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Version 2013 Of Sage Grant Management Is Here

April 30, 2013 by Sage Nonprofit

I’m pleased to announce that Version 2013 of Sage Grant Management is available.  Version 2013 contains a great deal of improved functionality and additional enhancements designed by users and industry experts. Our goals with these improvements are to allow your team to work together, make sure you have visibility into the grant process, and to increase integrations with Sage 100 Fund Accounting.

Some of the new features include:

“Ticklers” to help you and your team, stay on time and accountable.  Send milestones, tasks, and events to your primary calendar.  Assign ownership & define custom grant team roles.

GM2013Reminders

There are a number of new reports available that will enable you to report milestones by grant, funder history and grant status.  Below is an example of the Milestone Detail Report.

GM2013MilestoneDetail

We’ve made enhancements to help you easily and quickly access information - saving you time.  Check out our advanced search for grants.  View funding organization details or program funding details from within a grant.

More importantly we have enhanced the integration with Sage 100 Fund Accounting, providing your even more financial visibility.  You can …

  • Export revenues and expenditures to Excel or PDF.
  • Create custom GL categories.
  • Flag confidential GL categories to hide detail.
  • Distinguish encumbrances from expenditures when reviewing revenues & expenses for grants and programs.

GM2013FnclVisibility

Sage Grant Management is now easier to use.  Configure user preferences, track primary contacts & employers and maintain editable fields.

GM2013Dashboard

Want to learn more or have questions? Check out one of our weekly demos of Grant Management here or enter your email address in the comments and I will follow up with you.

Kathleen_headshot_KDHKathleen Denyer Hall

Associate Product Manager

Posted in Technology | Leave a Comment »

Sustainability In A World of Change

April 26, 2013 by Sage Nonprofit

I was talking with a coworker about this month’s blog topic which is “Sustainability”. There is a lot to say on the topic, but as I got to thinking about it I realized perhaps we really need to think about what sustainability is.

By the Book – relating to, or being a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged for future generations.

From a non-profit perspective, I would say that it means “How do we make sure we can continue our mission forever”. Sounds simple enough. Find out how to run things well and don’t bite off too much at once, but as I continued to think about it I realized that sustainability is much more than that.

Nothing, not life, not the earth even the stars will last forever. In time everything collapses and becomes something else. Most of what we think of as matter was originally forged by stars and scattered throughout the galaxy upon their destruction.

Are organizations any different? Should we be striving to swim against the order of the universe or should we instead ride with it and accept the transformations? History is full of stories of rise and fall, and for a select few, rising again.

Sustainability

Sustainability is more than making sure we can do something forever because in time something will bring an end to things as we know them. When we think of sustainability, we must also think about transformation and what we become after the change. The world does not sit still; challenges, opportunities and problems we face today could not even have been conceived a century ago. Sustainability means looking forward into the near and intermediate future and having a plan of what to become in that future, and in some cases adapting to a sudden and complete change that happens today.

Sustainability is more than careful use of a resource so that you still have some for tomorrow. It also means recognizing and preparing for what you can do with that resource when (not if) tomorrow becomes a very different place.

DSC_5179Tom Tweedel
Sr. Customer Support Analyst

Posted in Nonprofit Insights, Strategy | Tagged , , | Leave a Comment »

Quick And Painless Visuals For Your Nonprofit- Part 1

April 24, 2013 by Sage Nonprofit

“Visual Storytelling” seems to be the new buzzword floating around nonprofit blogs and conferences around the globe. Social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest are a fantastic way to share your organization’s story, and it has become clear that pictures and videos generate the most traffic.  Sharing visuals on social media communicates your mission to your followers and is more likely to be liked, shared, retweeted, and pinned, therefore, spreading your mission to an even wider audience.

So how do you go about doing that when you just got handed the task of doing the “social media stuff” for your organization? There’s good news; you don’t have to be a graphic designer or even have a lot of time to create awesome visual content.  You just need the right, easy-to-use tools!

