nptech.info

pIf you have an email account, you#39;re probably familiar with electronic a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_(electronic)" target="_new"spam/a - unwanted, unsolicited, and often inappropriate messages that clog your Inbox and obscure the messages you really care about. Unfortunately, spam isn#39;t limited to email - it can also affect online a href="http://forums.blackbaud.com/"forums/a./p pTo keep our forums free of inappropriate content, we employ a spam filter to flag posts for moderation if they contain certain keywords or more than two hyperlinks. Some common spam terms have valid uses, which meansnbsp;legitimate posts are occasionallynbsp;flagged for moderation. We check to see if there are posts awaiting moderation several times throughout the day and publish all appropriate posts./p pAs a result of a recent a href="http://forums.blackbaud.com/forums/t/15145.aspx" target="_new"discussion/a on the forums, we have adjusted our spam filters to allow some common spam terms to be used once in a post without being subjected to moderation. These terms include:/p ul li4u/li libingo/li licasino/li licredit card/li lidebt/li lifree/li liloan/li lilotto/li liripoffs/li lislot/li liwholesale/li/ul pWe#39;ve added this information to a href="http://www.blackbaud.com/support/forums/forumshelp.aspx"Forums Help/a. If you have any questions, let us know in the comments section below./pimg src="http://forums.blackbaud.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=154855" width="1" height="1"

pSeveral times a week, we offer free, hour-long web seminars on our website. The seminars usually focus on Blackbaud products or best practices for nonprofits./p pTo register, select a href="http://www.blackbaud.com/events/webseminars.aspx" target="_new"Web Seminars/a from the Events menu on our website, find a seminar you want to attend, and click Register Now. Once you submit the enrollment form, you’ll receive an email with instructions for viewing the online presentation, as well as the telephone access number. If you’d like to enroll for additional seminars, click Continue after you fill out the enrollment form./p pHere are some of the web seminars coming up next week:/p blockquotestrongAugust 17:/strongbr /strongIgnite your website with Blackbaud NetCommunity Spark, 2:00 p.m. ET:/strong Join us to learn how Blackbaud NetCommunity Spark can help you complement or expand your current online strategies. a href="https://www.livemeeting.com/lrs/1100003672/Registration.aspx?pageName=041kshjcct1mxlqx" target="_new"Register now/abr /br /strongIntroducing ALTRU! A Clear View, 2:00 p.m. ET:/strong Altru is Blackbaud’s new SaaS platform which helps arts amp; cultural organizations cultivate patrons, sell and schedule programs and manage revenue. a href="https://www.livemeeting.com/lrs/1100003672/Registration.aspx?pageName=p7182j8lg63bkpg6" target="_new"Register now/abr /br //blockquote blockquotestrongAugust 18:/strongbr /strongPyramid Power: Transitional Giving for Building Strong Fundraising Pyramids, 1:00 p.m. ET:/strong Join us to discuss the concept of transitional giving and its contribution to fundraising success. a href="https://www.livemeeting.com/lrs/1100003672/Registration.aspx?pageName=9l5rx42gqpd046s3" target="_new"Register now/abr /br /strongTurn Your Participants into Online Fundraisers, 1:00 p.m. ET:/strong Learn how to engage your event participants and raise more money. a href="https://www.livemeeting.com/lrs/1100003672/Registration.aspx?pageName=k9qrhvn3cb5zqclt" target="_new"Register now/abr /br /strongIntroduction to The Financial Edge, 2:00 p.m. ET:/strong Join us to learn about The Financial Edge. a href="https://www.livemeeting.com/lrs/1100003672/Registration.aspx?pageName=73nb0lz1gz9l8qd7" target="_new"Register now/a/blockquote pHave a super weekend!/pimg src="http://forums.blackbaud.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=154599" width="1" height="1"

pimg border="0" hspace="0" alt="Join forces and save" align="right" src="http://www.blackbaud.com/images/blogs/shake.gif" width="203" height="105" / Are you getting low on Membership Cards, Phonathon Forms, or Pledge Reminders? Don#39;t throw money away; coordinate with your business office and place a joint Blackbaud forms order. When you order tax forms and include another Blackbaud Forms product now through October 29, you#39;ll save 15% off your order! Call 866.422.3676 to order and mention promotion code strongOX2212310M/strong to receive your discount./pimg src="http://forums.blackbaud.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=154033" width="1" height="1"

pOur new a class="" href="http://www.blackbaud.com/support/guides/messurvey.aspx"online survey/a has gone live! If you’re a user of our help files and user guides, we’d love to hear what you have to say. The survey shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes to complete. /p pWe took our old survey down in Q1 of this year as we switched survey tools. Our new tool gives us better control of the look and feel of the survey, and provides more reporting functionality. While the core set of questions are the same, we did add a few questions in an effort to gain new insights into how our clients feel about our content. /p pOver the years, we’ve been able use this feedback to improve our content and how it’s accessed. For example, we’ve tweaked our user guide pages to make locating documents easier, and added search and contact information to our pdfs. We’ve also been able to work directly with clients on issues they bring up in their survey comments. These conversations often lead to very meaningful changes to the content itself./p pWe are excited to see what kind of feedback we get, and will certainly continue publishing the results on a quarterly basis./pimg src="http://forums.blackbaud.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=154496" width="1" height="1"

