Where is the Love? January 31, 2007

Sounds so lame, so accusatory....want some crackers with that "whine"?  But here's the rub.

One of GiftWorks' best features is your ability to share your GiftWorks customizations with others.  The Mission Research developers who put GiftWorks together were really thinking that we ALL can do something simple to help those who work, like you...day in and day out, to make our world a better place.

It starts by clicking the Settings button on your GiftWorks screen and selecting Manage Your Database.  'Bout midway down that page is the entry "Share your GiftWorks Customizations with Other Nonprofits".  Clicking that link allows you to share with these three choices:  Create the customization data document and place in on your computer, create document and email to a friend, or create document and send it to Mission Research.  The customization document is a standard Giftworks data file, with all your donor and donation data stripped clean out.  Other stuff stays, like your fund and account set up, your Honoraria and Memorials, groups, and custom fields and associated drop-down lists.

I learned today that no one had ever sent us their customizations to post.  I was totally dismayed.

Our intent was to feature these "samples" on our website so people could download the documents, open them with their GiftWorks, and see some great examples of the kind of customizations that experienced users have developed.  This could be a wonderful gift to small organizations, folks new to GiftWorks, folks new to fundraising, as well as CEO's and board members looking for better ways to manage critical relationships and move missions forward.  Think of what it might mean for a housing agency to share its customizations with other housing organizations or, alternatively, for a lead organization to share its preferred codings with its member organizations.  The possibilities are limited only by our imagination.

I've already shared my training database with many customers who really needed some help getting more from GiftWorks.  It was totally painless.  In fact, it felt really good to help others gain from my experience.  You too can join this "giving club". 

Lets show them the love....