Should I Stay or Should I Go?Determining if

Convio’s Common Ground is Right for Your Nonprofit

Presented by Keith Heller, Principal, Heller Consulting

About Heller Consulting

15 Years - 800 Clients – 1,700 Projects

San Francisco, Chicago, New York

25+ People – Smart, Skilled, Committed

Serve Solely NonprofitsAll Consultants Have Worked in Nonprofits

Experience

Places

People

Focus

HC Video - “Who is HC?”

Heller Consulting Service Areas

Needs Analysis & Software Evaluation

Conversion & Implementation

Cleaner Data, Better Business Practices

Extend Your FundraisingManage Your Mission

Select

Implement

Optimize

Grow

Heller Consulting Product Expertise

TRAINING & EDUCATION

Fundraising SystemsBlackbaud | Convio | Salesforce.com™

Online Communications

Blackbaud | Convio | Salesforce.com™

CRM & Program ManagementSalesforce.com™

Back Office Best Practices & Efficient Operations

Clients include…

Our Agenda

• What should a donor database do for you?

• Do you need new software?

• So what is Common Ground anyways?

• Who should consider it?

• Why?

• Why not?

• What do I do next?

What should fundraising software do for you?

Support implementing and measuringyour fundraising strategies

• Easily segment your prospect pool

• Facilitate communication and cultivation

• Record donations and produce acknowledgments.

• Reporting - so you can measure what’s working!

Big Picture: 

Who will you cultivate? What FR strategies will 

you use?

Tactics: 

For each strategy: Who will you solicit?  What are the tasks?

Assess & Align –Do your dev ops support 

your tactics ?  ID what to improve

Generating Appeals ‐Accurate segmentation based on your tactics

Recording Results ‐Data entry, 

acknowledgment, reconciliation

Reporting –Info to tell you what worked 

and what didn't

Improving for greater success ‐ analysis, learning, re tooling

Do you need new donor management software?

DYNNDMS II?

Common Ground – A Brief History

• Convio – observing the industry• Heller – principles, buy vs. build

• Principles• Easier to use but still powerful• Help non-profits adopt emerging (but proven!) strategies• Online / offline convergence (for constituents, for staff)• Open• Extend to CRM

• Salesforce – best of both worlds• Build on an expanding platform

Common Ground – What is it?

•Fundraising software

•It’s in the Cloud (SaaS)HC Video– “What is the Cloud (and Why Should I Care)?”

YouAre already in the Cloud

Common Ground – What is it? – Part 2

• It’s built on Salesforce.com• Company• Product• Platform• And beyond (extensibility)

HC Video – “What is Salesforce?”HC Video – “How is Salesforce Helping Non Profits?”

Traditional Software

Salesforce

The OK Slide

• Ok, so show it to me

• Ok, I will

Who is Common Ground good for?

• Common Ground –• In general… for small and medium

organizations

• Luminate CRM –• In general… for larger organizations

• However… it’s more about complexity than size

You should consider Common Ground if…

• Your current system truly doesn’t /can’t serve you

• Making your current system work is too much effort relative to return

• Just because something could be improved doesn’t mean it should be!

• You’ll outgrow in a couple years anyways

• Complexity of use –

• though the system could do what you need, you can’t maintain the skills on staff to make it work.

• You need … (next slide)

Common Ground Strengths

• Online fundraising

• You want it as part of your DB (not an add-on)

• It is, or will be, a primary avenue of growth

• You’re a follower, not a leader. (However…)

• Multi-channel – Campaign hierarchies are cool

• Major gifts gone wild

• Events and volunteer included

Common Ground Strengths II

• Plays well with others• Access-A-Palooza – Any browser, mobile devices• CRM

• First– Replace spreadsheets, Outlook contacts• Then – Eliminate rogue DBs (Filemaker, Access)• Bigger – Replace systems /mission management

• Wonky (but useful) stuff:• Workflow – Don’t miss a beat (or a step)• Validation – Keeps your data clean• Page Layouts – WYWTSTWYWTSI

(What You Want To See The Way You Want To See It)

Common Ground May Not Fit If…

• What you have is working

• Or could be with reasonable effort

• And for a few years (it’s a balancing act)

• Renewal-intensive membership or alumni primary

• Very sophisticated direct mail most of your revenue

• Dozens of mailings to dozens of segments

• A-Thons /sophisticated online – Look at Luminate

Next Steps

• Read our Idealware Articles:• Do You Need New Donor Management Software? • Four Principles of Choosing Donor Management Software• Implementing Your Donor Management Software

• Make Lists!• What do you wish you could do that you can’t?

• Is it because the software, or you, can’t?• Ask peers, ask vendor, verify yourself

• Evaluate your own system (for fundraising)• Resource– “Evaluating Your Database”

• Beyond Fundraising - CRM• Resource– “List and Database Census Worksheet”

• Webinar – Sept 15th – Deeper Dive

phone: 510-841-4222 website: www.teamheller.com