Nonprofit Bridge

In preparing for its upcoming  Online Nonprofit Technology Conference, Nten has asked What’s Holding Your Technology Back? I’ve posted a lengthy response, but make sure to read through everyone’s comments to this interesting question.

If you missed last week’s Blackbaud NetWits Summer Camp, all sessions and slides are now available for review.  I’ve known Steve MacLaughlin for years and his insights are very helpful.

Have a great Labor Day weekend!

Usability testing is a great way to find out how well your web site is really meeting the needs of your audience.  Take a look at Userfly and how Beaconfire is helping Nten to redesign its web site.

Often projects fail because of a breakdown in communication.  No Surprises: The Key to Good Communication offers suggestions on how to keep all stakeholders on the same page.

Need a general list of online services?  Try 100 Online Tools for Non-Profits.

Beth’s Blog consistently offers wonderful material, even when she’s not the author – 4 Keys to Building a Successful Nonprofit Web Site.

Blackbaud is offering a good review of online strategies in a webinar series later this month.  Registration and details.

Some great Nten offerings coming up in September, offering an online version of events usually held live:

• Online Nonprofit Technology Conference - based on content from Nten’s recently published Managing Technology to Meet Your Mission: A Strategic Guide for Nonprofit Leaders
• We Are Media – for a great review of social media strategy (For more on this topic, see What’s in a Social Media Policy and Why You Might Need One.)

Personally, my wife and I are finally moving into our new home Monday, Aug. 17 after living in temporary quarters for the last month.  We’re looking forward to entering the next stage of our lives together.

I am currently working on a project to rollout a new web site for my organization’s main fundraising initiative.  It’s been a rocky road so far, but here’s what I’ve learned so far:

1. Don’t rely on a vendor to manage your project.  Ultimately, a major challenge of successfully completing a project on time and on budget is to make sure departments within a nonprofit work together towards a common goal.  This responsibility can’t be delegated to the vendor whose product you are implementing.
2. Develop the project plan as early as possible.  While there’s a certain amount of ‘discovery’ is useful, it’s important to make sure everyone knows what the schedule is and what their tasks are to complete.  By waiting too long to create a detailed plan, stakeholders can become concerned about project progress, even if it is on / ahead of schedule.
3. In addition to regular status meetings, use smaller workgroups to achieve specific deliverables.  Include these workgroup meetings on the project plan.  By trying to involve everyone in all meetings, there will be much wasted time and it will take much longer to get things done.
4. Use a centralized place for project documentation that everyone can access, e.g. project plan, minutes of meetings, wireframes etc.  Trying to keep all stakeholders up to date through email only makes it harder for everyone to stay informed.
5. Allow enough time for quality assurance review – don’t just add it to the end of the project plan.  Testing should be done as new deliverables are completed so there is time for corrective action.
6. Pay attention if the vendor is upsetting any of our stakeholders.   You can find this out quickly based on someone’s tone during a phone call, and is best dealt with by speaking a one-on-one with the stakeholder.  This situation can result in one department either trying to take control of the project or otherwise working independently of other stakeholders.
7. Keep the project sponsor fully aware of what’s going on.  If there are problems, come up with recommendations on how things can be improved.
8. Over-communicate through a variety of channels – be careful not to rely too much on email and not on phone calls and in person conversations.
9. Especially over the summer, ask for notice when team members are taking time off.  Often staff only advise immediate boss and others in their own department when they will be out, not those in other departments.  Most online projects involve a team from multiple areas.
10. Be careful to respect the wishes of your nonprofit organization colleagues.  Acting as liaison between co-workers and the vendor can be a delicate balance, but in the end, it’s important to stay focused on meeting your co-workers’ needs during project rollout.

Have a wonderful fourth of July!  While my wife and I will be moving this month, I’ll do my best to keep blogging.

Many of us in the nonprofit sector aren’t as effective as we could be in interacting with our constituents because departments of our organizations aren’t working together.  Often each department will have its own agenda, and offline and online strategies are handled by different areas.

In No Constituent is an Island, Steve MacLaughlin suggests that we stop thinking about offline and online and simply treat them as different channels.  Steve offers some interesting analogies, such as how we would react if we deposited a check at our bank but its online system had no record of it, or if you bought tickets online but when you arrived at the event, the box office could not access your purchase information.

Social media guru Beth Kanter offers a similar perspective in Silos Culture Inside the Walls of Nonprofits Prevent Effective Social Media Use.  She describes the experience of a nonprofit staff member who tried to promote a social media policy within their organization, but encountered departmental turf battles.  The volunteers who had asked to start using Facebook to promote the nonprofit eventually started on their own;  the organization only became involved later.   Social media brings up even more challenges since some of us still think it deserves a place with other tools we use to interact with our supporters.

