Treat 3rd party appended data differently in your donor database.  Record source and what is confirmed vs. not.  http://www.resolutionstech.com

Blackbaud Web Product Quick Test

How well do you know these web products: Luminate, Sphere, BBNC, FAF, TR, and Online Express?  Take our test now to find out. 

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BlackbaudWeb

Have a great day!

Robin Porter
President and CEO
RESolutionsTECH Inc.

Great Jobs at Great Non-Profits!

Please take a look at a great new employment opportunity we posted at an incredible non-profit!  Have a great day!

http://www.resolutionstech.com/index.php?page=JobPost

Robin

Raiser's Edge Quick Test

Take our Raiser's Edge Quick Test and if you score 100% we will send you a treat! http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/REQuickTest

Robin Porter

President and CEO

RESolutionsTECH Inc.

Season's Greetings from RESolutionsTECH

In addition to wishing you a happy holiday season, I wrote and am sharing this little poem that I thought you might enjoy.

"Twas the night before Christmas, when all through R.E.
No donations were coming, not even through B.B.N.C..
The Appeals were all sent, each Packaged with care,
In hopes that our Donors Gifts soon would be here." 

READ MORE - http://www.resolutionstech.com/christmas/

Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Kwanzaa! Seasons Greetings! Happy New Year! Happy Holidays!

Kindest regards,

Robin & the team at RESolutionsTECH

-------------------------------------------

Robin Porter

President and CEO

RESolutionsTECH Inc.

(613) 539-9830

rporter@resolutionstech.com

www.resolutionstech.com

Ask Me Anything RE!

If you have any Raiser's Edge questions at all, please do not hesitate to visit http://www.123YourRE.com and submit them to me as I would be happy to answer them.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Robin Porter
President and CEO
RESolutionsTECH Inc.

Hot Topics for Fundraisers

Love this list of the hottest topics on the Association of Fundraising Professionals website at http://www.afpnet.org.  What a great resource.

Annual Fund

http://www.afpnet.org/HotTopic/AnnualFund

Board and Volunteers

http://www.afpnet.org/HotTopic/BoardsVolunteers

Capital Campaigns

http://www.afpnet.org/HotTopic/CapitalCampaigns

Career

http://www.afpnet.org/HotTopic/Career

Case For Support

http://www.afpnet.org/HotTopic/CaseforSupport

Cause-Related Marketing

http://www.afpnet.org/HotTopic/CauseMarketing

Consultants and Consulting 

http://www.afpnet.org/HotTopic/Consulting

Development Office

http://www.afpnet.org/HotTopic/DevelopmentOffice

Development Plans

http://www.afpnet.org/HotTopic/DevelopmentPlans

Direct Response/Marketing

http://www.afpnet.org/HotTopic/Marketing

Donor Relations/Stewardship 

http://www.afpnet.org/HotTopic/DonorRelations

Endowments 

http://www.afpnet.org/HotTopic/Endowments

Ethics

http://www.afpnet.org/HotTopic/Ethics

Fundraising Basics

http://www.afpnet.org/HotTopic/FundraisingBasics

Fundraising Costs

http://www.afpnet.org/HotTopic/FundraisingCosts

Fundraising Policies 

http://www.afpnet.org/HotTopic/FundraisingPolicies

Grants

http://www.afpnet.org/HotTopic/Grants

International Trends and Resources 

http://www.afpnet.org/HotTopic/International

Job Descriptions 

http://www.afpnet.org/HotTopic/JobDescriptions

Major Gifts

http://www.afpnet.org/HotTopic/MajorGifts

Online Fundraising/Social Media 

http://www.afpnet.org/HotTopic/OnlineFundraising

Planned Giving 

http://www.afpnet.org/HotTopic/PlannedGiving

Prospect Research

http://www.afpnet.org/HotTopic/ProspectResearch

Research Reports

http://www.afpnet.org/HotTopic/ResearchReports

Samples/Forms/Documents

http://www.afpnet.org/HotTopic/Samples

Special Events

http://www.afpnet.org/HotTopic/SpecialEvents

Tax Issues

http://www.afpnet.org/HotTopic/Tax

Robin Porter

President and CEO

RESolutionsTECH Inc.

As a result of training, cleaning up, and reporting upon hundreds of organizations donor data every year, I thought I would share a few quick tips on how to get past the problem of having fear of your donor database and your data.

