1) What are typical Constituent and Gift Attributes that organizations utilize?
Of course every organization is unique and they each have different needs for tracking information with attributes. The key thing to remember about attributes is that they should never be used to track something for which there is already a predetermined place to track that information.
Examples of Constituent Attributes:
Committees
Dietary Preferences
Interests
Giving Club Level
Examples of Gift Attributes:
Gift in Kind Type
Auction Item
Planned Giving
Expected Realization Date
Expected Gift Amount
Realized Gift Amount
Realized Gift ID
Planned Gift Relationship
Vehicle
Planned Gift ID
When creating new Attributes always take into consideration the data type to be used. To ensure accuracy and consistency of data entry, the best case scenario is to use a table whenever possible.
2) After sending out a blast mailing to a group of constituents, under what circumstances should it be tracked as an Appeal an Action or both?
If the mailing you send out is a solicitation mailing – in other words, asking that group of constituents to donate – then it should be tracked as an Appeal. An Action should be used to track any other sort of mailing where you’re not specifically asking for a donation, for example things like event invitations, seasonal greetings and information packages about your organization should all be tracked as Actions.
3) After completing a mass mailing, is it possible to globally add either an Action or an Appeal rather than having to add it manually to each record?
Yes. As much as possible, you should always create mailing lists from within Raiser’s Edge based on a query. Then use that query to create the mail merge and then again within the Admin section to globally add an action or an appeal on the Constituent records. Higher end user rights are required, so this should be considered a task for the database administrator, or at minimum that user that is extremely knowledgeable. When doing a global add or change, it is always a good idea to first test that change on just one record, then review that record to ensure that what was done is what was intended.
4) Is it possible for me to see my assignments, actions and gifts that I am attached to as the solicitor on my home screen in Raiser’s Edge?
Yes. Dashboard panel s can easily be created to display on the home screen that shows the solicitor details. ResolutionsTECH can always assist in creating those dashboard panels – just reach out and let us know!
5) When a gift record is marked as “Anonymous” on the miscellaneous tab, financial reports in Raiser’s Edge show the constituent’s name as “Anonymous”. Is it possible to see the constituent’s name in the report?
Yes. There is a user option that permits individual Raiser’s Edge users to decide whether to display the constituent name, the name as “Anonymous” or the constituent name with an asterisk at the end of the line of the report. That last option is in my opinion the best of both worlds – you will see the constituent name in the report and at the same time you will be able to easily identify those anonymous donors by seeing the asterisk at the end of the line in that report.
Across the top of Raiser’s Edge, note the menu options, File, Edit, View, Go, Favorites, Tools and Help. Click Tools, then from that menu choose User Options. In this area you can control how you personally see things in Raiser’s Edge and it has no impact on how other users see things. Click on the Reports tab, then along the left menu “Gift Preferences”. Note there the drop down menu to format how the constituent name should look on reports when the gift is marked as anonymous.
6) In a query, under the menu option of Tools, then Query Options there is a tab for Advanced Processing and under that tab two optional check boxes:
“Use alternate SQL method for code table fields”
AND
“Use alternate SQL method for multiple attributes”
What does this mean and what do they do?
SQL stands for Structured Query Language, and is the programming language that runs in the background of databases, including Raiser’s Edge.
If within your query you have a large output containing many attributes or many code table fields and you find the query is taking a long time to run using these check-boxes may increase the speed in which your query generates the output.
Sunday, August 3, 2014
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Get the most from your online training sessions!
We do a lot of online training with our RESolutionsTECH clients and over time I have noticed several issues, or hindrances, that sometimes prevent the participants from getting the full, long term benefits from the training. Here I hope to outline some of those so that you can avoid the same pitfalls in any training experience that you and your team participate in.
---Participants coming to the session without the proper background
While obviously the purpose of each session is to train the participants on the given topic, rarely, if ever, should that topic be completely brand new to them. You will always get more from any training session if you have at least a little bit of background and know the minimum basics of the topic being discussed. The given session will always be more relevant, interesting and worthwhile if that basic knowledge is there beforehand. This is especially true with topics like queries and mail merges – if the participants have had a chance to work in those areas, get a sense what those functions do and even experience some of the frustrations people typically have, the training sessions will feel much more relevant, meaningful and useful.
---Completing the topics in a random order
Sometimes it is necessary to jump ahead to a given topic due to urgency. For example, an important mailing needs to go out ASAP, let’s get the mail merge session done first. We are always happy to accommodate special requests like that, however, having said that, there is a logical order, at least for the first few sessions, and participants benefit from following that step-by-step progression.
---Participants not applying the content of the sessions to their daily tasks
A big part of any training is simply to help make your daily work life easier and run smoother. Our goal is to remove the frustration that technology can cause and assist you in performing your daily tasks more efficiently and more accurately. There is, however, an onus on the participants of the session to take what was covered and apply those new concepts and processes to how they perform their day to day responsibilities and tasks. The quicker the content is applied to real world scenarios, the more relevant the material will seem.
---Not taking specific sessions that are uniquely relevant to a given person’s role at the organization
Many of the training sessions that I do are quite generic and would be relevant to anyone in the organization that uses Raiser’s Edge©. There are, however, a few that are tailored to a person’s role. For example, if there is an event manager or a volunteer coordinator at your organization, those very specific sessions are quite valuable for them. It is important to know what is available and if a specific topic is not listed, we are always happy to accommodate special requests and needs – the key point is ensuring that all of your team members have the tools and knowledge they need to effectively complete their daily tasks and responsibilities in the most timely and efficient manner possible. For a brief outline of the typical Raiser’s Edge© sessions that we do, please feel free to reach out to us at support@resolutionstech.com
---Participants not taking away enough from a training session
It is important that the attendees are engaged and interested and some of that responsibility is in the hands of the person conducting the session, but there is also a responsibility that the attendees have as well. Questions should be asked, real world scenarios presented, and an attendee should never leave a session with questions unasked/unanswered or without feeling that they are now ready to apply the information provided in the session to their daily work. The sessions that I do can sometimes be more “conversational” than “lecture” and I always like to encourage the participants to voice questions, present scenarios and offer insights of their own.
---Participants not requesting additional information or follow-ups
After a session is completed the participants are always welcome to reach out to me and ask follow-up questions, review materials, seek assistance and request future training. Training should not be seen as a one-off experience, but rather an on-going relationship between RESolutionsTECH and your team members to ensure everyone is up-to-date, has the skills they require and are fully confident in all they need to accomplish.
At RESolutionsTECH we want you to not only think of us as your technology and Raiser’s Edge© resource, but also your faculty for continual training and upgrading of the skills of your team members. Our role and focus is to assist you and work with you to ensure all of your technology needs are met and that you are completing your tasks in the most time and cost efficient manner possible, and a lot of that is ensuring your team members have all the tools needed as they work with Raiser’s Edge©.
If you are not yet a client of RESolutionsTECH Inc. and you would like to request an online training session or seek more information as to how the sessions work and what is covered, please reach out to us at sales@resolutionstech.com
Thanks.
Peter Lucas
RESolutionsTECH Inc.
