Royal London Society for
the Blind implements Touchstone
CharityPoint
23 September 2009: The Royal London Society
for the Blind (RLSB) is
implementing
Touchstone CharityPoint software to help it simplify and manage
processes such as fundraising, payment and relationships with
donors and users. Touchstone CharityPoint is a complete donor
management and fundraising application built specifically for
charities on the Microsoft Dynamics® CRM platform. This
implementation will be completed by October 2009.
The RLSB provides support services to
both children and adults who are blind or partially sighted,
including education and community-based services for children and
young people; and community, business support and employment
support services for adults.
Touchstone CharityPoint replaces the RLSB’s
legacy database, primarily in order to speed up and simplify
processes such as tracking Gift Aid on donations; setting up
standing orders and direct debits from donors; and tracking where
donations are coming from (for example, from individuals, or from
specific promotional events). In addition to this, the system will
help the RLSB increase efficiency and manage other areas, such as
complex fundraising campaigns, and information about donors and
users of the RLSB.
According to David Taylor, ICT Manager at the
RLSB, the system will benefit the charity in very practical terms:
“The great thing about Touchstone CharityPoint is that it is based
on Microsoft CRM, using technology that people here are familiar
with, such as Outlook, and that can be integrated with our other
systems. It means that everyone can use it, which will simplify
processes like data input for payments, that at the moment we have
to do manually.”
He continues: “To build a bespoke system like
this would have been way beyond the financial means of a charity.
But here is an off-the-shelf application that has been designed
specifically for charities.”
Touchstone CharityPoint has a wide range of
benefits including features that let charities:
- Connect information about all the people involved with the
charity and allows the charity to manage its relationships
effectively (for example, to understand which users of the service
are also donors or fundraisers).
- Manage complex fundraising campaigns and link which funds were
raised by which promotional event or campaign, so that it is clear
which are most successful.
- Process and manage payments and income sources such as
legacies, tributes and memorials, as well as payment methods
including direct debits, standing orders, credit card donations,
payroll giving, and donations via agencies. It also facilitates the
tracking and processing of Gift Aid declarations.
- Manage fundraising events, with features that help with
planning tasks, recording invitations and responses (for example,
it can automatically generate registration details and
confirmations to web-originated responses).
- Manage memberships, including different levels (tracking this
back to donation levels, for example). Reminders and renewal
notices can be tracked and generated automatically, and fees
collected. In addition, the system can record and manage what
method of communication a donor or service user prefers, as well as
other preferences.
David Taylor comments: “The Touchstone team
really understand what is needed for a charity database. The system
makes complex tasks so simple that it will make us significant
savings in time and effort – and so ultimately, money.”
Adrian McNay, Group Board Executive,
Touchstone Group, says: “Charities have requirements that are very
specific to them. Few other sectors have such a complex network of
relationships to manage, where for example donors are also
beneficiaries. There’s little benefit in attempting to retro-fit an
off-the-shelf non-fundraising product. There is a clear requirement
for a system tailored specifically for the charity fundraising
sector and we are committed to using the latest and most familiar
technology to support that.”
