Lesson 4.5 – Tracking Actions and Engagement

Welcome to Lesson 4.5! Successful fundraising relies heavily on relationship building, often referred to as “moves management.” In FastFund Raising, the Actions area is specifically designed to help you track all of your organization’s interactions and engagement with constituents.

Using Actions, you can log phone calls, record meeting notes, track event attendance, and set up automated “tickler” reminders for future follow-ups. Furthermore, FastFund automatically creates certain Actions for you, such as logging when a donor receipt is printed or emailed.

In this lesson, we will cover how to manually add engagement Actions to a constituent’s profile and how to configure the internal reminder system.

1. Accessing the Actions List

Like Attributes and Classifications, Actions are categorized as a Code Type within the constituent’s profile. However, because Actions are tied to specific dates and future tasks, they have unique data entry fields.

Steps to Access a Constituent’s Actions:

1. Navigate to Lists on the Main Menu and click Constituents.
2. Click on the name of the constituent to open their detailed profile.
3. Click the horizontal Codes tab at the top of the record.
4. From the Code Type drop-down menu, select Action.

This will display a list of all historical and future actions assigned to the constituent. You can click any column header (such as Name, Date, or Priority) to sort the list.

2. Adding a New Action

Logging a recent interaction or planning a future touchpoint requires adding a new Action record.

Steps to Add an Action:

1. From the constituent’s Actions list, click the New + icon.
2. In the pop-up window, select the specific Action from the drop-down list (e.g., “Telephone Call,” “Meeting,” “Grant Solicitation”). Note: These core action codes must be created in your system’s Code Tables before they can be assigned.
3. Enter the Date of the activity (or the future date it is scheduled to occur).
4. Optionally, enter the specific Hour and assign a Priority level (e.g., High, Medium, Low).
5. Use the Comments text box to type detailed notes about the engagement, such as “Met to discuss sponsorship for the upcoming gala.”

[INSERT SCREENSHOT: Display the ‘New Action’ pop-up window, highlighting the Action Code drop-down, the Date and Priority fields, and the large Comments text box.]

3. Setting Up Action Reminders (Ticklers)

One of the most powerful features of the Actions tool is the ability to set an internal reminder for yourself or another team member.

At the bottom of the New Action window is the Action Reminder section.

• Check the Enabled box to turn the reminder on.
• Enter the specific Reminder Date.
• Select the User Name of the staff member who is responsible for the task.

When a reminder is set, the assigned user will automatically receive a message in their My Account Message Box on the designated date. Additionally, a yellow Mailbox/Email icon will appear next to their User Name at the top of the FastFund Online window, alerting them that an action is due.

[INSERT SCREENSHOT: Show the bottom half of the ‘New Action’ window, emphasizing the checked ‘Enabled’ box, the Reminder Date field, and the User Name drop-down in the Action Reminder section.]

4. Editing and Deleting Actions

To update notes from a meeting or clear an action that was entered in error, you can easily edit or delete the entry from the constituent’s Actions list.

• Editing: Hover your mouse pointer over the action in the list. The line will highlight in yellow. Double-click the line to open the Edit Action window. Make your updates and click the blue SAVE button.
• Deleting: Open the Edit Action window by double-clicking the line, then click the red DELETE button. A confirmation window will appear; click OK to permanently remove the action.

5. Automatic System Actions

While you will manually enter meetings and phone calls, FastFund Raising performs some of the tracking work for you. Whenever you generate a Donor Receipt (whether printed or emailed) or a Year-End Donor Receipt, the system automatically posts an Acknowledgment Sent action to the donor’s record. This system-generated action includes the date the receipt was sent, the method of delivery, the associated appeal, and the donation amount, providing a flawless audit trail of your donor communications.