CharityVillage® Research: How to set up an EFT program in your organization

Resources & Library

Path: Main Street : Resources & Library : Research Articles : Feature Article

How to set up an EFT program in your organization
By Harvey McKinnon
April 14, 1999; Canadian FundRaiser
When setting up an electronic funds transfer (EFT) program, you have two choices: hire an expert, or do it yourself. A consultant should be able to save you time and money. They should also point you in the right direction, based on their experience in developing other programs.
If you decide to set up the program yourself, begin by getting a team of people to research what similar organizations are doing, and to evaluate various service providers. Your team might include people responsible for finance and accounting, direct marketing, and customer service. You may want to contact an expert on monthly donor programs to help you figure out how much it will cost to develop the program.

Explain what you're doing, and why
Once you've done the research, get some feedback within your organization. If you have regular full staff meetings, take the opportunity to introduce EFT. Explain why you're doing it and what the benefits are, and encourage staff members to use this as their method of giving to your cause.
Some individuals may be concerned about losing their jobs if a lot of gift processing is done automatically. Of course, this depends on how large your organization is, but these are issues that must be dealt with. I have one client that receives approximately 140,000 gifts a year, more than half by EFT. In this case, because the overall fundraising program grew along with the EFT program (although not nearly as fast), no jobs were lost.
If your organization is like most nonprofits, there's never a shortage of work to do, just a shortage of funds. And since this kind of program will bring in more money, there won't likely be any job loss.

Someone to manage the program
By this point, you should already be thinking about who will manage the program. If you use a service bureau, then you probably don't need to hire additional staff, just shuffle the responsibilities of existing staff members. If your program is very large, you may decide to hire a new person or promote someone on staff to this very important position. The qualifications required include excellent attention to detail and strong interpersonal skills, because this person will probably communicate with monthly donors by phone and letter.
The next step is to select a service provider or bank. They can help train the appropriate staff members. Training is important, because you may discover that your staff will have to explain EFT to your donors. It's essential that everyone be familiar with the basics, especially the advantages to both the donor and the organization.
While you're busy training and informing your staff, you also have to:

Investigate what hardware or software you may need to handle the data. Plan how you will process the authorization forms.

Determine the layout of the donor's authorization form. It should be clear and easy for the donor, and easy for your staff to process. The service bureau and bank can provide these forms, but you will almost certainly be able to improve on them for your specific needs.

Develop a marketing and PR plan to promote the program, define your strategy and offer, and detail the benefits to the donor.

Develop your marketing materials. These can include brochures, telephone scripts, direct mail packages, newsletter copy, a posting for your Web site or listserv, and anything else that comes to mind.
Harvey McKinnon & Associates specializes in direct mail, monthly giving programs, and fundraising audits. For more information, contact Harvey McKinnon, 218-2211 West 4th Ave, Vancouver, BC V6K 4S2. Telephone (604) 732-4351. Fax (604) 732-4877. eMail info@harveymckinnon.com. Visit: www.harveymckinnon.com.