I’m a fan of yoga and of wine. Not at the same time, mind you, but a fan nonetheless. So much so that when I was working at the Music Farm, I tried to book a hot yoga class there during the summer. While that didn’t work out, I realized that there were other events that would work in the venue; events that would open our doors to a new demographic, during hours we weren’t normally utilizing. I booked a weekly church service, a seasonal Saturday morning Artist Market, zumba classes, dance recitals, summer camp finales, art shows, date auctions, roller derby after parties, afternoon concerts for children … more than I can even remember.

It seems like museums see most of their traffic on the weekends, often closing on Mondays and evenings. Children’s museums are slammed until parents get out of work. Zoos close as the sun goes down. So what do you do with your space after regular business hours? Are you making the most of your venue? Here are a few examples from Altru users who are mixing up their event schedule, to draw a niche audience and/or keep their doors open longer.

Delaware Art Museum offers T’ai Chi in the sculpture garden, utilizing their luxurious, open grounds.

ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center hosts ECHO After Dark once a month, an evening event that incorporates movies, fashion shows, cocktails and, believe it or not, science for their growing adult audience.

Laguna Art Museum has created one of the most anticipated art and dining experiences in Orange County, Palette to Palate. This fundraiser is in its 7^th year and consistently sells out.

The Dali Museum hosts Yoga + Dali every Sunday in May. Their open space and water views are perfect for those seeking serenity.

Minnetrista offers a canning workshop throughout the year.

Potter Park Zoo keeps adults after hours for Wine & Stein; Wild animals + your wild side.

What else could you do in your space, beyond weddings and galas? Yoga, zumba or t’ai chi? Wine strolls or beer dinners? Concerts or dance recitals? Local craft markets?

So if “have more events” is on your to-do list, take these examples as inspiration and think about what your space would be best suited for. Create an event that can open your doors to new demographic, changing their perspective on your organization or perhaps opening their eyes to your cause for the first time!

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 information.

Check out the Altru Community to submit ideas, ask questions and network with fellow Altru users.

Blackbaud Forms is your source for beautiful, branded print products designed to work with your Blackbaud software. In addition to competitively priced checks for The Financial Edge, FundWare, and most other major accounting packages, we offer:

• A full range of compatible envelopes for both outgoing mail and remittance
• Forms for Gift Receipts, Appeals, Pledge Reminders, Purchase Orders, and Membership Renewals
• Statements, Invoices, Purchase Orders, and Tax forms
• School Forms including security paper for Report Cards and Transcripts
• Security accessories, stamps, MICR toner, lockboxes, and deposit products
• Checks for all the major accounting packages

Our checks and forms are designed by Blackbaud programmers. We work closely with our manufacturers to ensure full compatibility with our software, exceptional quality, and value. All our products come with a 100% satisfaction guarantee.

For pricing, specs, free samples and more information, download the Blackbaud Forms catalog.  Contact the Blackbaud Forms team directly at 866.422.3676 or forms@blackbaud.com

You can keep up with us on Twitter by following @bbsupport; we use the hashtag #bbre when we discuss The Raiser’s Edge and #bbee when we discuss The Education Edge. Take a look at our Twitter Guide for more information.

For those of you looking to expand your mobile access to The Raiser’s Edge, I want to provide a quick update on Blackbaud’s official Raiser’s Edge mobile app, which will be released later this summer and will be included as a benefit of maintenance. The Raiser’s Edge mobile app will include support for iPhone, Android and Blackberry and provide access to important constituent data while you’re on the go. You’ll be able to access up-to-date constituent profiles—right from your smart phone—which means no more lugging around binders or laptops. With constituent information, including recent gift data, at your fingertips and quick access to add and update actions and notes, you’ll always have what you need to make your visits successful.

We are working with customers now to put the finishing touches on the code, and we’ll be going to beta in June. Feel free to contact me at dawn.hollowell@blackbaud.com if you need more details.

You can keep up with us on Twitter by following @bbsupport; we use the hashtag #bbre when we discuss The Raiser’s Edge. Take a look at our Twitter Guide for more information.

Today marks one month since The Raiser’s Edge 7.92 was released. I thought we’d celebrate with a reminder of the resources available to help you be successful.

