Tips and Advice for using TntMPD to help you raise your funds. Some tips are technical tips for using the software; other tips are “advice” for being more effective personally.
Managing Contacts
| • | Find a contact quickly. On the Contact View, click anywhere in your list of contacts and start typing the last name; TntMPD will automatically take you to that contact. |
| • | Send an email newsletter? Use a Group to define alternate newsletters. |
| • | Time zone issues? Use one of the “User” fields or a Group for time zone so you don’t call someone at an inopportune time. |
| • | Sync your TntMPD database with Outlook? The Category box on the User Tab synchronizes with Outlook Categories. |
| • | Marrying a missionary? Use TntSync to combine two TntMPD databases. This will combine all contacts, giving, and history into one database. However, it will not combine history for any contact who already supports both of you. (TntMPD would create two contacts with separate history). |
| • | Have a donor with two separate accounts? For example, they give from both a personal account and a business account. You can merge those accounts in the box, by right-clicking on their account #. |
| • | Modify gift amounts. On the MPD tab, in the Gifts box, you can right-click to edit, add, or delete a gift. If you want to edit a gift, you can also double-click on it. |
| • | First gift or pledge change. If a financial partner changes their pledge amount, uncheck the Pledge box on the MPD tab; TntMPD will then alert you with a thank you task when the first gift arrives. Send a special thank you. See Automatic Action for New Gifts. |
| • | Use the Notes section to keep short but very important information, such as: best time to call, prayer concerns, etc. Then when you click on that contact, you will always see that information in the Notes window at the top of your screen. In general, it's better to keep notes in the descriptions of your history, rather than on the Notes tab. |
Lookups
| • | Lookup list. Have a unique lookup where you need to hand-pick the contacts? Use other lookups to get the group as narrow as you can, then use to check the ones you want. You might use this when you want to send a letter to a portion of your MPD team that you cannot sort any other way. |
Appeals
| • | Alphabetical order. Date appeals by year and month and/or use a letter code for each year; this keeps them grouped together by year.
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Tasks & History
| • | Descriptions. Write GOOD descriptions—you’ll appreciate it later. |
| • | Unsuccessful call? Record why in the description (e.g., BUSY, NOT HOME, WRONG #, etc.). If it’s a wrong #, it may be helpful to record both the correct # and the wrong # in the description for future reference. |
| • | Who did that task? If both you and your spouse work on tasks, put his/her name or initials in brackets at the end of a description.
"Called to check on graduation dates. [Bob]" |
| • | Avoid embarrassing moments. When you call a partner who is married, record which spouse you talked to by putting their name/initials in parenthesis at the end of the description. Then you won’t say, “Hey, when I talked to you last time…” when you actually didn’t.
"Called to check on graduation dates (Bill). [Bob]" (Same as above example, except the contact's name is added.) |
| • | Non-financial gifts. Record non-financial gifts such as wedding and baby gifts in your history log. |
| • | Casual contact vs. appointment. Visiting your home church and bump into one of your partners? Record it as an appointment, and in the description write “CASUAL CONTACT-Bumped into at church.” |
| • | Put first things first. When considering which tasks to do at this moment, don’t ask, “Which one is easiest?” Instead ask, “Which one will yield the best results for my support long-term?” Do that one first. |
| • | Don’t rely on your memory! Record ALL of your tasks and history. |
| • | Write it and forget it. Schedule tasks and record history for yourself (your “Me” contact). For example, create a task for when you need to start writing your next appeal. Also, each time you send a newsletter or appeal, log a history event to record the date/topic. Then you will have an easily accessible record of your newsletters. |
| • | Modify descriptions. If you want to modify the description of a task before you check the box that you have completed it, double-click anywhere on the task except the check box to open and modify the task. |
Mail Merge
| • | Appointment helper. Create a mail merge favorite for individual appointments, then print the contact’s address, phone, and directions (in Notes) before going on the appointment. |
| • | Publisher. To merge with Publisher, export your contacts to a text file. |
General Advice
| • | Navigation. When working with a list, use SHIFT+CLICK and CTRL+CLICK to (respectively) select blocks or multiple, individual items in a list. (This works in all Windows programs.) |
| • | Consistency. Have a set time in your schedule each week to send thank yous. |
| • | Married? You may feel more comfortable using TntMPD than your spouse. Find her or his strengths and work with them; for example, if your spouse likes to write thank yous, export your thank you tasks to Excel, then print the list and the addresses for your spouse. |
| • | Read Funding Your Ministry by Scott Morton (available from Dawson Media). This is an excellent book for improving your skills in the tasks of MPD. Then use TntMPD to help you do those tasks efficiently and effectively. |
| • | Work alongside someone else for accountability and encouragement. |