P.O. Box 1975
Kingston Ontario
K7L 5J7
Canada
613-539-9830
www.resolutionstech.com
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Raiser’s Edge 7.92 – New Features and Functionalities
Raiser’s Edge 7.92 – New Features and Functionalities
With the latest release of Raiser’s Edge, Blackbaud has introduced a number of very positive changes that will enhance your use of Raiser’s Edge and simplify the daily tasks of your team members.
While a few of the upgrades are found within the Admin/Config areas of Raiser’s Edge, most of the changes will impact the way average users utilize Raiser’s Edge, so let’s review some of the nice changes and additions….
The first change users will probably recognize is enhanced search functionalities when clicking “Open A Constituent” from the Constituent area in Records found along the main left menu bar.
There is now the ability to find a constituent by searching on the email address, which can serve as an excellent unique identifier.
Other new search fields include:
---Middle Name
---Suffix
---Phone number
---And a text box to search on Spouse Name – in the previous version of Raiser’s Edge, this option was merely a check-box, which did not provide the same degree of search capabilities.
Found within this search screen is also a new check-box for “Enhanced Search” which provides the opportunity to search for a constituent based on similar spelling and sounding names to more easily identify potential constituents already in the system regardless of misspellings or typos. Users familiar with the previous version of Raiser’s Edge will notice a more in-depth search is returned on Constituents with similar names and address information.
One of the best new features found in version 7.92 is within the query section. Users now have the functionality to create what are known as “Query Lists”. This allows the user to very easily add or remove one or more specific constituents from any given query without manipulating or changing the original query criteria or results. These query lists can then be saved as a new query from which the user can create exports and mail merges. This will make working with queries – particularly mailing queries – much easier and ensure more accuracy with less manual manipulation required outside of Raiser’s Edge.
Also, in the Export area of Raiser’s Edge, the latest version provides the opportunity to create folders in which to save and sort Exports in a similar fashion to how you can save and sort queries into specific folders. In this way, saved exports are easily identified, located and opened for repeated use.
For those organizations that have the optional Events module installed, Raiser’s Edge has introduced a much easier method of marking people as “Attended” to any given event. Previously, users would generally have to manually update the attended checkbox found within the participant record by opening each individual participant record and marking them as attended one at a time. In this latest version of Raiser’s Edge, users can now mark participants as attended directly from the Participants tab without having to open each individual participant record. This should save your event management team a tremendous amount of time and manual work.
There is a new feature found in Raiser’s Edge version 7.92 called Giving Score through which you can have Blackbaud analyze your data and provide a giving score to your constituents based on their giving history and current wealth. Analyzing the constituents and populating these Giving Scores can also be done “in-house” by your organization.
There is now a giving score menu accessed from the bottom of the Constituent record defaulted to contain the following four options:
VIP
Fan
Long-Shot
Acquaintance
You may choose to define each of these to meet your own organization’s unique needs and goals, though Blackbaud does provide standard definitions for each as provided on the Blackbaud website:
VIP: High likelihood to give & high capacity to give.
This group will include your major gift prospects and your high end donors and is used to represent those constituents that have the highest likelihood to give large gifts as well as having the financial wherewithal – ie capacity – to donate large gifts over an extended period of time.
FAN: High likelihood to give & low capacity to give.
This group generally consists of those constituents that have a deep affiliation with your organization and the sorts of things your organization supports, however they do not possess the financial capacity to give large gifts on a regular basis. They may include constituents that donate regularly, such as monthly or yearly, but the donations generally tend to be a much smaller amount than the VIPs. This may also include non-donors whom you wish to solicit for that first time gift.
Long Shot: Low likelihood to give & high capacity to give.
This group generally includes very wealthy constituents that have a high giving capacity but who do not feel that tight affiliation with your organization or the things your organization supports.
Acquaintance: Low likelihood to give & low capacity to give.
These constituents have the least financial capability to give and are also the least likely to give as they do not feel that affiliation or relationship with your organization or the things your organization supports.
Furthermore, with version 7.92, an enhancement is found in the Dashboard area of Raiser’s Edge with the ability to create new Dashboards based on the Giving Score. There is also new query functionality to be found based on Giving Score as well.
Also, in conjunction with the Giving Score, a new tab now appears on the Constituent record called “Ratings”. This can be based on the Giving Score and can help your organization with prospect moves management by identifying those constituents that are most likely to give a large gift based on, as noted above:
A) Their financial capacity to give both today and in the future, and
B) The relationship or the affiliation that the Constituent has for your organization and the kinds of things your organization supports.
Organizations that are currently using the optional Prospect module to track potential key donors and moves management strategies – ie stewardship – may find that these new enhancements in the latest version of Raiser’s Edge fully provide for their needs. To help you evaluate whether the additional investment in the Prospect tab is worthwhile for your organization given the new features in version 7.92, please reach out to us at RESolutionsTECH Inc.
We can always help you evaluate and determine which of the optional modules -- Prospect, Honor/Memorial, Events, Membership and Volunteer -- are most valuable for your organization given the required investment for each.
A change that may not be noticed by everyday users but will impact administrative functionality is the duplicate search. In previous versions of Raiser’s Edge, a user with administrative and configuration rights could set the duplicate search criteria in the Config section -- for example Last Name, First Name and City -- and then run a duplicate report from the Admin section.
In version 7.92, there is no longer the need to set the criteria and that option has been removed from the Config section. There is now a new enhanced search algorithm built into Raiser’s Edge that automatically searches on name, address, phone number and email to find potential duplicates.
However, after the initial release of version 7.92 this functionality was not working properly. Blackbaud has since released patch 6 which can be downloaded from their website and this has fixed the issues that existed in the duplicate search.
Within the Admin section there is still found a Duplicate Constituent Report. This report has been enhanced with additional information to help your organization identify and manage the potential duplicate constituent records in Raiser’s Edge.
There are also upgrades that have improved the security features to the Blackbaud Payment Service to account for possible disruptions in internet connectivity and increase security when transmitting sensitive and confidential financial information. For those organizations that use this service, there is greater reliability and credit card and merchant account information is stored in accordance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS).
Overall, the enhancements and features found in version 7.92 represent a positive move forward. If your organization has not yet upgraded to the current version, it is recommended that you do so. If you have any technical questions or concerns regarding the latest version of Raiser’s Edge, please feel free to reach out to us at sales@resolutionstech.com
We are always here to answer your questions and address your needs.
RESolutionsTECH Inc.
P.O. Box 1975
Kingston Ontario
K7L 5J7
Canada
613-539-9830
www.resolutionstech.com
With the latest release of Raiser’s Edge, Blackbaud has introduced a number of very positive changes that will enhance your use of Raiser’s Edge and simplify the daily tasks of your team members.
While a few of the upgrades are found within the Admin/Config areas of Raiser’s Edge, most of the changes will impact the way average users utilize Raiser’s Edge, so let’s review some of the nice changes and additions….
The first change users will probably recognize is enhanced search functionalities when clicking “Open A Constituent” from the Constituent area in Records found along the main left menu bar.
There is now the ability to find a constituent by searching on the email address, which can serve as an excellent unique identifier.