pNatural disasters, power outages, and hardware and network failures... Oh My! These things cannbsp;happen at any time andnbsp;could lead to unrecoverable data loss. Losing just one day#39;s worth of data can be devastating to any organization, but if you back up monthly that#39;s 30 days of data you could lose in a split second.nbsp;nbsp;/p pOk, so you#39;re probably saying to yourself, quot;that will never happen to usquot;.nbsp; The truth isnbsp;you never know what Mother Nature is going to throw your way.nbsp;nbsp;Don#39;t depend on your luck; be prepared by creating and implementing anbsp;disaster recovery procedure.nbsp; This procedure must includenbsp;plans to back up important files daily, test the backups regularly, store them in a secure, off-site location, and take a copy with you if you evacuate./p pIn FundWare, you have the option of manually backing up your databases each day or you can schedule the process.nbsp; To manually backup the database (includes backups of only the Cobol data files and a SQL backup of the division):/p ol style="LIST-STYLE-TYPE:decimal;" liLogin to division 00 system administration./li liSelect Division maintenance and highlight the division you wish to backup./li liClick Backup and a AFW##_DateandTimeofBackup folder will be created in Fundware\Data\Backup./li/ol pnbsp;To automate the backup process (includes backups of only the core SQL database and the SQL database for the divisions):/p ol style="LIST-STYLE-TYPE:decimal;" liIn the Control Panel, Add or Remove Programs, click Add New Programs. /li liClick CD or Floppy. /li liClick Next. /li liBrowse to the Support\Nightly Database Backup folder located in the install folder. /li liOpen the Setup.exe file. /li liSelect the time for schedule backups to run. br /strongNote:/strong If you do need to change the time later, you must remove the program and add it back with the correct time. /li liComplete the setup wizard. /li liGo to Control Panel, Scheduled Tasks. /li liRight-click on AT2 and select Run. br /strongNote:/strong The SQL databases will be created in the FundWare\Data\DBBackup folder. /li/ol pNow you#39;re prepared.nbsp; Talk to you soon!/pimg src="http://forums.blackbaud.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=154140" width="1" height="1"

pWere you one of the many people who paid full price for tax forms last year? Don#39;t throw your money away this year; buy your tax forms before October 29 and save 15% off your order when you include another Blackbaud Forms product. Call 866.422.3676 to order and mention promotion code strongOX2212310M/strong to receive your discount./p p align="center"img border="0" hspace="5" alt="Tax form bundles" src="http://www.blackbaud.com/images/blogs/tax.gif" width="303" height="204" / /pimg src="http://forums.blackbaud.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=154026" width="1" height="1"

pDirect mail is dead. Email is dead. TV and radio are dead. Face to face is dead. Telegraph is dead. Social media is dead. There are so many obituaries being written these days that it#39;s hard to tell what#39;s still alive. Is everyone just trying to be clever or are they auditioning for a role on CSI?/p pNone of these channels are dead. Ok, telegraph is istill/i dead despite rumors of a comeback. And there is a continual evolution within each of these communication options. Nonprofits are still improving their use of direct marketing, phone, email, and other channels. /p pWhat is dead is the use of one channel at a time to engage people. What is dead is operating in silos of data and systems that don#39;t play well together. What is dead is mindset that multichannel communication doesn#39;t apply to your organization. The old ways of planning and managing constituent communication are dead.br //p pbSingle Channel is Dead/bbr /There, I said it. In fact, it#39;s been dead for a while now. Most savvy companies and organizations recognized this years ago and have diversified their engagement streams. The reality is that you can only get so far riding one horse. The channels aren#39;t dead — using them by themselves is dead.nbsp; /p pUsing a single communication channel to engage with constituents is a dead on arrival strategy. This isn#39;t just theoretical pontificating. An analysis of trends and data support this fact. And basic biology does too. /p pbHumans are Multichannel/bbr /People come multichannel-ready thanks to sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. This explains why watching television, texting, and browsing the Web all at the same time isn#39;t a medical disorder. Thinking in single-channel mode almost always means ignoring multiple senses. Great communication strategies focus on hitting two or more senses. I have a sixth-sense feeling that most communication today is either seeing or hearing by itself. br //p pPeople#39;s channel preferences don#39;t rise and fall as quickly as the prognosticators might like. I didn#39;t stop liking the alumni magazine just because my university started sending me emails. I didn#39;t stop liking video just because an organization decided to invite me to an event. I didn#39;t stop wanting to renew my membership online just because I can give via SMS. It doesn#39;t work that way.br //p pbFaux Multichannel is Dead Too /bbr /Just because you sent out a mailing, blasted all of your email addresses, and posted something on Twitter does not make you multichannel. That#39;s faking it. Multichannel communication means thinking strategically about how you combine the use of channels to work together./ppThe cause of faux multichannel communication is often the silos of systems and organization charts. It#39;s easier to just do your thing with your tools than worry about what anyone else is doing. Of course, this is very hard on your constituents. The end result is not pretty. br //ppbThe Proof is in the Numbers /bbr /Some new trends were revealed in a recent donorCentrics Internet Giving Benchmarking Group meeting held by Target Analytics. The group was comprised of 14 very large nonprofit organizations and a review of online and offline giving between 2005 and 2009. The median percentages of multichannel donors compared to online or offline donors are very telling. /ppFirst year retention for multichannel donors was 51% compared to 30% for offline donors and 22% for online donors. Multi-year multichannel donors do even better with 75% being retained versus 59% for offline and 52% for online. The reactivation rate for multichannel donors was 16% compared to just 7% for both online and offline donors by themselves./ppbTyranny of the Or/bbr /Recently, I#39;ve heard some in the nonprofit sector predicting a massive shift from direct mail to online giving. They#39;re missing what is really happening. This isn#39;t direct mail vs. the Internet. That#39;s the mother of all oversimplified ideas. That#39;s the Tyranny of the Or. The global fundraising perspective is that it#39;s about person to person and events and telephone and face to face and direct mail and web and email and peer to peer and social and mobile and other channels. Multichannel means more quot;andquot; — less quot;orquot; across the board.br //ppToday, just over 5% of giving in the US happens online. While the growth in online fundraising has been tremendous let#39;s not forget that 95% comes from other channels. And it#39;s not all from direct mail. Nonprofits continue to diversify their channels. They aren#39;t turning them completely off. Don#39;t succumb to the Tyranny of the Or. Think multichannel and succeed.br //pimg src="http://forums.blackbaud.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=154003" width="1" height="1"

