Category

Nonprofit Tech

Jun 06
0

Free Puppies and Nonprofits

By | Nonprofit Tech

My daughter proudly called me recently to tell me how she had rescued a dog from a shelter.  “It was a free puppy!” she exclaimed.   After she had to buy a bed, a leash, some treats, dog food and pay for innoculations, she began thinking that “free” puppy was getting pretty expensive.

When it comes to technology, nonprofits should be wary of “free” donations of computers.  Even when computers come “refurbished”, they often have old operating systems, insufficient memory and hard disks prone to failure.  So, the nonprofit winds up spending quite a bit of money to get them properly provisioned.

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May 24
0

Summer ’13 Salesforce.com Release Notification

By | CRM & Salesforce, Information Technology, Nonprofit Tech

501Partners would like to advise its clients using the Salesforce.com platform that Salesforce will be releasing its Summer 2013 upgrade over the next couple weeks. Users of Salesforce.com do not need to do anything to manage this upgrade except to note that is is occuring. Your organization’s specific 5 minute upgrade window can be found by visiting trust.salesforce.com.

During the five minute upgrade window, clients will not be able to access their Salesforce.com. Once the upgrade is complete, your organization will be on the new release and no further action is required.

If you have specific questions regarding this upgrade, we recommend you speak with your 501Partners representative.

At salesforce.com, customer success is our top priority. We work hard to deliver optimal value in each of our releases to you and your users. The Summer ’13 release is quickly approaching and we want to ensure you have the information you need to best prepare.

May 09
0

Google Maps and Your Nonprofit’s Data

By | 501Partners News, CRM & Salesforce, Information Technology, Nonprofit Tech

Please join Jenn Taylor, 501Partners’ COO as she leads a hands-on discussion and training on the use of Google Maps to map your nonprofit’s data.

The event is being hosted by HandsOn Tech Boston on Tuesday, May 14, 2013 from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM (EDT) in Cambridge, MA. To register, please click here.

For a preview of the process, you can visit page on Success Stories or directly at this link.

Apr 04
0

Salesforce.com to end Google AdWords support

By | CRM & Salesforce, Information Technology, Nonprofit Tech

501Partners would like to inform its clients on the Salesforce.com platform that technical support for integrated Google AdWords will be ending on May 1, 2013. If you are using AdWords, you will no longer have new data added to leads and opportunities nor will you be able to use the AdWords integrated application

Existing data, views, dashboards and reports will still contain previously collected data and will remain accessible to users. While 501Partners does not currently recommend a replacement solution (although we are researching the best solution for our clients), Salesforce.com is recommending the following partner solutions:

Please note that 501Partners and Salesforce.com are not affiliated with any of these third party solutions.  For more information from Salesforce.com on this topic, please click this link.

Mar 15
0

Salesforce to Update Its Login Identity Confirmation Program

By | CRM & Salesforce, Information Technology, Nonprofit Tech

On March 6, 2013, Salesforce.com began a phased rollout that changes their Identity Confirmation in an effort to increase its overall security and protection of user accounts. This change will ultimately impact all of 501Partners’ clients that are on the Salesforce.com platform. Salesforce will replace email Identity Confirmation with SMS Identity Confirmation for all verified mobile users. This update safeguards Salesforce.com customers by adding an extra layer of protection when verifying a system login from an unknown source. Once the change is activated, verified mobile users will only receive an SMS Identity Confirmation message. Users without mobile phones will still have the option to use email identity confirmation.

What do you need to do? The folks at Salesforce will automatically enable this change on the auto-activation date listed in the Critical Update Console of your account, which is found on the Setup page under the “Critical Update” section in the left-hand navigation. However, Salesforce strongly encourages you to enable this update prior to the auto-activation date by clicking the “Activate” button in the Critical Update Console of your Salesforce.

To learn more, please visit the Salesforce FAQ page on this change. If you would like 501Partners to assist you with this change please contact us at info@501Partners.com.

Jan 17
0

501Partners Recommends That You Disable Java

By | Information Technology, Nonprofit Tech

JavaLast week the Department of Homeland Security’s Computer Emergency Readiness Team issued an advisory recommending users disable Java on their computers. The advisory cited a flaw that could allow unauthorized attacks on users’ systems.

Yesterday, Oracle released an update designed to close this security hole, however DHS still recommends that you disable Java on all of your browsers.

501Partners advises its clients to follow this advice, and to only enable Java for specific sessions on your browser where the site is trusted and Java is required. Follow this link to learn how to disable Java on your browser.

Aug 30
0

Raise Money Online – NOW!

By | Donor Database, Nonprofit Tech
Boyce-Beatboxing1

Dave Boyce getting the Social Media for Nonprofits crowd bouncing to the beat

At a recent Social Media for Nonprofits seminar, I learned how small nonprofits across the world are raising millions of dollars.  In fact, according to Fundly CEO Dave Boyce, online fundraising totaled $30 billion last year and will grow an additional $10 billion this year.  Fundly has raised approximately $280 million for nonprofits across 25,000 campaigns.

So, who gets online donations?  “People who ask for it,” according to Boyce.  He suggests a  simple step-by-step approach.

  1. Launch.   Don’t aim for perfection and you really don’t learn anything until you launch.
  2. Choose an achievable amount.  Donors like to hit goals.
  3. Be specific. Tell donors the exact purpose for the money, the amount needed and the time frame (< 3 months).
  4. Set giving levels such as “feed a family for a day” or “feed a family for a month”.
  5. Share your story – what compels donors to give through you?
  6. Launch with email blasts, Tweets, Facebook postings, etc.
  7. Keep communicating:  email weekly – just 2-4 lines; post to Facebook daily; Twitter a lot.
  8. Recruit help – board members, volunteers, partners, celebrity endorsers and ask them to ask their followers to participate.
  9. Celebrate!  Let your followers and supporters know when you get your first donation, when you reach $1,000. etc.  The point is to celebrate early and often.

Dave saved the best for last when he regaled the crowd with a stirring Beatbox.  I wish I had set my iPad to video!