entering donor name information, entering contributions, printing deposit reports, and acknowledging (through thank-you letters, etc.) contributions. Obviously, there's a lot more to fundraising than this, but these are the basic tasks that we require of our computer programs, and these tasks can be as simple or as complex as necessary. Entering Name Information ------------------------- From the Opening Menu, press N, for Names Screen. When you go to the Names Screen for the first time, before any names have been entered, there is only one menu choice available: Add. If any names have already been entered, the most recently Added name will be displayed, and a full menu of choices will be displayed at the bottom of the screen. To Add a name: -------------- 1) Press A, for Add. The display will change to a blank form, and the cursor will be moved to the first entry field, which will display "Type First Name Here". This message will disappear when you begin to type. 2) Type in the First Name, if any, and press Enter. The cursor will then move to the next field, which will display "Type Last Name Here". This message will disappear when you begin to type. 3) Type in the Last Name, and press Enter. The cursor will be placed in the Contact field. At this point, you will notice that the menu area at the bottom of the screen has changed to include four function key choices to help in entering names. You may use these choices here in the label section, as well as in the Salutation field, to reduce the number of keystrokes required to enter information. Every little bit helps, so experiment with them. - 14 - 4) Fill in the mailing label information, exactly as you wish it to appear on letters and other correspondence. Remember to capitalize normally. What you type here will appear in your letters. FRB uses the most recently entered City, State, and Zip as "defaults". You may accept these, by pressing e; or change them, by simply typing over them. This feature, too, is designed to save keystrokes and time. 5) Enter the "Dear . . ." form of the name. This is the Salutation form, and is used in mail-merge form letters. In general, it is better to be too formal than too familiar. Do not include the word "Dear", but just type the name as you want it used in the "Dear John" / "Dear Mr. Smith" part of a letter. 6) Enter phone numbers. There is room for both home and office numbers. Both should be filled in, if known, on the theory that it is always better to have too much information than not enough. There is generally room at the end of the number for a note or extension number. 7) Enter Donor Type Code. This code is used to sort people into groups, when printing letters, etc. It was designed for codes such as: IND for individual, BUS for business, FOU for foundation, etc. It may also be left blank. You can pop-up a list of all the available codes by pressing Control-Enter, and then pressing Enter on the desired code. You can also add a new code at this time simply by entering it. When FRB asks you what the code stands for, simply type its description. 8) Enter Category Code. This code is also used to sort people into groups, but was designed for more specific uses. Examples: BRD for Board member; POL for politician; SOC for Social issues. Again, this may be left blank; and you can tell by the » character that you can pop-up a list of available codes to choose from. And that's all there is to it! You've now entered your first name record into FRB. To Add another name, simply press A, and repeat the process. To Change an existing record: ----------------------------- 1) Search for the particular record you want. Press S. You may Search in one of four ways: by Name (last/first), by Account Number, by Category Code, or by Address (State/City/Delivery Address). 2) Next, press N to Search by Name. A screen will be displayed with the cursor in the Last Name field. Enter the complete Last Name, or as much of it as you can. If you enter a complete Last Name, then you may enter a First Name, or as much of it as you - 15 - want. In either case, once these fields have been entered, FRB will arrange all the names in alphabetical order, and display the name that comes closest to matching what you've entered. If the name is not the one you want, move Forward and Backward through the names to find the correct one. 3) Once the desired name is displayed, press C to Change. The cursor will be placed in the First Name entry field, ready for you to edit the information. You may press Enter to move on to the next field, or press w to move back to a field you passed over. Edit information by merely typing over what's there. When you have made all the changes you wish to for this name record, either press Enter several times to move through the rest of the fields, or press PgDn, which will accept the entire record. You will be ask if everything is correct; if you answer No, the cursor will go back to the First Name field, and you may try again. To enter Contribution Information: ---------------------------------- After a name is entered, you may, at any time, add Contribution information. If the name you want to record the contribution for is not the one displayed, Search for the correct one. Once the correct name is displayed, you have two choices: F8 and F9. F8: This choice will display a window in which you may view all of the contributions on file for the displayed name. While this window is displayed, you may Add a contribution, Change or Delete an existing contribution, and scroll up/down to view contributions if there are more than can be displayed on a single screen. F9: This choice allows you to Add a single contribution, without displaying other contributions recorded for the displayed name. 1) Press F9 (or press F8 and then A). The cursor will be placed in the Amount field of a new contribution record for the name record displayed. 2) Type in the Amount and press Enter. The cursor will move to the next entry field. 3) Type in the Date of the contribution and press Enter. This date is, typically, the date the contribution was made, which may not correspond to the date that you are actually entering information. This can be critical for donors who have written checks in late December to take advantage of income-tax laws. FRB keeps track of the actual computer-entry date, as well, so - 16 - that your deposit reports will be handled properly. Once the date is entered, the cursor will move to the next entry field. 4) Type in the Source Code and press Enter. Many organizations want to be able to track the reasons people have given a contribution. In some cases it may be a particular appeals letter, in others a special event. Using the Source code allows you to sort into groups those people who have given for similar reasons. This field may be left blank. When you press Enter, the cursor moves to the next field. 5) Type in the "Send TYL" instructions: Y or N. This tells FRB whether or not you will want to send a Thank-you letter for this donation. This is very important, since the Thank-you letter printing is automated, and uses this field to determine which contributions to print letters for. And that's it -- contribution recorded! Deposit Reports --------------- Once contributions are entered for the day (or week, or whatever period your organization uses), you'll want to make a deposit report. This report gives you a double-check to ensure that all amounts and entries are correct. If this deposit report doesn't match your bank deposit slip, then you'll need to find the discrepancy and correct it, either in the deposit slip or in the contribution entries in FRB. From the Opening Menu, press P for Printing Menu, then press D for Deposit Report. You will be presented with a screen that explains what to do. There are two entry fields into which you enter beginning and ending dates for FRB to consider when creating the report. If you make daily deposits, then the default dates (today's date) will be correct, since you want to know what was entered into the computer today. If you make deposits on some other basis, like weekly, then you'll need to enter those dates. Keep in mind that this date range determines the Entry Dates that will be included in the report. These are the dates that someone actually sat at the computer and entered the contributions. They probably don't correspond to the Contribution Dates entered by the operator when the donations were recorded. After entering the appropriate date range, make sure the printer is turned on, has paper in it, and then follow the prompts that come up on the screen to complete the process. - 17 - Printing Thank-you Letters -------------------------- The single most important part of a fundraiser's job is to express thanks to those who contribute to the organization. In the case of major contributors, this is often done in person and sometimes in a public ceremony of some kind. To the majority of donors, however, thank-you letters are sent. These are the people who give smaller amounts, the $10 or $25 givers, who are the backbone of most nonprofits' fundraising efforts. And, despite what they themselves may say openly, all donors want to be recognized in some way for their generosity. In most cases, a simple (and prompt) thank-you letter fills this need. A few donors may instruct you to not send a thank-you letter. It is important that you follow their wishes. We suggest that you put an easily noticed reminder on the first line of Notes to that effect... something like: *** NO thank-you's *** To make this process less time-consuming, FRB uses a built-in word processor to allow you to write "form" letters. You do so in the Letters Screen. These form letters can be used with mail-merge functions that ensure that the proper information is inserted into the letter at the proper place. There is one letter, coded TYL and named "Generic Thank-you", that is always used as the Thank-you letter. The text of the letter can be modified, of course, to fit your organization's needs. Now let's look at the printing process: 1) Make certain that the printer is loaded with the proper paper, that it is turned on, is on-line, and ready to go. 2) From the Opening Menu, press P for the Printing Menu, then Y for Thank-You Letters. NOTE: The menu choice of Y, instead of the more obvious T, is carried over from FundRaiser Jr. and FundRaiser Professional. Our policy is to maintain as much consistency among the FundRaiser family of programs as possible. This makes it easier for those organizations which eventually step up to one of the more powerful programs to make the transition. The next screen will explain what is about to happen, and will require you to press Y to continue. Once you have confirmed that the printer is ready, printing will begin. Easy, isn't it? Remember, when recording the individual contributions, they are marked as to whether or not to print a Thank-you letter. FRB simply looks at each contribution, and prints the letter coded TYL for each one that has been marked with a Y. During the printing process, of course, contribution information is matched to the right name and address, and all mail-merge information is included. - 18 - Once all thank-you letters are printed for the day (or week), then you may want to print mailing labels for them. If so, simply make that choice from the menu, make certain labels are loaded in the printer, and follow the instructions that come up on the screen. At the end of the printing session, when all Thank-you letters and labels have been printed, and you've verified that everything is as it should be, you can have FRB change all the "Send TY?" marks on the individual contributions to N, which will make sure that you don't send another thank-you letter for these contributions. That covers the routine tasks that FRB is designed to carry out for you. Lots easier than doing it all by hand, isn't it?! And that may be enough for now. But do plan on spending some time with the rest of this manual -- there's lots more to learn and try. - 19 - Screen by Screen Reference Section ---------------------------------- This section of the manual looks at each of FundRaiser Basic's screens in detail. Each screen explanation contains the following: 1. Overview 2. Data to be entered or Options to be selected 3. Menu choices or Step-by-Step procedures Contents -------- Opening Menu 21 Names Screen 23 Letters Screen 33 Printing Menu 36 File Maintenance 43 Registration Menu 44 Customization Menu 48 Importing 50 - 20 - The Opening Menu ---------------- FundRaiser Basic is "menu-driven", which means that, rather than entering complex commands, you are shown menus from which you make choices. The Opening Menu is the hub of FRB, the point from which you begin and end your work with the program, and from which you can move to the different sections of the program. As you look at this screen, you'll see that at the top is the legend: Opening Menu. (All the screens in FRB will tell you where you are in the program.) Below that, on the top left of the screen is the current version number of FRB, and the date that version was released. In the center, just below "Opening Menu", is the name of the person or organization to whom this copy has been registered. On the right, is today's date, as reported by your computer. It is important that this date be correct. If it is not, you should exit to the DOS prompt, and type the word: DATE, and press Enter. It will report the date that it thinks is today's, and will then give you an opportunity to change it. At the very bottom you will see a reminder that Help is