Donor Relationship Prototype

People come into contact with CWS through email, digital campaigns, events and donations. Each of those leaves a record somewhere. Together they never form one history of a relationship.

CWS deals with two very different groups. Foundations, trusts and companies give large amounts on a reporting cycle with formal requirements. Individuals give small amounts, irregularly, and respond to completely different things.

Nobody can answer basic questions. How did this donor first hear about us? What have we sent them? What are they interested in? When should we contact them next? Without that, fundraising is a series of disconnected asks, and the people most likely to give again are treated like strangers.

Commercial fundraising software exists and is priced for organisations much larger than CWS. Salesforce and similar tools are free or discounted for non-profits and then need a paid consultant to configure and maintain. The real question is not what to build but whether to build at all — and CWS has explicitly asked for that recommendation.

• Branch — CS, IT. Suits students interested in product decisions as much as code.
• Technical skills — Data modelling, application development, integration between services, working with a language model as a component, segmentation logic.
• Other skills — Requirements gathering, cost analysis, writing a recommendation that argues a case, understanding fundraising as a process.