About and Contact

About:

Claudia Smith coaches nonprofit organizations to improve fundraising results through the use of information systems.  With twenty years of practical experience in office automation, Claudia makes your information system work for you, identifies your needs so you make informed decisions, and customizes your system to enhance your fundraising success.   Putting reliable information at your fingertips is her goal.

If you require a new system, Claudia guides you through the selection process, manages all aspects of converting your data, trains your staff, documents your fundraising system policies and procedures, sets up reports and procedures specific to your organization, and provides ongoing technical support to you and your staff.

If your system is already up and running, then getting data into and getting information out of your fundraising system should be a snap. Since 1997 Claudia has helped dozens of organizations get control over their fundraising information.  While the fundraising challenges are roughly the same for all organizations, Claudia understands that each organization's particular situation is unique.  Here are a few of her successful solutions:

• Sometimes training the staff on how to use the system made all the difference that was needed.
• Many times the solution was completely technical: Claudia wrote specifications for automating a data exchange between several systems, collaborated with a programmer, performed all testing and quality control, and implemented the solution.
• Other times Claudia has been hired to be the part or fulltime database manager, to handle all data entry, to build custom reports, and to perform all the duties of a direct mail company.
• Several other times she handled the data submission/retrieval, to and from, Harris Publishing for alumni directory projects.
• Since 1997 Claudia has gathered hundreds of thousands of data records from numerous data sources, electronically normalized it, and then incorporated it into the organization's fundraising system.

All this for $75 per hour.

Claudia understands the financial requirements, and the special needs of Fundraising.  She has extensive experience with the data, technical and financial management required. 

Based in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Claudia travels nationally although she can accomplish most tasks, and even tutoring, remotely. Claudia ensures that your system is positioned correctly to reach your goals and supports your endeavors. 

Southern Methodist University (Dallas, TX), specialized in Fundraising automation:

• Created and directed the Development Information Services Team.
• Delivered high quality training and IS services to over 130 staff and fundraisers campus-wide.
• Implemented document imaging and OCR systems
• Established reports to aid the research, cultivation, solicitation and acknowledgment of 12,000 donors annually
• Enabled a successful $530 million capital campaign, SMU a Time to Lead
  

New England Banking Institute (Boston, MA) - Managed the financial functions for two regional offices, automated the accounting system, maximized investment revenue, and managed the conversion to an office-wide computer system.
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA) - Early adopter of word processing and typesetting software, email, PC's spreadsheets and database systems.

Education: 

• Harvard Extension School - Graduate certificate in Administration and Management with an emphasis on Information Systems
• Western Washington University - Bachelor's degree in Interdisciplinary Arts in 1982
  

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