Good Work Deserves a Better Donor System.

Get a grant-friendly donor communications system set up in Keela with clean data, practical segmentation, reliable acknowledgements, and simple automations tied to your goals. Fast, low-lift delivery with clear hand-off, simple documentation, and team training keeps everything manageable in-house.

Reliable, repeatable, and built for real development work.

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Your Donor Program Shouldn’t Depend On One Person’s Memory

Donor stewardship is not “extra credit.” It is core operations. It touches trust, reporting, cash flow, and long-term sustainability. When your system is unclear, staff ends up rebuilding lists, missing follow-ups, and sending updates inconsistently. Then donors drift.

A solid donor system changes that. It reduces manual work, makes acknowledgements and updates predictable, and gives you simple visibility into what is working.

This package exists to build the operational foundation so your donor communications can run without constant heroics.

The Plan Behind A Better Donor System

This is a complete donor systems project for small teams like yours. It covers the groundwork, the build, and the follow-through so nothing rests on one overwhelmed staff person. The result is a system that fits how you actually operate and a team that feels confident maintaining it.

01

Prep

We start with a focused audit and a short working session to understand your current tools, your donor communication reality, and what you need this system to do over the next 6 to 12 months. Then we define the segments, standards, and first automations so the build is straightforward.

Your Time Commitment:
~3–4 hours.

02

Build

We implement the core donor system in Keela: donor data cleanup and structure, segmentation, receipts and acknowledgements, core templates, and a small set of goal-based automations. We also set up a simple reporting view leadership can use without you present.

Your Time Commitment:
~2–3 hours across two reviews

03

Support

After launch, we train your team on real tasks and leave simple documentation where they actually work. You also get a short post-launch support window so the system is adopted and maintained, not abandoned.

Your Time Commitment:
~1-2 hours of training

Additional Help & Add-Ons

You will probably want more after launch. You can add ongoing support in simple tiers, or connect this system to your website, donation forms, and volunteer communications so everything works together. The idea is to stabilize donor communications first, then build better campaigns and fundraising workflows on top of something solid so effort is not wasted.

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Why Some Doing?

Some Doing is Charles Lockwood, a Certified Nonprofit Professional and former agency owner who has spent more than ten years building sites, teams, and campaigns. He works with small, mission-driven organizations that need clear, practical digital support, not another complicated engagement.

“Charles combines serious strategic skill with a real commitment to nonprofit work.  He shows up prepared, treats people with respect, delivers what he promises. That mix of care and competence is exactly what small nonprofits need.”

M. Priestley
Former Executive Director, Space on Main

Grant-Friendly Package Pricing

The donor systems build and any ongoing support are separated into clear project and monthly lines so you can drop them straight into a budget or proposal.

Donor Comms Systems Package

A full donor CRM and communications setup for small nonprofit teams that need reliable acknowledgements, clean records, consistent donor updates, and automation without a heavy internal lift. Includes program design, implementation, templates, training, documentation, and a short post-launch support window.

package price

$5,000

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Discovery and Program Design

donor systems audit

Current tools, workflow, bottlenecks, and risks.

segmentation and standards

Simple segments that match how you operate.

plan foundation

What you will send, how often, and what “done” looks like without expanding staff workload.

Operating Standards

Operating standards for acknowledgement timing, update cadence, and list hygiene.

Keela Setup and Data Foundation

keela configuration

Core settings, fields, tags, segments, permissions, and a clean structure you can maintain.

data cleanup and import

A practical cleanup pass and import of your current donor list so the CRM starts accurate.

receipting

Reliable donation receipts and acknowledgement emails so donors get a consistent experience.

Email Templates and Content Foundation

core email templates

A small set of reusable templates that cover the basics.

content prompts for staff

A lightweight “send me this and I can build it” format so updates do not stall.

Hand-off & Reporting

training and documentation

Recorded training plus practical documentation so staff can run the system day to day.

post-launch support

Short support window to fix drift, answer questions, and keep adoption on track.

simple reporting view

A quick snapshot staff can read without you present, plus a basic monthly reporting format for leadership.

