Last weekend we sat on our porch and watched our neighbor mow his 80 acres and the scant few acres we have. It took him several days to mow, rake and bale the hay. He had a process and the right equipment. By the end of the weekend we were looking out on rolling acres of freshly mown hay. But, what’s this got to do with databases? There are lessons we can learn … The right tractor – The SKC staff is often asked for our recommendations for donor databases to support fundraising and communications activities. You may do well with a push mower during the start-up phase by utilizing excel spreadsheets or an Access database. At some point, you’ll want to step up into a database software that helps you not only manage names, addresses and donor acknowledgement letters, but also is a tool that tracks and analyzes fundraising efforts and links to your fund development plan. When considering what product to step up to, whether it’s the t...