pHere are the most popular Forums posts as well as unanswered posts from last week:/p pbMost Popular Topics:/b/p ul lia href="http://forums.blackbaud.com/forums/t/15731.aspx" target="_new"Aged Pledges Receivable Report/a/li lia href="http://forums.blackbaud.com/forums/t/15745.aspx" target="_new"tables for provinces (states)/a/li lia href="http://forums.blackbaud.com/forums/t/15757.aspx" target="_new"editing conditional letter templates/a/li lia href="http://forums.blackbaud.com/forums/t/15761.aspx" target="_new"Globally changing gift amounts/a/li lia href="http://forums.blackbaud.com/forums/t/15696.aspx" target="_new"Eliminate multi-year pledges?/a/li lia href="http://forums.blackbaud.com/forums/t/15743.aspx" target="_new"Pop up/a/li/ul pbUnanswered Posts:/b/p ul lia href="http://forums.blackbaud.com/forums/t/15734.aspx" target="_new"Windows 7 and Outlook 2007 synchronization issues with RE 7.91.36.5 /a/li lia href="http://forums.blackbaud.com/forums/t/15762.aspx" target="_new"In-Kind Donations /a/li lia href="http://forums.blackbaud.com/forums/t/15768.aspx" target="_new"Education Records/Attributes for Students and Alumni /a/li/ulimg src="http://forums.blackbaud.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=154309" width="1" height="1"

pI#39;ve previously suggested some online copywriting techniques in this blog, but haven#39;t addressed the concept of content generation. Perhaps I started the wrong way around - as before you look to edit your words, you need to have created some interesting content to begin with.br /br /Content generation is crucial, as the information you provide to your constituents and prospects determines whether they will visit your website initially, and whether they will continue to return. It will also determine which of your online touchpoints (if any) they will visit. br /br /To create a strong web presence, you continually need to question what you are offering to your target audience on your website. You also need to question the type of content you are offering across your other online touchpoints. Is this simply a repeat of what#39;s already being said on your website?/ppMany Nonprofits struggle in this area (so you#39;re not alone!), and it does require some creative thinking to create truly interesting content that will attract an online audience. Below are my top tips to help get you started.br //ppb4 tips to help create content your audience will love/bbr /br /1. Create something unique br /br /Start by looking at what your competitors and other organisations are offering. Then avoid producing the same information. The first rule is that your content should be unique so that people will look to your web presence alone to find it.br /br /2. Create something that your target audience will find interestingbr /br /Create something that your audience views will view as crucial to have. What do your potential donors need to know? What about your current donors? What can you produce that#39;s interesting to the general public that will introduce people to your brand?br /br /3. Make your content easy to disseminatebr /br /Once your content has been found, how easy is it to share with friends? Do you have share buttons up on your website? How easy is it to email? Perhaps you#39;ve chosen a PDF that users can download and upload elsewhere to increase your brand reach. Whatever format you choose, you need to make sure that your content can be easily shared and disseminated./ppA great free tool that you should consider to help your content sharing is a href="http://www.addthis.com/" target="_blank"AddThis/a. a href="http://www.wibiya.com/?ref=L" target="_blank"Wibiya/a is also becoming increasingly popular.br /br /4. Disseminate the best content yourselfbr /br /Don#39;t be afraid to place your own content on social bookmarking sites. Ensure that you only choose the best content to do this with however - try and place every piece that you produce on to a social bookmarketing site and you will be written off as a spammer.br /br /a href="http://digg.com/" target="_blank"Digg/a and a href="http://www.stumbleupon.com/" target="_blank"Stumbleupon/a are great places to start, and you can find content that has been posted by other Nonprofits if you#39;re looking for inspiration. In the latest ebook from the Blackbaud Desktop Series, a href="http://www.blackbaud.com/bb/desktopreference/boostgiving.aspx" target="_blank"Cultivating Lifelong Donors: Stewardship and the Fundraising Pyramid/a, Frank Barry provides a great example from the National Wildlife Federation:br /br /iquot;The National Wildlife Federation regularly submits content from its website to Digg® and StumbleUpon®. It was able to convert 243 “digs” into 43,703 page views for a web page that would have only received 4,834 page views without the social bookmarking “assist.” Visit a href="http://digg.com/search?s=nwf.org" target="_blank"http://digg.com/search?s=nwf.org/a to see the Federation’s content.quot;/ibr /br /5. Continually update your contentbr /br /Keep trying, keep posting. The only way to improve is to keep producing new content!/pimg src="http://forums.blackbaud.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=154212" width="1" height="1"