With the increasing popularity of social media, some are asking if email is on the way out, e.g. Will eMail Fundraising Die.  But just as direct mail is still effective, so is email.   These tools work best when part of an integrated strategy.  To accomplish this, our nonprofits have to change how we’ve traditionally worked.  One way to do this is to have frequent cross-deparatment projects and meetings – not long, drawn out lectures but quick updates so each area is aware of what other parts of the organization are working on.   This is why project management is so important at nonprofits to help staff across departments and locations to learn to work collaboratively.

Constituents don’t view us as different departments but as one organization.  It’s time we started to treat ourselves the same way.

(This is an expanded version of my 9/12/08 post)

For over four years, I’ve helped my nonprofit organization to develop and manage online fundraising and marketing initiatives to generate over $15 million in revenues using two leading nonprofit vendors.

How do you know which product is right for you?

1. Before arranging for vendor presentations, decide which applications are most important to you. While it is helpful to work with a firm that can handle multiple needs, e.g. online events, email marketing, content management, usually a vendor that tries to do ‘everything’ will have some modules that are great but others that are mediocre.  If online fundraising is your primary goal, select products that focus on this objective.

2. Does the vendor take the time to listen to your needs before recommending solutions?

3. Can the vendor implement within your timeframe?  A consulting firm once walked away from potential work because they didn’t feel comfortable about meeting our deadline.  It’s much better to find this out before you get started then when it’s too late to change course.

4. Do you plan to integrate data with an offline fundraising database that you already use? Integration can be a very time consuming task;  make sure the vendor has successfully completed integration projects with other clients which use the same software as your nonprofit.

5. Find out who will project manage your implementation.  You want someone who is well versed with the applications you will be using and who is able to arrange the resources you need to get the project done on time and on budget.  Ask to interview this person early or ask to speak with other clients who have recently worked with him/her.

Once you pick a product, how can you maintain a successful relationship with your vendor?

1. Take advantage of any training that is available to learn the product.  This enables you to deal with issues more quickly and allows you to more effectively work with support staff

2. Develop a rapport with your account / project manager or whoever handles your relationship.  This includes asking not only how the vendor can help you, but includes what your responsibilities are in using the product and dealing with the vendor’s staff.

3. Document problems online, ideally with a support system that can be accessed by both nonprofit staff and vendor support staff.  If your vendor doesn’t provide this, use your own tracking system, and, if possible, make it available to the vendor.

4. Be respectful about prioritizing issues.  If a problem is affecting a major application and / or many of your co-workers, make sure the vendor knows this and use escalation procedures.  (Make sure you specifically ask about how to escalate issues.)  If you make every problem into an ‘emergency,’ then nothing will be treated as a high priority.

5. When rolling out a new application, be sure to test exhaustively.  This includes filling out and submitting all forms, reviewing auto replies and testing different scenarios.  Make sure the vendor has a ‘test drive’ mechanism available.

6. Consult with other nonprofits that are using the product and take advantage of any online forums (either promoted by the vendor or not) to learn from others and share your own experiences.

7. Avoid criticizing your vendor to internal staff.  Even if you’re feeling frustrated on a particular day, don’t vent to your co-workers;  you want them to feel positively about the product you’ve selected despite any occasional glitches that come up.

8. Regardless which area you work in, make sure that multiple departments within your organization have access to the vendor’s support staff, and are kept updated on status of your implementation.

9. Be aware of when system upgrades will be performed, and how your applications will be affected.  Make sure you’re notified well in advance of planned enhancements or product fixes.

10 .For optimal results, approach your relationship as a partnership.  While it’s important to be clear what is expected from the vendor, you also need to be able to devote time of your organization’s staff to learn and work with the application.  Rather than looking for ways to blame the other party when things go wrong, instead focus on how you can find a quick resolution and minimize inconvenience to your constituents.

As part of completing my organization’s move to Convio, this week I’ve had the ‘pleasure’ of completing the transfer of over 300,000 records from our offline database into Convio while making sure that the appropriate records can be accessed by each of our 40 chapters across the US.  Since the contract with our previous vendor expires Dec. 31, I realized earlier this week that I would need to push this week to get things done.  Trying to do this at a time when many companies are shutting down for the holidays is especially challenging.

Here’s how I’ve managed the process.

1. At last month’s Convio Summit, I took the time to get to know several Convio management staff, including Esther Pomeleo-Fowler, Director of Client Support Services.
2. When I heard last week that Convio would be closed from Dec 24-26, I realized I would need to arrange for help during the days before, especially since our main resource person would be unavailable during Christmas week.
3. Submitted a support ticket Monday evening to request help on Tuesday, also emailing Esther to ask that she provide a resource, referencing the ticket.  Esther quickly left a phone message, promising to assign someone to work with me.
4. Through Convio’s online ticket system and by phone, worked with the support person to complete the test import.  It turns out that the original instructions I’d been given did not work completely and that several features in our account had to be ‘turned on’ so the import process could complete.
5. Emailed Esther last night to thank her for the help her staff provided, copying Convio’s CEO, Gene Austin.

While there’s a lot more I need to complete to finish the migration by year-end, being able to complete this import is a big relief.  By approaching Convio politely but firmly, I was able to get the assistance I needed.  (Special thanks to John Holland.)

