You might be shocked if you saw the amount of money that some large charities spend on their databases...tens of thousands of dollars/pounds. It may seem like a lot, but they have hundreds of thousands of contacts and hundreds of people using that information. As a small charity, you won't need that kind of investment. But you do still need some central place to keep information on donors and potential donors.

The first thing to consider is what you need a database for. The general reason for having a database is to allow you to track donors and friends and contact them quickly, accurately and often. Basically, a database should make your life easier...not harder.

In the very beginning...and when I began my fundraising career decades ago, there was a saying about a fundraiser's rolodex being golden. And it was just that a business card files or round spinning rolodex on the corner of your desk. Now all of that has been replaced with PDAs...whatever that stands for.

Having said that...there are a few questions you should ask yourself when thinking about how best to store your contacts.

How many contacts do you have? There are limits to any system. A notebook or card file may be fine when you have a couple of dozen contacts, but not when you have hundreds. Likewise simple Excel spreadsheets may manage a couple of hundred easily, but not thousands. Of course, by the time there are thousands in your database; let's hope you have the funds to invest in an 'official' database.

What information do you need most? Does most of your donor contact take the form of emails? Perhaps all you need is a good email system or Outlook.

How important is remote access? Do you need to regularly access the information from some place other than your office? Then perhaps an on-line system or PDA would meet your needs.

What about back-up? It is the worst nightmare of any organisation...losing your database. What happens if your laptop blows up? Or your office burns down? Or you lose that notebook or PDA? This is of concern no matter, which option you choose. You should always have a plan for it.

How many people need access to it at the same time? For most small charities, one user systems as they are called work just fine, but your charity may have special needs.

By beginning with these basic questions, you will better be able to evaluate what type of system would work best for your small charity. Remember too...no system lasts forever. Just like small children and shoes...every small charity will eventually outgrow its database system. So a final question to consider is how transferable the data is formatted.