Peggy Wulff Blackard, CFRE, admits to a twinge of apprehension just before her nonprofit, St. Mary's Child Center, had its big "Ask Event" breakfast.

"It was a chilly, rainy, grey October day," Blackard said. "I was thinking, 'This isn't good.'"

Those thoughts quickly dissipated as 250 guests took their seats and responded overwhelmingly to an emotional program about the Indianapolis agency, which serves at-risk three- to five-year-olds and those with developmental, learning, or emotional problems.

The Benevon program helped Blackard and her colleagues stage the big event. Now Benevon's Web-based data management system, Next Step^®, powered by eTapestry, is helping them keep track of donors, event-goers, and the $239,000 that was pledged over a five-year period at the breakfast.

"Next Step coincides with [Benevon], including the tracking of all your guests, the Follow-Up phone calls, and all the communications that you make under the [Benevon] Model," Blackard said.

Immediately after the breakfast, called "Because Every Child Deserves a Childhood," Blackard and her executive director telephoned every Table Captain and entered the feedback into Next Step. They spent the next two days calling all donors, thanking them, collecting their perceptions, and entering the responses into the Next Step database.

"We printed those reports out," Blackard said. "For us, it told us we really hit home."

It also helped them determine which portions of the presentation moved which people, information that will be useful in appealing to these donors in the future, she said.

St. Mary's is no stranger to special events. Every year it raises $400,000 of its $2 million operating budget from events, such as a black tie dinner, a golf outing, an auction, and a raffle. But the big "Ask Event" breakfast allowed the organizers to both appeal to new donors and renew the interest of existing donors in St. Mary's mission. About 90 percent of those attending the breakfast were new to St. Mary's.

"Using Next Step reports, we all know what Follow-Up we've done and what we need to do—who has been contacted again and our next steps with all of our guests and donors," Blackard said. "That's all part of [Benevon]. Next Step is the only system we keep. We don't have to keep other records any place else."

Through the help of Next Step, Blackard has recorded that $48,500 of the $239,000 raised at the breakfast has already been received.

Next Step uses Benevon's processes and vocabulary, making it easier to keep track of appropriate data.

"It's all there for you," Blackard said. "You don't have to change anything. You don't have to manipulate the program to do any of it. Next Step is designed for the [Benevon] Model."

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