naming convention for event appeals?

Julie Hiland

Hi everyone,

I'm sure I'm not the only one with this scenario. Our fiscal year runs July-June, but our Fall events are referenced by calendar year, not fiscal year. So for example, just last month (October) we hosted our 2015 Autumn Chase. My question is: What naming convention does your organization use for its event appeals?  Right now, our appeal says "Autumn Chase 2015 (FY16)" which seems silly but helps the staff not get confused. It's paticularly annoying when we have to add an additional layer into the appeal name, such as "Sponsors"/"Tickets"/"Auction".  It begins to look something like this: "Autumn Chase Sponsor 2015 (FY16)".  Any ideas on how we can improve on this system?

Thanks!

Ryan Hyde

I use FY, and do 2015 (FY16) for autumn events, just as you do.



But we use packages to track sponsors, tickets, auction item winners, etc. Basically, every type of gift you can give at an event has a package attached to it. We used to have different appeals for these things, but it's an incredibly messy way to track data. Packages are much better tools for this sort of thing.



And if you're worried about losing your ability to track, say, corporate sponsor gifts in aggregate over time, use package categories. So you can have a package for "sponsor" which has the category of "sponsor," then wen you want to pull all sponsor gifts, you look for any gift in the package category of "sponsor." 

Jen Claudy

Long ago, I started a naming convention for Appeals and Events, based on the FY.  My ID fields use a code and Description fields a name.  Most of our staff have User Options set to show the Description and I have mine set to show the ID.  Whenever referencing a year, I always include a prefix (except in the ID)...so FY16 or CY15.  Here are some examples from my database (Appeals rather than Events, as we have more of them):



ID                               Description                             Comments

1601 AnnRptFY15       FY15 Annual Report                 report for FY15, but mailed in FY16

1603 Nwsltr                 Donor Newsletter Fall CY15

1610 HolidayCards       CY15 Holiday Cards                our staff doesn't care what FY we're in when talking about these, so it's CY

1611 Year-EndAppeal   Year-End Appeal CY15          

1605 S&S                    Shop & Share CY15/FY16       here, because we report on this Event/Appeal on a FY basis but it happens in Nov/Dec, we use both in the Description



As you can see, the ID code is the FY (without the prefix) and then the order the records are created (not necessarily mailed, and if something is canceled, the record & ID remain...with notes as to how, when, and by whom the Appeal/Event was canceled).  When I'm writing notes during a meeting, I'll use Ap1611 or Ev1601, and I'll use that part of the ID on files as well (like merge files to print letters).



And I am 100% in agreement with Ryan on the Package thing.

Julie Hiland

Ryan Hyde:

I use FY, and do 2015 (FY16) for autumn events, just as you do.



But we use packages to track sponsors, tickets, auction item winners, etc. Basically, every type of gift you can give at an event has a package attached to it. We used to have different appeals for these things, but it's an incredibly messy way to track data. Packages are much better tools for this sort of thing.



And if you're worried about losing your ability to track, say, corporate sponsor gifts in aggregate over time, use package categories. So you can have a package for "sponsor" which has the category of "sponsor," then wen you want to pull all sponsor gifts, you look for any gift in the package category of "sponsor." 

Thank you! If my memory serves me correctly, I think the reason I have stayed away from appeal packages was limitations in the canned reports.. Are you able to use the canned reports to give a quick shot of how much was sponsors, how much was tickets, etc if you're tracking this in packages? Seems like the answer should be YES of course, but one never knows...

Julie Hiland

Jennifer Claudy:

Long ago, I started a naming convention for Appeals and Events, based on the FY.  My ID fields use a code and Description fields a name.  Most of our staff have User Options set to show the Description and I have mine set to show the ID.  Whenever referencing a year, I always include a prefix (except in the ID)...so FY16 or CY15.  Here are some examples from my database (Appeals rather than Events, as we have more of them):



ID                               Description                             Comments

1601 AnnRptFY15       FY15 Annual Report                 report for FY15, but mailed in FY16

1603 Nwsltr                 Donor Newsletter Fall CY15

1610 HolidayCards       CY15 Holiday Cards                our staff doesn't care what FY we're in when talking about these, so it's CY

1611 Year-EndAppeal   Year-End Appeal CY15          

1605 S&S                    Shop & Share CY15/FY16       here, because we report on this Event/Appeal on a FY basis but it happens in Nov/Dec, we use both in the Description



As you can see, the ID code is the FY (without the prefix) and then the order the records are created (not necessarily mailed, and if something is canceled, the record & ID remain...with notes as to how, when, and by whom the Appeal/Event was canceled).  When I'm writing notes during a meeting, I'll use Ap1611 or Ev1601, and I'll use that part of the ID on files as well (like merge files to print letters).



And I am 100% in agreement with Ryan on the Package thing.

Thank you, Jennifer. Any advice as to what Package Categories to include? We do a wide variety of events, including golf tournaments, luncheons, etc. And we've broken our appeals down as far as: Tickets, Donations, Auction, Raffle, Mulligans (a golf term), Decor (ex. when people buy flowers off the tables), Books (ex. when people buy books by the sponsoring author), etc.  All things that would be good to track over time. So should I have a category for each of these?  (I've used RE for 14+ years and have never used Packages!)