1) Understand best practice of how a constituent record should be populated.
2) Have a user manual that defines how your organization populates a constituent record.
3) Document a prioritized list of the problems that exist with how your organization populates a constituent record.
4) Have knowledgeable resources that know your data well that you can call upon at any time to ask questions about how best to populate a constituent record.
5) Reporting should exist that measures all users use of the constituent records in your database.  This reporting must be shared with all staff and reviewed regularly.
6) Accurate reporting should be delivered daily to your inbox to provide all actuals vs. goals that are specific to your role in the organization.  What gets measured gets done.
7) All reporting should be benchmarked upon itself on a month over month basis to measure changes in reporting over time.
8) A query and reporting toolkit should exist to allow all staff to reuse confirmed setups in order to always get accurate results and not have to recreate their own from scratch each time.
9) Document the data clean-ups and enhancements you make each month and how and why they were completed.
10) Receive regular training and demonstrations on your donor database and other technologies and solutions available.  Make a list of what you feel is missing from your donor database and why it would assist.

I hope these tips are helpful for your organization.  I have seen them work very well to increase the use of donor databases and the data that exists within.  There is nothing to be scared of.  :)

Robin Porter
President & CEO
RESolutionsTECH Inc.
http://www.resolutionstech.com

Great New Post On Raiser's Edge Training

Good afternoon everyone!

Please take a look at this great new post on Raiser's Edge training from one of our Senior Consultants!

http://www.resolutionstech.com/petersblog/

Have a great day.

Robin

That's A Lot Of Data Exhaust! Need A Data Emissions Test?

That's A Lot Of Data Exhaust!  Need A Data Emissions Test?

Imagine if you were able to gauge your donors mood or sentiment to help determine the best time to solicit them for a gift?  An increasing number of companies are buying access to the social network fire hose which gives them access to every post made.  With this example of data exhaust, there are an incredible number of measures possible including sentiment.

Data exhaust is simply the data generated about us and not by us or in other words the data we commonly leave behind and do not keep or maintain in our Raiser's Edge database.  Are you aware of what data exhaust is being generated on the constituents in your Raiser's Edge?  Here are a few examples that you have access to now in varying degrees if you want.

Email - Good ability to access and make use of:
Delivered, Bounced, Undelivered, Opt-Outs, Unique Viewers, Social Viewers, Click-Throughs, Social Shares, Forwards, Response Times, Consecutive Actions, and then who is not is any of these groups.

Internet - Good ability to access but difficult to tie to specific individual:
Visits, Length on Page, Network Visiting, Browser Used, City, Country, Operating System, New vs. Returning, Frequency & Recency, Engagement, Mobile Device Used, Source, Pages Visited, Searches Done, Google Alerts, and then who is not falling into one of these groups.

Social Networks - Difficult to access and make use of on a large scale:
Likes, Comments, Shares, Posts, Tags, Mood, Relationships, Interests, Professions, Intelligence, and a lot more.

Mobile Apps - Impossible to access and make use of UNLESS you have your own app collecting the data exhaust for you:
Geo Tagging, Contacts, Calendars, Reminders, Photos, and a lot more.

I think what is most important for any charitable organization is to try to be more aware of what data exhaust they may be generating and to use it where ever you can.  Direct your constituents to online sources that you own or control to increase your access to this data.  A lot more is on the way.  The race is on to see who can make the best possible use of this form of big data called data exhaust!  :)

Here are some links that may assist:
1) SmogFarm - http://www.resolutionstech.com/365/dataexhaust/smogfarm.html
2) gShiftLabs - http://www.resolutionstech.com/365/dataexhaust/gshift.html
3) MailChimp - http://www.resolutionstech.com/365/dataexhaust/mailchimp.html
4) Chimpegration - http://www.resolutionstech.com/365/dataexhaust/chimpegration.html
5) App Data Privacy - http://www.resolutionstech.com/365/dataexhaust/appdataprivacy.html
6) RETweet - http://www.resolutionstech.com/365/dataexhaust/retweet.html

Robin
http://www.resolutionstech.com

Best Mobile Apps For A Fundraiser

Best Mobile Appeal For a Fundraiser

Good morning everyone!  Just thought that it would be nice to share with you some great mobile apps that you might find useful as a Fundraiser or for one that uses Raiser's Edge regularly.  Hope you have a fantastic weekend!