In part one, we are going to focus on pictures and graphics.  We’ll get to video in part two.

Here are three FREE user-friendly tools that will make creating eye-catching visual content quick and painless.

Happy-Earth-Day

Made using Quozio

Quozio is great for nonprofits that may not have much photo content to share, but who still want the benefit of sharing visuals on social media. Quozio takes your text, whether it’s statistics, quotes, or a call to action, and puts it on a photo or a basic color background.  Now, this is a very basic tool that is not very customizable, but it is extremely easy to use and gets the job done quickly.  You can share directly to social media or right click your image and save it to your computer. Quozio even has a bonus feature called a bookmarklet that allows you to highlight text on any website and quote it.  http://quozio.com/ Skill level: beginner

catstare2

Created with Pic Monkey

Pic Monkey is a wonderful online tool for uploading and editing your own photos. You can perform simple edits like cropping, re-sizing  adjusting the color, and so on, as well as adding text, effects, overlays, shapes, and much more.  You can even create a collage of several pictures.  Pic monkey is free to use, and when you’re finished editing you can save your photos to your computer or share them on social media directly from the site.  There are additional features available to those that register and pay for membership, but this is not required for basic use. Be sure to check out the Pic Monkey blog for some great tips to take your creations to the next level. http://www.picmonkey.com/ Skill Level: beginner to intermediate

Easelly allows you to create your very own infographics easily (get it?).  Alright joking aside, we all know that infographics are all the rage right now.  They are a great way to share statistics and other information with your audience visually.  Easelly simplifies the process of creating infographics so that you don’t have to be a graphic designer to get great results. You will have to create a free account in order to save, but you will be able to keep all of your creations within your account.  Then just choose a “vheme” (visual theme), drag and drop it onto your canvas, add/change the graphics and text to meet your needs, and save.  Everything is customizable.  Watch the video clip below and see for yourself. http://www.easel.ly/ Skill Level: intermediate to advanced

Quick Tips:

*Save your creations to your computer and then upload photos to social media, rather than sharing them directly from the online tools. This will ensure that you are sharing full size images rather than a thumbnail with a link.

*Check out this website for free stock photos that don’t require attribution as long as you alter the photo in some way. Just be sure you click on Free Photos at the top of the page. http://www.morguefile.com/archive

So what are you waiting for?! Go try out at least one of these tools and start sharing your shiny new visual content right now!

Update: Click here to read Part 2 of this series

405057_10151103505056978_934381897_n

Leslie Ziegler

Social Media Specialist

 

Posted in Social Media, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Drinking From The Technology Fire Hose At “Drupal Day”

April 18, 2013 by Sage Nonprofit

As a first time attendee of NTC (NTEN’s Nonprofit Technology Conference & Science Fair), I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect from this well-attended conference that caters to the more technical and geeky side of the nonprofit industry.  NTC 2013 certainly didn’t disappoint as technology leaders from across the country, including several nonprofit software, email, online fundraising, web design, and other technology providers, were in attendance at the popular Science Fair portion of the show. Similarly, the breakout sessions were packed with attendees eager to hear about the latest technology trends in the nonprofit sector from industry experts from all over the world.  One session in particular occupied the majority of Day 1 and concentrated specifically on all things Drupal. “Drupal Day” provided several breakout sessions related to what may arguably be the most popular website content management system (CMS) currently available for organizations looking for a robust, flexible and highly configurable open source solution. Image

As a geeky web professional, I was particularly interested in these discussions for both professional and personal reasons. From a professional standpoint, I am always curious about the latest trends or developments in every facet of the web.  Although, as with any busy professional, it’s often difficult to find time to read every industry article or blog that we run across, so having a chance to listen to several Drupal experts in one place was especially exciting.  Discussions included everything from a basic introduction to Drupal 7 (Drupal 8 is scheduled to release this summer) to more in-depth technical discussions regarding integration of contact relationship management (CRM) systems into your Drupal platform. That particular session maxed-out my understanding of both types of systems, but was a fantastic learning experience as I’m sure it was for many others in attendance, as well.

