What’s the most important thing about your database? The data! If your data smells a bit off going into the database (data entry), chances are it will reek on its way out (reporting). So, how do you avoid turning your Raiser’s Edge database into a garbage dump?

Keep your addresses CLEAN and reduce the amount of returned mail! Use AddressAccelerator (and follow up with any addresses that won’t validate), go through your returned mail to update address records, and purchase AddressFinder (or a similar NCOA service) to keep in contact with your donors.

1. Garbage In – Garbage Out: Sparkling clean data entry is your first line of defense. Make users understand how the data they input directly affects the quality of your organization’s mailings and ultimately, the success of your mission.

2. Don’t be afraid to audit: Create a Query Folder called “Audits” and use it to look for gift and constituent data entry errors. For example, you may want to create a constituent query looking for all constituents with a blank title or a gift query that asks for all gift dates greater than today. You’ll be able to identify users that make recurring mistakes and require retraining, or you might identify an accounting error before it becomes a major issue.

Fear not! Run your audit queries daily, weekly, and/or monthly.

3. You are not alone!: We’ve all been there at some point in our Raiser’s Edge career.  Your Development Director asks you with all of your Raiser’s Edge knowledge to capture specific information for her next major appeal. You’re sure you can capture the information requested, but a little reassurance could go a long way. Where can you turn? User groups! Search Blackbaud’s Knowledgebase and forums, LinkedIn and Facebook groups, and blackbus.org to connect with other Blackbaud and Raiser’s Edge professionals.  Be polite and give plenty of background with your question. You are not alone!

Join an online user group. It’s free!

Rochelle Sweeney is the winner of our guest blogging contest. Thank you to everyone who entered, and congratulations to Rochelle! In the coming weeks we’ll share some of the best insights from our other contestants.

 Rochelle Sweeney lives and works in the Capital region of New York. She is the Raiser’s Edge (and Blackbaud NetCommunity!) database administrator for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany, and she recently earned her Raiser’s Edge Associate certification. (Stay tuned for information about Blackbaud’s certification program.) She loves sharing and implementing new technology to improve how her office functions and relates to donors! When she’s not running queries or modifying templates, she can be found reading, laughing at something silly on the Internet, or volunteering with her favorite local animal rescue, Cat Tales Rescue.

We’re always encouraging our Altru users to talk to each other, so we’re giving you another resource to make it happen: Skype chats. We started experimenting with these back in March and have had some great conversations among our membership, development, and visitor services group. We’ve heard you guys would like to talk to similar orgs, similar roles – and on specific topics. So we’ve created a schedule of chats. You are welcome to any and/or all of them. Come to what interests you. The segments don’t cover everyone, so if you work for a science center and think that the children’s museum chat would be helpful for you, please come.

May 29 – Everyone (Your chance to check out chat. Everyone is invited. Bring any type questions.)

June 5 – Children’s Museums

June 12 – Membership (Contribution-based, Renewal Letters, Member Benefits & Tracking)

June 19 – Art Museums

June 26 – Events (Fundraising Events, Summer Camps)

July 3 – OFF

July 10 – Arboretums, Gardens, & Sculpture Centers

July 17 – Fundraising (Donor Prospects)

July 24 – Daily Sales (Ticketing, Refunds, Reporting)

All chats are on Wednesdays, 1:00 – 2:00 pm ET. The items in parenthesis are the topics that users have requested we chat about. You guys are leading these chats – so come with your questions and your advice. Periodically, we may have an Altru analyst, lead, or consultant on the chat – to speak directly to Altru functionality – but this isn’t intended to be a support channel; it’s a place to exchange ideas with other organizations.

What you’ll need: Skype. That’s it. No mic or camera. These are basically IM sessions – like our chat support resource. You’ll be typing; not talking. So for those of you who work in a loud office or in a cubicle; these are ideal. Here’s a preview of how the chats look:

Just download Skype and add me – Kristen.Gastaldo – as a contact. I’ll put you in our Altru group. All you need to do to join a chat is log on, and click that group. There’s a call feature, but you don’t need it. Just log on and chat!

