Lots of people have already weighed in on Blackbaud’s purchase of Convio (two of my favorites: http://www.frogloop.com/care2blog/2012/1/18/blackbaud-buys-their-rival-convio-now-what.html and http://nonprofit-force.org/2012/01/20/the-convio-blackbaud-merger-one-customers-perspective/). Here my perspective.  Disclosures: I have clients that use both companies’ products, as well as products from their competitors, open source products, and homegrown solutions. I don’t invest in these or other companies that I advise [...]

Tags: Advancement Services, Donor Databases, Fundraising, Nonprofit Technology, NTEN

NTEN published my somewhat snarky predictions for nonprofits’ use of fundraising technologies in 2012. My overall predictions are that most things will be pretty much the same as last year (and 2010 and 2009, etc.): many nonprofits will struggle with out-of-date systems.  No surprise — many will also lack the funding to replace them.  But [...]

Tags: Advancement Services, Fundraising, IT Management, Mobile Communications, Nonprofit Management, Nonprofit Technology, NTEN, Online Fundraising, Social Media, Web, Web 2.0

As the calendar year draws to an end, charities (and ideally, donors) are focused on year-end donations and tax deductions.  Here are a few scenarios for U.S. charities to keep in mind. (Note: I am not a lawyer. When in doubt, contact an attorney who specializes in nonprofit law or contact the IRS for a [...]

Tags: Advancement Services, Fundraising, Online Fundraising

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.

Tags: Advancement Services, Donor Databases, IT Management, Nonprofit Management, Nonprofit Technology

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 [...]

Tags: Advancement Services, Databases, Donor Databases, IT Management, Nonprofit Technology

A friend forwarded the following description of a scam aimed at a well-known college.  Fortunately, they didn’t fall for it.  I would like to make everyone aware of a recent situation here that is most likely a scam to launder stolen credit card funds, appearing as a gift. A $9,000 gift is received and approved [...]

Tags: Advancement Services, Fraud, Scam

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. [...]

Tags: Advancement Services, Databases, Donor Databases

I just wrote a guest blog post for NTEN on the topic of moving from an accidental techie role to a leadership role.  Last July, Holly Ross wrote that it was time to retire the phrase “accidental techie”. She said, “it’s not very nice to call anyone an accidental anything. What’s really gotten under my [...]

Tags: Advancement Services, IT Management, Nonprofit Management, Nonprofit Technology

I get a lot of emails like the following from small nonprofits: We desperately need to get a new donor database and most of them are totally unaffordable!! Looking at the Idealware Low Cost Database report, I find that there are so many considerations that it is quite complicated to make a choice. I am [...]

Tags: Advancement Services, Donor Databases, Nonprofit Technology, Software

I got a call last week from the Advancement Services manager at a small college asking for help.  She’s trying to make the case for investing in Advancement Services at a college that seems to only want to invest in fundraisers.  She had already found my post on the Ingredients of a High Performing Advancement [...]

Tags: Advancement Services