From a personal point of view, I had selfish reasons for attending “Drupal Day” since our organization will be developing its new website utilizing the Drupal 7 CMS platform. I’ve had the good fortune to work with many types of content management systems, but admittedly haven’t had the opportunity to work with Drupal since v5. From everything that I’ve read and learned about Drupal 7 at this conference, it is light years ahead of previous versions, so I may have a bit of a learning curve, but it should prove to be exciting nonetheless.  One key aspect about Drupal that was emphasized throughout these discussions was the extremely involved and helpful online Drupal community. Since Drupal is an open source solution, it has hundreds of contributors and developers that are continually refining and improving the system, modules, plug-ins, etc.

In addition to the online community, there are regional groups of Drupal users, contributors, developers, and supporters that meet on a regular basis to share learnings, hash-out issues, or discuss recent successes. Drupal MeetUps, as they are commonly called, are located all over the world, and there is probably one in a city near you. If you are interested in locating a Drupal MeetUp group or just learning more about Drupal, I would encourage you to visit www.drupal.org to find out if this popular, well-supported content management system is right for your organization.

If diving head first into Drupal and developing your own cutting edge, highly responsive website sounds like a bit too much for you, not to worry. There are many reputable firms that specialize in building Drupal sites that will work with you, no matter what your budget, to help build a website that meets your organization’s needs as online users and donors continue to become more social, interactive and highly mobile.

I’m already looking forward to attending NTC next year to see where the latest technology trends will lead us. Advances in technology are occurring every day and the nonprofit sector will undoubtedly need to evolve and grow with these changes in order to meet the needs of its constituents. Conferences, such as NTC, provide a unique opportunity for nonprofit organizations to get a glimpse into the latest technology trends to help them achieve their goals.

Image

Dan Gonzalez

Web Manager

Posted in Technology | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Dan Pallotta: The Uncharitable Double Standard

April 18, 2013 by Sage Nonprofit

Recently I have had the pleasure of watching Dan Pallotta speak on his ideas around how we must change our expectations and controls around the business of bringing about social change and good. I got to see the TED talk as well as see him in person as a keynote speaker at #13NTC, the annual conference of NTEN (Nonprofit Technology Network). http://www.nten.org/

If you haven’t seen Dan’s TED talk, stop reading this now and take the time to watch his talk. I would much rather you saw this first hand than rely on a poor summary from me.

Impressive speaker isn’t he? I was very impressed with both his ideas and the facts that back up his message. Expect to see Dan in front of congress at some point… But let’s get to Dan’s message.

The existence of our organizations at a high level is to carry on the business of social change and good. In essence, we exist to “make the world a better place”. This is our product. Realization and delivery of this product is arguably more challenging and complicated than many for profit businesses. We ask donors to part with their money in return for the feeling of having made a difference.

Yet for all the complexity and difficulty of delivery, we restrict the tools that nonprofit entities are allowed to use. Many of Dan’s objections to our current system revolve around how we think of overhead and how we measure effectiveness. We all refer to non-program spend as “overhead” or “administrative costs”. Are they really? Dan does a great job of pointing out just how wrong our ideas are here.

In the for profit business world, we are fond of saying that it “takes money to make money”. We look for and pay for good leaders, we advertise, and we invest in innovative risks that might not pan out. It is part of how we win in the private sector.  We demand growth and results and offer rewards to those that make it happen.

However we have been taught that these expenditures are wasteful when it comes to nonprofits. The measure we’ve been taught to pay attention to is maximizing “program spend” and minimizing “administrative overhead”. Why wouldn’t we want to hire exemplary leaders that are capable of really impressive and disruptive results? Why wouldn’t we want to create awareness and “sales” of our product through high quality advertising? Why is it ok to sell potato chips in this fashion, but not fund providing clean water in developing countries?