We hope you guys will find these beneficial. You can send me more topics you’d like covered … or more groups. Or if Wed doesn’t work for you, let me know. We can play with the schedule as well.

Not into chat, but still want to talk? Let me know. We hosted a phone call with our financial crowd and we’re open to hosting those for any group that prefers. Just email me or let me know in the community.

Imagine your children’s museum flooded with laughter, music, and … beer. Yes, I said beer. Sounds crazy, right?

Not to the Terry Lee Wells Nevada Discovery Museum. Starting in August 2012, The Discovery, a hands on science center, started offering adults-only fun with their Social Science event. Over 300 patrons came to “play like a kid again” with science demos and art projects – while enjoying a live DJ, gourmet dining options, and adult beverages.

I reached out to Kestra Bronneke, Membership & Special Event Coordinator for The Discovery, to get the scoop on offering their museum to adults. She’s listed their reasons to cater events to adults, and the benefits they saw:

Here are the top 3 reasons we decided to offer adult-only events:

1. We have heard a lot of comments within the community from visitors, friends of staff and through the grapevine, that the reason a lot of people hadn’t checked us out yet was because they didn’t have kids. We wanted to create an environment that was inclusive for adults and inspired them to also create and explore.
2. This helps us to solidify our position as a vital center in the community. It is also an avenue to drive future memberships from those people attending that don’t have children yet, but will in the future.
3. If we engage adults in our community with programming and events, they become more invested in our future. Adults that attend often end up bringing their children here (or nieces/nephews/grandkids) and by informing them about what we offer, some even become donors.

Benefits:

1. It solidifies us as a community center.
2. It helps us reach a segment that we normally wouldn’t have access to.
3. It serves as a revenue driver.
4. It allows adults to come to The Discovery and HAVE FUN!!

Connect with Kestra on the community and keep up with us on Twitter by following @bbsupport; we use the hashtag #bbaltru when we discuss Altru.

An eTapestry user recently asked, “How can I customize my dashboard?”  Well, I thought it was high time to discuss how users can manage and customize their Dashboard page.

First off, what is the dashboard? The dashboard is an area users can find quick access to their calendar, recently viewed accounts, help and tutorials, favorites, and some hard coded reports. This screen is managed per user only.

To customize tiles and layout each user will navigate to the Dashboard, or Home page, by clicking Home in the main menu bar. Scroll to the very bottom of the page and in the bottom right hand corner of the screen click Select Tiles and Layout.

This will bring the user to a screen where they can manage layout of the dashboard  as well as add or remove tiles.

The first selection that can be made is the layout. Users can choose from a variety of column layouts that will display on the Dashboard.  Mark the radial button next to the layout desired and click Save.

The next selection will add or remove tiles seen on the dashboard.

Under My Database, selections can be made to see the My Mission tile. This tile will display the organizational mission and image that has been uploaded into the database.  The next tile that can be selected is My Calendar. The My Calendar tile will display the user calendar only. My Org Calendar will display the organizational calendar. Recently Viewed Accounts will show the accounts that specific user has recently viewed and so on.  You can add as many or as few tiles as you’d like to customize your view.  To remove tiles from the Dashboard, simply navigate back to this screen, unmark the box next to the tile no longer needed, and click Save.

Further down there is an Entertainment section where games can be selected to appear on the dashboard.

Moving on down the screen, Reports can be selected. Repeating the steps taken previously to add tiles, users can mark the box next to the tile desired and save. Chronicle of Philanthropy: Fund Raising and News are tiles that will take users to those sites.

Three tiles can be selected Under Miscellaneous: Web Page, My Organization Website, and RSS Feed.

The Web Page tile can be saved with the URL and title of perhaps a sister site to your org or really any website you would want to have at your fingertips.

The My Organization Website will show the web page saved under the organization account in eTapestry.

The RSS Feed tile can be saved with URL as an RSS feed on the dashboard.

Once a layout and tile selections have been made do not forget to save those changes. Once selections are saved the user will be directed back to the Dashboard to view those changes. Tune in next week for more on managing those tiles on the Dashboard.