The Raiser’s Edge Customer Resource Center is your one-stop-shop for everything you need to prepare for and upgrade to 7.92, including:

• 10-minute Video: Upgrade Overview (if you host The Raiser’s Edge on-premise): Watch the educational video to get an overview of the update process so you can be prepared before you download the release, then sign up for a live Q&A session to have a Blackbaud expert answer your questions.
• 30-minute Video: Giving Score How-To: Watch the educational video to learn what The Giving Score is, how to run it, and how to use the results it in The Raiser’s Edge, then sign up for a live Q&A session to have a Blackbaud expert answer your questions.
• Monthly Webinars: Giving Score Best Practices: Attend these ongoing monthly webinars to learn how to put The Giving Score to work for your mission.
• Training: You have over 80 Start Learning video tutorials available to you as part of your maintenance, and we’ve added even more to help you be successful with 7.92. We also offer instructor-led classes with hands-on practices and interaction with an instructor and your peers. Check out Blackbaud Learn — it’s now more valuable than ever.

You can keep up with us on Twitter by following @bbsupport; we use the hashtag #bbre when we discuss The Raiser’s Edge. Take a look at our Twitter Guide for more information.

If you are using the Raiser’s Edge Sphere Connector to send transaction information to and from RE and Sphere, you have probably encountered the “Polling for Import” error and thought, “Great. What now?”

While this error used to appear more frequently (last summer, we improved the tool and have seen less Polling cases created), it may still pop up from time to time and prevent you from synching successfully. That being said, I am sure you have some outstanding questions about this complex status….

1. What does it mean to Poll for Import?

Polling for import is a step in a sync sequence. Out of the entire syncing process, “polling for import” takes the most time to complete because it involves waiting (polling) for Sphere files to come into The Raiser’s Edge.

2. Why does it poll for so long sometimes?

The processing time depends on data volume.  It can take anywhere from minutes up to several hours, depending on the amount of data coming in and the number of customers who are doing the same thing at the same time.

3. Why does it seem to “fix” itself sometimes?

Most of the time, the sync just finishes in due time, depending on the network, database, and FTP conditions.  If it does not resolve itself within 4 hours, you can create a case with Customer Support through Case Central.

4. Is there anything I can do to fix it?

• Yes!  If the log tab reports “FTP connection status: Failed” for more than ten times in a row (30 min), you can Reset the sync to re-establish connection.
• If the log shows “FTP connection status: OK” but more than four hours have passed since it started polling for import, you can contact Sphere Support so our team can check the Sphere side of sync. Interruptions that require manual interference are rare, but they can occur after a network interruption or inconsistent XML data.  Afterwe fix an issue on our side, you will need to start a sync or restart the service.For more information about what is needed in your support case, check out our Knowledgebase solution Connector stuck Polling for Import with message of “Checking FTP connection status: OK”.

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

For far too long, back-office membership teams have eyed ticket sellers with envy as they applied discounts and promotions right from their daily sales pages. Well, that’s about to change.

In our next release, Blackbaud is introducing new features that will enable back-office membership managers who use Altru to apply membership discounts and promotions during membership payment Batch processing, too.  In just a few weeks all membership payments processed through Altru –regardless of whether they’re collected in person through Daily Sales, purchased online, through the mail, or over the phone, and entered through Batch by back-office managers, will qualify for membership discounts and promotions.

Best of all, applying discounts and promotions using batch will be really simple! Here’s how:

Use the new Enter membership dues batch to enter the membership payment.  Select the person and what membership they are paying for – a new membership or a renewal, upgrade, or downgrade.

Select the name of the person applying for the membership and type of membership they’re paying for. For example: a new membership, renewal, upgrade, or downgrade.

Next, select whether a discount or promotion applies, and the type of benefit the applicant qualifies for in the “Is there a discount or promotion” section of the screen.

Click Done and you’re finished!

After your database is upgraded, all membership discounts and promotions will be available for use when entering back-office membership payments.

But if you add additional membership discounts or promotions after the upgrade, they are NOT automatically added to the drop down list of discounts.  To make them available, use the following steps:

1. Open the membership program and go to the Rules tab.

2. Click Edit

3. In the “Do any of these promotions apply to levels in this program?” section check the box next to the discounts or promotions that can be used for this membership program.

