JCA Helps Nonprofits Bridge the Technology Gap

In this week’s Crain’s New York Business, columnist Anne Fischer featured JCA in an article about nonprofits and their struggle to implement and maintain technology.  Citing JCA’s involvement with the Kaufman Center’s technology overhaul, Crain’s focused on the high stakes and challenges that nonprofits face as they try to automate and streamline their operations.  While we are happy to report that we and the Kaufman Center were successful in increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of Kaufman’s key systems and business processes, the outcome is often not the same for other nonprofits.  Lack of technical expertise, insufficient funding and tepid support from key executives and board members are all too often a prescription for failure.  It’s long past the time when nonprofits can get away with underinvesting in technology.  But technology in a vacuum is never the answer: it’s also about people and process, and the willingness to effect change.

We are proud to contribute to the Kaufman Center’s success.  Let us know if we can do the same for your organization.

Read the original Crain’s article here.

Steve Jacobson is President & CEO of Jacobson Consulting Applications, Inc. (JCA)
JCA provides strategic consulting to the world’s leading nonprofits.

I’m Not Your Member

The following is a true story.

In the fall of 2010, I made a gift in memory of a friend’s mother.  My friend and her family requested gifts to one of two charities in lieu of flowers.  I picked one and went to the organization’s website to make my gift.

The website would only accept a membership payment.  The site offered a form you could print and mail in that included places to specify the memorial information and notification name and address.  I printed the form, wrote out a check, and mailed off my gift in December.

On February 4th I received a thank-you letter from the organization.  The letter was dated January 24th and referred to the “membership payment” I made on December 31st.  Apparently I am now a member of this organization, which is halfway across the country from my home, whose benefits I did not request and cannot use.  The acknowledgement envelope contained four pieces:  reply envelope, information about planned giving, a letter/receipt, and a reply form requesting another gift.

So why am I not sending another gift?

A Few Tools of the Data Archeologist: Tips for Preparing Data for Cleanup or Conversion

Examining a client’s database, whether in preparation for a data conversion or to plan an in-situ data cleanup, is a little like an archeological dig.  When we plan a conversion to or from the Blackbaud® software The Raiser’s Edge® , for example, we dig down through layers of historical strata to prepare for mapping.  This work can be very revealing as we work together to interpret the meanings of various records, create maps of where important clues may be, and wade through decades of an organization’s informational history.

In order to do this with our clients, we have developed tools that help us unearth and find patterns in the layers of information.  Let me share some of my trade secrets.

One of the most useful reports that JCA has developed to assist with system analysis and data conversion and cleanup is a Code Frequency Report.

A Little Different from Your Typical BI Firm

I recently attended The Data Warehousing Institute (TDWI) conference in Chicago and heard about the latest trends in the Business Intelligence biz. It was a terrific conference, with lots of new technology initiatives and plenty of BI vendors showing their latest offerings. One thing that really resonated with me is that the BI world seems to be very focused on larger companies that have robust IT departments with lots of money to spend on Business Intelligence. Lucky them! The one thing I heard almost nothing about at this conference was the world of organizations that aren’t Fortune 500 but still have a desperate need for the kind of insights BI can deliver.

And yet, with JCA Answers we have managed to provide leading-edge Business Intelligence to more than 100 organizations without the six-figure price tag (according to one presentation at the TDWI conference the average BI implementation costs $250,000 before support and maintenance). So what makes us different?