September 2008

September brings relief from The User's Edge! In this month's edition, we learn about import extensions, review options for sending mass emails, and prepare for pledges. Have a suggestion for a future issue? Let us know by emailing usersedge@blackbaud.com.

Understanding Extensions

When importing the same field multiple times, you can expedite the process and avoid exceptions by confirming your import extensions are correct. For example, if you are importing new constituents with multiple phone numbers, on the import's Fields tab designate the "00" extension for the first set of phone number fields and "01" for the next group. This ensures The Raiser's Edge knows which set of data belongs to each phone number. Read more.

Mass (Email) Hysteria!

In The Raiser's Edge you can email a constituent directly from his record, but periodically you may need to send a mass email to a group of records. The Globally Add Records function in Administration enables you to email all or a group of constituents by selecting Email as the type of record to add. After including all or a query of records, specify whether to send the email to each individual or to the group, select your preferred email type, and compose your message. Other mass communication options include using NetMail (through the optional module NetSolutions), exporting email addresses to be copied into Outlook, or creating a mail merge through Word. Read more.

Preparing for Pledges

Perhaps the next best thing after donations are promised donations (a.k.a. pledges). When donors make a pledge to your organisation, you can set up an instalment schedule to better track when pledge payments are due and to remind your donors accordingly. On a new pledge record, click Schedule to specify the frequency, number of instalments, and starting on date and then click Distribute to have The Raiser's Edge automatically schedule each instalment. You can also reschedule existing pledge instalments. Click Reschedule on the Schedule screen to open the Reschedule Unpaid instalments Wizard where you can adjust the instalment information. Read more.

Recent Popular Forum Discussions

The following topics sparked recent discussion among forum participants. Visit the forums to post a question or share your thoughts with other members of the nonprofit community.

• Naming Conventions for Gift Batches
• Convio
• Event Module--ads and auction items for Gala

From the Forums

Have you ever used a scanner for gift entry? Christine Adams of the University of Hartford in West Hartford, Connecticut, would like to hear from you on The Raiser's Edge Forum.

If you'd like to share from your experience, reply to Christine.

Answers to August's FAQs

The articles we include in The User's Edge each month are in Knowledgebase and in The Raiser's Edge FAQs, both of which you can access from the Support menu on our website. The FAQs page has been redesigned based on your feedback to include only the most frequently asked questions. Thanks to everyone who submitted their feedback. Here are the questions you asked most frequently in August:

1. How to install or update The Raiser's Edge: BB202814
2. How to import constituent name, address, and phone numbers including multiple phone numbers and email addresses (includes sample data file): BB5765
3. How to import in The Raiser's Edge - The Basics of Importing: BB58904
4. How to prepare donor acknowledgement letters (thank you letters): BB519
5. How to create a query in The Raiser's Edge: BB19082

Credit Card Changes That Impact You

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) is a set of requirements developed by the major credit card companies to enhance credit card data security. All organisations that process, store, or transmit payment card data must be PCI-DSS compliant or risk losing their ability to process credit card payments. Beginning in October 2008, any organisation that requires a new Merchant ID (BB490176) from credit card companies must be PCI-DSS compliant. As of October 2009, all organisations must be PCI-DSS compliant to process credit cards.

In the coming months, we will provide ongoing updates about how you can become PCI-DSS compliant on our new PCI Compliance blog as well as in our newsletters.

Resources at Your Fingertips

Take advantage of the valuable resources in our website's Support menu:

• Alerts: Stay informed about releases, critical issues, and special Support hours.
• Knowledgebase: Find answers to how-to questions and troubleshoot software issues.
• FAQs: View answers to the most common software questions.
• Downloads: Obtain the latest release for your products. Click The Raiser's Edge to access the readme's and outstanding issues list.
• Forums: Share best practices with your peers and solicit feedback from other experts online.

Keep Your Database Happy by Running Maintenance

Just like changing the oil in your car, maintenance is important in keeping your database running smooth and corruption free. We recommend regularly running the following maintenance functions in the Blackbaud Management Console (BMC):

• Check Integrity (BB102024): An integrity check compares each row in your database tables to each table's index. If the process finds an index that does not correspond to the database table, an error message appears.
• Update Statistics (BB137060): When you update the statistics, the query optimiser is better able to make decisions on which index to use when running a query, allowing queries to process more quickly.
• Rebuild Indexes (BB120081): Rebuilding indexes reorganises the storage of index data to remove fragmentation. This improves disk performance by reducing the number of page needs required to obtain requested data.
• Shrink the Database (BB118784): Shrinking the database reclaims hard disk space from deleted data. This reduces the database size only if there is empty space in the database.

You can save time by scheduling your database maintenance to run automatically (BB114908). Don't forget to include your organisation's backup and validation procedures in your policies and procedures manual (BB90981).