pHere#39;s a possible scenario: You just finished running statements and realized that there are charges on the wrong records. Now what? Well, I am glad to let you know that there is an easy fix for whatever your incorrect charge or credit scenario. All you need to do is delete the charge from the incorrect record and add it to the correct record if appropriate; this process also works for creditsimg src="http://forums.blackbaud.com/emoticons/emotion-21.gif" alt="Yes" /. To delete the incorrect charges or credits:/p ol liOpen the Student record and select the Activity tab./li liSelect Activity from the View drop-down menu./li liHighlight the charge and click Delete on the action bar./li/ol pIf the charge or creditnbsp;has been posted, you will be prompted to enter the date for reversing entries to post to General Ledger.nbsp; /li/pTalk to you soon!img src="http://forums.blackbaud.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=32219" width="1" height="1"

pWere you one of the many people who paid full price for tax forms last year? Don#39;t throw your money away this year; buy your tax forms before October 29 and save 15% off your order when you include another Blackbaud Forms product. Call 866.422.3676 to order and mention promotion code strongOX2212310M/strong to receive your discount./p p align="center"img border="0" hspace="5" alt="Tax form bundles" src="http://www.blackbaud.com/images/blogs/tax.gif" width="303" height="204" / /pimg src="http://forums.blackbaud.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=154028" width="1" height="1"

pFriday was a really cool day.nbsp; /p pNot cool in terms of temperature.nbsp; South Carolina, along with most of the Southeast is broiling right now, and I can#39;t believe the stores are featuring long pants in their school uniform sales.nbsp; The kids won#39;t be wearing those for months./p pFriday was cool because it was the a class="" href="http://www.charlestongreenfair.com/"Charleston Green Fair/a, held at an auditorium downtown and featuring local businesses that provide green products, services and technologies in its quot;Best in Green and Local Expo.quot;nbsp; It was really great to see folks from so manynbsp;great businessesnbsp;likenbsp;a class="" href="http://www.fisherrecycling.com/"Fisher Recycling/a, a class="" href="http://www.lowcountrylocalfirst.org/"Lowcountry Local First/a and a class="" href="http://www.vaporapparel.com/"Vapor Apparel/a. /p pI was there checking out all the new offerings by companies who really care about the environment and the community.nbsp; It was anbsp;true bonusnbsp;to run into so many friends and neighbors who are involved in our local green efforts so supported by the a class="" href="http://www.charleston-sc.gov/home/home.aspx"City of Charleston/a and a class="" href="http://www.charlestoncounty.org/"Charleston County Council/a./p pI was also there to accept an award being presented to Blackbaud.nbsp; When I learned we were being given this incredible honor -- of being a Green Business Pioneer stewarding and protecting quot;Charleston#39;s environment and resources through achievable business practicesquot; -- I was both pleased and surprised.nbsp; As I said in my remarks on Friday, at Blackbaud, we#39;re so focused on what#39;s still left to do when it comes to being more green...not what we#39;ve already done./p pReceiving the award was very cool, though.nbsp; The award itself was made from reclaimed materials from a building in South Carolina.nbsp; The quot;certificatequot; is a metal ceiling tile with a painted message on it.nbsp; And the frame, although from material some might consider scrap, is simply beautiful.nbsp; It#39;s the perfect example of recycling, making something new out of something old./p pAnd I have to admit that it was good to have the chance to reflect on the things Blackbaud has done -- both as a company and through employee action -- to steward our environment.nbsp; To remember the days when Chris Fisher was just starting Fisher Recycling and he would drive his truck out to Blackbaud for pick ups.nbsp; To share the story of how we cut power usage in half in our data center earlier this year all while increasing capacity to serve our customers.nbsp; To tell everyone about our newest employee-led venture called Sprouts, a community garden being planted behind our headquarters building.nbsp; And, of course, to stand on stage next to Andrew Bell, president of our philanthropy partner the a class="" href="http://www.charlestonbattery.com/welcome.asp"Charleston Battery/a, which was also being honored for its incredible leadership and work in preserving the environment./p pAs I mentioned at the event, though, what#39;s most exciting is what#39;s ahead.nbsp; Friday also marked the launch of the a class="" href="http://www.sustainabilityinstitutesc.org/gbc.shtml"Charleston Green Business Challenge/a.nbsp; The list of questions provided by the a class="" href="http://www.charlestoncity.info/dept/?nid=18"City#39;s Office of Planning, Preservation amp; Sustainability/a helped us both understand what we were doing well and to identify what else we could and should do.nbsp; That#39;s the coolest part of all...being involved in an effort supported by the county, the city and the community, and collectively doing something good.nbsp; Stay tuned!/pimg src="http://forums.blackbaud.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=154036" width="1" height="1"

