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 [...]

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

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 [...]

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

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most things will be pretty much the same as last year (and 2010 and 2009, etc.): many nonprofits will struggle with out-of-date systems.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

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

I picked up some malware recently and one of the many annoyances it caused was problems with Firefox’s security settings.  When visiting secure (https:) web sites Firefox would say “the connection is untrusted.” When I said I wanted to trust the site and add an exception for it I would get a “sec_error_untrusted_issuer” error.  When [...]

Tags: IT Management

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 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 [...]

Tags: Cloud Computing, Donor Databases, IT Management, Nonprofit Technology

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 [...]

Tags: Databases, Donor Databases, IT Management, Nonprofit Technology, Software

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 [...]

Tags: Databases, Donor Databases, IT Management, Nonprofit Technology, Software