Since 1995, Metasoft has helped more than 10,000 non-profit and charitable organizations throughout North America raise over $1 billion in funding. We listen closely and take pride in our commitment to clients. Here is what they have to say.
"We had almost given up fundraising before trying again with BIG Online. It gave us new targets, and helped us create a 'winning' proposal that brought us $25,000 in new donations."
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Philip Cox
My Brother's Place
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"Recently Saint Paul University launched a three phase Library Expansion Project called, A Legacy of Wisdom. Phase I of the expansion project, a new Rare Book Room and Related Facilities, is now completed.
BIG Online played and continues to play a significant role in the success or our Library Expansion Project. I like to consider my BIG Online as a sort of virtual in-house research consultant. Among the many prospect matches identified we were able to contact an American Foundation that eventually sent us a cheque for $50K US which at the time translated into a gift of in excess of $60K CN.
BIG Online, a small investment that delivers excellent results."
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Daniel G. Clapin
Director
Saint Paul University
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"A friend told us about BIG Online and we looked into it. Well, after signing up, we were introduced to thousands of Foundations to which we were eligible for funding. It didn't take long for us to get a successful grant. In the first year, we received $5,000 from a Foundation in Ontario. That made our day. After some time with BIG Online, we were introduced to FoundationSearch. After a few months, and a lot more mailing of letters, we again were successful. This time it was a Foundation from our own city. We received a $20,000 grant!
The staff at Metasoft advised that since we had built a relationship with a Foundation from our first year of fundraising, we should try again. With that previous relationship already established, they sent us another $5,000 with best wishes for success in our project.
Thanks to BIG Online and FoundationSearch we were able to find names and contacts of Foundations who were willing to give to our project. I now look forward to my mail to see who our next partner will be in helping us reach our goals!"
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Debbie Brand
Manhattan Beach Retreat Centre
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"Metasoft's BIG Online is the best resource tool available in Canada for fundraisers and researchers. I highly recommend BIG Online to anyone moving to a higher level of fundraising."
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Pamela Gignac
JMG Solutions
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"Having BIG Online is like having another staff person on board."
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Cinzia Favaro
Pelletier Homes for Youth
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"BIG Online databases make grant research easy and convenient - right from my desktop. I save time by knowing who to ask for how much. Equally important, BIG Online helps me understand whom not to ask."
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Alan Rycroft
Community Relations Coordinator
Victoria Cool Aid Society
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"BIG Online has been an invaluable resource for me in fund development. Whether I'm working from home or at the office, BIG Online is always available and right at my fingertips - no more big, heavy binders to sift through, update and carry around. The database is particularly helpful in helping me establish a proposal writing cycle. BIG Online identifies important deadlines with potential deadlines and helps identify those investors most fitting with our organization. With the information I gain from BIG Online, I am able to employ resources more strategically to find investors who care and value the same things my organization cares about."
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Natasha N. Taylor
Director
Investment and CAREERS: The Next Generation
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"A lot of the resources (BIG) provides online are very important to developing a professional business case."
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Kimberly Parker
Director of Marketing and Development
Orchestra London Canada
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"It's just such a better way to research. We've had the books before, but things change so quickly. We just find it's a much more efficient use of time to pop online and access the information there."
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Laina Gibson
Director of Programs and Development
Mid-Toronto Community Services
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"BIG Online is so well thought out and user friendly. But a company is only as good as their staff and the Metasoft front line is so professional. Over the years I have been amazed that they constantly have excellent service providers."
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Bob Pope
Coordinator Special Events
Penticton Community Centre
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"At BC's Children's Hospital Foundation, we have embraced BIG Online as a key major gift prospecting resource. We have found it to be a highly valuable tool for research and strategy development in a Canadian context."
