Constituents in the Donor and Alumni Relationship Tool (DART) are both individuals and organizations who have an affiliation with the university. For each constituent in the system, the following functional areas are available for storing applicable information about the constituent, contributing to the holistic view:
- Constituent Management
Includes personal and contact information, relationships and connections between donors and organizations, and communications and other interactions with the university. Communications are mail and email correspondence sent to a constituent. Interactions are specific activities undertaken to build a relationship and secure a donation. These can include face-to-face meetings, phone calls, email messages, and invitations to events. Maintaining accurate and up-to-date constituent information is essential to successful fundraising and achieving university goals. - Prospect Development & Management
Used by University Development gift officers to create and maintain plans to identify, engage, and solicit constituents to contribute to the university. Prospect plans record and track activities to facilitate rewarding life-long relationships between donors and the university. - Donor Stewardship
Enables University Development stewardship officers to create and maintain plans to ensure gifts are used for their intended purpose and to keep donors engaged to inspire more giving in the future, honor the past, and ensure that both the donors' and the university's goals are met. - Prospect Research & Analytics
Used by University Development prospect researchers to identify and clarify prospect gift potential through biographical information, philanthropic histories, and financial analysis. This information facilitates the work of University Development gift officers and others when engaging and soliciting major giving prospects. - Gift Administration
Used by the Gift and Records Administration staff in the Office of University Development to process university gift transactions, including outright gifts, pledges, pledge payments, payroll deductions, recurring gifts, gifts of securities, and gifts in kind. - Gift Planning
Enables University Development gift officers to offer additional ways for constituents to contribute to the university in the form of estate planning. There are several different ways to bequeath assets to the university (e.g., charitable gift annuity, charitable remainder trust, bequest, pooled income fund). - Campaign Management
Assists University Development staff in managing their fundraising campaigns, which are coordinated efforts to raise funds to advance specific aspects of the university's mission. - Event Management
Used by the Office of University Development Events staff, as well as other Development community event planners, to manage and coordinate university events. This includes the means for Development staff to submit requests for donors, or themselves, to attend U-M athletic events, manage all aspects of these sporting event requests, and view current and historical sporting event requests. Events provide a great opportunity to engage donors and major giving prospects. Maintaining detailed event information in a centralized system not only enables University Development staff to be informed of planned and past events, but also facilitates coordination and partnership of constituent interactions, providing a more complete picture of a donor's activity with the university.