only a keystroke away. Any time you need help, press F1 for a screen full of helpful information that relates exactly and specifically to what you are doing at the time. To go to a particular section, press the key which corresponds to the highlighted letter of your choice. You may need to adjust the brightness and contrast on your monitor, if you can't tell what is highlighted. Names Screen is the main data entry screen where you maintain names, addresses and contributions. Letters Screen -- Here you create, test, and edit form letters that are to be mail-merged with information from the Names Screen. From simple thank-you letters to sophisticated appeals letters, all letters are maintained in this section. Printing Menu -- From this menu you do all printing, including Thank-you letters and labels, Appeals letters and labels, Deposit Reports, various Names Listings, and a Codes Listing. You also tell FRB what kind of printer you have. File Maintenance -- FRB uses over 20 different database files and indexes. This section does "housekeeping" on those files to keep them running clean and smooth. It erases all names, gifts, codes and letters that you have marked for deletion; and it - 21 - rebuilds all the index files (which are the things that keep everything in the right order, and lets you quickly Search for an item). You should run File Maintenance often: weekly if you use the prgram twice or more in a week; otherwise at least monthly. It doesn't hurt to run it more often. Registration -- If you received FRB from a friend or off a bulletin board, and have not yet paid for it, then this section is for you. It provides a way to register your copy, gives some good incentives for you to do so, and also provides an easy way for you to make a copy to pass on to another friend. Exit -- eXit is how you leave FundRaiser Basic. DO NOT turn the computer off until after you have exited FRB. Valuable information could be lost otherwise. - 22 - Names Screen ------------ -------------- -- Overview -- -------------- The Names Screen is the most-used section of FundRaiser Basic, since it is at this screen that data entry for almost all records is accomplished. Whether entering the name of a donor or prospect for the first time or updating the address or recording a contribution, the job of entering information is performed here. The screen is composed of two distinct areas: data and menu. The data area is the largest; it is bordered on the top and bottom by double lines. It is subdivided into three sections: - Mailing related (top left) - Miscellaneous (top right) - Notes (bottom) In addition to the data displayed in this area is a "window" of contribution data, which overlays this section. Below the data is the menu area. Listed here are all the things you can do in the Names Screen. In order to do them, you press the key that matches the highlighted letter in your choice. --------------- -- Data Area -- --------------- Search Name (First/Last) ------------------------ There are actually two entry fields here, the first and last name. They are used as the object of Searches and to aid in catching duplicate names. Because this name is not used on labels or in form letters, you can configure the name in whatever way is most helpful to you. For example, if you have a list of churches, you can "Church" as the last name, and the name of the church as the first name. This way, all churches are grouped together, yet any individual church can be easily found. When you add a new name to the list, the words "type First Name here" will appear in the entry block for First Name, and the words "type Last Name here" will appear in the block for Last Name. These are to remind you (and your volunteers) which part of the name goes where. As soon as you start to type something in, the messages disappear. - 23 - Even though this name will be used as the object of Searches, you need not enter the name in all upper case. Whenever FRB needs something to be all upper case, it will force your entries to upper case for you automatically. When you add a new name to the list, the Search Name is compared against all other names in the list to see if there is a possible duplicate. It checks the full Last Name and the first character of the First Name (which will catch any duplicate Jim's appearing as James or Jimmy). If FRB finds a possible duplicate, you will be notified by a beep, and given the opportunity to view a list of potentially duplicate names (you can also temporarily disable this feature by telling it to "Stop Asking"). You can also disable this feature in the Customization Menu. Please note that you may move up and down through the list by pressing the up and down arrow keys, and also by pressing PgUp and PgDn keys. The first column, marked ND, may appear to be a little cryptic at first. If there are any Notes attached to the name, a musical note will appear in this column. To view or edit these notes, press N. Also, if the name is marked for deletion, a "D" will appear in the column. There is more information available than can be displayed at one time. To view this information, like address, phone numbers, codes, etc.), use the right-arrow key to move to the right past the edge of the window. To return, just press the left-arrow key. To get out of the window and return to what you were doing, just press ESCape. THE MAILING LABEL AREA ---------------------- The US Postal Service always looks at addresses from the bottom up: zip code first, then city/state if needed; then at the Delivery line, then at the Secondary line, if any; and finally at the Mail Name and/or Contact Name. You need to be aware of this as you enter data, so that retrieving information is a uniform and easy process. Make sure that you follow the capitalization and punctuation rules you would follow in typing a letter, so that it will look good in correspondence. Note that, while Adding or Changing a name, you have the option of using some function keys, to have FRB insert words like "Mr. and Mrs.", or the Last Name, or the First Name, or both First and Last Names. This can save you keystrokes by the thousands. - 24 - Contact ------- The intended use of this area is to record the name of a business's contact person, but it may be used for other purposes. One thing to remember about this field is that it will always be printed as the first line of an address block (for labels and in Form Letters), unless it is empty, in which case the first line will be the "Mailing Name". Mailing Name ------------ This is the name to whom the Post Office will deliver mail. In the case of businesses, it should be the business name. Secondary and Delivery Addresses -------------------------------- These lines are for the (up to) two address lines. If you have both a street address and a PO Box, you should put the one to which you want your mail delivered on the second line, the Delivery Address. If you have only one address line, it should go on the second line. In fact, if you enter a Secondary Address and not a Delivery Address, FRB automatically moves the incorrectly placed address for you. City ---- When you are Adding names, this field may already have something in it, because FRB automatically uses the city that was last entered. This can save keystrokes when entering a lot of new names from the same city. And when you want to overwrite that "default" city, just start typing, and the unwanted city name will disappear. Do not put a comma aftter the city name. State ----- This 2-character state code will always appear in uppercase letters, so you don't need to use the shift key. Your entry is always checked against existing codes being used. If a code is entered which has not yet been registered, FRB tells you so, and asks if you want to register the code. If you are unsure, answer No, and use the Control-Enter key combination to see what state codes (with descriptions) have been registered so far. After you press Enter, FundRaiser Basic will check to see if there are any other names with the same address (in a manner identical to its duplicate name checking described above under Search Name). It compares the Delivery Address line, City, and State. If it finds any duplicates it will offer to display them on the screen. As with the duplicate name checking, you can also instruct FundRaiser Basic to stop checking, and can disable this feature in the Customization Menu. - 25 - Postal Zip Code --------------- There are ten spaces provided for the postal code, which is sufficient for the US Zip+4 code, Canadian codes, and most other international postal codes. For the US, please be aware that the code must be either a full 5 digits, or 9 digits with a hyphen between the 5th and 6th numbers. Salutation Name (Dear ...) -------------------------- This is the name that is to be used as the salutation of a letter. In some cases, you will want to use the familiar name, in others a more formal one. The entry you make in this field is the "So and so" of "Dear So and So". Do not enter the word "Dear", or put a comma after the name. If you are uncertain what to enter here, we suggest the conservative approach; use "Mr. and Mrs. Soandso", or "Ms. So" . . . better to err on the side of too formal rather than too familiar. First Entered ------------- This is the date that you first entered this name into the computer. It is assigned by FRB (it looks at your system clock when you add a name) and cannot be edited. Account Number -------------- This is a number used by FRB for internal bookkeeping. It is assigned by FundRaiser and cannot be edited. Home, Work Phones ----------------- These are the phone numbers at home and work for this name. Please note that, in the Customization Menu area, you may change the phone format to either the North American format or an Open format. In both cases, there is room for a note or extension number at the end of the phone number. Donor Type ---------- This is a three-character code that identifies what type of donor (or prospect) this person or organization is. Usually it follows along the lines of: IND for Individual; BUS for business; CHR for Church; FND for Foundation; CVC for Civic club (Rotary, Lions, etc.); SCH for School. Because these codes can be used in the selection process when printing letters or reports, they are very important, and should be recorded for each name. - 26 - Category Code ------------- This equally important code identifies the donor in some major way, like why they do (or are likely to) give to your organization. Please read our booklet, Tending Your Donor Garden (which you receive as part of your registration package), for a complete discussion of coding techniques. Total Given ----------- This is a non-editable field which keeps track of how much the donor has given. It is the sum total of all contributions in the F8 Giftlist window. Year to Date ------------ This is a non-editable field which displays the amount given by the donor thus far this year. Actually, the year can be re-defined to be any date range you wish. You set the date range in the Customization area. The ability to define the year is helpful in at least two different ways: for those whose fiscal year is not the same as a calendar year (and who need to keep track of donations on that basis rather than on a calendar year basis); and, if you need to print something for a group of people based on their giving totals from a year or more ago, you can temporarily change this date range to the desired time period, then change it back when done. Amount of Last Gift ------------------- This is a non-editable field which displays the amount of the last gift received from this donor. It is not necessarily the last gift entered into the computer for this donor. Instead, FRB looks at the Date Given that you have recorded for each gift, and uses that to determine which contribution is the most recent one. Date of Last Gift ----------------- This is a non-editable field which displays the date of the contribution which qualifies as the Last Gift, as described above. - 27 - Donor Notes ----------- The first six lines are always displayed here, but you can enter as much text here as you like, up to the equivalent of 16 single-spaced pages, using the built-in Word Processor. You reach it by using the menu choice N, for Notes. This section is commonly used for your personal notes about the person, anything from what his/her pet concerns are, to the names of his/her children/parents/pets/etc, to why he/she chooses to support your organization/cause. The Notes area can also be used for a contact history and for notes to anyone who may later talk to this donor. Other ----- Deleted Mark -- If a name has been marked for deletion, the message: *** DELETED *** will appear in the top left corner of the screen. (See the menu choice, Delete, for more information.) Display Order -- On the bottom double-line are two pieces of information. On the far left is displayed the order in which names are currently maintained. When you first enter the Names Screen, it is always set to "Name Order". It may be changed when you use the Search function. On the right side of the double-line is a reminder that HELP can be accessed by pressing F1. NAMES SCREEN MENU CHOICES ------------------------- There are nine main actions you can take from the Names Screen. These are: Forward, Backward, Search, Add, Change, Delete, Notes, the F8 GiftList window and F9 Add-a-Gift. These actions are displayed in a menu at the bottom of the screen. To take one of these actions, simply press the key associated with that action. For