Chronicle: What Your Day Looks Like

Many nonprofits reach a point where they want a simpler way to organize donor information, volunteer activity, notes, and supporter history.

Whether you're currently using spreadsheets, documents, or another donor management system, changing the way your organization manages donor records is an important decision. Understanding how everyday fundraising tasks work in a new system can help you decide whether it is the right fit for your team.

The comparison below shows how common fundraising activities are handled in Chronicle and how they may differ from the processes you use today.

The comparison table below gives an idea of what your day can feel like when your supporter information is kept in one place, and shows how core fundraising tasks work in Excel versus Chronicle.

  
      Task
      In Excel
      In Chronicle
    
      Working with your donor data
      Some tasks may require filtering, formulas, or other steps to get the information you need.
      Your donor information is kept in one place, and updates appear automatically as you enter new details.
    
      Reviewing a supporter’s full history
      Information may be in different tabs or files, which might require sorting, filtering, or building a pivot table to summarize it.
      All gifts, volunteer hours, notes, and history appear together in one place for every contact.
    
      Checking who needs a thank‑you
      Donors may need to be sorted by ID, name, or date, and you might need to check notes to confirm whether a thank‑you was sent or how the donor prefers to be contacted.
      Shows who needs a thank‑you, and you can send the email directly from Chronicle using a template or your own wording, based on the donor’s preferred way of being contacted.
    
      Identifying lapsed donors
      You may need to use filtering or formulas to identify donors who used to give but haven’t given recently.
      Lapsed donors appear automatically based on the timeframe your organization chooses.
    
      Tracking volunteer hours
      Volunteer hours may be in a separate sheet with no connection to donor information, which may make it harder to see your most engaged supporters.
      Volunteer hours sit alongside gift history so you can see your most loyal contributors, whether they give money or time.
    
      Personalizing communications
      Creating segments may be more challenging, which can lead to sending one general message to everyone.
      You can create segments based on criteria that make sense for your organization.

Ready to See Whether Chronicle Is a Fit?

Create a free Chronicle account and see how donor records, volunteer activity, notes, and supporter history can be organized in one place, making fundraising tasks easier to manage.

Want a closer look first? Book a live demo and see whether Chronicle is the right fit for your organization.