pemFrom the August issue of Fundraising Successbr //ememBy Joe Boland/em/p pThere’s no arguing with success. These campaigns showcase just how muchnbsp;potential there is to empower constituents for brandraising and, yes, evennbsp;fundraising via social media./p pstrongTweetsgiving/strongbr //p pa class="externalicon" title="Epic Change" href="http://epicchange.org/" target="_blank"font color="#165479"Epic Change/font/a is a small nonprofit organization missioned to amplify the voices and impact of grassroots changemakers and social entrepreneurs. One of the ways it does that is through its a class="externalicon" title="Tweetsgiving" href="http://tweetsgiving.epicchange.org/" target="_blank"font color="#165479"Tweetsgiving/font/a initiative.br //p pBeing a small organization that does just about all of its communication and outreach via social-media channels, it has built a a class="externalicon" title="large presence on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/tweetsgiving" target="_blank"font color="#165479"large presence on Twitter/font/a. And in 2008, it launched the Tweetsgiving campaign. Essentially, Tweetsgiving is a 48-hour event where Epic Change encourages participants to express their thanks using social-media tools. The process is simple. Epic Change lays out the four-step process on its microsite:br //p p• strongStep 1: Share your gratitude. /strongShare whatever you#39;re thankful for on Twitter, your blog, Flickr, Facebook, YouTube, or a class="externalicon" title="blip.fm" href="http://blip.fm/" target="_blank"font color="#165479"blip.fm/font/a. Include the #tweetsgiving tag and a link to TweetsGiving.org so we can share your grateful heart with the world!br //p p• strongStep 2: Give. /strongContribute in honor of whatever you#39;re thankful for. Each $10 donation brings us 1 brick closer to a classroom, orphanage/dormitory, library and cafeteria at the #twitterkids#39; school in Arusha, Tanzania, or helps us fund a future Epic Change project.br //p p• strongStep 3: Spread the love./strong Most importantly, repeat step #1 as often as possible until noon EST on Thursday, November 26th, 2009. Then: Follow @TweetsGiving amp; RT often to fill your stream with global gratitude. (Update your avatar with the twibbon below) (Follow a class="externalicon" title="1800Flowers on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/1800flowers" target="_blank"font color="#165479"1800Flowers on Twitter/font/a amp; they#39;ll donate $1 per new follower to Epic Change.)br //p p• strongStep 4: Follow the story. /strongWith e-mail sign-up and Twitter, Facebook and RSS feeds.br //p pThrough the sheer power of social media, Tweetsgiving raised more than $10,000 in 48 hours in 2008, enough to build a classroom in Arusha, Tanzania. In 2009, it raised more than $41,000 and was mentioned more than 22,000 times on social-networking sites. The microsite also acknowledges donors who#39;ve given $100 or more through Tweetsgiving as its Top Turkeys.br //p pquot;[Epic Change CEO and Co-Founder] Stacey Monk and her crew over there just do an awesome job,quot; says Frank Barry, manager of professional services at fundraising software provider a class="externalicon" title="Blackbaud" href="http://www.blackbaud.com/" target="_blank"font color="#165479"Blackbaud/font/a. quot;They#39;ve done it two years in a row and raised a lot of money very quickly — purely through social-media channels.quot;br //p pThe 2010 Tweetsgiving event is scheduled for Nov. 24-26.br /br /a class="" href="http://www.fundraisingsuccessmag.com/article/there-s-no-arguing-success-these-campaigns-showcase-just-much-potential-there-empower-constituents-brandraising-and-yes-even-fundraising-via-social-media-416405/2" target="_blank"Read more/a./pimg src="http://forums.blackbaud.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=154037" width="1" height="1"

