Keeping notes on donors

The difference between a cold call and a warm one is usually a note somebody remembered to write. In the Profile Center, every person has a notes section where your team can record context: who introduced them, what they care about, what they said last time, and what to ask next.

Adding a note

1. Open your campaign, choose Donor Relations in the sidebar, then People.
2. Click a person in the people rail to open their profile.
3. Scroll to the Notes section, type your note, and click Save Note.

Notes can be up to 4,000 characters — enough for a real summary, not just a keyword. Each note shows who wrote it and when, newest first, so a teammate picking up the relationship can follow the thread.

Where notes show up

• On the profile — the full history, in the Notes section.
• In the people rail — a small note icon appears next to anyone who has notes, so you can spot at a glance who already has context written down.
• In search — the rail's search box looks inside note text. Search "wants naming opportunity" or "friend of the chairman" and you'll find the person even if you've forgotten their name.
• In AI call briefings — key points from your notes help shape the short pre-call summary shown before a call, with personal contact details filtered out.

Who can see and write notes

Notes are internal to the people who work your campaign. Owners and Managers see every note; Captains and Team Members see (and can write) notes on the profiles assigned to their team. Donors never see them: not on receipts, not on the public page, not anywhere outside your dashboard. A note can be edited after it's saved, and deleted when it's no longer appropriate — deleting removes it permanently.

Notes stick to the person

Like tags, notes attach to a person's identity — their email or phone — rather than to a row in a table. If the same person later appears in a new import or makes their first live donation, the merged profile carries every note that was ever written about them.

Writing notes that help

A useful note answers the question the next caller will have. A few habits that pay off:

• Lead with the outcome. "Pledged $1,800, wants a call after the holidays" beats a paragraph of small talk.
• Record preferences. Best time to call, preferred language, whether they like being asked by phone or in person.
• Name the relationships. "Brother-in-law of Levi K.", "knows the chairman from yeshiva" — connections are fundraising gold.
• Date-sensitive facts on top. If they said "ask me again in March," write it as the first line.

Tip: Since notes were never meant for donors' eyes, keep them professional anyway — anything you write may be read by every current and future manager, and by the team a profile is assigned to. Write what you'd be comfortable saying in a team meeting.