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Arno Bangert
BC Children's Hospital Foundation
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"I started working for the Hanover and District Hospital Foundation in 2002. The hospital is located in the Town of Hanover which has a population of 7,000 and services a catchment area of 40,000. Our hospital has a total of 80 inpatient beds; however 31 of those beds are not staffed. The hospital services a catchment population of 17,000. I am working on obtaining my fundraising designation and am currently enrolled at Georgian College in Orillia. The online fundraising courses are extremely helpful and after completing the Grant and Proposal Writing course I asked my Board to continue to subscribe to BIG Online. Different databases were reviewed in this course but I liked BIG Online the best. It is easy to use and all the information about grant funders is categorized. If you had to research this information on the internet you would not have time for any other fundraising projects. In fact, I don’t believe you would be able to find most of the information. Sample letters and proposals are also available in the database. The staff at BIG Online is very helpful with refining your searches and they will give you a pep talk when you receive a lot of refusals. I was very nervous when we first signed up. It is a lot of money to put out. Like us I am sure you are always watching your expenses. Eventually I was successful and every year since I have received grant money. Some years I receive more funding than others but I always receive enough to cover the cost of the membership. The most funding I have received in one year is $25,000 and the least is $3,000. Compared to a gala auction or various fundraisers, grants are a lot easier. I have found that the results very depending on the number of fundraisers you are hosting. I am the only paid employee and find that I have limited time to work on proposals. Most board members feel that you should be hosting lots of fundraisers but dollar for dollar grants are more cost effective although fundraisers have their role to play in creating awareness and recruiting volunteers.
This year my board has recommended that we subscribe to BIG Online for the five year membership. One reason is to take advantage of the cost saving and the other is to give me time to work on the proposals."
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Susan Paterson
Foundation Co-ordinator
Hanover & District Hospital Foundation
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"BIG Online is the first place I go to begin researching any new fundraising project. The database provides an excellent way to quickly assess the funding landscape, regardless of the type of organization or project I'm working on. I appreciate the new services and search capabilities that they have created over the years. I've just started to use FoundationSearch and I'm finding it to be a terrific addition to my research tools."
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Andrea Seale
Principal, Blueprint Fundraising and Communications
CFRE
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"Using BIG Online has been very helpful for me on different levels. For example, when we started the strategic planning of our 3-year fundraising campaign 12 months ago, I started with a list of companies to whom I wanted to target my ‘asks’ but little or no supporting data on them. I did not know what causes they supported, who the ‘key people’ in the organization were, what their fiscal period was, etc. For anyone who has worked in fundraising before, you know that these are all details that allow us to adapt the ask and to make it relevant to that company.
It was a long process, no way to hide that fact. I began at the top of my list of 500 and one by one went through each dossier on BIG Online. What I came away with was a very complete spreadsheet that included the prime mailing address to the right person, with the current job title and a schedule of when the ask had to be mailed. Also, with the BIG Online dossier listing past donations made by the companies of interest and their preferred charities, I was able to personalise the letters even further.
Our campaign in now in full swing and the results are encouraging. I have no doubt that the leg work done in the earliest stages of this campaign, with the help of BIG Online, are contributing factors. Access to this type of information in one central site is essential to any fundraising executive in Canada."
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Debbie Cribb
Coordinator - Development
La Société d’arthrite, Division du Québec
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"BIG Online and FoundationSearch are the first sources that I consult when researching funding prospects. I enjoy the convenience of having a continually updated searchable database instead of having to rely on annual directories and files that quickly go out of date. Our Foundation supports hospitals that offer highly specialized care; FoundationSearch helps me to quickly narrow down a list of prospects that support different program areas, such as mental health or palliative care. A proposal or letter of inquiry is only as good as the research that it is based on. BIG’s databases and writing tools are essential for building a strong case for support."
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Robyn Pike
Development Manager, Annual Giving
Health Care Foundation of St. John's
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"BIG Online is an absolutely fabulous resource for anyone in fundraising. Science North has had tremendous success in accomplishing their sponsorship and donation goals thanks to BIG Online. Highly recommended!"
