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Field Middle School is a growing all-boys middle school serving grades 6-8 in San Mateo, California. Established nearly four years ago, the school was seeking a more efficient way to manage their donor information, event planning, and fundraising efforts when they discovered ChalkBooks.
Prior to ChalkBooks, Field Middle School faced several challenges with their previous platform. There was a persistent issue with duplicate data in their system, combined with a difficult user interface that was not intuitive. The complicated navigation made finding information time-consuming, and despite the higher cost, they weren't seeing proportional value from their investment.
"There was a big problem with duplicate data in the former [CRM]. And then also to be honest the overall feel of it not being user friendly... it was so hard to navigate through and so hard to find any information." - Kendra, Administrative Assistant
After exploring alternatives, the Head of School discovered ChalkBooks and initiated the transition. ChalkBooks provided Field Middle School with comprehensive donor history tracking, streamlined event management, efficient ticket sales processing, website integration, and automated donation acknowledgments.
The implementation of ChalkBooks has significantly improved the school's fundraising operations:
"Before ChalkBooks I could not find donation history easily and now I can. This has been huge in terms of fundraising."
As a midsize and growing school, Field Middle School didn't need an overwhelming system but required more functionality than spreadsheets could provide. ChalkBooks fit this requirement perfectly, offering a right-sized solution. The platform's comprehensive reporting capabilities have allowed the school to download donation histories and analyze comparative fundraising performance across different events, providing valuable insights for strategic planning.
"I was able to download a history of all donations and then put them into tabs for different events we ran, and then I was able to pull from that totals and I could see comparatively how much our donations have gone up."
ChalkBooks’ automated acknowledgments feature has also streamlined their donor communication process, automatically sending thank-you messages with tax ID information to donors. For Field Middle, the core value of ChalkBooks has been in its ability to organize and provide access to critical fundraising data.
In ChalkBooks, Field Middle School found a solution that matched their specific needs as a growing institution. The platform has helped them better understand their donors, streamline their fundraising efforts, and gain valuable insights for future development strategies. Switching to Chalkbooks has proven to be a significant factor in their continued fundraising growth.