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

A couple big things first – the miniseries has kicked off again, covering Membership this time. Be sure to check out the schedule and register for the classes that interest you. If you can’t make the times, no worries – we’ll be recording. Second – we’re kicking off live chats. We hosted an “all hands” chat yesterday and enjoyed great conversation among Altru users, discussing reports versus query and the best way to use interactions. Learn how to get involved in the update below:

Membership Miniseries

Get Involved in our Altru User Chat Sessions

Here’s what you missed this week in the community:

QUESTIONS

Web forms error message unrecognized email address after registering

Admissions staff unable to apply payment to advance sales orders – why not?

Refunding Sales Order Taken Via Web Forms

Edit Membership Program

Constituent Updates/Changes Report

Facility Rental Third Party Payments

Is there a way to mark a sent communication (as part of an appeal) on constituent records without actually sending them an email?

Is anyone else having trouble running reports tonight?

IDEAS

Have a Lookup ID field on the Merge Two Constituents dialog box

Request to have country display on e-alerts

Let us Copy and Paste Without Altru formating

PROBLEMS

missing marital status field when adding new constituent within a record

I can’t believe we are almost at the halfway point for 2013! While some organizations have already seen this year’s event come and go, others are still heavy in preparation. Whether you are concentrating on next year’s event or just beginning to think about your event for later this year, there is one important question everyone should be asking:  Are we utilizing the new Essentials template for Friends Asking Friends?

The Essentials template was released August 2012 and is available to each Blackbaud Sphere client. So how do you know if you are utilizing this great new addition to Friends Asking Friends? It’s simple! Hover over the name of your Friends asking Friends event in Blackbaud Sphere, and click Properties. You will see two radio buttons, indicating which template you are currently using.

If the event is using the Standard Design Template, then your organization has not yet switched over to the new Essentials template. And I’d like to make a case on why you should make the switch. The Essentials template provides the following:

• Ability to swap out pictures and logos on the home page without having to know any HTML
• Ability to edit the colors of the background, change font, and create callout buttons and custom menu links with the click of a button
• Custom thermometer that displays the days left until the event, the goal and raised amount, and a Give button
• Social media integration with the organization’s Twitter and Facebook accounts

Gone are the days in which you needed to call upon someone that knows HTML to make changes to your site. But of course, as with any change there are some items to take into consideration prior to making the switch:

• When switching your site from Standard to Essentials, all design elements are lost. This includes the colors, logos, pictures and text on the home page of the event. The entire design must be recreated using the Essentials template.
• Blackbaud recommends that you first create a copy of your original site, and then change the copy to use the Essentials design. That way, you will retain any customization in the original site in case you need to reference it later.

Want to know even more about duplicating an event? Download a PDF that contains step by step instructions on how to duplicate your event and make the switch. We have also included a video that showcases the Friends Asking Friends Essentials design and release information from August 2012.

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 info.

In my last post, Backstage Pass to the Advance Deposit, we reviewed the working parts of the Advance Deposit. In this post, I’d like to review the set up and use of Application Restrictions.

Application Restrictions are a way to specify that specific payments, credits, advance deposit credits, or financial aid credits apply to a specific billing item. For example, when it’s time to generate the Advance Deposit credit for the year, most schools want the credit to go against a specific tuition charge instead of a technology fee or lunch charge.

To create the Application Restriction, go to Configuration, Application Restrictions, and click New Restriction.  Enter the ID, description, and dates the item can be used.  Then select a billing cycle or the valid dates for the item.  If you select a date range, the payment or credit is applied to payments/credits that fall within the specified date range. Select the Item type and the specific billing item(s) for the items that should be applied for when the restrictions should be used.

In my example below, I’m creating a specific Application Restriction so that my Advance Deposit credit goes against my tuition charge.

Once the Application Restriction is created, it needs to be added to the Advance Deposit item in Products and Billing Items.

Note: The Restriction should be added to the Advance Deposits in Products and Billing Items prior to using the billing item on records. Adding the Restriction after the Advance Deposits are already added to records will not update the transactions on the records.

To see how the Application Restrictions work, test it out on a record in the database before adding all of the Advance Deposits to student records.