example, F for Forward. The F is highlighted on the screen to indicate that it is the key to push. Now let's look at the Names Screen Menu Choices: Forward ------- With all data entry screens in FRB, you can flip through records one at a time. The order in which the Names Screen records are presented is dependent upon the last Search method used. When you first come into the Names Screen, the order will be: Name (Last, First). The current order is shown at the - 28 - bottom left corner of the data entry area. Other possible orders include Address, Account Number, and Category Code. Forward flips through the records in ascending order. Backward -------- The same as Forward, except that Backward flips through the records in descending order. Search ------ Search allows you to find a particular record from thousands in less than a second. You can search using one of four Search orders: Name -- This is based on the Search Name, entered in the first two fields in the Names Screen. The Search is conducted by trying to find the last name first, then the first name. (You are allowed to enter a partial name if you like, but must follow these rules: if you enter a partial last name, then do not enter any first name; and if you want to enter a partial first name, you must enter a full last name.) FRB will go to the record that most closely matches your entry. If there is not an exact match, you can then flip Forward or Backward, or you can Search again. Address -- The Address Search is comprised of State, City, and Delivery Address. The state code must be complete in all cases. But, as with the Name Search, a partial entry can be made. Each entry field must be complete in order to make a partial entry in the next field. Specifically: if entering a partial City, you must not enter any Delivery Address. If entering a partial Address, you must enter the City in full. -- As with the Name Search, FRB will get as close as it can to an exact match, at which point you can flip Forward or Backward thorugh the records, which will remain in Address order till you change it by Searching by other criteria. Account Number -- Typing: # allows you to Search by Account Number. No partial entry is allowed here, although entering 1 will go to the lowest number, and entering all 9s will go to the highest number. The order of displaying records will be changed to Account Number. Category Code -- As with the other Search options, you may enter a partial code here. FRB will find the first donor with the code that matches your partial entry. NOTE: When any of these Search options is used, the viewing order of the names will change accordingly. - 29 - List ---- List presents all the names in a pop-up pick list window. From within this list you can Search in the same manner as above. Press Enter to select a name, or press ESCape to exit. Add/Change a Name ----------------- While Adding and Changing are two distinct menu choices, the two processes are almost identical, dealing with the same data. In both Add and Change modes, you are presented with a form in which you fill in the blanks. The cursor will navigate through each field on the screen, going from one to the next. There are some differences. Let's talk about Add first: When you Add a new name, it doesn't matter which name is displayed on the screen as you start the Add process. If you're concerned about putting the name in the right place, don't be. That's FundRaiser's job. When Adding, if you press ESCape before completing the "Is everything correct?" question, the Add mode will be cancelled and any entered data will not be recorded. Also, a Searchable Last Name is required, so if you leave that field blank, you will terminate the Add mode, just as if you had pressed ESCape. Now let's look at Change mode: when you want to Change some information about a name, that name must first be displayed on the screen, and the information that you want to change must be displayed on the screen within the top area above the Donor Notes area. To change contribution data, you must first bring it to view by pressing F8. To edit the Note, press N. When Changing data, if you press ESCape before completing the last field, what you have entered will not be recorded, and the data will revert to its original state as it was before you started the Change. In both cases, you will be asked "Is everything correct". If you answer No, you will be taken back to the first field, and given a chance to edit your entries. After you answer Yes to this question, all data is saved to the hard disk. Then, you are returned to the Names Screen menu. Delete ------ To delete a name (or a gift, letter, or code), you have to go through a two-step process. This is intentional, because it gives you a second chance to Undelete a mistake. - 30 - The first step is to press D for Delete. The second step is to run File Maintenance from the Opening Menu. Now, you don't have to do one and then run over to the Opening Menu right away -- you delete items as you go along, and then periodically run File Maintenance (once a week or so). In the meantime, any items marked for deletion will not appear on reports or have Thank-you letters printed for them. Effectively, they're out of your way, but you can still retreve them if you need to, until you run File Maintenance. You may not mark for deletion any name record that has contributions recorded; you must first mark for deletion all contributions associated with that name. Once marked for deletion, the message "***DELETED***" appears in the upper left corner of the screen. You'll notice that when you mark a name for deletion, the Delete option changes to UnDelete. Names are not actually erased until they've been marked for deletion, and File Maintenance has been run. F8 GiftList ------------ This is where all the contributions for this name are held. All contributions are entered either here or through the t Add-a-Gift key. In this window, you can view all the contributions recorded for the displayed name, with the latest contribution displayed first. This is a browse window; when there are more contributions than will display on one screen, you can use the cursor keys to move up and down through the contributions. As with other browse windows, you can Add, Change or Delete; ESCape exits the list and returns to the Names Screen. The following information is recorded for each contribution: Amount -- This is the amount contributed. Date -- This is the date of the contribution. (NOTE: FRB keeps track of the date the contributions are physically entered into FRB. This Date, that you enter, is the date you receive the contribution, which is not always the same as the entry date. Some organizations record the date written on the check, especially at the end of the year, rather than the date received. - 31 - Source -- This is an optional code that identifies what action prompted the contribution. If it were from a direct mailing, it might be DM1 or DM2. If it came as a result of a telethon, the code might be T91 or T92. This code can also be a person's initials, if for instance the contribution came as a result of a personal contact by one of your organization's staff. This is an important code. It is one of the criteria you can use when building a report or printing appeals letters. Send Ltr? -- This is simply "should a thank-you letter be sent for this contribution?". This gives FRB the ability to automate your Thank-you letter printing, as well as automating the printing of associated labels. Date Recorded -- This is the date that you actually physically recorded this contribution on the computer. This date was read by FRB from your computer's clock when you entered the contribution. It is the date that is used when printing the Deposit Report; it cannot be changed. Deleted? -- If a contribution is marked for deletion, the word "deleted" shows up here. Please note that when you delete a contribution, you are actually marking it for deletion, in exactly the same manner as when you mark a name for deletion. Until you run File Maintenance (from the Opening Menu), you may Undelete the contribution by pressing D again. F9 Add-a-Gift ------------- This function key allows you to add a single contribution without first going through the F8 window. It is a little faster than using the F8 key, but you won't be able to see any of the other contributions for this name, either. The screen that comes up is similar to the one presented when you press A to Add from within the F8 GiftList Window. N Donor Notes ------------- The Donor Notes section uses FundRaiser's Word Processor to edit up to 32 pages of information, instructions, or whatever you like. - 32 - Letters Screen -------------- -------------- -- OVERVIEW -- -------------- This is the section where you create form letters to be mail-merged with the information in the Names Screen to produce personalized form letters. This data entry screen is similar to others, in that you can flip through the records (in this case, the letters) using the Forward or Backward commands. You can Search for a particular letter, using either the Letter Code or the Letter Name. You can Add, Change, and Delete letters, too. Other menu choices will be discussed in a moment. From the Opening Menu, press L for Letters. The Letters Screen shows one letter at a time, either in Letter Name or Letter Code order (the current order is indicated at the bottom left of the screen). Each letter has a unique name and a unique code. The left margin, right margin, and top margin are displayed at the top of the screen. The first 15 lines of the body of the letter are displayed as well, and below that the Letters Screen menu choices are listed. We'll explain each of the entry fields at the top of the screen, and then go through the menu choices available. ------------------ -- DATA SCREEN -- ------------------ Ltr Code -------- Each letter must be assigned a code, and each code must be unique. There is one code that is "reserved" and cannot be changed: TYL, for the Thank You Letter. Ltr Name -------- Each letter must have a unique name. You'll want to name your letters in such a way that you will recognize their purpose later. A Note about margins: The default for pitch is Pica, which is 10 characters per inch (cpi). So if you want a left margin of 1/2", you would enter 5 (1/2 x 10). If you set the pitch to Elite (12 cpi) or Compressed (15-22 cpi, depending on the printer) print, then you must multiply the intended width in inches by the number of characters per inch. - 33 - FRB will display the text of the letter with whatever margins you have set, to help you visualize your letter. Pitch ----- This setting determines how large or small the print will be for this letter. Pica is largest, at 10 characters per inch (cpi); Elite is slightly smaller at 12 cpi; and Compressed is smallest, at 15-22 cpi, depending on your printer. L Margin -------- This is the number of characters to move in from the left edge of the paper when printing. R Margin -------- This margin is determined by counting from the left edge of the paper as displayed on the screen. If you are printing in standard Pica, then your right margin should be 80 or less; otherwise, you will have to do your own calculations (and probably some experimentation) based on paper width, right margin, and pitch. You may set the right margin to a number as high as 255. If you set the right margin to 80 or more, the right margin marker (on theline just above the text of the letter) will move to the 79 spot and change from a left-pointing arrow to a right-pointing arrow, to indicate that the margin is past the edge of the screen. Also, since FRB adjusts the text of the letter as you change the margin, you won't be able to see all of the text if the margin is set higher than 80; when you edit the text, however, you'll be able to scroll over and see it. T Margin -------- The Top Margin should be the number of lines down from the top of the paper to the line where you want the printing to begin. With a default of 6 lines to the inch, if you want your letter to begin printing at, say 2" down from the top edge of the paper (to allow for your letterhead), enter: 12. If you're using a laser printer, be aware that most will not print in the first half inch. Dot matrix printers are difficult to adjust so that printing begins on the very first line. Some experimentation may be necessary to position the Top Margin properly on different papers. - 34 - ------------------ -- Menu Choices -- ------------------ In addition to the usual data entry screen menu choices of Forward, Backward, Add, Change, and Delete, you'll find the following: S - Search ---------- This allows you to Search for a particular letter, using either the Letter Code or the Letter Name. Partial codes or names are allowed. L - List -------- List presents all the letters in a pop-up pick list window. Press Enter to select a letter, or press ESCape to exit. P - Print File Copy ------------------- This prints a copy of the letter with all entry field settings, just as it is typed into FRB. Any mail-merge fields or functions are printed as you entered them (without being mail-merged with any Name data). This print-out is meant to serve as your file copy of the letter. Also, if you are having difficulty determining why a field or function is not working properly, it can sometimes be easier to print a file copy and look for a mistake there than to find it on the screen. T - Test -------- This menu choice lets you test the mail-merge fields and functions in your letter by mail-merging the letter with the