eTapestry keeps donor records intact for health foundation

Employees at the Methodist Health System Foundation escaped New Orleans with their families before Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in late August 2005.

They left behind a foundation office submerged in more than four feet of water that covered their computer hard drives sitting on floors, soaked hard copy records in filing cabinets and destroyed computer disks sitting on desks.

In spite of the loss of records, Tiffany Carter-Morris, working in an apartment in Houston, Tex., where she evacuated with her husband and young son, was able to mail out tax receipts to those donors who had given the nonprofit $75 or more before the tax deadline.

Carter-Morris, the foundation’s community development director, used Web-based eTapestry, a donor database management system, to retrieve her donors’ records and coordinate the mailing. eTapestry stores nonprofit information off-site in secure server facilities staffed by technical support people around the clock.

"I know one thing is safe," Carter-Morris recalled telling her president. "I know our donor database is safe. No matter how much water we got, those records are safe."

She was right. While the alphabetized hard copy of 2005 donors sitting on her desk got wet, her 5,000 donor records were unharmed by the storm.

Carter-Morris' records, which were switched to eTapestry from a client-based software system four years ago, were securely stored in another state with backup systems in place in case of catastrophic events or equipment failures. From their evacuation sites, Carter-Morris and other employees searched eTapestry for contact information on the foundation’s auxiliary volunteers and others to confirm they were safe.

The foundation was part of the Methodist Hospital in New Orleans, where water had engulfed the first floor. The foundation separated from the hospital in 2004 and became an independent entity when the hospital was sold to a for-profit institution. The hospital is still gutted and empty six months later.

While Carter-Morris returned to her New Orleans house in late March and began old routines of indulging in beignets and café au lait at Café du Monde, the majority of the city is still without electricity and water and gas stations with working pumps are difficult to find.

The hurricane has given the organization a new focus both in its mission and in how it uses technology. The foundation used to offer community wellness grants to local nonprofits, many of which don’t exist post-Katrina. Carter-Morris said the foundation is aiming to make more strategic grants by identifying needs, and nonprofits that can help, and partnering with them.

Hurricane Katrina also taught the nonprofit the value of the Internet, as it was the only mode of consistent communication. Even in March 2006, postal service can take as long as six weeks, she said.

The foundation is moving forward with plans for eTapestry to build its Web site and an online giving page.

"The Internet was in our (New Orleans’) favor," Carter-Morris said. “Had we had our Web site we could have communicated with employees. Without it, we missed our opportunity.”

Carter-Morris is excited about the chance to use eTapestry's e-mail communications to target some of the younger and affluent people moving into New Orleans to help rebuild it.

"One-stop shop for me is an easy sell," Carter Morris said.

About eTapestry
Founded in 1999, Indianapolis-based eTapestry is the first Web-based donor database and communications management system that rents its software to customers who access it over the Internet. eTapestry serves more than 5,000 nonprofit organizations of all types and sizes that do not pay the large upfront purchasing costs or the ongoing maintenance and support contracts typically paid in the purchase of more traditional software. For more information, go to www.eTapestry.com.