Turning an enquiry into a supporter record
What happens when the Non-profit pack converts a prospective donor's enquiry, what to capture first, and which enquiries should never be converted.
By Achekam · · 4 min read · For Non-profit businesses in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya
Launching soon. The Industry CRM add-on described in this article is launching soon. This article describes it as it will work at launch.
Enquiries reach a non-profit from everywhere: the contact form on the website, a message after a radio interview, a business card collected at a market stall, a phone call from someone whose neighbour volunteers with you. Some of those people will become loyal donors. Some want help rather than to give it. A few want to sell you something.
What happens next decides a great deal. Follow up too slowly and the moment passes. Treat every enquiry as a donor and you thank people for gifts they never made. The step between "someone got in touch" and "this person supports us" deserves a moment of judgement.
In the Non-profit & fundraising pack in Achekam's Industry CRM, that step is a single action: converting the enquiry. This article explains what conversion does, what to check before you do it, and which enquiries should stay where they are.
Enquiries and the words the pack uses
Each industry pack sets the words the screens use, along with its record types, pipelines and workflows. The Non-profit pack speaks the language of fundraising: customers are called Supporters, and the pack keeps Donors, Donations and pledges by fund and campaign, Volunteers with their shifts, and Grant applications.
An enquiry, which the CRM handles as a lead, is the stage before any of those. It records that someone has made contact and what they asked about, without claiming yet that they support you. Keeping enquiries separate means your supporter list stays honest: everyone on it has actually chosen to support your work.
One conversion, two records, one workflow
When you convert an enquiry, the pack creates the supporter and the industry's main record at once, and starts that record's workflow. For a prospective donor, that means the supporter and their donor record appear together, and the donor's workflow begins straight away.
That is efficient: nobody has to create the same person twice, and the follow-up does not depend on someone remembering to start it. But it also means conversion is not a filing step. It sets things in motion.
The donor welcome starts at once
The pack's donor welcome workflow calls and thanks the donor, records their preferences, confirms the gift reached the bank, sends a receipt or acknowledgement and then sends an update on what the gift made possible.
Read that list with conversion in mind. The first step is a thank-you call. If you convert someone who has only asked how donations work, the workflow will prompt your team to thank them for support they have not yet given. That can be gracious if handled well, and awkward if not.
A practical rule: convert an enquiry when the person has made a gift or firmly committed to one, not when they first ask a question. Until then, keep the conversation going from the enquiry itself. For the full welcome sequence, see welcoming and thanking a new donor.
What to capture before converting
Whatever you record on the enquiry is the start of the supporter's history. A few minutes spent getting it right saves confusion for years.
- The right name and type. An individual, a family, a company or a foundation. A company's gift is arranged by a person, so record both.
- How to reach them. The contact details they actually want you to use.
- Their permission. Whether they agreed to hear from you, and how. Record exactly what the person agreed to, rather than assuming consent, and check with your adviser what your country's privacy rules require.
- What prompted them. The campaign, event or story that led them to get in touch. Gifts are recorded by fund and campaign, so capturing the campaign at enquiry stage means it is not lost.
- What they want to support. A specific programme, or your work in general. That becomes the fund.
- Any conditions. Anything they have attached to a proposed gift, so you can decide whether to accept it before you thank them for it.
Then check you are not creating a duplicate. Search for the person and their organisation among existing supporters first; a long-standing donor who fills in the website form should not become a second supporter.
Enquiries that should never be converted
Not every contact belongs on your supporter list.
| Enquiry | What to do instead |
|---|---|
| Someone asking for help from your programmes | Refer them to the programme team; they are a potential beneficiary, not a supporter |
| A job seeker or would-be volunteer | Route to recruitment or volunteer onboarding |
| A supplier offering services | Pass to whoever handles purchasing |
| A gift offer with conditions that conflict with your mission | Discuss with your director before any acceptance |
| An offer that looks too good to be true | Treat with caution, especially if it involves sending money back |
| A duplicate of an existing supporter | Add the details to the existing record |
The gift-offer rows are where a written policy helps most. The National Council of Nonprofits explains on its page about gift acceptance policies why a non-profit needs one, which gifts to decline, and how the policy protects donor relationships. If your organisation has no such policy, agree one before the first difficult offer arrives, so the decision is not made under pressure on a phone call.
Who converts, and how quickly
Decide who may convert enquiries, usually the fundraisers who handle donor relationships, and agree how quickly enquiries are reviewed. An enquiry that waits a fortnight for a reply has often gone cold.
Once someone is a supporter, every gift they make is recorded against a fund and campaign; see recording gifts by fund and campaign.
Before you switch the pack on, write a short checklist of what must be captured before conversion, and pin it where your fundraisers will see it.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