last name entered into the Names Screen. (It is important to remember that it is the last one entered, because some fields or functions may come out blank if corresponding information is not available in that particular name record.) You have the choice of testing the letter to the screen or to the printer. Any errors in entering a mail-merge field or function will be highlighted with surrounding asterisks. K - Klone --------- This choice lets you make a copy of an existing letter. You will prompted for a new Letter Code and Name, and may change the margin settings, if you wish. This menu choice can save lots of time and typing if you want to change a letter slightly, but still retain the first one. E - Edit ------ This allows you to edit the body of the letter. Use it when you want to change text, but not the settings at the top of screen. - 35 - Printing Menu ------------- Press P at the Opening Menu to navigate to the Printing Menu, from which you do just about all of FRB's printing. Printing Thank-you's -------------------- THANK YOU LETTERS THANK YOU LABELS MARK THANK YOU'S DONE You'll notice that the first three options are grouped together. They all have to do with printing thank-you letters. The first step is to print the letters, the second is the labels (if you want to). Once you've finished the printing, you run the third step, "Mark Thank-you's done". FRB was designed to automate letter-writing tasks as much as possible, while also keeping everything nice and simple. As you enter a contribution (in the Names Screen) for which you want to send a thank-you letter -- and that is surely the vast majority of contributions -- just enter a Yes in the entry field labelled "Send Ltr?". That's all the preparation needed. Then when you're ready to print the letters, come to the Printing Menu and press Y to print Thank-you Letters. You will be asked if you want to continue, and then to turn on your printer. The computer takes it from there, and before you know it, the printer will be churning out thank-you letters! Letters are printed in zip code order, for each contribution whose "Send Ltr?" field is marked Yes. The letter is the one in the Form Letters screen which has a code of TYL and is named Generic Thank You. FRB comes with the core of a thank-you letter, ready for you to edit to fit your organization. (Do this in the Letters Screen.) Label printing is just about as easy as letter printing. From the Printing Menu, press L. Labels are also printed in zip code order to match the letters you just printed. Before the labels start printing, you will be given an opportunity to print some test labels to help you align the labels in the printer. To keep label printing as painless as possible, one label style was chosen for each type of printer. For the laser printer, the style is a page with two columns by 10 rows of 1" x 4" labels. The Avery brand model number is 5161 (Avery is the standard for labels, but you may use another brand with no problem.) - 36 - For dot-matrix (and some older ink-jet, daisy-wheel, or any other printers using a tractor-feed to move continuous-feed paper), FRB uses the basic one-across label that is 15/16" high by 3-1/2" wide. Because there is a 1/16" gap between labels, the total from the top of one label to the top of the next is exactly one inch. When you are satisfied that the letters and labels are printed properly, you finish the process with the third step. You "Mark Thank You's Done" by pressing M from the Printing Menu. This changes the "Send Ltr?" mark from a Yes to a No. If you ever need to re-print a thank-you letter, all you have to do is change the mark back to Yes in the s Giftlist Window in the Names Screen. If you fail to run this third step, you will be surprised when you print Thank You Letters the next time . . . because this batch of letters will be printed along with the new ones! So make sure that the "Send Ltr?" field is marked No for the letters you've just printed. Deposit Report -------------- From the Printing Menu, press D to print the Deposit Report. This report lists all the contributions you entered during a particular date range. You may use this report as your deposit ticket for the bank. Or just use it as a double-check against the deposit ticket that you fill out manually, to make sure the totals match. One added feature of this report is that, at the end of the listing of all the contributions, it shows a tally of how much was received for each Source Code. This can be very helpful information when you're trying to keep track of how your different fundraising efforts are working. (See our booklet, "Tending Your Donor Garden", for a more detailed discussion.) Donation Report --------------- This report is virtually identical to the Deposit Report. The only difference is that this report lists donations based on the date of contribution (the date you type in as the contribution date) rather than the date of entry (the date you physically entered them into the computer). This is a very important distinction. This produces a listing of the donations with a date within your date range. The Deposit Report produces a listing of donations entered during that date range. This Donation Report is often used for managerial and tax purposes. The Deposit Report is used to help reconcile your bank deposit. - 37 - Appeals Letters --------------- Appeals letters are form letters (created in the Letters screen) which you send to prospective donors to appeal to them to give to your organization. In FRB you can be selective about who gets which letter, and because you can use the same criteria for letters, labels, and listings, you can easily print all three for the same group of people, something you will often want to do. The next three sections share a common "Criteria Selection" screen, which is discussed in some detail after these sections. (If you have yet to create an appeal letter, you must first do so in the Letters screen.) From the Printing Menu, press A to print Appeals Letters. You will first be asked which form letter you want to print. As the » mark indicates, you can press Control-Enter to pop up a pick-list of all the form letters that were created in the Letters screen. This pick-list displays the code, name, pitch, and margins of each letter. Also, if you press V to View text, you can view the entire text of the highlighted letter. To select the desired form letter, highlight the letter and press Enter. The next screen will be the Criteria Selection screen, discussed below, in which you describe the group to whom you want to send the letter. APPEALS LABELS -------------- To print labels, press B from the Printing Menu. Immediately after you are taken to the Criteria Selection screen (discussed below), you will be given the opportunity to print test labels. NAMES LISTINGS -------------- From the Printing Menu, press N to print one of seven different listings. There are two basic styles: "one-liners", which are neat, easy-to-read reports with one line of information per name, lined up in columns; and "multi-line" reports, which have so much information for each name that it spans two or more lines, making it not as easy to read. While there is a brief description of each report type on the screen, you may find it helpful to print a sample of each report to see what each one looks like. Please note that one report, the Combined Report, requires either wide paper, or that your printer be set to "compressed print". You will be asked which method you prefer. Once you select the report you want to print, you are taken to the Criteria Selection screen. - 38 - Criteria Selection Screen ------------------------- Regardless of whether you are printing appeals letters, labels, or a names listing, this screen is used to select the names that you will be printing for. This screen has a memory, meaning that the criteria that you last used can be restored as the default criteria the next time you come into the screen. This is especially handy when you are printing different things (like letters, labels, and a listing) for the same group. You will be asked if you want to use the last group's criteria. In the center of this screen are five sets of criteria. They are cumulative; in other words, they're not an either/or collection, where a name only has to meet one or the other of the criteria you select in order to be included -- rather, a name must meet all criteria to be included. For example: if you enter a donor type code of BUS and a donor category code of VIP, then each name must have both codes, not just one. On the other hand, if you enter no criteria, then all names will qualify, and you will print for your entire list. Let's examine each criterion: Donor Type Code: this code is for things like INDividual, BUSiness, CHUrch, etc. Donor Category Code: this code identifies the category this donor falls into. It is generally used to identify a donor's primary interest in your organization. Gift Source Code: this is the code that can be entered for a contribution. Because a donor will have (we hope) several contributions, a single donor may have several Source codes. A donor need have given only one contribution with the code you enter as criteria, in order to be selected for printing. An example: you want to print invitations for everyone who bought tickets to last year's banquet. If those ticket sales were entered at the time with a BNQ Source code, you could now easily print that list based solely on that Source code. Total Amount Given: this is the grand total amount ever given by a donor. Whether you're looking for high-giving donors for a special appeal, or donors who have given $100 or more, or donors who have given anything at all, this is the line to use. There is one especially important thing to remember when using this criterion: if you enter 0.00 for the minimum amount, then you will get donors who have given that amount. In other words, 0.00 will give you people who have never given a contribution. If you want people who have given something, then you must enter at least 0.01 in the minimum entry field. - 39 - Examples: 0.01 through 9999999.99 those who have given anything 100.00 through 9999999.99 those who have given at least 100.00 100.00 through 499.99 those who have given at least 100.00, but less than 500.00 0.00 through 0.00 those who have not yet given Amount Given This Year: this is the amount given thus far this year, where the "year" is actually a date range defined in the Customization area. It is usually the current year, but may be re-defined to be any date range you wish. The range works in the same manner as described in "Total Amount Given" above. Date Last Given: this date range indicates when the selected people last gave. One idiosyncracy revolves around the fact that dates in FRB run from 1950 through 2049. Consequently, if you enter a date of xx/xx/45, it will be for the year 2045, not 1945. Examples: (assuming that "today" is 02/01/94) 01/01/50 thru 02/01/93 lapsed donors (those who have given, but not in the last year) 01/01/50 thru 08/01/93 almost lapsed donors (those who have given, but not in the last 6 months) 02/01/93 thru 02/01/94 active donors (those who have given within the last 12 months) Combining Criteria ------------------ You can combine as many criteria as you want. Each name in your Names Screen will be examined to see if they meet each and every criteria that you specify. Typcially, the more criteria you enter, the fewer names will be included, as the list gets more selective. It does not take any longer to process if you have more criteria. In fact, if you specify a Donor Category code and/or a Gift Source code, it will speed up the processing. This is because these two criteria can be found very quickly, and then only those names that already meet those crtieria need be examined for further criteria matching. When you are finished entering these criteria, you will be asked in what order you would like the printing to be, by Name or by Zip Code. FRB then processes your criteria and selects the names that meet them. It will show you its progress, and the final result. The final step, as with all printing, is to ask if your printer is ready. Saying No only pauses the computer for 3 seconds, and asks the same question again. To cancel printing, press ESCape. - 40 - Codes Listing ------------- This simple report lists all the codes used within the program. You can print a separate page for each of the four types of codes (a minimum of four pages); otherwise, FRB will print them in groups, one after the other, but not on separate pages. Select Printer Type ------------------- For FRB to be able to switch your printer between the different type styles, it must know what kind of printer you have. It is here that you tell the program that information. If you fail to run this section before you first print, FRB will automatically bring this section up for you to fill in. In order to keep things simple in FRB, we have boiled the printer choices down to five: the three most popular, a "no-choice", and a custom setup where the more adventurous user can enter his/her own codes. The first step is to choose one of these four: E Epson-compatible printer. If you have a dot-matrix, or other "impact" printer (that probably has a platen like a typewriter) and which uses continuous-feed paper (has the pin-feed holes on the side), then you should first try this choice. The odds are very good that it will work perfectly for you. Virtually all dot-matrix printers made in the last several years are either Epson-compatible or can be switched to that mode (by means of a switch or from the front panel; see your printer manual). H Hewlett-Packard LaserJet 2 or compatible printer. If you have another brand of laser or inkjet printer, try this choice first. Your printer will almost certainly be compatible. This printer is unable to print in Elite, and so uses Compressed instead. 