If we are looking to solve hard problems like eradicating AIDS or Breast Cancer, why would we limit the quality of tools that people may use to make that happen? Why don’t we want our best leaders working directly on it? Why not our best advertising firms? Our best software engineers, technologists, and speakers? Why do we reserve that talent for “for profit” pursuits? Why do we make this talent choose between what is good for them personally and their family and causes we all know are globally and temporally important? Do we just seek the “good feeling” of having donated to a compelling cause, or do we truly want to see results toward the goals? Our current framework of measurement does not incent the behavior we say we would like to see, nor the results we desire.

Yes, Dan has me a bit fired up. Through listening to him, I too believe a change is needed. I hope you’ve found him inspirational. He’s not just talking though; he’s starting up his own organization to help drive this change. You can read about it here. http://charitydefensecouncil.org/ . You can also follow Dan on twitter @danpallota.

Grant_Howe

Grant Howe

VP of Research and Development

Posted in Nonprofit Insights | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Would You Fail The Marshmallow Test?

April 8, 2013 by Sage Nonprofit

This year’s SXSW Interactive conference (or what I prefer to call the Skinny Jeans Conclave) boasted some big name speakers and the largest crowd to date (almost 27K people).  My favorite session was “Fools Fear Failure – Designing Better Ways to Fail” featuring a panel of consultants, academics and software designers sharing their experiences of failure in the social sector.  Gearing up for my failure panel with Beth Kanter at NTEN’s Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTC), I wanted to hear these panelists’ take on how to fail informatively.

One of the panelists shared an interesting team building experiment where teams of four are given 20 pieces of raw spaghetti, one yard of tape, one yard of string and a marshmallow.  They were given 20 minutes and were instructed to build a structure as tall as possible with the jumbo marshmallow sitting on top. This experiment was conducted over seventy times with several different types of teams.

The team that consistently performed the worst?  Recent MBA graduates. They had been trained and taught to approach a problem in a very systematic way – pick a leader, brainstorm options, pick the best plan, execute the plan.  The problem was when they executed the plan few anticipated the weight of the marshmallow and as the clock ran down the spaghetti structures keeled over and there wasn’t enough time to rebuild.

Guess who did consistently better?  Recent graduates… of kindergarten.  Why did kindergarten graduates do better than the MBAs?  Well for one, they didn’t waste time picking a leader.  But more importantly they jumped right in and started building.  They would build, fail and refine.  By testing the marshmallow on top of the structure with prototypes they were able learn what worked and what didn’t work fast. Some would watch their process and think it unorganized and chaotic. But they learned from their failed structures with enough time to build something taller and stronger. The kindergartners didn’t fear failure, they subconsciously embraced it as a path to the end goal.  Watch the original TED talk about the marshmallow test here: http://marshmallowchallenge.com/TED_Talk.html.

Failure doesn’t have to be another “F-word”.  Failure is best when it is synonymous with learning and worst when it is repeated. Does your nonprofits act more like an MBA or kindergartner graduate?

Interested? Then join me at the NTC plenary Placing Little Bets:  Failing Informatively for the Nonprofit Technology Sector #13NTCbets for a lively discussion about how nonprofits, funders and vendors alike should not just celebrate failures but purposefully design projects to fail in order to maximize our learning.  Registration is now closed for NTC, but you can still register for the online or virtual conference here: http://www.nten.org/ntc/online

Erin ShyErin Shy
Sr. Director Product Development

Posted in Nonprofit Insights | Leave a Comment »

Twitter for Nonprofits 101

April 3, 2013 by Sage Nonprofit

So you’ve finally taken the plunge and started a Twitter account for your nonprofit org… now what?  Like you, I was apprehensive about putting messages out in the Twitter-verse (as some call it) and looking like an idiot if I did something wrong.  I didn’t understand #hashtags, @symbols, followers, or any of it really.  All I knew is that everyone and their moms are on Twitter, and I needed to be a part of it.  Twitter is undeniably a great way to connect with your supporters and spread your mission, so rest assured you have made the right decision.  To help you get your feet wet I’ve put together a few basics to get you started on Twitter.

twitterhatch

What’s a ‘Tweet’ anyway?

