The following story, posted with permission, was sent to the FUNDSVCS list in response to a question about how to reign in schools and departments at a university that keep their own shadow databases of contacts. The response hit the nail on the head: We started working on folding shadow databases into (Raiser’s Edge, our [...]
Filed in Advancement Services,Best Practices,Databases,Donor Databases No Responses yet
Last year the big news in my industry was Blackbaud’s acquisition of Convio and the merger/acquisition of Datatel and Sungard Higher Education (now called Ellucian). 2013 is off to a bang with Accel-KKR’s acquisition of Sage’s Nonprofit Solutions Group and iModules acquisition of Harris Connect. The Sage staff I’ve talked to can’t comment publicly until [...]
Filed in Advancement Services,Alumni Relations,Databases,Donor Databases,Software 3 Comments so far
A question was posted to a listserve for nonprofit techies looking for tips on training staff on a new database. I discussed training at a high level on page 13 of this chapter from CASE’s Handbook of Institutional Advancement. Here are some more detailed rules of thumb: 90% of training is forgotten within the first [...]
Filed in Advancement Services,Databases,Donor Databases,IT Management,Nonprofit Management,Nonprofit Technology 2 Comments so far
I’m working on an article with the title, “Maybe It’s Not Your Database, It’s You.” The premise is that complaints about an organization’s database may be misdirected: the problem is how the system is being managed (aka management problems disguised as technology problems). Now, it’s certainly possible that an organization chose the wrong database to [...]
Filed in Databases,Donor Databases,IT Management,Nonprofit Technology 5 Comments so far
According to the Foundation Center’s analysis of data from the National Center for Charitable Statistics, there are approximately 1.5 million nonprofits in the U.S. According to the Q&A that Idealware conducted with Blackbaud, approximately 400 nonprofits are using the version of Common Ground that’s being killed. That’s about .026 percent of U.S. nonprofits. Obviously, if [...]
Filed in Advancement Services,Databases,Donor Databases,Fundraising,IT Management,Nonprofit Technology,Software One Response so far
Yesterday the news was that Blackbaud had laid off 50 employees it acquired when it bought Convio in May. In what was said to be an unrelated development, they also announced the departure of Gene Austin, the former CEO of Convio. Today the news is that Blackbaud is killing off Common Ground, one of the [...]
Filed in Advancement Services,Databases,Donor Databases,Fundraising,Nonprofit Technology,Software 59 Comments so far
Blackbaud completed its purchase of Convio. The next adventure starts today, as we wait to see what the future holds for their various systems.
Filed in Advancement Services,Databases,Donor Databases,Email Marketing,Fundraising,Nonprofit Technology,Online Fundraising,Software No Responses yet
The Department of Justice signed off on Blackbaud’s acquisition of Convio last week, and it looks like the deal will close this week. This is just the beginning of the story. I expect that it will take at least several months, and probably several years, before the dust settles and we know what’s left behind. [...]
Filed in Advancement Services,Cloud Computing,Databases,Donor Databases,Fundraising,Nonprofit Technology,Online Fundraising,Software 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 [...]
Filed in Advancement Services,Databases,Donor Databases,IT Management,Nonprofit Technology No Responses yet
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
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