4 Hewlett-Packard LaserJet 4 series printers. For this particular series of laser printer only, this option adds the ability to print using Elite. It also overrides any settings someone may have entered from the front panel of the printer. V "Plain Vanilla" printer. Try this choice when neither of the first two worked. It sends no codes at all to your printer. If you want it to print in other than its default mode, you must change it yourself. C Custom setup. This is for those users who understand printer manuals. You will be expected to enter the decimal control codes that will be sent to your printer. Use this choice if you have an unusual printer, or want it to do something unsusal (print from a lower tray on a laser, for instance). - 41 - If you choose either Plain Vanilla or Custom, then you will have an intermediate step: With Vanilla, you will be asked only if your printer uses single sheets of paper (like a copier). This will be used to determine which type of label (continuous feed or 20/sheet) to print on. With Custom, you will also be asked to enter the decimal codes for Reset, Elite, and Compressed. If you are attempting this choice, you (or a friend) probably have enough knowledge that the screen is fairly intuitive. If not, press F1 for more detailed Help. Lastly (except for Vanilla printers), you will be asked if you want to print a test page. This is an opportunity for you to make sure that whatever you selected is the right choice. FRB will print a page with the three different type styles (pica, elite, and compressed). With each, it will print two vertical lines that should be an inch apart (except, perhaps, for compressed, which will vary from printer to printer). If the page does not display different type sizes, then your printer choice is not the appropriate one for your printer, and you should try a different one. Please note that you can change your printer setup at any time, if you get a new printer, or need to switch between printers. Technical Note: The printer setup is saved in a file called: DEF_PTR.MEM. - 42 - File Maintenance ---------------- In FundRaiser Basic, when you delete a name or other record, you are actually just marking it for deletion. It is not erased from your hard disk until you run File Maintenance; and once you do that, any records which had been marked for deletion are permanently gone. File Maintenance has a second, very important, purpose: rebuilding index files. These are what keep the data in the data files in the proper alphabetical or numerical order. (Index files do not contain data; they contain pointers to the data in data files.) Over time, index files can get out of sync with the data files they relate to; so, as a good housekeeping measure, you need to rebuild the index files on a regular basis. If you use FRB on a daily basis, you should run File Maintenance once a week (if not more often); otherwise, once a month is generally enough. It doesn't hurt to run it more often. There are some clues to watch for which indicate that the indexes are out of sync with the data: when you search for a name that you know is there, but FRB can't find it; or when you get a report that seems to have the wrong names listed for the criteria you selected. If you run File Maintenance regularly, you should not see these problems occur. - 43 - Registration Menu ----------------- This section is primarily for those who received their copy of FundRaiser Basic from someone other than Professional Support Software (a friend or a bulletin board, or a shareware catalog), and have yet to register and pay for it. This method of distribution, called "shareware", is a good deal for everyone. You get to actually use software before paying for it, and we get our programs into the hands of potential users with little marketing expense. And then we pass our savings along to you. You see, we permit -- and encourage -- our users to make copies of FRB to distribute to their friends on a "try it before you buy it" basis. In this Registration section, we even provide the means of making that copy, along with ways to register your copy. P Print a Registration Form --------------------------- This section prints a regristration form with your name and purchase information on it. The requested information is the sort you would enter on any mail-order form. Register in the name of -- This is the name that will appear on the Opening Menu, and on all reports. Type it exactly as you want it to appear, capitalizing as appropriate. This can be your name, or the name of the organization for which you will use FRB. My Name -- This is your name, the person who should receive the registration package. Organization Name, if any -- The name of the organization which will be using FRB. Mailing Address -- Where you want your package sent. Phone Number -- Phone number and extension, plus whether this number is for home, office, whatever. We don't have to have a phone number for you, but it can be helpful if we need to return your communication. You have our word that this number will not be used for sales calls, or given to anyone else. Preferred disk size -- If you're not sure what disk size and density you need, here are some clues: with 5¼" floppies, there is usually a reinforcing ring around the hub on low-density disks, and not on high-density ones. For 3½" disks, it's easier: on the side opposite from the metal slide, you will find at least one square notch. One notch means the disk is low - 44 - density, two indicates a high density disk. ---- If you are not sure about the density you need, here's how to make absolutely sure: format a disk (type: FORMAT A: at the DOS prompt, or B: if you're using drive B). When it has finished formatting, the computer will tell you how many bytes there are in "total disk space". That will tell you what type of disk drive you have: Low density High density 5 1/4" 360,000+ 1,200,000+ 3 1/2" 720,000+ 1,440,000+ If you're still not sure, don't worry about it. Just tell us which inch size, and we'll send the low-density disks, which can be read by high-density drives. Payment method -- If you enter C for Check, then the cursor will bypass the credit card number field. If you are paying by Mastercard or Visa, please record your account number and expiration date. Missouri sales tax -- If you are not a resident of Missouri, press 1. If you are a Missouri resident, and can include an exemption certificate, press 2; otherwise, press 3 and we'll have to collect $2.99 from you to send to the state government. Finally, you will be asked if your printer is ready. When you say Yes, it will print your form. Please mail it in to the address on the form, or fax it (to 417-256-6370), or call us at 800-880-3454, and, as they say, "have your credit card handy". W - Why You Should Register ------------------------- Pressing W will bring up a list of good reasons to register and pay for your shareware copy of FRB. Some of the more important include: * It's the moral thing to do. Using shareware without * It's the legal thing to do. paying for it is stealing! * You'll get the newest version -- either right away, if the version you have is outdated; or you'll automatically get the next update. * You'll get the printed manual -- better than the manual-on- disk, and it has an index. * You'll get a copy of "Tending Your Donor Garden", our booklet full of successful tips and techniques for fundraising (especially good for beginners). - 45 - * The registration reminder messages will no longer pop up. * You'll be able to choose your own screen colors, turn off the hint lines, and have access to a pop-up calculator. Press W for a more detailed discussion of all of these issues and others. H - How to Register ------------------- This section tells you all the different ways you can register. If you live outside the U.S., then this is an especially important section for you. It lists the acceptable forms of payment (money orders, cash, bank transfers, etc) and all the different ways that you can reach us. C - Copies ---------- This menu choice will help you to put a copy of the FundRaiser Basic program, the Help screens and the manual (if there is a copy of it in the FRB directory) on a high-density disk. Don't bother formatting the disk first; FRB will do that for you. Remember to tell the friend you're making this copy for that it is a "try it before you buy it" copy (not pirated!) -- that it is not free, but that it does have an incredibly low price! S - The Shareware Concept ------------------------- This section explains the concept behind shareware. Not to be confused with "freeware", shareware is copyrighted, just like software you buy off the shelf; but you get to try it before you pay for it. If you don't like it, or don't use it, throw it away, and don't pay for it. But if you do, please honor the work of the programmer, and pay for it. Shareware is based on faith in your honesty. It is a system which we like a lot, as it lets us keep our costs down, and pass those savings along to you in the form of a very low price for FRB. Please do press S, and read more about how shareware works. - 46 - F - The FundRaiser Family of Programs ------------------------------------- As your fundraising skills and needs grow, you won't outgrow your fundraising software. And the family of FundRaiser products makes it easy to expand your abilities and your fundraising totals. FRB is the baby of the family. FundRaiser Jr. and FundRaiser Professional are its older siblings. Upgrading is easy; your data remains intact; the screens will look familiar, and we have easy payment plans, with no interest charged. When you can see that you're about ready to outgrow FRB, call our toll-free sales number at 800-880-3454, and ask for a free brochure and demo of Jr. and Professional. Be sure to say that you're an FRB user. In the meantime, and just to whet your appetite, here's a short listing of some of their many additional features: General: * password protection * Tickler reminder system * full printer control * more reports, labels * multiple printers, print to * user-definable reports text files * print postal barcodes * function key macro language * bulk mail facilities * import/export capabilities * control of defaults, toggles, colors * Compartments: keep different sets of data separate from each other * many more form letter functions, including IF/ELSE statements * integration with US Postal Service NCOA (change of address) system Names Screen: * more data can be recorded * Alternate Addresses * Giving statistics * Relations to other donors * unlimited Category Codes * single mail-merge letters * more Search options * print labels, envelopes * "Spare Fields" for data that is unique to your organization Contributions: * Membership features * Pledge features * Gift Notes * Purpose, Fund, Period, Misc * Choose from multiple * Mergeable data for form ltrs thank-you letters Related Groupings (sorting): * Like the Criteria Selection Screen in FRB, but more powerful * Define a group once, then "freshen" it whenever needed. Do take time to press F and see more details about the FundRaiser family. - 47 - Customization Menu ------------------ This menu contains some choices that are available only in registered copies of FundRaiser Basic. they are included in this manual so that you know what is coming. <C> Colors. Here you can change the colors that FundRaiser Basic uses to paint the screens. If you're tired of the same old green and blue default combination, here's your chance to change it to whatever you want. (registered only) <H> Hint Lines. These are those little 2-line helpful hints that you find throughout FundRaiser. It also includes such things as the hint in the Names Screen about what a highlighted menu choice is, and the initial Novice Mode reminder notice. After a while, you'll find that you don't need these hint lines any more. If so, you can toggle them off. Of course, if you have a volunteer coming to help you out, you will want to turn them back on temporarily. Just press <H> to toggle hint lines On/Off. (registered only) <P> Select Printer Type. This is identical to the same menu choice as displayed in the Printing Menu. <D> Select Date Format. There are several international styles in which dates are presented, some with the day first, some with the year first, and some with the month first. With this menu choice, you can choose the format that best fits your culture. <T> Select Telephone Number Format. There are two formats available: North American and Open. The North American version contains an area code and 7-digit phone number followed by up to 7 characters in text for an extension number or note. The Open version was included to accomodate the many different international formats, and allows up to 20 characters in any configuration. - 48 - <Y> Define Current Year. FundRaiser Basic maintains each donor's Year-to-Date giving totals in the Names Screen. That "year" is defined by a date range that you enter here. It is usually the current calendar year (January through December), but you may redefine it to be any period that you wish. The ability to re-define the year is helpful in at least two different ways: 1) for those whose fiscal year is not the same as a calendar year, and who need to keep track of donations on that basis. 