Altru 2.91 Release Revealed: Fundraising Miniseries for 2.91 Recap

Posted by to Altru on August 25th, 2011

Yesterday morning and afternoon, Caitlin and I led an online overview of some of our favorite features in 2.91. I hope you were lucky enough to attend one of the sessions to further familiarize yourself and your team with the new features. If you weren’t able to attend, don’t worry (be happy); make sure to visit our Altru Training Classes page to watch the recording and download class notes. Don’t forget to sign up for our upcoming classes to get you ready for the next release of Altru!

Before we get into the recap, check out this snazzy video discussing the mailing enhancements:

Here’s a recap of what we covered:

Overview of General Changes

  • The new Altru Launch Page contains a variety of resources for training, best practices, etc.
  • Explorer Bar now contains recently accessed records and recent searches for quick navigation.
  • Processes, Configuration Tasks, Reports, Videos, etc. are all displayed within each Functional Area; fly-out menus are also available for easy navigation.

Memberships

  • The new Memberships section allows efficient membership management through one centralized location.
  • New widgets allow you to monitor membership activity and revenue and progress on membership tasks, such as printing cards and running renewals.
  • Related tasks are now readily available as well; for instance, you can access query, the event calendar and Ticket Sales Setup from within Memberships.

Batch

  • Batch entry has been streamlined to allow you to more quickly input information.
  • In a revenue batch, we now have 2 tabs: the Main tab from which you can manage the main tasks for data input, and a Revenue tab that allows you to quickly manage specifics about the revenue you’re inputting.
  • Altru will automatically match payments to outstanding commitments; you can change the application using the Application drop-down menu if you choose, and all outstanding commitments will be present in the drop-down menu.
  • You can use the Apply button on the Revenue tab to apply revenue to another constituent’s commitments, for instance, if this is a gift membership payment.
  • Use the Details window to see details about the constituent and the revenue you’re adding.

Mailing

  • Consolidated mailing processes make Appeal Mailings and Acknowledgements much easier.
  • Appeal mailings are now broken into 3 quick steps.
  • You can create the content of your letters, including adding merge fields, and select the constituents to receive the mailing in just one process.
  • New Exclusion Rules offer you more customizability as far as which constituents should not receive your mailing.
  • You can now also create your acknowledgement letters from within the Acknowledgement section; no need to create a letter template in Word first. 

FAQs

Q: This all sounds really great, where can I get more information about changes in Q3?
A: We’ve been busy updating the Altru Blog to keep you updated on all of these changes. Check out the blog for past entries and keep on the lookout for new ones; you can even subscribe to it to make sure you’re always in the loop!

Q: I’m a little nervous about these changes. Will I be able to recognize Altru or will I have to learn it all over again?
A: There are a few new features that you may need to learn about (e.g., the new Memberships and Financials sections), but for the most part, the changes in Altru have simply made it sleeker and easier to use. Taking part in this miniseries is a great way to get introduced to the changes you’ll see, and for more details you can use the resources below.

Resources

Check out the previous posts if you want to learn more about 2.91:
Q3 New Release Blog Series Kick-Off
Navigation and Workflow Improvements
Enhanced and Streamlined Mailing Process
Simplify buying a membership online
A Message from Kit Matthew on the New Navigation Experience
Navigating the Altru 2.91 Release with Designer Raymond Minnis
Choosing an Internet Browser
Printing from your POS workstations? Do not skip this post; we wrote it specifically for you!
Financial Improvements
Comparing Cash and Revenue Once a Day Keeps the Auditor Away
Finding Unmapped Transactions Shouldn’t Require a Map
Merging and MS Word 2007
New Sales Enhancements
Altru/Mac FAQS – Altru’s Now Compatible!

You can keep up with us on Twitter by following @bbsupport; we use the hashtag #bbaltru when we discuss Altru. Take a look at our Twitter Guide for more info.




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