Have a question or comment? Let me know in the comments below.

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

Washington Township School Foundation is one the leading school foundations in Indiana. Established in 1985 the foundation has awarded nearly $3.6 million to benefit every student and teacher in the district. When faced with the decision of how to volunteer my time for Blackbaud’s Day of Caring, there was no hesitation when it comes to Washington Township School Foundation. The atmosphere the foundation exudes cannot be beat. Friendly faces, enthusiastic attitudes and just a general excitement and passion for the work they do only scratch the surface.

When we walk in, Starbucks coffee in hand, Jennifer Sanner and Ginny Hacker turn from viewing the same computer screen and greet us warmly. “Hello!” the two burst in unison. “We have you all set up”.

Jennifer smiles and gestures to a set of chairs strategically placed to the right and the left of her computer. We were in for fun day chock-full of strategies for organizing and brainstorming what to clean up. Like many organizations Jennifer inherited the eTapestry database from her predecessor 8 years ago in what she lovingly refers to as its “infant stage”. Fast forward 8 years and the foundation and database have grown immensely and it was time to wrestle with cleaning it up.

Our time was filled with laughter, serious contemplating, and even a few happy tears. This foundation is truly blessed to have such a gifted and brilliant duo as Ginny and Jennifer.

To learn more and engage with Washington Township School Foundation, visit their website, www.wtsfoundation.org, or follow them on Twitter, @WTSFoundation.

That’s right! Our latest tutorial videos are now available on YouTube for your viewing pleasure. These videos include: How to install Citrix, How to add new Hosting accounts, How to reset user passwords, How to use the files folder and many more!

The videos are easily searchable online. If you would like to view them all, please visit our Blackbaud Hosting Services playlist! We will continue to add new videos in the future for your convenience. Be sure to check out our other videos by going to our Blackbaud Support Channel.

Have you found any Hosting Knowledgebase solutions difficult to follow? Request a video in the comments below!

If you have questions or need assistance with the Hosted environment, please create a case, select your product, and choose the Blackbaud Application Hosting topic or chat with our Hosting Support team.

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

There is still time for you to enter to win a gift card or a free registration to BBCON 2013. Just run The Giving Score and follow these instructions.

If you are looking for in-depth Giving Score training, we have 2 curriculums available through Training Central. Just search for giving score.

If you are familiar with The Raiser’s Edge 7.92 and want to learn more about The Giving Score, the Master The Giving Score curriculum may be just what you need. Here’s an overview:

New to the Giving Score? Trying to decide if you want to give it a shot? Maybe you’ve scored your data and you don’t know what to do next. In this curriculum, we’ll introduce you to The Giving Score and help you use your Giving Scores to focus your fundraising efforts on those constituents who are most likely to give. You’ll learn to score your database, adjust scores as you learn more about your constituents, screen prospects for additional wealth data, and build queries to manage your ongoing moves management activities.

If you are new to The Raiser’s Edge 7.92 and need to learn about the entire release, including The Giving Score, you might want to consider The Raiser’s Edge Curriculum: New Features in 7.92. Here’s an overview:

Watch these self-paced online classes and attend these events to learn about the new features in The Raiser’s Edge 7.92. Discover how The Giving Score and WealthPoint can help you segment and manage your constituent base. Also, learn about Giving Score queries, query lists, Giving Score dashboards, and new query features you can use to group and manage constituent information like actions and notes. Scroll to the bottom to request this curriculum!

There is still time to register for the May Giving Score Best Practices Webinar

Throughout the year we offer Giving Score best practice webinars.  The next Giving Score best practice session is scheduled for May 22 at 2:00 p.m. ET and will focus on using WealthPoint with The Giving Score. Register now for a live session.

 
Where can I learn more about The Giving Score?

From inside The Raiser’s Edge 7.92, click the Resource Center button in the upper right corner of your screen and you’ll find a direct link to resources to learn more about The Giving Score.

If you are not yet using The Raiser’s Edge 7.92, The Raiser’s Edge Customer Resource Center is your one-stop-shop for everything you need to prepare for and upgrade to 7.92.

 
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.