No online product works perfectly, but by treating people with respect and by working collaboratively with vendors and consultants, we can get great results.  Expressing thanks and appreciation also helps.

Wishing you a peaceful and healthy holiday and all good things for 2009.

For several months, I’ve been managing an implementation to Convio at my current organization first for TeamRaiser and then for other events, donation forms, and email marketing.  To support our nationwide chapter structure, we’ve also decided to use Convio’s MultiCenter, which will allow each chapter to view and communicate with its own constituents.  Next week I’ll be speaking about this project at the Convio Summit, joining representatives from other nonprofit organizations and vendors.

How can your organization successfully manage a transition to a new online vendor?  See my previous post on Tips for Working With an Online Vendor.

For more on my presentation, view the event schedule – my session is From Concept to Finish Line — Getting Results with TeamRaiser™ on Tue, Nov. 18 at 2 PM CST.

On Sep. 19 I attended the NYC Project Management Institute’s Professional Development Day.  Below are some of my takeaways:

Donald Gardner, Gardner Project Integration Group suggested that we avoid assuming that project team members and stakeholders are “just like us,” stressing the importance for different styles of communication.  In dealing with virtual teams, he suggested the simple step of posting pictures online to get to know people better who you may never meet in person.  (In my support of nonprofit staff across the US, I may not even say hello to someone when we do have an opportunity to meet because I have no idea of what they look like, only their voice.)  He also suggested we not sayto someone, ‘come back to me if you have a problem.’  Most people won’t – you have to reach out to them.

Lisa DiTullio, Lisa DiTullio & Associates, described her role in restoring Harvard Pilgrim Health Care from the brink of collapse to industry leadership using project management.  This was especially interesting to me, as I’ve previously spoken on how nonprofits can make better use of project management techniques.  Lisa suggested usng simple project tracking tools, using green/yellow/red to quickly summarize a project’s status.  When I asked how to move to a more collaborative organizational culture which allows project management to succeed, Lisa pointed out that Harvard Pilgrim Health Care almost went out of business before they could change their styles of interacting.  Responding to a criticism I sometimes hear about project management, Lisa described PM as not a way to introduce more work, but a way to change the way work is done.

Ronnie Battista, MISI Company spoke on one of my favorite topics – usability.  Ronnie suggested that users be involved in all stages of project planning and implementation, not just at the beginning.  He asked, “When is the last time you talked to a user,” adding that 85% of usability problems can be solved by speaking to five users.  I agree – nonprofits often put too much emphasis on what staff members think, and not enough on interacting with their target audiences.  Jakob Nielsen has long been the authority on this topic.

Why do projects fail?  Lou Gasco, Muto Performance.offered ten reasons why.  A few highlights:

• ’spontaneous requirements’ (a.k.a. scope creep) – adding in more requirements after the project scope has been defined
• ‘invisible’ requirements’ – no one has taken the time to define what the project will specifically achieve
• disappearing sponsor – project sponsor can’t be reached or otherwise loses interest in project
• minimal / nonexistent testing – testing isn’t considered an integral part of project implementation

Thanks to program speakers for their valuable insights and to PMI for putting this event together.

Thanks to everyone who attended my Feb. 12 Nten webinar on Project Management for Nonprofits, discussing how
nonprofits can make better use of project management techniques to achieve organizational goals.  Some major points on how to establish project management within your nonprofit organization:

1. use a variety of communication techniques
2. don’t use IT terms with non-IT staff
3. find a supporter on business side
4. use agile techniques to split projects into smaller phases
5. educate your organization on how project management techniques will allow it to better meet its goals.

We also discussed Idealware & Aspiration’s recent conference on Managing Nonprofit Technology Projects – see wiki.However, project management is useful for all types of initiatives, not just those involving technology..

Please let me know if you’d like a copy of my presentation.  Thanks to Holly and Anna at NTen for giving me this opportunity to speak.

At today’s Managing Nonprofit Technology Projects conference, I facilitated a session on Collaboration and Management in Cross-Departmental Web Projects.  We focused on techniques to implement successful projects which involve staff from multiple areas within an organization, most who don’t directly report to the project manager.

Some major points:

• Although many projects involve web sites or other technology implementations, project management is more about ’soft’ skills in winning cooperation from team members who are often assigned to a project while having to manage their already overburdened task list
• Nonprofit organizations rarely embrace project management principles as set forth by the Project Management Institute, nor do they develop internal structures such as a project management office.
• Assigning a team or task force across department lines can be utilized as a way to give team members an identity separate from their usual work responsibilities.
• The basic definition of project management should include an informal toolkit of ’soft’ tools such as finding evangelists to help drive project progress, ways to win stakeholder cooperation and addressing organizational culture challenges.

More details on this session and other discussions held at the conference can be found at this wiki.  Thanks to Allen Gunn of Aspiration and Laura Quinn of Idealware for organizing this event.