NTEN just published a short piece of mine on data management in their Change magazine. It’s in their DIY series — short tips for implementing something for your organization without extensive tech know-how or extra budget. The topic they gave me was managing decentralized data entry.
Filed in Advancement Services,Databases,Donor Databases,IT Management,Nonprofit Management,Nonprofit Technology No Responses yet
I’m planning a new workshop on selecting donor databases, focusing on the question, “Why is this so friggin’ complicated?” Some initial thoughts: The maxim “Fast, cheap, or good–pick two” is true. You want the technology to be forward-looking but also want to avoid shiny object syndrome. You want to make a reasonably quick decision but [...]
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A member of the PRSPCT-L listserve (for prospect researchers) asked “What do other institutions do to regulate or “police” data entry work, specifically when you have multiple users with authority to make updates?” It’s a tough problem. Here are a few approaches (other than locking down data entry): Policies. You need clear data entry standards. [...]
Filed in Advancement Services,Databases,Donor Databases 2 Comments so far
I received an email newsletter today with the following pitch for a web-based donor database (perhaps you can guess which one): The Cloud offers you constituent relationship management (CRM) software that’s less expensive, easier to maintain, more accessible, more intuitive, and with greater flexibility and capacity than you’ve ever seen before. How much would you [...]
Filed in Cloud Computing,Databases,Donor Databases,IT Management,Nonprofit Management One Response so far
I received the following email from Keith Heller, a database consultant who works with Raiser’s Edge and Common Ground clients: We’ve been involved with responding to many RFPs over the years and I have a general inquiry that is in your bailiwick. I often see RFPs that are quite lengthy and well-considered, and looking for [...]
Filed in Databases,Donor Databases,IT Management,Nonprofit Technology,Software 4 Comments so far
Idealware recently released its Fundraising, Communications and Outreach. Unlike their earlier guides (to inexpensive donor databases, content management systems, online donation tools, etc.) this one is an actual book (84 pages, paperback) and costs actual money ($19.95, plus, I assume, shipping and maybe tax). They describe it as follows: What types of software should your [...]
Filed in Databases,Donor Databases,IT Management,Nonprofit Technology,Software,TechSoup No Responses yet
Our friends at NTEN have launched a survey to examine nonprofits’ data ecosystems. Your first question is probably "what is a data ecosystem?" NTEN describes it as follows: The nonprofit ecosystem is a way of thinking about how data is shared by and flows across the different departments and activities in your organization. Similar to [...]
Filed in Databases,IT Management,NTEN,Software,TechSoup No Responses yet
The good folks at Asipration have taken my list of donor databases and put it into the Social Source Commons wiki. What’s more, they added descriptions, logos, and links to the vendors’ sites. Very cool! You can go directly to the list at http://socialsourcecommons.org/toolbox/show/1661 or preview it below: Javascript is disabled. To see the [...]
Filed in Databases,Donor Databases,Fundraising No Responses yet
Idealware just published an article by Keith Heller called Do You Need New Donor Management Software? Keith urges nonprofits to look before they leap into new software, cautioning that “new software may not make anything better — in fact, it could make things worse.” He then addresses what new software could do for your organization, [...]
Filed in Databases,Donor Databases,Fundraising,TechSoup Comments Off
In early January, Convio asked a group of nonprofit technology bloggers to suggest New Year’s resolutions for nonprofits (TechSoup Blog was one of the participants). In addition, they asked people to post resolutions on Convio’s Connection Café blog. Subsequently, they reviewed the resolutions, identified the main topic areas, and created a Resolutions Guide. The guide [...]
Filed in Databases,IT Management,Online Fundraising,Social Media,TechSoup,Web 2.0 No Responses yet
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