pbHow would you like to have an extra workweek each year without changing your current schedule?/b If you are willing to follow my monthly blog entries, you will easily save that much time just by being more efficient in your use of The Financial Edge. In fact, you might have more information at your fingertips than you do now!/p pbHow can I make such a bold claim?/b Let#39;s do the math. If my tips can save you an average of at least 15 minutes per day as you use the system to do your job, that#39;s 75 minutes per week, or at least 1 hour. If that trend holds for at least 40 weeks, you will have eliminated over 40 hours of unnecessary time you are now spending./p pbWhy do I think my suggestions will work?/b During the last 5 years, I have personally trained over a thousand Blackbaud customers in their offices or regional classes all over the country. I have talked to customers who have struggled with processing everything from financial statements to AP invoices to processes in our others systems that I also train. Those who have followed my suggestions could tell you all about the time they have saved just as they#39;ve told me./p pI#39;m still traveling and training, but I want to help even more customers save timestrong,/strong so I#39;m quite excited to be contributing to this blog! Consider this one example:/p blockquote pbYou:/b Let#39;s see. I need to run a weekly interim financial statement and look for unusual expenditures. Where#39;s my list of reports? OK, got it. I#39;ll navigate to Reports, then select..., then select... Wait. Is that something new that Jessica created in Reports? Hmm. I think it#39;s this report. OK. Now, do I need to change the dates or not? OK. Hmm...this report doesn#39;t look right. That number can#39;t be correct. So how do I look up that invoice...was it an invoice?/p pbChuck/b: In two clicks I#39;m looking at the report, and I#39;ve already opened the AP invoice for an expense item that looked unusual in another 2-3 clicks. Plus I#39;ve sent an email to John asking a follow-up question about the invoice with the report attached as a PDF. I#39;m already on to something else while you#39;re still deciding which report to run!/p/blockquote pStayed tuned. In the next blog, we#39;ll cover one of the most underutilized features in all of The Financial Edge, at least in my experience with customers.../pimg src="http://forums.blackbaud.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=153328" width="1" height="1"

pThe a href="http://www.blackbaud.com/support/guides/re7.aspx"user guides/a contain step-by-step instructions for using The Raiser#39;s Edge. User guides are in Portable Document Format (PDF) which can be opened with Acrobat Reader and are available for download on the a href="http://www.blackbaud.com/support/guides/re7.aspx" target="_new"User Guides section/a of our website. The Raiser#39;s Edge user guides are divided into the following categories:/p pEach month, we track how often each user guide is downloaded. Here are the User Guides that were downloaded the most last month:/p ul liThe bConstituent Data Entry Guide/b teaches you how to properly set up constituent records. /li liThe ba href="http://forums.blackbaud.com/blogs/raisersedge/archive/tags/The+Raiser_2700_s+Edge+7+for+Beginners/default.aspx" target="_new"The Raiser#39;s Edge 7 for Beginners/a/b is a lighthearted, informal introduction to The Raiser’s Edge. /li liThe bImport Guide/b provides how-to instructions for importing data into The Raiser#39;s Edge. /li liThe bQuery and Export Guide/b contains information on extracting and outputting data. /li liThe bConfiguration and Security Guide/b includes information on setting up tables, addressee/salutations, business rules, and the other features in Configuration as well as best practices for using the new Personal Information Security options./li/ul pYou can also navigate to the user guides directly from The Raiser#39;s Edge by selecting Help, User Guides./p pHave a super weekend!/pimg src="http://forums.blackbaud.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=153711" width="1" height="1"

pSeveral times a week, we offer free, hour-long web seminars on our website. The seminars usually focus on Blackbaud products or best practices for nonprofits./p pTo register, select a href="http://www.blackbaud.com/events/webseminars.aspx" target="_new"Web Seminars/a from the Events menu on our website, find a seminar you want to attend, and click Register Now. Once you submit the enrollment form, you’ll receive an email with instructions for viewing the online presentation, as well as the telephone access number. If you’d like to enroll for additional seminars, click Continue after you fill out the enrollment form./p pHere are some of the web seminars coming up next week:/p blockquotestrongAugust 10:/strongbr /strongBlackbaud Application Hosting: Let Us Focus On Your Software While You Focus On Your Mission, 2:00 p.m. ET:/strong Join us to learn how hosting your Blackbaud applications will protect your data. a href="https://www.livemeeting.com/lrs/1100003672/Registration.aspx?pageName=2sk8zzf9xpghg5fs" target="_new"Register now/a/blockquote blockquotestrongAugust 11:/strongbr /strongKeeping Them: Stewarding quot;One-Timequot; Donors for Lasting Support, 1:00 p.m. ET:/strong Join us to discuss the challenge of retaining new donors. a href="https://www.livemeeting.com/lrs/1100003672/Registration.aspx?pageName=9l5rx42gqpd046s3" target="_new"Register now/abr /br /strongEngage Grassroots Networks with Sphere Advocacy, 2:00 p.m. ET:/strong Join us to learn about the advocacy functionality in Blackbaud Sphere. a href="https://www.livemeeting.com/lrs/1100003672/Registration.aspx?pageName=j9m49qqwb4mgcl7b" target="_new"Register now/a/blockquote pExclusive to our a href="http://forums.blackbaud.com/blogs/raisersedge/archive/tags/Blackbaud+Learn/default.aspx" target="_new"Blackbaud Learn/a customers on November 24 at 1:00 p.m. ET, join us for strongGetting started with your Blackbaud Learn program!/strong to learn everything you need to know to take full advantage of your training program./pimg src="http://forums.blackbaud.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=153691" width="1" height="1"