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Audrey Dugas
Sponsorship Sales & Development Officer
Science North
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"Montreal Children's Hospital Foundation has implemented Metasoft's online resources as our primary tools for research on organizational giving since 2001. Currently we are raising the funds necessary to open a new children's hospital in Montreal and could not do this without the proper tools. We have used another system available in Canada but find Metasoft's BIG Online and FoundationSearch to be more effective for our needs. Metasoft continues to introduce new tools to deepen our research such as the visual mapping tool Director Connections."
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Michael Pecho
Director of Development
Montreal Children's Hospital Foundation
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"As the only rural L'Arche community in Canada, and existing in an economically depressed region of the country, L'Arche Cape Breton has some unique challenges when it comes to fundraising. In the face of these challenges, having access to the information and resources found on BIG Online has been very helpful. With BIG Online I have been able to quickly identify foundations and organizations from across Canada whose scope closely matches our mandate. The staff at BIG Online is very supportive and helpful."
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Josephine MacEachern
Development Officer
L’Arche Cape Breton
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"Big Online and Foundation Search Canada make my job so much easier. These databases let me research prospective foundations so I'm making informed asks and not wasting time on bad fits. The more information I can gather means my asks are better tailored to each organization I approach. Big Online and Foundation Search Canada provide the most up-to-date information in a user-friendly format."
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Kellie Moynihan
Grants and Planned Giving Coordinator
Glenbow Museum
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"Working in a 'small shop', BIG Online and FoundationSearch's ability to efficiently reference funders that are a good fit with our organization's goals and objectives provides the most effective and strategic use of our Foundation's limited resources."
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Terry McDougall (Mrs)
Executive Director
Niagara Peninsula Conservation Foundation
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"We joined BIG Online and FoundationSearch in 2003. In that time, our membership has paid for itself several times over. We rely on BIG FoundationSearch as it is one of our best resources for fundraising research and the Metasoft staff have been very helpful and supportive over the years. Thanks so much!"
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Miriam Gregory
Development & Marketing Director
Vancouver International Children's Festival
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"As a Regional Development Authority we are constantly challenged to match the Community Economic Development needs and aspirations of our rural communities and volunteer led not-for-profit groups and organizations with the realities of fundraising. BigOnline/Foundation Search is our "go to'' resource for identifying foundations and organizations that may be a potential source of funding and for matching their areas of giving with our individual needs and goals. It is user friendly, easy to navigate and Big Online staff are readily available to provide helpful tips and friendly advice. We are pleased to renew our membership. It is an investment in the long term sustainability of our communities."
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Ron Robinson
Development Field Officer-Community & Communications
Cumberland Regional Economic Development Association (CREDA)
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"We are a small organization with limited resources, and FoundationSearch and Big Online truly builds our internal capacity. Through this service, we have been able to efficiently identify prospective donors for particular projects without wasting valuable staff hours on massive prospecting campaigns. The keyword search allows us to identify organizations that support the particular activities on which we are currently focused, and the donor history allows us to adjust the size of our ask. I am confident recommending this service to any organization looking to allocate limited resources in a targeted, efficient and effective manner."
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Jessica Millar
Development and Public Affairs Officer
C.D. Howe Institute
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"We are relatively new users but see great value in FoundationSearch and have therefore renewed our membership for five years. Like most rapidly growing organizations, we are challenged with limited capacity to undertake research. Fortunately, FoundationSearch helps cut our research time significantly, particularly when I need some quick background information on a prospect. I find the list of grants provided for Foundations particularly useful! We are looking forward to taking advantage of the full support that comes with our membership and learning to maximize our use of FoundationSearch to help us achieve even greater success in the future."
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Thea Silver
Director of Fund Development
Scientists in School
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"Foundation Search is fantastic! I must say, I don't know what organizations do without it. I find the interactive charts available for each foundation profile to be most helpful in providing me with their detailed grant history. This enables me to really identify the organizations that are most likely to support us and gives a good indication of the appropriate size grant to ask for. This is a truly great fundraising tool!"
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Len Milley
Fundraiser
Autism Ontario
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