2) If you need to print a report based on a previous period (perhaps a listing of donors who gave $100 or more during the period July 93 through June 94), you can temporarily change this date range to that time period, and then change it back when you're done. <A> Automatic Duplicate Checking. FundRaiser automatically checks your entries in the Names Screen to see if it is a duplicate of another entry. It checks after you press Enter on the Searchable Last Name, and it checks by address after you press Enter on the State code. Some people, with older computers, experience a lengthy wait, especially when FundRaiser dupechecks the address. If you are unconcerned about duplicates, and want to turn this feature off, here is the place to do it. - 49 - Importing Your Mailing List --------------------------- If you have an existing mailing list on your computer (in a database management program or mailing list program, for instance), there is a very good chance that it can be imported into FundRaiser Basic. The process of converting data from one format to another can be a little tricky, but with a little care and thought, you should be able to accomplish it. The first step is to make a backup of your FundRaiser Basic data. Absolutely! Don't start the import process without first making a backup -- if the import process doesn't work properly, your existing data file will be unusable. With a backup, you will be able to restore it to its original condition and try again. The second step is to export your data into a file that uses one of the two standard formats that FundRaiser can read. These two formats, dBase III and ASCII comma delimited, are the two most widely used formats for PC's and should be available as an Exporting option on your database or list program. If you have a choice between the two formats, choose dBase III. (How exporting works varies widely from program to program, so consult the manual, ask an experienced friend, or call the program's tech support staff for assistance.) If your program does not have an Exporting option, then the data may already be recorded in one of the two standard formats, and need not be exported. You may be able to import it directly into FRB. It's worth a try. FundRaiser will alert you if the file is not importable, and no damage will have been done. Now you're ready to import into FundRaiser. From the Opening Menu, press <I> to Import. The first thing FundRaiser asks for is the name of the file you are importing. This must be the full filename, including extension. If the file is not in the default directory (i.e., \FRB), then you must specify the full path as well. (Don't worry too much - if you enter it incorrectly, FRB will politely tell you so.) With our suggested filename above, you would type: IMPORT.TXT After you type in the file name, FundRaiser tests the file to see if it is a dBase III compatible file or if it is an ASCII file. FundRaiser needs the file to be in dBase format for the next step, so if it's an ASCII file, FRB goes through a number of tests to make sure that the file adheres to the comma-delimited - 50 - standard, and that it can be imported without error. FRB then imports the file into an intermediate dBase III file, from which you and FRB can go to the next step. Now you must match the individual fields (each piece of information, like name, address, city, etc) in your data to each of FundRaiser's fields. You'll see on the screen at this point three browse windows. The left one is for your incoming file, and the rightmost one is the FundRaiser file (MASTER.dbf). In between is a window that will show the matchups between the two files as you specify them. Notice the prompts below the windows. The arrows indicate that you can move up and down within a browse window by pressing the up and down cursor control keys, and move from window to window across the screen with the right and left arrow keys. In order to match one of the fields on the left (your incoming file) to one on the right (the FundRaiser file), use the up and down keys to move to the field you want to work on; when it is highlighted, press Enter. The cursor automatically moves to the window on the right, where you move to the field that matches yours, and press Enter again. A 1 will appear to the right of both fields, and the matchup will appear in the center window. (If you want to "unmatch" those two fields, just press Enter again at both of them, and the match will disappear.) It will probably help you at this point to see some actual data. Press F4, and you'll jump into a browse window of your data. This window scrolls in all directions; use the arrow keys to move to the right to see all the columns of your data. Now you can see just what information is detailed in which columns/fields, and can better match it with the field choices in the right-hand window of FRB fields. When you've gotten what info you need from this screen, press ESCape to exit. If your file was an ASCII file, the fields will have names like FIELD1, FIELD2, etc. You can change these quite simply, by highlighting a field name and pressing the space bar, then typing in your new field name (Address, City, etc). This make it simpler to match up fields. Or, you could take a sheet of paper, make three columns on it, then put your old field names on the left, a description of the data in them in the center, and the FRB field to match it with on the right -- and use this as a reference as you complete the process on the screen. - 51 - If you've entered some data into FRB, you may want to see a similar window for that data. Press F5 to jump into the browse window for the FundRaiser file, and you'll be able to compare. Now let's look at each of the fields in FundRaiser, exactly what goes into them, and when to use them. ACCOUNT - every record in FundRaiser must have its own unique account number. FundRaiser prefers to assign its own, but you can import your own account numbers if you must. If your numbers are not a full 6 characters long, FundRaiser will move them to the right and pad the beginning with 0's to fill all six spaces. NAMES (FIRST, LAST, CONTACT, MAILNAME, SALUTATION) - FundRaiser records a donor's name in 3 different ways: the name for you to search by (FIRST, LAST), the name that goes on the mailing label (CONTACT or MAILNAME), and the "Dear..." of a letter (SALUTATION). In your program, you may not have the name broken out in these three distinct ways. Don't worry. FundRaiser can do a pretty good job of breaking a name up into its component parts for you! If you have a donor's full name all in one field, put it in FundRaiser's MAILNAME (or CONTACT if you also have a business name - see below). During the importing process, FRB will break out the first and last name, and build a salutation for you. The only hitch in this process is when the name belongs to a business. FundRaiser recognizes a name as being a business if it contains one of the following words: Corp, Co, Inc, Ltd, The, Of, Corporation, or Company. Unfortunately, many businesses do not contain any of these words; in which cases, FundRaiser may split the Searchable First and Last names rather peculiarly. This is a problem only when you try to Search for them; for this reason, it's a good idea to review your list after importing. Use the List function in the Names Screen to view your list; if you find any odd name splits, highlight that row and press Enter. This will put you into the Names Screen for that entry, where you can Change how the name is entered. When a name is recognized as a business, the whole name goes into LAST, and no salutation is recorded. If the name is already broken up into first and last in your incoming file, but you have no mailing label equivalent, then import your fields into FIRST and LAST. If there's no entry in CONTACT or MAILNAME, FundRaiser will combine FIRST and LAST during the importing process, and put them into MAILNAME for you. In either case, if you have no specific salutation name, FundRaiser will record it for you, based on your answer to a question you'll be asked later in the process. - 52 - What do you do if your incoming file has fields for both a donor name and a business name? Import the donor's name into CONTACT, and the business name into MAILNAME. FundRaiser will adjust things a bit if necessary. If, for a particular donor, there is no business name (MAILNAME), but there is a donor name (CONTACT), it will move the CONTACT name down to the MAILNAME slot. ADDRESS LINES (SECONDARY, DELIVERY) If, in your incoming file, you have only one address line, it should go into the DELIVERY field. If you have two, the primary line (the one to which mail is delivered) should go into DELIVERY, and the other into SECONDARY. If FundRaiser finds a blank DELIVERY address line below a filled-in SECONDARY line during the importing process, it will move the SECONDARY line down to DELIVERY for you. If your incoming data has a third address line, the top-most line should go into the MAILNAME field, the next into SECONDARY, and the third into DELIVERY. In this case, your donor name may only go into CONTACT. What if the street number is recorded separately from the street name in your incoming file? No problem: first match your street number with DELIVERY, then match the street name with DELIVERY, too. You'll see that, in the center window, both fields are matched with DELIVERY, and that, in the right window, DELIVERY is followed by the number 2 instead of 1, to indicate that it has two of your fields being imported into it. CITY, STATE, ZIP (Postal Code) Most programs record these in three distinct fields. If, however, your incoming file has two or three of them in one field, you should import that field into CITY. During the importing process, FundRaiser is capable of breaking out the city, a two-character state/province code, and a US ZIP or Canadian postal code from a combined field. If FRB is uncertain about what it is seeing, it will put the imported field into the Notes area, and will enter a state code of "XX", making it easy for you to find the problem entries later (just Search by address for state code "XX"). DATE1 - This is the date that a name was first entered into the system. If you do not have this date in your old program (few do), FundRaiser will enter the current date here during the importing process. HOMPHONE, OFCPHONE - If your phone numbers are in US/North American format (###-###-####), FundRaiser will ask if you want it to insert your local area code for any numbers that are missing an area code. It will strip out the formatting characters ( specifically "()-." ), and then add your area code if the number is 7 digits long or if the first 3 are blank. - 53 - DONORCODE, CATEGCODE - These two codes are used to record information about donors. DONORCODE is the donor-type; often used codes are: INDividual, BUSiness, CHUrch, etc. CATEGCODE is often used indicate something about how the donor is connected to your organization: BoaRD member, VOLunteer, etc. These are user-defined codes, and can be used for any bits of data you wish to record. These two codes are rarely imported, but if you maintained similar codes in your previous program, you should import them directly into these fields. OTHER STUFF, EXCEPTIONS - If there is additional information that you would like to import for which FundRaiser has no equivalent, you should probably import it into Notes. You may import up to 9 fields into a single field, and you may import a single field into up to 9 different FundRaiser fields. Once you have all your fields matched up, press F10 to begin the importing process. You will be presented with a screen of up to four questions for you to answer: CAPITALIZE - If your names and addresses in your incoming file are in UPPER case, you may want to have FundRaiser Basic change that to upper-and-lower case (that often looks better on a mailing label and in a letter, for instance). It does a pretty good job of capitalizing names, business names, and addresses, but does have a problem with names beginning with Mac (it's hard to differentiate between MacHinery and Machinery) - you'll need to search for, and manually correct them. Of course, if your names are already properly capitalized, then you should leave them as is. SALUTATION - If you have not explicitly imported a salutation name, FundRaiser will offer to fill that field for you, with either the first name or last name of your donor. In all cases, if it knows that an entry is for a business (with no CONTACT name), it will not record a salutation at all. Your choices here are: 1) In this case, FRB will enter the donor's first name as the salutation. In cases where it has no first name, it will look to see if there is a title like "Mr and Mrs" or "Dr" or "Rev". If there is such a title, it will add that to the last name and use that for the salutation. 