Other new search fields include:
---Middle Name
---Suffix
---Phone number
---And a text box to search on Spouse Name – in the previous version of Raiser’s Edge, this option was merely a check-box, which did not provide the same degree of search capabilities.
Found within this search screen is also a new check-box for “Enhanced Search” which provides the opportunity to search for a constituent based on similar spelling and sounding names to more easily identify potential constituents already in the system regardless of misspellings or typos. Users familiar with the previous version of Raiser’s Edge will notice a more in-depth search is returned on Constituents with similar names and address information.
One of the best new features found in version 7.92 is within the query section. Users now have the functionality to create what are known as “Query Lists”. This allows the user to very easily add or remove one or more specific constituents from any given query without manipulating or changing the original query criteria or results. These query lists can then be saved as a new query from which the user can create exports and mail merges. This will make working with queries – particularly mailing queries – much easier and ensure more accuracy with less manual manipulation required outside of Raiser’s Edge.
Also, in the Export area of Raiser’s Edge, the latest version provides the opportunity to create folders in which to save and sort Exports in a similar fashion to how you can save and sort queries into specific folders. In this way, saved exports are easily identified, located and opened for repeated use.
For those organizations that have the optional Events module installed, Raiser’s Edge has introduced a much easier method of marking people as “Attended” to any given event. Previously, users would generally have to manually update the attended checkbox found within the participant record by opening each individual participant record and marking them as attended one at a time. In this latest version of Raiser’s Edge, users can now mark participants as attended directly from the Participants tab without having to open each individual participant record. This should save your event management team a tremendous amount of time and manual work.
There is a new feature found in Raiser’s Edge version 7.92 called Giving Score through which you can have Blackbaud analyze your data and provide a giving score to your constituents based on their giving history and current wealth. Analyzing the constituents and populating these Giving Scores can also be done “in-house” by your organization.
There is now a giving score menu accessed from the bottom of the Constituent record defaulted to contain the following four options:
VIP
Fan
Long-Shot
Acquaintance
You may choose to define each of these to meet your own organization’s unique needs and goals, though Blackbaud does provide standard definitions for each as provided on the Blackbaud website:
VIP: High likelihood to give & high capacity to give.
This group will include your major gift prospects and your high end donors and is used to represent those constituents that have the highest likelihood to give large gifts as well as having the financial wherewithal – ie capacity – to donate large gifts over an extended period of time.
FAN: High likelihood to give & low capacity to give.
This group generally consists of those constituents that have a deep affiliation with your organization and the sorts of things your organization supports, however they do not possess the financial capacity to give large gifts on a regular basis. They may include constituents that donate regularly, such as monthly or yearly, but the donations generally tend to be a much smaller amount than the VIPs. This may also include non-donors whom you wish to solicit for that first time gift.
Long Shot: Low likelihood to give & high capacity to give.
This group generally includes very wealthy constituents that have a high giving capacity but who do not feel that tight affiliation with your organization or the things your organization supports.
Acquaintance: Low likelihood to give & low capacity to give.
These constituents have the least financial capability to give and are also the least likely to give as they do not feel that affiliation or relationship with your organization or the things your organization supports.
Furthermore, with version 7.92, an enhancement is found in the Dashboard area of Raiser’s Edge with the ability to create new Dashboards based on the Giving Score. There is also new query functionality to be found based on Giving Score as well.
Also, in conjunction with the Giving Score, a new tab now appears on the Constituent record called “Ratings”. This can be based on the Giving Score and can help your organization with prospect moves management by identifying those constituents that are most likely to give a large gift based on, as noted above:
A) Their financial capacity to give both today and in the future, and
B) The relationship or the affiliation that the Constituent has for your organization and the kinds of things your organization supports.
Organizations that are currently using the optional Prospect module to track potential key donors and moves management strategies – ie stewardship – may find that these new enhancements in the latest version of Raiser’s Edge fully provide for their needs. To help you evaluate whether the additional investment in the Prospect tab is worthwhile for your organization given the new features in version 7.92, please reach out to us at RESolutionsTECH Inc.
We can always help you evaluate and determine which of the optional modules -- Prospect, Honor/Memorial, Events, Membership and Volunteer -- are most valuable for your organization given the required investment for each.
A change that may not be noticed by everyday users but will impact administrative functionality is the duplicate search. In previous versions of Raiser’s Edge, a user with administrative and configuration rights could set the duplicate search criteria in the Config section -- for example Last Name, First Name and City -- and then run a duplicate report from the Admin section.
In version 7.92, there is no longer the need to set the criteria and that option has been removed from the Config section. There is now a new enhanced search algorithm built into Raiser’s Edge that automatically searches on name, address, phone number and email to find potential duplicates.
However, after the initial release of version 7.92 this functionality was not working properly. Blackbaud has since released patch 6 which can be downloaded from their website and this has fixed the issues that existed in the duplicate search.
Within the Admin section there is still found a Duplicate Constituent Report. This report has been enhanced with additional information to help your organization identify and manage the potential duplicate constituent records in Raiser’s Edge.
There are also upgrades that have improved the security features to the Blackbaud Payment Service to account for possible disruptions in internet connectivity and increase security when transmitting sensitive and confidential financial information. For those organizations that use this service, there is greater reliability and credit card and merchant account information is stored in accordance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS).
Overall, the enhancements and features found in version 7.92 represent a positive move forward. If your organization has not yet upgraded to the current version, it is recommended that you do so. If you have any technical questions or concerns regarding the latest version of Raiser’s Edge, please feel free to reach out to us at sales@resolutionstech.com
We are always here to answer your questions and address your needs.
RESolutionsTECH Inc.
P.O. Box 1975
Kingston Ontario
K7L 5J7
Canada
613-539-9830
www.resolutionstech.com
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Let's All Listen! -- July 2011
Hi all, sorry, I know it’s been a long time since my last blog posting….it has been an exciting and busy time for us here at RESolutionsTECH Inc over the last six months or so! Hi Rose!!!
In this edition of the blog, I’m going to talk about the listening skills one should bring to an on-line session or meeting and further thoughts on a successful training seminar.
Read more by clicking the link below...
http://www.resolutionstech.com/news/?peter-s-latest-blog-post-listen-well-81.html
In this edition of the blog, I’m going to talk about the listening skills one should bring to an on-line session or meeting and further thoughts on a successful training seminar.
Read more by clicking the link below...
http://www.resolutionstech.com/news/?peter-s-latest-blog-post-listen-well-81.html
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Peter’s Blog Post – January 2011
Welcome back Blog readers! My apologies for such a time gap between posts...But being busy is a good thing, right?
A few blog’s ago I wrote about how to get the most out of a training session and of the responsibilities faced by the presenter to ensure that the sessions are informative, interesting, engaging and worth the investment of both time and money that the participants contribute:
http://peterresolutionstech.blogspot.com/2009/12/get-most-out-of-training-session.html
In this latest installment of my blog I’ll shift gears a bit and talk about the responsibilities faced by the attendees of the session to ensure that the training they have received truly benefits them, both in the short and the long term.
