NTEN just published of mine called "An Eleven Step Program to Cure Shiny Object Syndrome" (technically, they reprinted an article that AFP will publish this summer). My co-conspirators were Dahna Goldstein, Marc Baizman, and Tracy Kronzak. The four of us, plus Vered Meir, will be leading a … [Read more...]
New book: “Advancement Services: Enhancing Fundraising Success”
CASE has just published the third edition of its guide to Advancement Services. The title of this edition is "Advancement Services: Enhancing Fundraising Success." The book was a labor of love for over 2 years by 25 of advancement services professionals, led and edited by the esteemed John … [Read more...]
Robert on the (Internet) radio
This Friday, October 16 at 1 pm Eastern time, Nonprofit Radio will be broadcasting a discussion with me, Tracy Kronzak of Bright Step Partners; Marc Baizman of the Salesforce Foundation; and Dahna Goldstein of Altum. We'll be talking about how people and processes can be the real culprits behind … [Read more...]
What to Do When Technology Isn’t Your Problem
Copyright P. S. Mueller http://www.psmueller.com/ Does it feel like you never find the right combination of technologies to just make things work? Do you lie awake at night and wonder how everything is going to get done, or why a new project was just dumped on your plate? If you technology … [Read more...]
Important changes for GiftWorks users
FrontStream, the current owner of GiftWorks, sent me the following notice this week: Hey there Robert, As in the past, we are preparing to upgrade FrontStream CRM (previously GiftWorks 2013) users to the newest version of CRM. This change is in-line with our transition to a subscription-based … [Read more...]
On the value of donor database ratings
A colleague forwarded the following email from a vendor and asked how I think a potential buyer should respond. I've redacted the message to anonymize the vendor: Dear ____, I thought you might be interested in a recent analysis of low cost fundraising software, conducted jointly by … [Read more...]
Training on your new database
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 … [Read more...]
Maybe It’s Not Your Database, It’s You
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, … [Read more...]
Blackbaud kills Common Ground: So What?
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 … [Read more...]
Blackbaud kills off Common Ground
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, … [Read more...]