pIn the digital marketing world, there is a whole discipline relating to optimising pages that sit behind a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay_per_click" target="_blank"pay per click/a (PPC) or a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_marketing" target="_blank"search engine marketing/a (SEM; think a href="http://www.adwords.google.com" target="_blank"Google Adwords/a) ads. a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landing_page_optimization" target="_blank"Landing page optimisation/a has become an artform in it#39;s own right, as by optimising the page that sits behind an ad (the landing page), you can achieve greater numbers of conversions./ppBut, if you#39;re a Nonprofit who is not running an SEM or PPC campaign, how can this translate across and become a useful idea for you?br /br /Well, do you know which site pages on your website are the most popular? Do you know where this web traffic is coming from? Do you realise that you can harness this information to optimise the most popular landing pages on your website to increase interest in your site and attract more online donations?br /br /Most Nonprofits that I#39;ve worked with assume that most (if not all) web traffic will come through the home page. Realistically however, this is not what happens. The average home page normally recieves around 30% of site traffic (and these visitors may not be coming directly into the home page, but navigating through other site paths into this.)br /br /So the questions you should be asking to help improve your website are:br /br /1) Which pages on your site are the most popular?br /br /And once you#39;ve decided that optimising these pages may be worthwhile,br /br /2) How do you start to optimise these pages?br /br /Let#39;s tackle each of these in order.br /br /b1. Which pages on your site are the most popular?/bbr /br /If you haven#39;t already set up a free a href="http://forums.blackbaud.com/controlpanel/blogs/www.google.com/analytics" target="_blank"Google Analytics/a account, now is the time to get started. Details on how to set up an account can be found on the Google Analytics home page.br /br /Once you#39;ve done this, and installed the tracking code on the backend of your website, you should start seeing details of the activity that#39;s taking place on your site flowing in.br /br /To find your top landing pages, login to your Analytics account, select Content on the left hand side menu, and take a look at Top Landing Pages report. You can look at how many visitors (over a set time period) the most popular landing pages on your site are attracting, and decide which/how many pages to optimise from here.br /br /b2. How do you start to optimise these pages?/bbr /br /If you take a look at the Content Overview screen under the same Content menu, you will find a section on Top Content. Click on any one of these pages, and you will get the relevant data for this page. Click on Entrance Sources, and you will see the entrance paths from visitors to this page. This means that you can see exactly where your audience is jumping into your top landing pages from.br /br /Once you#39;ve done this, have a look at the reports under the Visitors menu, and you#39;ll start to get a sense of the demographics of your users. You can see which regions your visitors are coming from, whether they are new or returning visitors, the languages they speak, their browsers and network properties, as well as many other details.br /br /From here, you can start to draw some conclusions about the types of users who are visting your site, and start to think about how you optimise your landing pages to meet their needs. Are they on slow network connections? Make sure your landing pages are fast to load. Are people bouncing right off your landing pages as soon as they arrive? Chances are your landing pages are not providing your site visitors with the information they expected and/or wanted to find.br /br /Once you draw some conclusions as to what#39;s happening on your landing pages, you can start to a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A/B_testing" target="_blank"A/B test/a one variable at a time to see what improves the page performance. How can you point more users across to your donation page? Could you make your #39;donate now#39; button bigger? How can you encourage newsletter subscriptions? Perhaps you could place a subscription box in a prominent place above the page fold? /ppYou should be able to achieve more engagement and conversions on your site with some basic research and a logical testing process.br /br //pimg src="http://forums.blackbaud.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=153629" width="1" height="1"