2) This option never uses the first name. It only enters a salutation if it has both a title and a last name. 3) With this choice, it leave the salutation blank. - 54 - AREA CODE - If you are importing phone numbers, and you are using the US/North American telephone format, you can have FundRaiser fill in any blank area code with your local area code. CITY - If you are importing into CITY (and most people do), you will be asked if your city field also contains the State and Postal codes. If you say Yes, then FundRaiser will attempt to break it into two or three separate components. If it has any difficulty, it will record the full original field in the donor's Notes, and change the state code to "XX". When you have answered these questions, the actual importing process will begin; after it is completed you will be reminded to review your list. - 55 - Form Letters ------------ Form letters are dear to the heart of most experienced fundraisers. A polished appeal letter that tugs at a prospect's heart and a thank-you letter that makes a donor feel good all the way through . . . these are the epitome of a fundraiser's craft. Part of what makes for a successful form letter is personalization. The more you can write into a thank-you letter that shows you've really noticed their gift and appreciate it, the better they will feel about having given, and the more likely they are to give again. And the same is true of appeals letters to prospects. Unfortunately, you rarely know much about a prospect until they have communicated with you, usually by the act of giving. But if you at least know their name, and can address a letter directly to them (instead of "Dear Friend"), your relationship with them gets off to a good start. The more personal you can make each letter, the more effective it will be. This is an absolute, proven fact of fundraising. FundRaiser Basic has the tools you need to start writing your own personalized letters. It's a beginner's toolbox, but has the basics. (When you're ready for more sophisticated tools, FundRaiser Jr. and FundRaiser Professional are available; and you'll likely need their "power tools" in other areas as well by then.) Data is inserted into the text of form letters with two mechanisms: fields, and functions. Fields are the raw data you've typed into each entry block in the Names Screen. Functions are mechanisms which intercept that data, and tailor it in some way before inserting it into the letter. A good example is the ADDRESSEE() function, which inserts the mailing label information from the Names Screen into the address block (usually) of a letter. If you specified each individual entry block from the Names Screen, two things would happen: first, it would take more typing to actually enter the name of each block; and second, if one of those entry blocks, like the Secondary Address, was blank, there would be a blank line in the middle of the address when it was inserted into the letter. The ADDRESSEE() function sees the blank line and eliminates it, so that the address block looks normal. The same data is contained in both a field and a function, but the function has tailored the data to fit properly into the letter. - 56 - Another example is SALUTATION(). This function inserts the "Dear..." name into a letter. But if there is no name recorded in a person's "Dear..." entry block in the Names Screen, it inserts the word "Friend", or any other word or phrase that you specify. Functions always have parentheses after them. Sometimes there is something inside the parentheses, sometimes not. Fields never have the parentheses. The way you tell FRB that something you have typed is a mail-merge field or function is to surround it with double-backslashes, like this: \\ADDRESSEE()\\. Neither the backslashed nor the function name will be printed; instead, data will be inserted where you've typed them in the text of your letter. The following pages describe each of FRB's five functions in detail. Following those is a listing of all the fields which may be used to mail-merge data. - 57 - GIFTDATE() ---------- Syntax: \\GIFTDATE()\\ Type: Date Usage: Most commonly used in Thank-you letters, to let the donor know the date of receipt. If used in other correspondence, the date of the LAST contribution given by the person will be used. Returns: The date, in text form, of the contribution; for instance: March 1, 1993 Example: Thank you for your recent gift, which we received on \\GIFTDATE()\\. .................. Thank you for your recent gift, which we received on March 1, 1993. - 58 - GIFTAMT() --------- Syntax: \\GIFTAMT()\\ Type: Numeric Usage: Most commonly used in Thank-you letters to thank the donor for the specific amount given. If used in other correspondence, the LAST contribution given by the donor will be used. Returns: The amount of the contribution Example: Thank you for your recent gift of $\\GIFTAMT()\\. .................... Thank you for your recent gift of $20.00. - 59 - ADDRESSEE() ----------- Syntax: \\ADDRESSEE()\\ Type: Character Usage: This Function is used to produce the address portion at the top of a letter. Returns: The complete mailing address as displayed within the mailing label box in the Names screen. Any blank lines are skipped when printing. Example: \\ADDRESSEE()\\ Dear Friend, ............................................... John Smith 123 Appian Way West Alamos, CO 66666 Dear Friend, - 60 - SALUTATION( <"text"> ) ---------------------- Syntax: \\SALUTATION( <"text"> )\\ Type: Character Usage: In the salutation of a letter Returns: This Function uses the field SALUTATION, unless that field is blank, in which case it inserts the <"text"> given. If no <"text"> is given, and the SALUTATION field is blank, the default "Friend" is inserted. Parameters: <"text"> any text to be used in case of a blank SALUTATION field. DEFAULT = "Friend" Example: Dear \\SALUTATION("Donor")\\, ................................. Dear Fred, (if SALUTATION field has "Fred" entered) or Dear Donor, (if SALUTATION field is blank) Dear \\SALUTATION()\\, ................................ Dear Fred, (if SALUTATION field has "Fred" entered) or Dear Friend, (if SALUTATION field is blank) - 61 - TODAY() ------- Syntax: \\TODAY()\\ Type: Character, Date Usage: In letters, to place the current date in the form of March 1, 1993 Returns: The current date, in text format, as recognized by your computer system, at the time of printing. NOTE: If the computer SYSTEM DATE is not correct, this Function's resulting date will be incorrect as well. Example: \\TODAY()\\ ........................................ March 1, 1993 (the current date) - 62 - Mail-Merge Fields ----------------- If you need to print data that the five functions do not provide, you can use any of the following fields. As with functions, surround them with double backslashes -- but do not put a parentheses after the field name. These fields are not likely to be of more than occasional use to you in form letters; however, you may wish to create "form reports": special use form letters which you print through the Appeals Letters section, but which are set up only to display all or any of the following data, one name per page. These can be handy references to take with you when making a personal visit to a major donor, for instance. ACCOUNT The account number assigned by FRB to each name. FIRST The Searchable first name. LAST The Searchable last name. CONTACT The first line of the label area. MAILNAME The second line of the label area; the mailing name. SECONDARY The third line of the label area; the secondary address. DELIVERY The fourth line of the label area; the primary address. CITY The city name of the label. STATE The state code. ZIP The postal code, including the hyphen after the 5th number, if any. SALUTATION The "Dear. . ." name. DATE1 The "first entered" date. HOMPHONE Home phone number OFCPHONE Office phone number DONORCODE Donor Type code. CATEGCODE Category code. ALLTIME The "Total Given", ever, by this donor. YEARTODT The "Year to Date" total given by donor. LASTAMT The "Amount of Last Gift". LASTDATE The "Date of Last Gift". NOTES The text in the Notes. The following fields refer to the entry blocks in the Giving History window. Note that all fields are preceded by the name of the database in which they are found, plus an arrow (formed by the hyphen and the greater-than sign). If you neglect to type in: GIFTS-> before the field name, the program will assume that the field is in the Master database, which these are not. The GIFTS-> tells the program where to look for the data you want. These fields may be reliably used only in thank-you letters, in which case they will refer to the contribution for which you are thanking the donor. If used in an Appeals letter, you must first use either the GIFTAMT() or GIFTDATE() function to point to the donor's most recent contribution. - 63 - GIFTS->AMOUNT The amount of the gift. Same as GIFTAMT(). GIFTS->DATEGIVEN The date you entered as the date of the gift. Same as GIFTDATE(). GIFTS->SOURCE The source code. GIFTS->LETTER The "Send Ltr?" entry block. GIFTS->DT_ENTRY The date you recorded the gift. (recorded automatically by the program) - 64 - Error Messages and Troubleshooting ---------------------------------- Errors can, and do, happen in all computer programs. Although even the best programs can have latent errors waiting to occur, most errors are caused by problems outside the control of the program itself, like hardware malfunctions, bad bits in the data, memory conflicts, etc. FRB has an error handling system that traps most errors as they occur. It gives you a short message in a box on the screen, and then logs the nature of the error to disk, and returns you to the Opening Menu. We've tried to catch the most common ones, and give you a warning message before an error occurs, or to explain what to do to correct the error; but we can't, of course, anticipate every situation. The most common error messages are given below: A database/index error has been detected ---------------------------------------- This error comes with the admonition to run File Maintenance, which you do from the Opening Menu. Normally this error occurs because an index file has gotten out of sync with its database file. Read the section on File Maintenance in this manual while you are running File Maintenance. If you continue to get this error even after running File Maintenance several times, then you may have a more serious problem. First, read the section on CHKDSK and follow the instructions there. Then re-run File Maintenance. If that doesn't fix the problem, read the section below for DBFNTX/1020 errors. DBFNTX/1001-1003 (unable to open the specified file) ---------------- These could be caused by the file not existing at all, not existing in the default FRB directory, or your not having Rights to the file if on a network. Use the DIR command, from the DOS prompt, to determine if the file exists in the \FRB sub-directory. DBFNTX/1104-1106 (unable to create the specified file) DBFNTX/1011 (write error) ---------------- These could be caused by there not being enough room on the disk for the file to be created, by it being ATTRIB'd Read Only (see your DOS manual), or your not having rights to the file if on a network. - 65 - DBFNTX/1010 (unable to read the specified file) ----------- This could be caused by a floppy disk not being seated properly; by a bad spot on the hard disk; or by a break in a network connection. DBFNTX/1020 (data type error) DBFNTX/1021 (data width error) ----------- Unless someone has been tinkering with the databases with a program like dBase III or Alpha Four, these are invariably cuased by a damaged database file. This can sometimes be fixed with a dBase III file correcting program (like dSalvage from ComTech Publishing in Reno, NV), but you should also be looking for your most recent backup -- you may need it even if the problem appears to be fixed. Be sure to read the section on CHKDSK for related information. You should always flip through your data and spot-check recent contribution entries to make sure that all your data is still intact after it has been fixed. any 5300 series error --------------------- Any error in the 5300 range indicates that you are running out of conventional memory. See the section in this manual about Memory. There is a type of error that FRB cannot trap. It is called an "unrecoverable error" because the program cannot proceed any further. Sometimes it is not even able to display the usual error box. It may only be able to display a single line about the error. These are normally caused by memory problems; see the section on Memory. If your computer "locks up" -- it simply ceases to function, gives no error message, and the keyboard does nothing -- your only option is to reboot. In worst cases, you must turn your computer off and then on again. A problem like this is usually caused by one of two things: static electricity (normally a problem only in winter), or a memory problem. But, a lockup that occurs often can be caused by any number of strange combinations of things, including even a slow hard disk controller card, or network card, in a fast computer (try running your computer in non-Turbo mode or with "one wait state" to test this possibility). - 66 - Any other errors could be caused by a number of factors: memory conflicts, interrupt conflicts, disk errors, static electricity, incorrect use of Windows or DOS, or even (but not likely) an actual bug in FRB. We suggest that you look through the sections in this manual on Memory, CHKDSK, and Windows, if you are running FRB through Windows. If you are unable to ascertain the cause of your error, we may be able to find it for you. Because FRB records not only the nature of the error, but also the condition of the program at the time of the error, there is a good chance that we can identify the source of the problem from the error log and some other information we will ask you for. We suggest you take one of the following three courses of action. All the following steps are performed from the DOS prompt. Course of Action #1 ------------------- 1) Type up a brief description of what you were doing when the error occured. Be as thorough as possible. On this page, also put your name, address, phone number(s), and times when you can be reached (at each number). If you can be reached by fax, Internet, or CompuServe include those number(s). 