The first thing to keep in mind is that much of the success of any training depends in large part on the enthusiasm and the attitude to which the attendees approach the sessions. It really is a two-way partnership between the presenter and the attendee, and a positive, willing attitude on both their parts goes a long way to ensuring the success of the training provided. Furthermore, it is very important that the participants truly have confidence that the information presented in the session will be of value to them as they go about their daily work in Raiser’s Edge. Thus, communication before, during and following the sessions is crucial.
Frequently, this notion of a “positive attitude” is contagious and must come first from the senior members of the team so that everyone truly believes in the value of the training.
Always remember, Raiser’s Edge should be considered a tool that assists you in doing your daily work, it should never be seen as a hindrance to the completion of your daily tasks. At RESolutionsTECH we can assist your organization in getting the most out of your Raiser’s Edge database system. Never let Raiser’s Edge, or any piece of technology for that matter, frustrate you or any member of your team again.
Rest assured that when you come to us for your training needs and solutions your team will be dealing directly with experienced, hands-on trainers who are dedicated to ensuring that your organization maximizes its Raiser’s Edge capabilities in every facet, from gift management to building relationships.
That being said, like anything in life, the participants will get out of the sessions what they put into the sessions. An organization can go a long way to ensuring that the training sessions are truly valuable simply by reminding the participants to:
A) Prepare for the sessions
B) Eliminate distractions during the sessions
C) Do follow-up work on their own afterwards to reinforce the concepts presented
Preparing for the sessions can be as simple as ensuring the participants have their own log-on credentials established and that they have, at the very least, opened Raiser’s Edge and “toured” some of the functionality.
More specifically, for any given session the participants should come prepared to ask relevant questions directly related to their role at the organization and their Raiser’s Edge needs. As the training sessions that RESolutionsTECH offer are dedicated to just one organization at a time, the attendees can feel comfortable and confident that they can raise any issue or question without worrying about divulging delicate or confidential information. I always like to suggest that Raiser’s Edge users keep a handy “Raiser’s Edge Notebook” at their work station, and anytime questions or confusions arise those can be documented and raised at the next session. At the end of the sessions, I always give the attendees the flexibility to ask any Raiser’s Edge question, even if it does not fall within the scope of that session’s given topic.
Secondly, eliminating distractions during the sessions may seem rather obvious, but it is easy to forget to turn off a cell phone or remind co-workers that you will be on a call. It is also important to keep in mind that the sessions generally last no more than 90 minutes, thus it is important to stay focused and on target during the presentations.
And finally, and most importantly, it is crucial that the participants do follow-up work after the sessions to reinforce the concepts presented.
The information from the session needs to be practiced and used by the attendees, both immediately after the session is completed and on an on-going basis moving forward. It is unrealistic to expect anyone to pick up where they left off if they’ve not looked at it for six months.
As an organization that has worked for many years assisting charities manage their Raiser’s Edge database, we have seen on too many occasions where someone will attend a Raiser’s Edge training session, ask all the right questions, and leave feeling confident in the knowledge gained. However, all too frequently, though they have approached the training with the best intentions, they use it for a day or two then push it aside and ignore it for several weeks or even months.
We have seen, for example, where someone will attend a session on say the Events Module in Raiser’s Edge, but then leave the session and don’t immediately use the knowledge gained. Then, down the road, they find they need to build an event in Raiser’s Edge are unable to remember what was taught or find that the training suggestions were never implemented. For example, the required data populated in drop down menus does not exist or is inadequate for their tracking needs.
Now of course we understand, these days more than ever, workloads are increasing as charities look to cut expenses and there is very little time in our daily work lives simply to go into Raiser’s Edge and “play” or experiment, or even work at reinforcing materials presented in a training session.
But when you are working with Raiser’s Edge, you really do get out of it what you put into it.
An analogy might be learning to ski. All the PowerPoint presentations in the world can talk about balance and dexterity and coordination, but in reality, the way you learn how to ski is by strapping them on and giving it a whirl! Raiser’s Edge is exactly the same thing. All the training sessions in the world are meaningless unless the participant takes the knowledge in hand and uses it effectively.
Organizations that invest the valuable resources of both time and money in the training of their employees need to be commended. Given that, it is only right that those far-sighted organizations feel confident that the training is valuable, worth the time and expense, and in the long run not only necessary, but appreciated by the participants.
For the organization that is investing both time and money in the training process, there are ten keys things to remind your employees as they prepare for the training sessions:
1) Prepare for the sessions in advance by:
--Knowing the topic
--Familiarizing themselves with that particular area of Raiser’s Edge
2) Arrive for the on-line session 10 minutes early. Frequently attendees experience slight difficulties connecting, especially the first time. Dial in early to avoid distractions and interruptions once the session has begun.
3) Eliminate all distractions during the scheduled time of the session.
4) Participate fully in the sessions. Speak up, ask questions, and engage the presenter.
5) Don’t leave the session with any question unanswered.
6) Use and re-use and use yet again the knowledge provided in the session and encompass it as part of your daily Raiser’s Edge work.
7) Never get frustrated! Always think of RESolutionsTECH as your Raiser’s Edge resource to answer any question or offer any kind of follow-up session. Schedule future sessions to:
--provide new information
--reinforce previous instructions
--review database set-ups and “best practices”
--keep existing skills fine-tuned
8) Always be thinking about what you know, what you don’t know and what you’d like to know.
9) Have RESolutionsTECH do an independent audit of your Raiser’s Edge usage and practices to assist in evaluating the success rate of the training sessions and in developing future ones. Note those Raiser’s Edge users who may need additional instructions or reinforcement.
10) Give your employees the tools and knowledge to not only do their own jobs effectively, but also raise the bar to take your organization to the next level of success.
Welcome back Blog readers! My apologies for such a time gap between posts...But being busy is a good thing, right?
A few blog’s ago I wrote about how to get the most out of a training session and of the responsibilities faced by the presenter to ensure that the sessions are informative, interesting, engaging and worth the investment of both time and money that the participants contribute:
http://peterresolutionstech.blogspot.com/2009/12/get-most-out-of-training-session.html
In this latest installment of my blog I’ll shift gears a bit and talk about the responsibilities faced by the attendees of the session to ensure that the training they have received truly benefits them, both in the short and the long term.
The first thing to keep in mind is that much of the success of any training depends in large part on the enthusiasm and the attitude to which the attendees approach the sessions. It really is a two-way partnership between the presenter and the attendee, and a positive, willing attitude on both their parts goes a long way to ensuring the success of the training provided. Furthermore, it is very important that the participants truly have confidence that the information presented in the session will be of value to them as they go about their daily work in Raiser’s Edge. Thus, communication before, during and following the sessions is crucial.
Frequently, this notion of a “positive attitude” is contagious and must come first from the senior members of the team so that everyone truly believes in the value of the training.
Always remember, Raiser’s Edge should be considered a tool that assists you in doing your daily work, it should never be seen as a hindrance to the completion of your daily tasks. At RESolutionsTECH we can assist your organization in getting the most out of your Raiser’s Edge database system. Never let Raiser’s Edge, or any piece of technology for that matter, frustrate you or any member of your team again.