pPrinter issues. What is there to say about printer issues other than we all hate them and they always happen at the wrong time? Before you throw your printer against the wall or take a bat to it, try these steps: /p ol liVerify the printer name follows DOS conventions. The name should be 20 characters or lesslt; and not include special characters (e.g. quot;#quot;, quot;-quot;, quot;_quot;, ’, and quot;)br /br //li liOn the server, make sure the printer is listed in the users Windows profile.br /br //li liVerify the printer was added under the users profile and not the administrator profile: ol style="LIST-STYLE-TYPE:lower-alpha;" liOn the server, have the user log in using their Windows login./li liClick Start, Settings, Control Panel, Printers (Or Start, Printers depending on your server setup)./li liThe printer should be listed there. If it is not, add the printer. br /br //li/ol/li liDisable printer redirection if you use Terminal Services: ol style="LIST-STYLE-TYPE:lower-alpha;" liLog into the server as the local administrator./li liClick Start, Settings, Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Terminal Services Configuration./li liDouble-click the RDP-tcp icon on the right side./li liSelect the Client Settings tab./li liIn the Connection section, unmark all the checkboxes and mark only the Use connection settings from user settings checkbox.br /br //li/ol/li liVerify the client RDP connection does not add printers to the server: ol style="LIST-STYLE-TYPE:lower-alpha;" liOn the user’s desktop, right click on the RDP icon(s) used to log into the FundWare server./li liClick Edit./li liSelect the Local Resources tab and verify Printers is unmarked.br /br //li/ol/li liVerify the user has the correct permissions in Printer Properties: ol style="LIST-STYLE-TYPE:lower-alpha;" liClick Start, Settings, Control Panel, Printers./li liRight-click on the printer and select Properties./li liSelect the Security tab and verify the user is listed in the printer security properties screen./li liMake sure the Allow box is marked for Print, Manage Printers, and Manage Documents./li/ol/li/ol pHappy printing. Talk to you soon!/pimg src="http://forums.blackbaud.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=153565" width="1" height="1"

pHave you found the Homeroom, Homeroom Teacher, and Advisor fields are grayed out on the Bio 1 tab of student records? These fields can be grayed out for two reasons: today#39;s date is not within an academic year ornbsp;the student doesn#39;t have a Student Progression Entry for the current academic year. /p pIf today#39;s date is not within any academic year, you can adjust your Business Rules to automatically look at next year#39;s student progression entry. Here#39;s how:/p ol liIn Configuration, click Business Rules./li liHighlight Students./li liSelect Next Year#39;s Student Progression Entry from the When Displaying and Updating Advisor, Homeroom Teacher, and Homeroom, and the Current Date is not Within an Academic Year drop-down./li/ol pIf the date is within an academic year or the configuration option was already defined, the cause may be the student progression entry. One thing I#39;d like to mention is new studentsnbsp;will not have a student progression entry until the first day of the academic year in which they are enrolled. To add a student progression entry for existing students:/p ol liIn Records, open the student record. /li liSelect Student, Student Progression from the menu bar./li liOn the Student Progression screen, select entries for the School, Academic Year, and Grade Level. You can also select entries for Advisor, Homeroom Teacher, and Homeroom, if appropriate./li liClick OK./li/ol pTalk to you soon!/pimg src="http://forums.blackbaud.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=153534" width="1" height="1"

pWelcome to the third installment of quot;Why Do My Taxes Look Like That?quot;. We#39;re going to wrap up Federal taxes with Advanced EIC and Nonresident Alien taxes. These two taxes work in the same but opposite ways. Where Advanced EIC gives a tax credit, Nonresident alien takes out more taxes. Let#39;s get started on the manual calculation!/p pFor Advanced EIC we are going to use 2010 numbers, and Zelda as our example. Zelda is single, with an annual taxable salary of $37,000. When we look at Advanced EIC in the Federal tax table in Configuration there are three areas. Single/Head of household, Married both filing, and Married. Where your employee falls, dictates where you will pull the numbers. Zelda falls under Single/Head of household. Because her taxable salary is $37,000 she goes in the wages over $16,450 category.nbsp; For wages over $16,450, the calculation is $1,830 - (9.588% * (wages -16,450)). Let#39;s do this calculation for Zelda./p p37,000 - 16450 = 20,550 * .09588 = 4,100/p p1,830 - 4,100 = -2,270/p pBecause Zelda#39;s Advanced EIC comes out as a negative number she will not get an Advanced EIC credit even if she is set up to get one. Let#39;s look at someone with a lower salary, who would be eligible for Advanced EIC./p pBrad is single, makes $10,000 in taxable wages, and is paid on a semi-monthly basis. He falls into the Single/Head of household, wages between $8,970 and $16,450 category. For this category the amount equals $1,830.00. Since he is paid semi-monthly we divide 1,830 by 24 to reach the amount of credit he gets each pay check./p p1,830/24 = $76.25/p pThat amount is in a credit. In The Financial Edge, his Federal income tax amount will be reduced by $76.25./p pNonresident alien is calculated exactly the same way, but instead of a credit it will add more to the Federal income tax amount. So let#39;s see what Zelda would get for this is she were marked as a Nonresident Alien. Here there are no categories for single versus married. Everyone just falls into their proper amount categories. For Zelda she is between $6,050 and $67,700. For this range the amount equals $400. 400/24 = $16.66, so for every check she will get an extra $16.66 taken out of Federal taxes./p pThis concludes the Federal tax manual calculation portion of quot;Why Do My Taxes Look Like That?quot;. Next time we#39;ll go through some common state tax setups. Stay tuned!/pimg src="http://forums.blackbaud.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=151202" width="1" height="1"