GoRaise Mobile Review

I recently had the opportunity to preview Electric Plum’s GoRaise Mobile application.  Electric Plum was founded in 2011 by Shaun Sullivan, the former CTO of Blackbaud.  GoRaise Mobile provides a simple, intuitive mobile interface for The Raiser’s Edge® (RE).  Those of you who are familiar with Shaun know his passion for all things mobile, so it’s no surprise that his first consumer product is a mobile interface for the software he shepherded for more than 20 years.

In general, mobile functionality for RE feels a little like a no-brainer, and some on our team were wondering why this wasn’t available through Blackbaud sooner.  Well, here it is, so let’s take a look.

Making Data Integration Simple!

About once a month my phone rings and someone asks if JCA can tie together multiple systems to save them time and money.  It’s a great question.  Integrated systems help organizations run internal processes better, improve external communication and ultimately raise more money.  One of the enduring mythologies, however, is that the project itself should be simple and inexpensive.  Like anything with technology, cost mirrors complexity, so before beginning any project I ask people to explain exactly how they intend to save time or raise more money by integrating their systems.

I often find that different departments select best-of-breed software for specific business functions without considering how information is shared throughout the organization.  In a typical museum, for example, you might see The Raiser’s Edge in Development and Membership and something else (Ticketmaster Vista, Galaxy Gateway, SiriuswareSalesware, etc.) for ticketing at the Front Desk.  Without integration how will you know when members visit or how visitation correlates to renewal?  Improving member renewal is a great reason to invest in an integration and will quickly justify the expense of the project. Or how about an alumni association that wants to let graduates update their contact information online and share that information with The Raiser’s Edge for the annual fund?  Automating this process of data exchange will improve accuracy and cut the cost of rekeying the data.

What Do Online Giving Numbers Mean?

It’s easy to get caught up in good news.

According to a recent article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, “online donations rose sharply last year.” Convio, Blackbaud and Network for Good, all fundraising system vendors, reported increases in giving to their customers.  Convio reported its clients experienced more than a 40% increase.  Blackbaud reported 5,000 of its customers raised 10% more dollars online in December but didn’t specify what the increase was compared to.  Network for Good reported a 20% increase in online giving during 2010 compared to 2009.