Quite simply, a tweet is just a message you want to share on Twitter just like your Facebook status update.  The main difference is that on Twitter, you can only use 140 characters (that includes spaces, names, hyperli

nks, and punctuation), so sometimes you have to get crafty with abbreviations and paraphrasing. More on shortening hyperlinks later.

It should also be noted that, unlike your Facebook posts, all your tweets can be seen/searched by everyone on Twitter… not just your followers.  That is, of course, unless you set your account to private, but since you are trying to spread your mission it’s best to keep it public.

So what are followers?

They are the Twitter users that are interested in what you have to say and share.  Once you start tweeting people who like what you have to say and want to keep up to date on your tweets can click ‘follow’ to add you to their stream.  Unlike Facebook, this does not automatically add them to your stream.  You have the choice to follow them back, or not.

What are those little symbols for?

Okay, so this confused the heck out of me at first too, but it’s actually pretty straightforward.

# This is a hashtag that is used for “trending” topics.  So, for example, if you are tweeting about homelessness you can simply add the hashtag in front of the word homeless to add your tweet to the topic.

Front Steps is holding a fundraiser to help the #homeless in the city of Austin.

The #hashtag can be used anywhere within the text of your tweet.

@username is used to call out other twitter users in your post.

When used at the very beginning of your tweet, the post is considered a reply.  This means it will only show up on your profile and that of the user you call out, as well as anyone who is following both of you.

@bridgetbrandt Thanks for the great tips at the CASE conference yesterday!

When used within the text of your tweet, it is considered a mention and is comparable to tagging someone in Facebook. Everyone following you can see it.

I learned so much from @bridgetbrandt during her session at the CASE conference!

What does RT mean?

RT stands for Re-Tweet.  This is used when someone you are following posts something that you want to share with the rest of your followers, and of course you want to give them credit by calling them out.

Please note that if you want your posts to be re-tweetable then you should take that into consideration when composing your tweets.  Although the maximum number of characters is 140, it’s a good idea to keep it around 120 to allow for those extra characters that will be added when someone re-tweets your post.

RT @sagenonprofit Front Steps is holding a fundraiser to help the #homeless in the city of Austin.

How do I include hyperlinks when they are sooo long and I have limited characters?!

If you want to include a hyperlink to another site (and you probably should), you’ll have to shorten the link.  You can use Twitter’s built in link shortening feature or bit.ly to reduce the links to a mere 20 characters, which will leave you with about 100 characters to describe the link and get folks to follow it (just remember to leave about 20 character free for re-tweets). So your hyperlink goes from this…

http://inter.viewcentral.com/events/cust/search_results.aspx?cat1_id=40&postingForm=default.aspx&cid=best&pid=2&lid=1&cart_currency_code=&payment_type=&orderby_location=&orderby_date=&newRegistration=&bundle_location_group=&errmsg=&x=26&y=18

To this…

http://bit.ly/14yH0YK

Pretty cool, right?

Well that about sums it up for the Twitter basics.  Of course, there are always more tips and tricks to learn as you become a more avid Twitter user, but this should get you off to a good start and the rest you’ll just pick up along the way.    If you are still a bit apprehensive, don’t worry too much.  The truth is when you first start using Twitter you don’t really have a large following, so just give it a try and you’ll get the hang of it.  Everyone makes mistakes at first, so it’s not a big deal.  Feel free to snoop other twitter users and see how they do it until you feel more comfortable.  Just keep focused on your mission, engage with your audience, and you’ll build your following in no time.

405057_10151103505056978_934381897_nLeslie Ziegler
Marketing Coordinator
Sage Nonprofit

Posted in Social Media | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments »

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