Sussex Wildlife Trust case study

Sussex Wildlife Trust is Fisk Brett's oldest existing customer. The Trust, established in 1961, is based near Henfield in West Sussex at 'Woods Mill'. The Trust chose Progress back in 1995, so has been using the application for over 12 years.

"We aim to take care of Sussex's natural habitats" says Sharon Beeney, the Trust's Administration Officer. "We manage more than 30 nature reserves covering 3500 acres in East and West Sussex, including downland, woodland, wetland and heath, provide advice through our WildCall telephone service, and lobby for change on key issues affecting wildlife and species".

The Trust's work also includes environmental education, working with land owners, companies and local communities to help conserve Sussex. It exists to safeguard the habitats of Sussex, rural and urban to the benefit of plants and animals now and for the future.

The Trust uses ProgressCRM for all its fundraising and administration of its Membership. Operating with paid staff and volunteers, the Trust is supported by individuals and businesses in Sussex who choose to donate and/or volunteer their services. Individuals can donate by giving one-off donations, becoming a member of the Trust, or by remembering the Trust in their will.

The Trust looks after more than 23,500 members using its ProgressCRM database. Membership starts at £24 a year and 90% of members now pay by Direct Debit with most choosing to pay between £4 and £10 a month. "The Trust asks taxpayers to complete Gift Aid declarations" explains Membership Officer Carol Farmer-Wright. "With membership income of almost £900,000 per annum, the 12,000 signed up to Gift Aid are vital to us. ProgressCRM enables Gift Aid and Direct Debit payments to be managed quickly and easily".

"Members receive three issues a year of our colour magazine 'Wildlife' and our national 'Natural World' magazine". Mailings are sent via a mailing house using data extracted by the Trust for each issue. "Members also have over 30 nature reserves to visit in Sussex; the opportunity to participate in events, walks, and courses; and regular local information about wildlife news and developments in Sussex. We manage all their preferences and 'options' in the database.

"Junior membership is essential to us. We have over 5,500 child members. They not only get their own 'Wildlife Watch' newsletter sent from here, but we also work closely with schools, teachers, and schools liaison staff who arrange visits to Woods Mill. ProgressCRM enables us to manage all these contacts and the visits, and ensure we comply with all the relevant Acts that relate to working with children"

ProgressCRM also maintains the contact details of over 300 regular volunteers "Volunteers are the lifeblood of the Trust," says Carol. "They help us with admin support at our headquarters, assisting with school groups, helping with projects or events, or working at one of our nature reserves". Local business can choose to support the Trust by becoming a corporate partner, sponsoring projects, providing one-off donations, giving goods, or services in kind. All details are held in the Trust's ProgressCRM database.

Carol Farmer-Wright, who has been using ProgressCRM daily for over five years, is also the Trust's database administrator. "Most reports are set up in Report Writer, but for new members' packs and a lot of other correspondence, the integration of ProgressCRM with Word and Excel is vital in running an effective membership department. We also use AFD Postcode to quickly access existing records and to minimise data entry error for new Records.

So what changes has Woods Mill seen in Progress since those early days? "The database has grown with us, and has been versatile enough to cope with the changes over the years," concludes Carol. "As the Sussex Wildlife Trust has been growing rapidly, ProgressCRM has been robust enough to deal with it."

To find out more about Sussex Wildlife Trust see www.sussexwt.org.uk