Rest assured that when you come to us for your training needs and solutions your team will be dealing directly with experienced, hands-on trainers who are dedicated to ensuring that your organization maximizes its Raiser’s Edge capabilities in every facet, from gift management to building relationships.
That being said, like anything in life, the participants will get out of the sessions what they put into the sessions. An organization can go a long way to ensuring that the training sessions are truly valuable simply by reminding the participants to:
A) Prepare for the sessions
B) Eliminate distractions during the sessions
C) Do follow-up work on their own afterwards to reinforce the concepts presented
Preparing for the sessions can be as simple as ensuring the participants have their own log-on credentials established and that they have, at the very least, opened Raiser’s Edge and “toured” some of the functionality.
More specifically, for any given session the participants should come prepared to ask relevant questions directly related to their role at the organization and their Raiser’s Edge needs. As the training sessions that RESolutionsTECH offer are dedicated to just one organization at a time, the attendees can feel comfortable and confident that they can raise any issue or question without worrying about divulging delicate or confidential information. I always like to suggest that Raiser’s Edge users keep a handy “Raiser’s Edge Notebook” at their work station, and anytime questions or confusions arise those can be documented and raised at the next session. At the end of the sessions, I always give the attendees the flexibility to ask any Raiser’s Edge question, even if it does not fall within the scope of that session’s given topic.
Secondly, eliminating distractions during the sessions may seem rather obvious, but it is easy to forget to turn off a cell phone or remind co-workers that you will be on a call. It is also important to keep in mind that the sessions generally last no more than 90 minutes, thus it is important to stay focused and on target during the presentations.
And finally, and most importantly, it is crucial that the participants do follow-up work after the sessions to reinforce the concepts presented.
The information from the session needs to be practiced and used by the attendees, both immediately after the session is completed and on an on-going basis moving forward. It is unrealistic to expect anyone to pick up where they left off if they’ve not looked at it for six months.
As an organization that has worked for many years assisting charities manage their Raiser’s Edge database, we have seen on too many occasions where someone will attend a Raiser’s Edge training session, ask all the right questions, and leave feeling confident in the knowledge gained. However, all too frequently, though they have approached the training with the best intentions, they use it for a day or two then push it aside and ignore it for several weeks or even months.
We have seen, for example, where someone will attend a session on say the Events Module in Raiser’s Edge, but then leave the session and don’t immediately use the knowledge gained. Then, down the road, they find they need to build an event in Raiser’s Edge are unable to remember what was taught or find that the training suggestions were never implemented. For example, the required data populated in drop down menus does not exist or is inadequate for their tracking needs.
Now of course we understand, these days more than ever, workloads are increasing as charities look to cut expenses and there is very little time in our daily work lives simply to go into Raiser’s Edge and “play” or experiment, or even work at reinforcing materials presented in a training session.
But when you are working with Raiser’s Edge, you really do get out of it what you put into it.
An analogy might be learning to ski. All the PowerPoint presentations in the world can talk about balance and dexterity and coordination, but in reality, the way you learn how to ski is by strapping them on and giving it a whirl! Raiser’s Edge is exactly the same thing. All the training sessions in the world are meaningless unless the participant takes the knowledge in hand and uses it effectively.
Organizations that invest the valuable resources of both time and money in the training of their employees need to be commended. Given that, it is only right that those far-sighted organizations feel confident that the training is valuable, worth the time and expense, and in the long run not only necessary, but appreciated by the participants.
For the organization that is investing both time and money in the training process, there are ten keys things to remind your employees as they prepare for the training sessions:
1) Prepare for the sessions in advance by:
--Knowing the topic
--Familiarizing themselves with that particular area of Raiser’s Edge
2) Arrive for the on-line session 10 minutes early. Frequently attendees experience slight difficulties connecting, especially the first time. Dial in early to avoid distractions and interruptions once the session has begun.
3) Eliminate all distractions during the scheduled time of the session.
4) Participate fully in the sessions. Speak up, ask questions, and engage the presenter.
5) Don’t leave the session with any question unanswered.
6) Use and re-use and use yet again the knowledge provided in the session and encompass it as part of your daily Raiser’s Edge work.
7) Never get frustrated! Always think of RESolutionsTECH as your Raiser’s Edge resource to answer any question or offer any kind of follow-up session. Schedule future sessions to:
--provide new information
--reinforce previous instructions
--review database set-ups and “best practices”
--keep existing skills fine-tuned
8) Always be thinking about what you know, what you don’t know and what you’d like to know.
9) Have RESolutionsTECH do an independent audit of your Raiser’s Edge usage and practices to assist in evaluating the success rate of the training sessions and in developing future ones. Note those Raiser’s Edge users who may need additional instructions or reinforcement.
10) Give your employees the tools and knowledge to not only do their own jobs effectively, but also raise the bar to take your organization to the next level of success.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Organizational Challanges
This edition of my blog will outline some of the challenges and responsibilities faced by organizations that use Raiser’s Edge in multiple and often distant offices.
Recently we have been asked for advice by a couple of our clients that find themselves in a rather unique situation when managing their Raiser’s Edge database: that is, to help them identify and find solutions to the challenges faced by organizations that use the same Raiser’s Edge database in multiple office locations spread across the country.
As we know, the importance of maintaining consistency and continuity throughout the database is absolutely essential, as the quality of the statistical, demographical and financial information generated out of Raiser’s Edge is dependent on how the database is populated and maintained. Thus it is crucial that all data entry personnel follow pre-described policies and protocols whenever data is entered into Raiser’s Edge. Though frequently these protocols are very organizationally specific, the internal consistency, accuracy and continuity within that organization must be maintained.
For most organizations that use Raiser’s Edge, all of the users are in one centralized location, indeed if not in the same office. For these organizations it is a relatively easy and straightforward task to keep all of the Raiser’s Edge users working together in a consistent and cohesive manner. Yet even for these organizations, inconsistent data entry can be a serious issue and it is essential for any organization, regardless of how their staff is situated, to pay attention to how their database is being populated.
That being said, organizations that have users spread out across a wide geographic area face all kinds of additional challenges in keeping their database consistent. Frequently the needs and priorities of regional and local personnel can usurp the needs and priorities of the national organization as a whole.
For example, these organizations often struggle with the most appropriate means of populating the menus in Raiser’s Edge, as they try to take into account both the regional tracking needs and the national needs. Thus, by trying to please all, dropdown menus can become convoluted and unmanageable if each region has its own unique options populated. Furthermore, it is that much more difficult to see the national picture if, for example, prospects or volunteers are segmented according to province. This challenge of deciding what should be “national” vs. what should be “regional” can be very difficult, especially concerning fundraising analytics, such as a national appeal vs. a regional appeal.
Another challenge that these organizations may face is in dealing with a limited number of available user licenses with a handful of users across the country that all need access to Raiser’s Edge throughout the day. It is obviously much easier to see if the person sitting beside you is logged on at the moment than someone a thousand kilometers away. This also raises the issue of the staff being somewhat unfamiliar with each other and an individual may not always feel comfortable relaying a Raiser’s Edge question, issue or problem to someone in a distant office that they have never met.