2) Print the error log. Type: COPY \FRB\ERROR.$$$ PRN and press Enter. 3) Print other diagnostic information. Perform one of these two steps: a) Type: MSD /P \FRB\DIAG.TXT and press Enter. If DOS reports "Bad command or file name", then you do not have a copy of this program, which comes with Windows, and perhaps with newer versions of DOS. b) If you are using DOS version 5 or higher, type: MEM /D > \FRB\DIAG.TXT and press Enter. Print the report by typing: COPY \FRB\DIAG.TXT PRN and pressing Enter. 4) If you did not perform step 2a above (the MSD report), then print the two "boot" files by performing these next two steps: a) type: COPY \CONFIG.SYS PRN and press Enter. b) type: COPY \AUTOEXEC.BAT PRN and press Enter. - 67 - 5) Give us a picture of the condition of your hard disk: a) type: CHKDSK /F and press Enter. (If you should be asked a question, see the section in this manual on CHKDSK.) b) While the screen still displays the information, press the PrtSc (Print-Screen) key to print a copy of the screen. 6) Either: a) Fax the first page of the error log plus your description to us; or b) Mail everything to us. Course of Action #2 ------------------- 1) Follow steps 1 through 5 above. 2) Make a DOS backup of your entire FRB directory. (See the section in this manual on making Backups..) 3) Mail it all to us. We will, of course, respect the confidentiality of your data. Course of Action #3 ------------------- Call in a local professional who is familiar with dBase, Clipper, or Fox. - 68 - Miscellaneous ------------- This section contains information on a variety of topics: Disk Errors and Fragmented Files Backing Up Running FRB under Windows Running FRB from a floppy disk dBase Compatibility Disk Errors and Fragmented Files -------------------------------- FundRaiser Basic is in a class of software (which includes most database programs) that can really put a hard disk and DOS through their paces. In the worst case, it is possible for DOS to lose pieces of your files. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to make it easier on both, to prevent problems from occurring, and to correct those problems if they should happen. Unfortunately, it is beyond the scope of this manual to go into all the possible scenarios surrounding all the causes and which steps to take when. So, instead, we are going to give you a few suggested guidelines. DO's ---- 1. Run the DOS command, CHKDSK, at least weekly _ in order to find any disk errors early, before they have a chance to cause real problems. See below for instructions. You should also run File Maintenance often. See the section in this manual on that subject. 2. If you ever get a FundRaiser error relating to a file, or if there is a power outage, or if the computer locks up while you are running any program, immediately run CHKDSK per the instructions below. Then run File Maintenance. 3. If you own a disk compacting program, (such as SpeeDisk, contained in the Norton Utilities), run it on a weekly basis, after running CHKDSK. If you don't own such a program, we suggest you obtain one. DON'T ----- Never turn the computer off without first exiting FundRaiser. If you suspect that someone else has done this, run CHKDSK per the instructions below, and then run File Maintenance. - 69 - Running CHKDSK -------------- We suggest that you run CHKDSK every day. Some people put it in their AUTOEXEC.BAT file, so that it gets run every time they turn their computer on. From the DOS prompt, type: CHKDSK, and press Enter. This will display a status report about your disk (don't worry about any "bad sectors" it reports _ they're already taken care of). If you have a disk error, it will first report the error. (In some cases it will also ask if you wish to "Convert lost chains to files?". Press N to not fix the disk error now.) If CHKDSK reports any errors, we suggest that you contact a local professional to help you decide what to do. You can tell him/her that it has been our experience that as far as FundRaiser is concerned, in more than 90% of the cases, only the index files are involved. Since these files contain no actual data, and are automatically rebuilt through File Maintenance, they need not be converted to files. If you're wondering what causes this kind of disk error, the answer is often someone turning off the computer while still in FRB (or a power outage while you're working). It can also be caused, we believe, by heavily fragmented files. Fragmented Files ---------------- A file on disk is composed of many small pieces all strung together in a chain. If these pieces are scattered across the surface of the disk, then it can cause a great deal of wear and tear on the disk heads as they jump around locating each piece. If, on the other hand, the pieces are all together, then it's not only easier on the disk, but will also speed up your use of the program, and reduce the likelihood of CHKDSK problems. There are two ways to de-fragment, or compact, files on your disk. The fastest and easiest is to use a disk-compacting program, like SpeeDisk which comes with the Norton Utilities. It may take only a few minutes, or at worst an hour, to run. The other way is to backup your entire hard disk, then delete everything from the disk (or re-format the disk), then restore all the files back on to the disk. This could take all day to do! We suggest you de-fragment your hard disk at least once a year; but monthly or quarterly is much better. - 70 - Backing Up ---------- Having a backup copy of your data is not a luxury _ it is a necessity. Eventually, your computer will fail, or someone will make a horrible mistake, or something _ and your valuable data will be gone. Not making regular backups can jeopardize the future of your organization. Now that you're properly scared, let's talk about the choices available for making backups. There are three: DOS 6 (and newer) MSBACKUP -------------------------- This version of DOS replaces the old BACKUP program (described below) with a DOS-based menu-driven system and a Windows version (see Tools in the File Manager) that are beyond the scope of this manual to explain. It is much faster than the old version, but more complicated. Please see your DOS manual for details. OLDER DOS BACKUP ---------------- Versions of DOS before DOS 6 came with a backup progam called BACKUP. It is simple and straight-forward to use. To make a backup of your entire hard disk, assuming it is drive C:, and your floppy is in drive A, type: BACKUP C:\*.* A: /S To make a backup of just the FRB directory, assuming it is C:\FRB, type: BACKUP C:\FRB\*.* A: To make a backup of just the data files within the FRB directory, type: BACKUP C:\FRB\*.DB* A: The newer versions of DOS (version 5.0 and newer) come with a backup program that will format a disk on the fly. With earlier versions, you must have all your disks pre-formatted. To copy backup files back to your hard disk, you must use the DOS Restore command. See your DOS manual for detailed instructions. There are also some commercial backup programs, like FastBack, which will make a backup to floppies much more quickly than will DOS. It may be worth looking into, because DOS is slow at backing up _ it could take hours to backup an entire hard disk to floppies with DOS! - 71 - Tape Drives ----------- If the idea of spending time swapping disks in and out of the computer for hours doesn't appeal to you, you may want to investigate a tape drive. These little jewels can turn the chore of backing up into a half-hour task that you can start and walk away from. Tape drives currently cost $200 and up, with high-quality name-brand drives costing around $250 from a mail-order house. In addition, you can expect to spend $15-20 per tape cartridge. But, even the low-end drives can pack 120 Mb of data onto a single cartridge. Tape drives come in internal (inside the computer case) and external models; some are easier to install than others. They also come with their own software. Consult with a local dealer if you're interested. How Often? ---------- Ideally, you should make a backup every day that you use the computer. If that's not possible, a weekly backup is acceptable. Never, under any circumstances, allow a whole month to go by without making a backup! A compromise would be to make a backup of your entire hard disk only once every three months. Then just backup your data, which will take less time and fewer disks, on the daily or weekly basis. If you do this, and restore any data, you must be sure to run File Maintenance to rebuild indexes, because BACKUP C:\FRB\*.DB* A: does not include the index files on the backup. Rotation -------- It's important that you have more than one backup on hand. This is because when you discover a problem that requires that you restore something from your backup copy, you will invariably find that the problem was copied onto the most recent backup, so it's not useable. You will then need to go to the backup from the day (or week) before that. If you make backups on a daily basis, the preferred rotation schedule uses 10 sets of floppies or tapes: four for Monday through Thursday, and four for the four most recent Fridays; plus one from each of the last two months. Most organizations also like to archive an End of Year set which they put into a vault and save forever. A simpler method rotates through three sets on a daily basis, and always keeps a set on hand from each of the last two weeks. - 72 - If you make backups on a weekly basis, then you can get by with just two sets; but rotating through three sets would be safer. Absolute Safety --------------- Many people believe that older backups should be kept off-site in case of fire. This is a good safeguard, but an even better one is to rotate backups in and out of a bank safe-deposit box. These are not only fireproof, but are immune from virtually any other disaster, too. - 73 - Running FRB through Windows --------------------------- FundRaiser Basic was not written specifically for the Windows environment. However, like most DOS programs, it can be run as a "non-Windows application" from within Windows. We do not recommend this unless you work primarily in Windows, and find yourself frequently going back and forth between the two. If you must run FRB through Windows, here are our recommendations: you must have at least 4Mb of RAM, and run Windows (version 3.1) in 386-enhanced mode; you must also increase the number of file handles in your CONFIG.SYS file....the number will depend on what other programs you run through Windows; try increasing it to 47. If you get a file error, increase it in increments of 2 until the problem goes away; then increase it by 2 more, for good measure. To install FRB in Windows, go to the Program Manager; open the Group you want to place FRB in. Click on Program Manager's "File", then "New"; select "Program Item", then click on "OK". You should now find yourself in the "Program Item Properties" window. In the "Description" box, enter: FundRaiser Basic. In the Command Line box, enter: FRB. In the "Working Directory" box, enter: C:\FRB (assuming that this is where you installed FundRaiser). Now click on "Change Icon". You will be alerted that you must choose one from the Program Manager; click on "OK". Scroll to the right to find an icon that appeals to you (most people seem to choose either the safe or the mailbox). Click on the icon that you choose; then click on "OK". Back in the Program Item Properties window, click on "OK". After a moment, you will see your icon installed in your selected Group. Finally, edit the PIF file: Open the "Main" Group and double-click on the "PIF Editor" to open it. (The title bar should be (Untitled). If not, click on File, then New.) In the "Program Filename" box, enter: FRB.EXE. In the "Window Title" box, enter: FundRaiser Basic. In the "Start-up Directory" box, enter: C:\FRB (or whatever matches the Working Directory above). The next six choices should be marked as follows: Video Memory must be Text Memory Requirements must be 520 Required, 640 Desired. EMS Memory should be 0 Required, 1024 Limit. Display Usage can be either choice, but most people prefer Windowed. Execution the choice is yours, but be sure that Close Window on Exit is checked ON. - 74 - When you're finished, click on "File", then "Save". Under "File Name", enter: FRB, and click on "OK". Close the Editor window. You're now ready to start FundRaiser Basic. Running FRB on a Floppy ----------------------- FundRaiser Basic may be run totally from a high-density floppy disk if desired. You can reduce the disk requirements by over 100k by not copying the HELP.DBF or HELP.DBT files _ copy only FRB.EXE to the floppy. You won't have any help screens, but you will have more room for data. This basic bare-bones system requires just a little over 700k of disk space. dBase Compatibility ------------------- FundRaiser Basic uses database files that are compatible with dBase III Plus. Do not even open a file with dBase IV, as I am told that it will re-write the file to be dBase IV compatible, which would make it no longer compatible with FundRaiser Basic. You should also not use the dBase commands PACK or ZAP, as they are known to occasionally insert an EOF marker in the middle of a file. Run File Maintenance from within FRB instead. -- end of manual -- (An index is provided with the printed manual which you will receive upon registration.) - 75 -