Help.....Can anyone help me with this 1 day turn around time for acknowledgments. Please fill out survey at the end of the following message.

I have been charged with decreasing the length of time for acknowledgments. I have proposed, one week acknowledgment turn around time for gifts under 250 and one day for 250 and above. The Development Direct needs a one day turn around time for all acknowledgments like every where else.

We are a hospice organization with more then half of our gifts are memorials. Memorials takes much more time to process then other gifts. You may have 1 check for 20 donors or 20 checks for 1-5 deceased individuals. All have to be added to Raiser's Edge and linked. A batch of 50 checks feels like a batch of more then 100 when processing memorials.

In addition, our database has many database maintenance problems. We have never had a Database Manager, until I arrived, and data isn't were it should be in Raiser's Edge. So there is lots of clean up while processing.

We sometimes don't get a batch until one day after received or after 4pm that same day from the receptionist. She opens the mail and run a tape.

I'm thinking we may need a lockbox to remove the copying process from gift processors and so we get the batches by 12:00 each day. Also thinkin of hiring an additional processor.

Support Staffing Structure:

1 part time gift processor
1 Newly hire Donor Database Manager

Please fill out the survey below and replace my answers with yours. Please include any additional comments you may have.

Q. What type of organization?
A. Hospice

Q. What's your acknowledgment turn around time?
A. 24 to 48 hours

Q. How many gift/acknowledgment processors?
A. 1 1/2 (1/2 includes the donor database Manager)

Q. How many gifts received per year?
A. 8,000

Q. How many memorials?
A. 56%

Q. Do your turn around time change at any time of the year?
A. Yes, after a Direct Mail or Solicitation. Turn around time changes to 2 weeks for gifts 250 and below and 2 days for gifts 250 and above.

Q. Do you have a lockbox?
A. No

Q. Do you have a check log?
A. No

Q. Do you stamp date each check copy?
A. No, but will be soon.

Q. Comments:
A. Just yesterday we starting using the process of 1 week and I'm not even sure if that is enough time considering the condition of our database.

Your help is truely greatly appreciated. Thanks

Q. What type of organization? A. Nursing Home/Hospice/Assisted Living Q. What's your acknowledgment turn around time? A. 24 to 48 hours Q. How many gift/acknowledgment processors? A. 1, but she doesn't write the major gift letters. I (the department head) do that. Q. How many gifts received per year? A. 7,000 Q. How many memorials? A. 60% Q. Do your turn around time change at any time of the year? A. Yes, after a Direct Mail or Solicitation and at the end of the calendar year. Turn around time changes to 1 week for all gifts. But we do prioritize and try to work the honor/memorials first, then major gifts. Q. Do you have a lockbox? A. No, but we will be moving to one at the end of this fiscal year. Q. Do you have a check log? A. No, we run a report from RE that backs up the copies of the checks. Q. Do you stamp date each check copy? A. Yes Q. Comments: A. It took us nearly six months of consolidating letters, re-working acknowledgments and re-assigning job duties to get it where we are today. It may be a long process until everything works smoothly. Melissa Brown Abramson Center for Jewish Life 1425 Horsham Rd North Wales, PA 19454 www.abramsoncenter.org