It is also much more difficult for the national office to feel confident that all Raiser’s Edge users, regardless of location, have consistently received the same level of Raiser’s Edge training and that everyone is populating Raiser’s Edge in a consistent manner. The national managers often fail to convince all users of the national significance of the data, and therefore it is hard to keep all users working together and consistently – “on the same page”.
Even something as banal as time zone issues and the inconvenience of getting Raiser’s Edge users together for meetings, discussions and tutorials can lead to long term problems.
For these organizations, it is important to regularly bring together those Raiser’s Edge users in an on-line, real-time environment for instruction, conversation and the reinforcement of consistent data entry practices. It can also be extremely valuable to engage the services of a Raiser’s Edge consulting team, such as RESolutionsTECH, who can go a long way to ensuring that all users have up to date training and that system wide policies and procedures are well documented and follow up is done to ensure they are adhered to.
Once an organization loses the consistency and continuity in their Raiser’s Edge database, it is very difficult to have confidence in the information generated in queries, reports and the Dashboard feature. It can also be a tremendous amount of work, time and expense to rectify those data inconsistencies that have accumulated over time.
Thus, these organizations have additional responsibilities that they must be prepared to face in order to ensure the accuracy of their data. At the same time, the highest onus resides with each and every Raiser’s Edge user. In any organization that relies on its database for information, there is no single more important person in that organization than the individual doing the data entry. For if the information is not entered into Raiser’s Edge in a consistent, accurate and meaningful manner, then any information generated out of Raiser’s Edge will be worse than meaningless; it will be wrong.
These users need to go above and beyond the average user’s responsibilities and work in sync with the people in the disparate locations to ensure that accuracy and consistency is maintained.
Regional managers need to ensure that they are taking into account the needs of the entire organization, and not just their own specific region or area.
And the importance of that national consistency must be reinforced to all users. Frequently someone may think to themselves, “Well, here I am in Calgary and really I am only ever interested in looking at data that is relevant to me and to my region. It makes no difference how the office in Halifax manages their Constituents or how they populate their regional information”. The problem with this rather short-sighted view, however, is that this particular user is not taking into account the needs of the national office, and simply because somebody in Calgary may only be interested in seeing Alberta numbers does not mean that those national figures are not important, and for the national numbers to be accurate, it is essential that those users in those distant offices are tracking information in Raiser’s Edge in a consistent manner.
To assist your organization in managing your Raiser’s Edge users, here are 10 “take-aways” to keep in mind:
• Different users entering data consistently across the board is always a challenge, whether those users are located together or spread apart in multiple locations.
• The organization’s Human Resources department should establish a required Raiser’s Edge training program with regularly scheduled tutorials that all users must attend in order to learn more Raiser’s Edge skills and to reinforce “best practices” and data entry policies.
• There should be a central base of knowledge established through which users can contact a resource that is well versed in the organization’s overall set-up and procedures.
• One senior Raiser’s Edge user should be assigned the regular task of evaluating the data entry done over a given time period through the use of queries and reports.
• Saved queries should be used as a reconciliation tool and as a means of ensuring consistency of data pulled. This can be accomplished, for example, through the use of the “Ask” feature, whereby the basic criteria in the query remains unchanged over time, yet specifics in the query can be determined at run time.
• Saved queries should also be used as pre-built merge queries, for example standard query exclusions and suppressions.
• The Batch feature should be used for all gift entry, unless volume dictates entry via import. This ensures that every gift in the batch, as well as across batches, is entered consistently and that all applicable gift entry fields are populated appropriately.
• A system should be set up where there is a monthly reconciliation of all the data entered.
• The Solicitor feature in Raiser’s Edge should be utilized whereby individuals and offices can be assigned as leads on Constituents.
• If the number of user licenses is an issue and users have difficulty logging on to Raiser’s Edge, then an organizational schedule should be outlined based on need and flexibility. Also, automated export and reports can be created and accessed from a centralized location to ease the strain on the user licenses.
At RESolutionsTECH we are Raiser’s Edge experts and our training team is ready to assist everyone in your organization use Raiser’s Edge to its fullest. Whether you are in the same location, or spread out among distant offices, we will work with you to reach that level of consistency and continuity, and then provide the expertise and on-going support to ensure that the consistency is maintained as your organization moves forward.
Recently we have been asked for advice by a couple of our clients that find themselves in a rather unique situation when managing their Raiser’s Edge database: that is, to help them identify and find solutions to the challenges faced by organizations that use the same Raiser’s Edge database in multiple office locations spread across the country.
As we know, the importance of maintaining consistency and continuity throughout the database is absolutely essential, as the quality of the statistical, demographical and financial information generated out of Raiser’s Edge is dependent on how the database is populated and maintained. Thus it is crucial that all data entry personnel follow pre-described policies and protocols whenever data is entered into Raiser’s Edge. Though frequently these protocols are very organizationally specific, the internal consistency, accuracy and continuity within that organization must be maintained.
For most organizations that use Raiser’s Edge, all of the users are in one centralized location, indeed if not in the same office. For these organizations it is a relatively easy and straightforward task to keep all of the Raiser’s Edge users working together in a consistent and cohesive manner. Yet even for these organizations, inconsistent data entry can be a serious issue and it is essential for any organization, regardless of how their staff is situated, to pay attention to how their database is being populated.
That being said, organizations that have users spread out across a wide geographic area face all kinds of additional challenges in keeping their database consistent. Frequently the needs and priorities of regional and local personnel can usurp the needs and priorities of the national organization as a whole.
For example, these organizations often struggle with the most appropriate means of populating the menus in Raiser’s Edge, as they try to take into account both the regional tracking needs and the national needs. Thus, by trying to please all, dropdown menus can become convoluted and unmanageable if each region has its own unique options populated. Furthermore, it is that much more difficult to see the national picture if, for example, prospects or volunteers are segmented according to province. This challenge of deciding what should be “national” vs. what should be “regional” can be very difficult, especially concerning fundraising analytics, such as a national appeal vs. a regional appeal.
Another challenge that these organizations may face is in dealing with a limited number of available user licenses with a handful of users across the country that all need access to Raiser’s Edge throughout the day. It is obviously much easier to see if the person sitting beside you is logged on at the moment than someone a thousand kilometers away. This also raises the issue of the staff being somewhat unfamiliar with each other and an individual may not always feel comfortable relaying a Raiser’s Edge question, issue or problem to someone in a distant office that they have never met.
It is also much more difficult for the national office to feel confident that all Raiser’s Edge users, regardless of location, have consistently received the same level of Raiser’s Edge training and that everyone is populating Raiser’s Edge in a consistent manner. The national managers often fail to convince all users of the national significance of the data, and therefore it is hard to keep all users working together and consistently – “on the same page”.
Even something as banal as time zone issues and the inconvenience of getting Raiser’s Edge users together for meetings, discussions and tutorials can lead to long term problems.
For these organizations, it is important to regularly bring together those Raiser’s Edge users in an on-line, real-time environment for instruction, conversation and the reinforcement of consistent data entry practices. It can also be extremely valuable to engage the services of a Raiser’s Edge consulting team, such as RESolutionsTECH, who can go a long way to ensuring that all users have up to date training and that system wide policies and procedures are well documented and follow up is done to ensure they are adhered to.
