SightSavers International

Sight Savers International is the UK's leading charity working to prevent and cure blindness in developing countries. Income has grown steadily since the turn of the century, and the charity was ranked 33^rd in the latest CAF Charity Trends report in terms of total voluntary income, which was almost £22 million for the 2004 financial year.

Over 80% of this is from Direct Marketing and Legacies. The charity relies heavily on individual donations from the public, from single cash donations to £3 per month regular gifts.

John Lister, Head of Direct Marketing at Sight Savers International says "Since it was installed in January 2001, Progress has been the backbone of our charity's income growth."

The charity had identified Progress as the database management system most capable of supporting their diverse operational needs. "There are two core elements to an effective charity fundraising database", suggests John Lister "Firstly, it must be fundamentally sound in terms of the basics such as platform. We were looking for a system based on modern technology - not software that would become obsolete in a few years.

Second, it needs sufficient flexibility to twist and turn and take advantage of new fundraising developments. Progress operates upon a MS SQL Server platform, up to date software that is stable, robust and offers excellent scalability. John also notes that, ‘given the SQL foundation, it is relatively easy for IT to provide the necessary technical and infrastructure support that fundraisers need'.

In addition, Progress integrates seamlessly with commonly used MS Office products as well as accounts packages like Sun and Sage. John continues, ‘Our Supporter Services Team is able to extract contact data from Progress to produce, via Word, a wide range of receipts and thank you letters much more conveniently'.

The Direct Mail Module within Progress similarly utilises these features, allowing complex selections and segmented mailing. John explains, ‘Progress rewards mailing efforts with a full analysis of the responses received and a graphical representation of return on investment figures'.

Sight Savers is also impressed with the ongoing commitment Fisk Brett demonstrate to developing and enhancing Progress' functionality. New products and enhancements are devised with input from users, meaning the software reflects the true needs of UK charities.

Ultimately, John confirms he would warmly recommend Progress: "Our fundraising team is no longer limited by database software, Progress supports each new fundraising idea and gives us plenty of confidence for the future!

For more information on Sight Savers International, visit

www.sightsavers.org.uk/

LATEST NEWS

John Lister says "We live in a fast-changing world - look for example at the roll-out of the internet, from being a specialist government network of networks, to today's mass-consumer marketing tool. Implementation of a new database system is never easy and it's not surprising that sometimes users then sit back and fail to develop their systems and processes."

So John thinks its essential to have a supplier behind your database that has a willingness to push on and consider new ideas, new ways of further developing and enhancing the product. "The last thing you want with your database supplier is a company that just wants to rest on its laurels and stick to the same tried and trusted development."

"In the years we have been working with Fisk Brett they have shown - through ongoing enhancement and development of the core product and through upgrades and releases - that they are not a company who take the easy option of sitting back. And with their ‘Net Supporter' application they have shown their ability to link into the growing use of electronic and web fundraising."

Sight Savers International is currently working with Fisk Brett on a new project to try and manage its programme expenditure on Progress, which will help the charity manage and balance its income and expenditure.

"Like most charities, details of our programme expenditure are in a separate system - for example, the projects we run and fund in countries all of the world" explains John Lister. "This can make things difficult for fundraisers, particularly in the area of ‘Restrictions', where a donor wants to support a specific project, such as a cataract hospital in India,

"It's hard to maintain an overall and balanced picture when donor income details are on one database, and expenditure and financial plans are on another."

Fisk Brett is currently working with Sight Savers International to ensure that both income and expenditure details will be available, both through ‘viewing' and ‘selection/filter analysis' for both fundraisers and programme staff. This will make the process of trying to match a donor's financial support to a project so much easier. And it will also help to ensure that a project is not ‘over-funded' by mistake.

The functionality will also include the ability to split programme expenditure amongst more than one donor; apportionment of Gift Aid donations; and application of management and administration costs as a variable percentage, which some donors may or may not decide to support.