1) RE Mobile - Access Raiser's Edge from your mobile device and EASILY add the touch points you make with constituents.
2) Evernote - Get organized and easily remember everything across all devices.
3) Skitch - Communicate feedback and ideas instantly.
4) Docusign Ink - Sign documents directly from your mobile device without needing a printer.
5) Calendar (synched with RE Actions) - Access your calendar that aligns with Actions in RE from where ever you are.
6) SimpleMind+ - Brainstorm, idea, and thought structuring tool.
7) GoToMeeting - Connect remotely with donors and colleagues.
8) GoToMyPC - Connect to your office or home computer from your device.
9) Skype - Call or video conference from your device at a reasonable cost.
10) LinkedIn Premium - Stay connected with professional contacts and see who is showing interest in you or organization.
11) Jive - Enterprise collaboration - Collaborate with other staff or volunteers in your organization.
12) Dropbox - Bring all your photots, videos, and docs with you where ever you are and share them easily.
13) Documents To Go Premium - Access all your Microsoft Office documents at any time.
14) Pages - Create beautiful documents directly from your mobile device.
15) Scanner Pro - Easily scan documents, white, boards, etc. using your mobile device.
16) Facetime - Easily connect face to face with other mobile users.
17) PDF Expert - Create, edit, and mark up PDF's easily from your mobile device.
18) Google Now - Your own personal assistant that learns from your actions and recommends better ways of doing things.
19) Blogger - Work on blog posts for your organization easily from your mobile device.
20) HooteSuite for Twitter and Facebook - Manage all your social media within on app from where ever you are.

Sincerely,

Robin
http://www.resolutionstech.com

Personalize Donor Acknowledgements Even More In Raiser's Edge Using If/Then/Else Statements

Personalize Donor Acknowledgements Even More In Raiser's Edge Using If/Then/Else Statements

Most organizations either spend far too much time manually personalizing each donor acknowledgement letter to then not be able to capture how the letter was personalized as a permanent record within RE or then do not personalize the letter as much as they should.  By using if/then/else functionality within your Raiser's Edge donor acknowledgements letters this helps solve the problem!

Remember these important rules when creating any letter you are sending from your organization.

1) All letters should be generated from within Raiser's Edge.
2) A permanent record of the content of every letter sent should be kept within Raiser's Edge.
3) Each constituent should have record of all letters sent to them, when they were sent, and their response.

For help with the rules above and with improving your personalized letters to donors using if/then/else, please email me at rporter@resolutionstech.com to ask for assistance.

Also ask me to give you more information on our new program to give you more measurable results.

Have an excellent day!

Robin
http://www.resolutionstech.com

Raiser's Edge Reports That Write Themselves

Raiser's Edge Reports That Write Themselves

Often, organizations contact me looking for ideas for improved reporting as they are not certain what might be best for them.  I first ask them for the key areas they feel they need new reporting, then ask them for the questions they are trying to answer in those areas, and finally provide some ideas as to what reporting in these areas might look like.

You can then use these reporting ideas, a report that you already have, or a report that you have in mind to come up with improved iterations of these reports by taking a closer look at your data.

Here are some of the areas to look at in your data when coming up with how a report could morph into something new and exciting for your organization.

1) Active data - What data is moving in Raiser's Edge in terms of recently being added or updated?
2) Problem data - What problems exist in your data that are creating issues within your reports?
3) Variance data - How do the actual values compare to goals specified within Raiser's Edge?
4) New data - What new data is there to report on?
5) Comparison data - How does your data compare to other similar data of yours or others?
6) Triggered data - What new actions are needed if certain triggers are met?
7) Suggested data - What new data should you be capturing or maintaining within Raiser's Edge?
8) Alert data - What key events occurring within your data do you need to be notified of ASAP?
9) Stagnant data - What data is becoming stagnant due to lack of use?
10) Pivot data - Is there anything new and of value found when cross referencing multiple data points together?

Anything is possible with reporting so please do not limit yourself in any way!  Happy exploring!

Robin
http://www.resolutionstech.com

Integrating Creative Ideas Into Your Raiser's Edge

Integrating Creative Ideas Into Your Raiser's Edge

How often do you test new and creative ideas for Raiser's Edge that could possibly benefit your organization?  I think that it is important to setup a monthly meeting where new ideas are mentioned and discussed that could be very different from how you are currently using Raiser's Edge.  No idea should be discouraged no matter how big or how small.  Consider the use of all of them and look at pros and cons of each.  Once your team discusses, present the idea to an expert and ask for their opinion.  I would be happy to provide my feedback on any of your ideas, so please do not hesitate to pass them along to me and I will get back to you asap.

Here are a few examples to start you off.