Once an organization loses the consistency and continuity in their Raiser’s Edge database, it is very difficult to have confidence in the information generated in queries, reports and the Dashboard feature. It can also be a tremendous amount of work, time and expense to rectify those data inconsistencies that have accumulated over time.
Thus, these organizations have additional responsibilities that they must be prepared to face in order to ensure the accuracy of their data. At the same time, the highest onus resides with each and every Raiser’s Edge user. In any organization that relies on its database for information, there is no single more important person in that organization than the individual doing the data entry. For if the information is not entered into Raiser’s Edge in a consistent, accurate and meaningful manner, then any information generated out of Raiser’s Edge will be worse than meaningless; it will be wrong.
These users need to go above and beyond the average user’s responsibilities and work in sync with the people in the disparate locations to ensure that accuracy and consistency is maintained.
Regional managers need to ensure that they are taking into account the needs of the entire organization, and not just their own specific region or area.
And the importance of that national consistency must be reinforced to all users. Frequently someone may think to themselves, “Well, here I am in Calgary and really I am only ever interested in looking at data that is relevant to me and to my region. It makes no difference how the office in Halifax manages their Constituents or how they populate their regional information”. The problem with this rather short-sighted view, however, is that this particular user is not taking into account the needs of the national office, and simply because somebody in Calgary may only be interested in seeing Alberta numbers does not mean that those national figures are not important, and for the national numbers to be accurate, it is essential that those users in those distant offices are tracking information in Raiser’s Edge in a consistent manner.
To assist your organization in managing your Raiser’s Edge users, here are 10 “take-aways” to keep in mind:
• Different users entering data consistently across the board is always a challenge, whether those users are located together or spread apart in multiple locations.
• The organization’s Human Resources department should establish a required Raiser’s Edge training program with regularly scheduled tutorials that all users must attend in order to learn more Raiser’s Edge skills and to reinforce “best practices” and data entry policies.
• There should be a central base of knowledge established through which users can contact a resource that is well versed in the organization’s overall set-up and procedures.
• One senior Raiser’s Edge user should be assigned the regular task of evaluating the data entry done over a given time period through the use of queries and reports.
• Saved queries should be used as a reconciliation tool and as a means of ensuring consistency of data pulled. This can be accomplished, for example, through the use of the “Ask” feature, whereby the basic criteria in the query remains unchanged over time, yet specifics in the query can be determined at run time.
• Saved queries should also be used as pre-built merge queries, for example standard query exclusions and suppressions.
• The Batch feature should be used for all gift entry, unless volume dictates entry via import. This ensures that every gift in the batch, as well as across batches, is entered consistently and that all applicable gift entry fields are populated appropriately.
• A system should be set up where there is a monthly reconciliation of all the data entered.
• The Solicitor feature in Raiser’s Edge should be utilized whereby individuals and offices can be assigned as leads on Constituents.
• If the number of user licenses is an issue and users have difficulty logging on to Raiser’s Edge, then an organizational schedule should be outlined based on need and flexibility. Also, automated export and reports can be created and accessed from a centralized location to ease the strain on the user licenses.
At RESolutionsTECH we are Raiser’s Edge experts and our training team is ready to assist everyone in your organization use Raiser’s Edge to its fullest. Whether you are in the same location, or spread out among distant offices, we will work with you to reach that level of consistency and continuity, and then provide the expertise and on-going support to ensure that the consistency is maintained as your organization moves forward.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
A Few Random Questions
Hello and welcome to the arrival of spring and much finer weather!
This edition of my blog is a little more “ad hoc” than previous postings, as I will answer a few random questions sent to me from a couple of Blog readers. If ever you have a Raiser’s Edge or technology related question that you would like to see addressed in a future blog, please feel free to contact me directly at plucas@resolutionstech.com
Thanks to Gary in England and Sherry in Winnipeg for submitting the questions:
1) What is the purpose and appropriate use of the Relationship/Reciprocal drop down menus when establishing a relationship between Constituents?
2) How does sharing and copying a preferred address from one Constituent to another work?
3) What is the best way to handle and eliminate duplicate records from displaying in the output of a query?
1) Whenever you are establishing a relationship between Constituents in your Raiser’s Edge – whether that be a Relationship between two Individuals or a Relationship between an Individual and an Organization – it is important to accurately identify and track the type of Relationship that exists between the two Constituents. The Relationship and Reciprocal fields are used to describe this relationship.
In some instances, the Relationship and the Reciprocal fields may be identical. Many organizations choose to identify married couples as “Spouse” rather than “Husband” and “Wife” in the Relationship and Reciprocal fields. In this scenario, both the Relationship field and the Reciprocal field will have “Spouse” selected from the drop down menu on both records.
More commonly, however, these two entries will not be identical and will in fact be opposite to each other. For example, if you are establishing an employee—employer relationship between an Individual Constituent (the employee) and an Organizational Constituent (the employer) on each of those two records the Relationship and Reciprocal fields will be opposite. Thus, on the employer record, the Relationship field is marked as “Employee” and the Reciprocal is marked as “Employer” and on the employee record, the Relationship field is marked as “Employer” and the Reciprocal is marked as “Employee”.
Similarly, when establishing a relationship between, for example, a parent and child in your Raiser’s Edge, on the parent’s relationship record the Relationship field will be marked as “Child” and the Reciprocal field will be marked as “Parent”; on the child’s relationship record, those two field entries will be reversed.
Whenever you are establishing relationships between your Raiser’s Edge Constituents, it is important to track the type of Relationship using the Relationship and Reciprocal fields to easily identify how Constituents in your data base are related to one another. Keep in mind that you can create virtually any type of relationship between Constituents in your database, and while the most common relationship that you draw is likely to be a spousal relationship, any kind of relationship – from Friend to Golf Partner to Business Associate – can be established. Simply remember that in the Relationship drop down menu, select the individual’s relationship to the Constituent, such as “Mother” and in the Reciprocal field, select the Constituent’s relationship to the individual, such as “Son”.
2) Frequently when you have established Relationships between your Constituents, you will note that two Constituents may share the same preferred address, for example in the case of a married couple or a parent and a child that live at the same location. These addresses and corresponding phone types can be marked as “shared”, thus indicating that the same address is tracked on more than one record in your database. By clicking “Constituent” from the menu bar of an open Constituent record, you will note the option to Copy and Share the current Constituent’s address to another Constituent. Thus, address updates and changes made on one record can automatically be applied to the linked record.
3) For anyone who runs queries in Raiser’s Edge, without question one of the most frustrating aspects of the whole query process is having duplicate records displayed on the query output screen. Why does Raiser’s Edge produce multiple listings of the same Constituent when that Constituent is only in the database once? There are essentially two reasons why the same Constituent may appear multiple times in your query results:
A) The Constituent qualifies for the criteria you indicated multiple times. For example, if part of the query criteria is something like “Gift amount greater than $100.00”, and the Constituent has 5 gifts each greater than $100.00, then that Constituent will appear on your query results 5 times if you have chosen a query output of, say First and Last Name.