This scope is structured to map cleanly into grant lines for constituent engagement, operational efficiency, data and reporting, and organizational capacity building. Each inclusion can be documented and evaluated post-launch so results can be measured over time.

Constituent Engagement and Resource Development

A consistent acknowledgement and update cadence improves trust and reduces donor drop-off. Segmentation and templates make it easier to communicate clearly without increasing staff workload.

includes

  • Reliable receipts and acknowledgement emails.
  • Donor update and appeal templates.
  • Segmentation that supports targeted outreach.
  • Goal-based donor automations.

Organizational Efficiency and Sustainability

Clean data, reusable templates, and automation reduce manual admin work and prevent stewardship from collapsing during busy months.

includes

  • Keela configuration and data structure.
  • Data cleanup and import.
  • Automation for repeatable workflows.
  • Training and documentation for staff.

Data and Reporting

A simple reporting view reduces time spent assembling updates for boards, funders, and internal leadership.

includes

  • Simple reporting view inside Keela.
  • Monthly snapshot format leadership can reuse.
  • Basic tracking standards and definitions.

Risk Management and Reliability

Standardized acknowledgement, list hygiene, and documented workflows reduce missed follow-ups and reduce reliance on one staff person.

includes

  • Operating standards for acknowledgement timing and cadence.
  • Documentation and hand-off.
  • Clean structure that prevents duplication and confusion.

Ongoing Donor Retainers

Three options, depending on how hands-on you want to be. Start with maintenance and unlimited Q and A. Then step up to monthly hours for execution. The top tier adds deeper reporting, regular optimization, and ongoing campaign support.

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TIER 1

System Care

$125 / month
$1,200 / year

(20% off. Save $300)

Maintenance only. Unlimited guidance.

  • Monthly system health check (data hygiene basics, segments, templates, automations).
  • Light Keela upkeep (tags, segments, template housekeeping).
  • Monthly reports.
  • Unlimited “how do I” questions via email or client chat.

Not included: writing and sending donor updates. Building new funnels or campaigns. Deep data work beyond light hygiene.

TIER 2

Donor Ops Desk

$650 / month
$6,240 / year

(20% off. Save $1,560)

Everything in System Care, plus 5 hours you can use for:

  • CRM hygiene inside Keela (deduping, tagging, segment cleanup).
  • Preparing and scheduling a donor update using your template (with your approval).
  • Pulling reports for a board meeting, grant report, or monthly review.
  • Small fixes to existing automations and templates.
  • Light campaign support (list selection, scheduling, basic QA).
  • Donation form and receipt language updates where needed.

TIER 3

Growth Operator

$1,250 / month
$12,000 / year

(20% off. Save $3,000)

Everything in System Care, plus 10 hours you can use for:

  • Ongoing donor update execution (drafting from your notes, building in Keela, sending with approval).
  • Deeper reporting and trend notes with prioritized recommendations.
  • Segmentation refresh and list health improvements.
  • Building new automations and donor journeys as needs evolve.
  • Campaign builds and seasonal fundraising pushes.

Why Keela As A Donor Comms System

Most small nonprofits end up with a patchwork. One tool to take donations. Another tool to send emails. A spreadsheet that becomes the “CRM.” Then stewardship depends on someone remembering what to do next.

A donor comms system fixes that by putting the work where it belongs. In the system, not in someone’s head. Receipts and acknowledgements go out reliably. Follow-ups happen automatically. Lists stay clean. Reporting is readable. The point is consistency and automation.

After reviewing a lot of nonprofit CRMs and donation tools, Keela is the platform I recommend for the size of organizations this package is built for. Keela combines donor management and online fundraising in one place, with practical automation and built-in insights that help you prioritize follow-up. It is also priced intentionally for small-to-medium nonprofits, so you are not paying enterprise rates just to get the basics working.

When you pair Keela with a clean setup, good templates, and a few goal-based automations, you get a donor system that is easier to run, easier to maintain, and more likely to grow support over time.