1) Create every record type as it's own constituent record.
2) Records that clean themselves.
3) Data tells you when to contact a constituent.
4) Reading and reporting on backend Raiser's Edge data.
5) Alternatives to current duplicate clean-up process where records are not merged.
6) Record more targets and goals within Raiser's Edge.
7) Have constituents manage their own records in Raiser's Edge.
8) Colour coding of data.
9) Other methods for hunting for new relationships to build in Raiser's Edge.
10) Automated tips to engage constituent.
11) Reports that have an analysis section which identifies errors.
12) Training sessions on new things found in your data.
13) Benchmarking against similar organizations that are not competing.
14) Self generating action tracks.
15) Post event review of events based on comparison with other events.
16) Staff focus on people while technology handles all required tasks within database.
17) Auto recording of actions based on calendar.
18) Reporting that suggests your priorities for day.
19) Function that allows you to ask "why" for anything you see in Raiser's Edge.
20) Automated table coding recommendations.

Please let me know what you think of the above ideas.  Let me know what new ideas you can come up with as I look forward to providing you with my opinion on them.

Have a great day!

Robin
http://www.resolutionstech.com

Is Your Data A Dump?

Is Your Data A Dump?

After assisting organizations with thousands of requests to clean up their data over the past number of years, I have realized that no matter the size of organization or the resources committed to cleaning up data – there is always still more garbage to clean-up.  So what becomes important is to structure your Raiser’s Edge database in a way where this does not affect the accuracy of your reporting and where your Raiser’s Edge database helps you identify newly entered garbage data to clean-up.

Here are a few tips that should help an organization reduce, reuse, and recycle their data to help keep your Raiser’s Edge data organized in the best possible way, get rid of all garbage, and make sure you have the most accurate reporting.

1)  Monthly table scan

2) Weekly query data entry review

3) Monthly Reconciliation reports

4) Weekly duplicate reporting

5) Monthly active/inactive constituent review

It is critical that you create a schedule just like you have at home for your garbage collection to keep your Raiser’s Edge clean and tidy.  Let’s all work to prevent future mountains of data that have no use to your organization.

Please let me know if you are interested in having us assist with this regular clean-up of your data.  Our team at RESolutionsTECH would be happy to start assisting you right away.

Robin

http://www.resolutionstech.com

Raiser's Edge Annual Physical

Please be sure that you are part of our Raiser's Edge Annual Physical series as they provide our tips and suggestions on how to improve your use of Raiser's Edge.  If you are interested, please contact us and we would be happy to include you.

Have a great day!

Robin Porter
President and CEO
RESolutionsTECH Inc.

A gift from RESolutionsTECH - Merry Christmas!

Good morning,

This year we have given hundreds of Raiser's Edge tips, more than 50 new custom report formats, and have completed thousands of data clean-ups and other tasks for our valued clients. We want to be sure that we can fit in one more way to give this year by helping make your Raiser's Edge wish come true.

Please ask us anything you want related to Raiser's Edge whether it is asking for a report format that will assist you in a particular area, how to clean-up specific data, or how best to track your prospects. We truly do want to help so please access this form and submit your question.

http://www.resolutionstech.com/wish/

We look forward to giving! I wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Robin Porter
President & CEO
RESolutionsTECH Inc.

Hi There...

Good morning everyone,

I wanted to write to apologize for the lack of posting on my blog but as many of you know, I have continued my posts over the past year through email and by posting on the RESolutionsTECH Learn page.  My plan is to continue this over the next year.  If you are not receiving my posts, please email me at rporter@resolutionstech.com to request them from me.  I have posted several great top 10 lists and report ideas that will help improve your use of Raiser's Edge.

Have a great day!

Robin

Top 10 Raiser's Edge Tips of 2011

Good morning everyone and happy Monday!  We have grown considerably this year and as a result I feel that it is time to create a new social media strategy for RESolutionsTECH that would include this blog.  We are still in the planning stages but wanted to let you know you should expect something new, exciting, and something that will be helpful to you and your organization soon.  In the meantime, I wanted to be sure you were aware of our latest top 10 list which will provide you with most popular Raiser's Edge tips of 2011.  Enjoy and stay tuned!

http://www.resolutionstech.com/Top10/trophy/email.html

Interested In Non-Profit Jobs - Take A Look At Our New Job Posting Page

Happy weekend folks!

We are constantly being asked if we know of organizations looking to hire by our many contacts so we thought we would create our own job posting page to help out.  Take a look.

http://www.resolutionstech.com/index.php?page=JobPost

Have a great day!

Robin