B) Another scenario that may cause the same Constituent to appear multiple times in the output is the fields chosen in the output screen. For example, if you choose to have phone number in the output, each phone number that a person has will appear on a separate row in your output, thus the same Constituent may appear multiple times.
There are two things you can do in Raiser’s Edge to limit the occurrence of duplicates:
i) Use the “Suppress Duplicate Rows” feature found as a checkbox within the query under the menu item “Tools”, then “Query Options” then “Record Processing”. This will help alleviate the issue, though it often will not completely solve the problem.
ii) The single best method of eliminating duplicates from appearing in your query output is to not have any output whatsoever. If the output tab is left completely blank, clicking on the Results tab will provide you with the number of Constituents that qualify for the criteria you have chosen. This number will NOT contain any duplicates. To verify this, compare this number without any output to the number of returns when output such as First Name and Last Name is indicated and you may notice a difference in the number of returns generated. The difference between these two numbers is the duplicates being displayed when output is chosen. Thus, having no output whatsoever will eliminate these instances of duplication. The query can then be saved with no output and the user can utilize the Raiser’s Edge Export feature found along the main blue menu bar to export the results of the query to, for example, an Excel spreadsheet without having the duplicated records displayed.
Thanks again for reading my Blog and please contact us at sales@resolutionstech.com if we can assist you in managing your Raiser’s Edge database more effectively.
We offer personalized on-line training sessions through which we can explore in much more detail those three questions in today’s blog or any other specific question or challenge that faces you and your staff while working in Raiser’s Edge. It is a powerful, comprehensive database system, but can only be truly effective if the users and data entry people are properly trained and acclimated to the nuances within the system. It is these details within Raiser's Edge that have a tremendous impact on your organization’s ability to track and maintain essential data on your donors, alumni, board members, event attendees, suppliers and any other businesses or individuals that you have a point of contact with.
This edition of my blog is a little more “ad hoc” than previous postings, as I will answer a few random questions sent to me from a couple of Blog readers. If ever you have a Raiser’s Edge or technology related question that you would like to see addressed in a future blog, please feel free to contact me directly at plucas@resolutionstech.com
Thanks to Gary in England and Sherry in Winnipeg for submitting the questions:
1) What is the purpose and appropriate use of the Relationship/Reciprocal drop down menus when establishing a relationship between Constituents?
2) How does sharing and copying a preferred address from one Constituent to another work?
3) What is the best way to handle and eliminate duplicate records from displaying in the output of a query?
1) Whenever you are establishing a relationship between Constituents in your Raiser’s Edge – whether that be a Relationship between two Individuals or a Relationship between an Individual and an Organization – it is important to accurately identify and track the type of Relationship that exists between the two Constituents. The Relationship and Reciprocal fields are used to describe this relationship.
In some instances, the Relationship and the Reciprocal fields may be identical. Many organizations choose to identify married couples as “Spouse” rather than “Husband” and “Wife” in the Relationship and Reciprocal fields. In this scenario, both the Relationship field and the Reciprocal field will have “Spouse” selected from the drop down menu on both records.
More commonly, however, these two entries will not be identical and will in fact be opposite to each other. For example, if you are establishing an employee—employer relationship between an Individual Constituent (the employee) and an Organizational Constituent (the employer) on each of those two records the Relationship and Reciprocal fields will be opposite. Thus, on the employer record, the Relationship field is marked as “Employee” and the Reciprocal is marked as “Employer” and on the employee record, the Relationship field is marked as “Employer” and the Reciprocal is marked as “Employee”.
Similarly, when establishing a relationship between, for example, a parent and child in your Raiser’s Edge, on the parent’s relationship record the Relationship field will be marked as “Child” and the Reciprocal field will be marked as “Parent”; on the child’s relationship record, those two field entries will be reversed.
Whenever you are establishing relationships between your Raiser’s Edge Constituents, it is important to track the type of Relationship using the Relationship and Reciprocal fields to easily identify how Constituents in your data base are related to one another. Keep in mind that you can create virtually any type of relationship between Constituents in your database, and while the most common relationship that you draw is likely to be a spousal relationship, any kind of relationship – from Friend to Golf Partner to Business Associate – can be established. Simply remember that in the Relationship drop down menu, select the individual’s relationship to the Constituent, such as “Mother” and in the Reciprocal field, select the Constituent’s relationship to the individual, such as “Son”.
2) Frequently when you have established Relationships between your Constituents, you will note that two Constituents may share the same preferred address, for example in the case of a married couple or a parent and a child that live at the same location. These addresses and corresponding phone types can be marked as “shared”, thus indicating that the same address is tracked on more than one record in your database. By clicking “Constituent” from the menu bar of an open Constituent record, you will note the option to Copy and Share the current Constituent’s address to another Constituent. Thus, address updates and changes made on one record can automatically be applied to the linked record.
3) For anyone who runs queries in Raiser’s Edge, without question one of the most frustrating aspects of the whole query process is having duplicate records displayed on the query output screen. Why does Raiser’s Edge produce multiple listings of the same Constituent when that Constituent is only in the database once? There are essentially two reasons why the same Constituent may appear multiple times in your query results:
A) The Constituent qualifies for the criteria you indicated multiple times. For example, if part of the query criteria is something like “Gift amount greater than $100.00”, and the Constituent has 5 gifts each greater than $100.00, then that Constituent will appear on your query results 5 times if you have chosen a query output of, say First and Last Name.
B) Another scenario that may cause the same Constituent to appear multiple times in the output is the fields chosen in the output screen. For example, if you choose to have phone number in the output, each phone number that a person has will appear on a separate row in your output, thus the same Constituent may appear multiple times.
There are two things you can do in Raiser’s Edge to limit the occurrence of duplicates:
i) Use the “Suppress Duplicate Rows” feature found as a checkbox within the query under the menu item “Tools”, then “Query Options” then “Record Processing”. This will help alleviate the issue, though it often will not completely solve the problem.
ii) The single best method of eliminating duplicates from appearing in your query output is to not have any output whatsoever. If the output tab is left completely blank, clicking on the Results tab will provide you with the number of Constituents that qualify for the criteria you have chosen. This number will NOT contain any duplicates. To verify this, compare this number without any output to the number of returns when output such as First Name and Last Name is indicated and you may notice a difference in the number of returns generated. The difference between these two numbers is the duplicates being displayed when output is chosen. Thus, having no output whatsoever will eliminate these instances of duplication. The query can then be saved with no output and the user can utilize the Raiser’s Edge Export feature found along the main blue menu bar to export the results of the query to, for example, an Excel spreadsheet without having the duplicated records displayed.
Thanks again for reading my Blog and please contact us at sales@resolutionstech.com if we can assist you in managing your Raiser’s Edge database more effectively.
We offer personalized on-line training sessions through which we can explore in much more detail those three questions in today’s blog or any other specific question or challenge that faces you and your staff while working in Raiser’s Edge. It is a powerful, comprehensive database system, but can only be truly effective if the users and data entry people are properly trained and acclimated to the nuances within the system. It is these details within Raiser's Edge that have a tremendous impact on your organization’s ability to track and maintain essential data on your donors, alumni, board members, event attendees, suppliers and any other businesses or individuals that you have a point of contact with.
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