4. Click Save.

5. The discounts and promotions will now be available when adding back-office membership payments.

Be sure to take full advantage of this new functionality, and remember, back-office membership folks, when it comes to applying discounts and membership promotions, daily sales has nothing on you!

Coming Next: Be on the lookout for the next post in the Altru Release Series on May 21, credit card reconciliation. It will be a great way to learn about the new automated enhancements we’ve added to make your life easier, and save you time and money.

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 information.

Check out the Altru Community to submit ideas, ask questions and network with fellow Altru users.

Each of these classes focuses on Blackbaud Sphere’s Content Management System (CSM) in an interactive, virtual classroom.  In each class, your instructor will guide you through scenarios to help reinforce the objectives.  You will also have opportunities to practice your new skills in our sample Blackbaud Sphere environment.

• Introduction to the Content Management System (2 hours)

If you are new to the Content Management System, we recommend starting with this class. Here you will learn how to describe the role of the CMS, navigate the site structure, and create a basic web page with hyperlinks.

• Working with Forms and Tools in the Content Management System (2 hours)

This class teaches you how to use Blackbaud Sphere forms on your website.  It also shows you how to add tools, such as an events calendar, to your website.

Prerequisites: To participate in this class, we recommend prior attendance at the Introduction to the Content Management System class, or having a working knowledge of forms and the CMS.

• Using the HTML Editor in the Content Management System (2 hours)

Have you ever struggled with aligning images and text on a web page? Or maybe you are uncertain what some buttons in the WYSIWYG editor do. Then this class is the class for you.  You will learn how to add images, tables, and bookmarks to your web page.

Prerequisites: To participate in this class, we recommend prior attendance at the Introduction to the Content Management System class, or having a working knowledge of the CMS.

We can’t wait to see you in one of our new Blackbaud Sphere CMS classes!  Click the class titles above to register for the next class!

Kids love games – some play soccer, while others prefer card games or puzzles.  My 3 year old daughter could spend hours playing with her matching cards.  It’s a game of memory where you flip tiles over and try to find matches, but she doesn’t quite understand the two player version.  She concentrates intensely, sifting through the stack, then bursts out joyfully when she finds two faces that look the same.  Carefully she lays the cards out to organize them until her younger brother toddles by to terrorize her.  Now Dad gets to play Intervene and Distract!

As we get older, tedious matching games aren’t as fun, but Altru is hoping to change that!  We know duplicate records can be more annoying than your little brother, so we’re working on new ways to prevent them from getting into your database.  Makes sense, right?  If you can keep them out, you won’t have to fix them later, like a firewall for bad data.

So, here’s where it starts.  In the next release, we’ve added a duplicate matching tool to the Add an Individual and Batch Entry forms.  If we detect a positive match beyond a reasonable doubt, we’ll go ahead and merge it with the existing record.  Ok, there’s not really a legal burden of proof – it’s just a mathematical formula.  It has to be very close to auto-match though.  If the new record isn’t very close, mathematically speaking, to any existing record, we’ll proceed as normal, adding it as a new entry.

If we’re not sure, we’ll ask you for help, and the fun begins. You can decide to create a new record or merge the two, picking which fields to keep from each record. Pretty neat! I know someone who would like this game.

We love this feature so much; we’re looking to extend it to other areas of Altru, like auto-matching new records from Daily Sales or Online.  We’re in discovery on a tool to let you review pending matches from those areas and make similar merge/add decisions for each entry.  This should result in a significant reduction in the number of duplicates you have to manage.

For now, we’ll just show the possible match in a pop-up form when you try to save a new constituent that appears eerily similar to someone you already know.  You will also see exceptions thrown in if we detect duplicates during batch entry, and those can be dealt with in a similar fashion.  Happy matching everyone!

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 information.

Check out the Altru Community to submit ideas, ask questions and network with fellow Altru users.

In Blackbaud CRM 2.93, we redesigned the membership area to allow faster and more insightful membership configuration, membership viewing, and data entry of membership dues.

Starting with the Membership Program setup, we’ve added Lifetime memberships that were once part of your annual program.  They now live by themselves and have their own set of rules.  We also have Sustaining programs that can maximize giving from donors.

