While we start this episode with a joke, donor databases are a very serious matter. As you'll learn in this Q+A with Petrus president, Andrew Robison, choosing the right donor database can make a world of difference in your fundraising capabilities.

Andrew and Rhen kick off their discussion on donor databases with an explanation of why organizations need to invest in a fundraising database instead of relying on spreadsheets of donor info. From there, they share tips about what to look for when purchasing donor databases.

Specifically, Andrew answers the following questions:

• What types of reports do you want your fundraising database to be able to give you?
• What other things should look for when searching for a new database?
• When setting up your database, what specialty fields might you want to add? Is there any data we shouldn't include in the database?
• How much time does your organization need to allocate for database maintenance?
• What's the process for moving from one database to another?

(And, a laugh for your day: Q: Where do dads store dad jokes? A: In a dada-base!)