The new programs also adapt to the selections you choose, to help streamline setup.  So if you are setting up a Lifetime membership program, you won’t have to bother with renewal rules, since lifetime members never expire.  This means you only see the options that match the choices you make.

Moving past the Membership Programs, we’ve also added Membership as its own functional area and created a Member Services View page.  The new view allows your staff to easily see all aspects of the member in one place.

The first thing you will see on the view is what we call “The Banner”.  The banner shows the level of membership the member has, how much they paid, and the status of the membership.  It will also show the other members, if any, on the membership, how long until they expire with the expiration date, and how long they have been a member.

When you want to view more information about the member, just look further down on the page.  You can view and edit the contact information, see the member’s constituencies, information on the lifetime of their membership, and other memberships they might be a part of.

The page also shows you recent membership transactions so you can see the history of the membership.

Finally, we created a new Enter Memberships Dues Batch to assist with the complexity of membership donations.  For example, you may have a member renewing a membership who may also want to add a make an additional donation with a single check.  They may qualify for a discount or be purchasing the membership as a gift.  How should you enter that in the system?  Before long, you have a stack of checks that all need to be entered in, correctly.  Up until now this process has been a bit of a headache, but with the Enter Memberships Dues Batch, that headache goes away.

The new batch handles all the nuances of a membership transaction, prompting you for the required information and eliminating the unnecessary options. This batch allows for easy review of those payments before you commit them to the database.

As you can see, each section of the form asks a question and as you answer, we default in as much information as possible. You are able to change the defaulted information though. Is this a renewal?  We will put the name of the program, level, term, expiration date, and amount in the form.  If your program doesn’t offer add-ons, the add-on section never appears. If you’re adding a member to a level that allows only one member, you never see anything prompting for additional members, but if the member purchases a dual or a family level, the proper section will appear.

When you are done with a payment, just click the “next payment” button and the current payment moves to the right side of the form. The left side resets so you can enter the next payment. If you notice an error in a payment you already entered, just click the right side of the form and it will reload to the left side so you can edit it.

All this new functionality ultimately lets you manage your membership programs more efficiently.  We understand that one size doesn’t fit all and you shouldn’t have to compromise the way you want to run your membership program.  We want you to have features that not only let you do everything you want with your membership, but also provide features you haven’t even yet considered that will help you take your memberships into the future.

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

Think back to the early 2000s.  Hear the dulcet tones of Dido.  Remember the smell of a George Foreman grill permeating throughout the air.  Recall the visions of Shrek finding solitude, persecution, a donkey, and ultimately love.  Think about the difficulty you had trying to pronounce Chumbawamb…STOP!  You’ve gone too far.

Let’s try a different approach.   Think about the first time you experienced HDTV.  The picture was crisp and the blades of grass showed the splendor that chlorophyll had to offer.  It sounded better, and you were able to see detail that you had never imagined possible through a television.  At the same time, your old CRT television still worked just fine, but now you had seen the possibilities of the future.  Up to that point, ignorance was bliss.

Fast forward to 2012, and replace HDTV with the Blackbaud CRM web-based user experience (Web UI).  Sure the old SmartClient will still work, and in some cases it will still be superior better since not all programming will be available in HD (read: web-based user experience), but the past is past and the future is now.  Besides looking like a giant diamond carrying a million-dollar bill, the Web UI is functionally superior in a number of ways.  Let’s explore a few of these improvements, shall we?

Simplify the experience
You can now access Blackbaud CRM anytime and anywhere, empowering you with the valuable constituent information you need when you need it.  With a redesigned user interface, key feature enhancements, and new role-centers and dashboards tailored to individuals’ use – you’ll find the user experience is dramatically simplified!

Friendlier “Recently accessed” records field

Convenient Search box and Add Record buttons
Fewer clicks lead to happier mice.  Happier mice lead to less cheese.  This blog post is cheesy enough already so we should probably stop there.  In the Web UI, the search screen is front and center (and top), and you now have the ability to create commonly added records to your database from any screen.

These are just three examples of what the Web UI has to offer, but the intent is clear. We’ve asked customers for their help in driving the user experience, and we are excited about the results so far.

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