Patrick Shaw’s Weblog

When I first started working at NPower Seattle - it was a bit more true than not that an agency budget was a great indicator for capacity to undertake a technology project.

For instance - the smaller the budget - the more likely that an agency wouldn’t be able to fund a planning, implementation, training and maintenance phase. AND - would also require additional help creating business rules, understanding how technology could help, overcoming knowledge gaps and more.

I don’t think that holds true any longer - or at least it holds LESS true. Recently, one of my customers (small budget, small staff) went through a small planning scope and asked some great questions. You should ask YOUR vendor these questions, too:

1. You’re right, the cost is a bit of a stretch for us; we were hoping to get it into the $ range. Can you give me any ideas of what could be cut to save money, and if we did cut something, what that would mean to the integrity of the project?
2. Since data migration is the most expensive thing, is there something that we could do here to take some of that on, like data entry for example, or is it just easier/more efficient to do it on your end?
3. Are you considering the grand total as a maximum that might go down from there, or as a median, that could go up or down? (Or, I suppose, a minimum that might go up?)

And they finished with a great comment, too:

We, of course have to be conscious of cost, but also want this project to be the best it can be, so please feel free to be frank with me about any drawbacks to cutting cost.

Here’s my takeaway:

• Help your customer ask great questions.
• Answer them honestly.
• Be transparent about your pricing
• Ensure that you’re delivering a product that is in THEIR best interests!

Many of our customers use existing website designs or have their own website designers. Some are professionals with a lot of experience in the field, and some are just getting started with web design. In both cases, one of the first questions that needs an answer has to do with the type of design - fixed or fluid. Both have advantages and disadvantages.

This is further complicated by the fact that you can’t control the way a site visitor has configured their monitor and browser! So - while you might really WANT ever visitor to only see a single page (no scrolling) on your home page - you only have a limited capacity to make that happen. Your visitor might have a tiny monitor (think cell phone) or a huge one. And it might be in portrait or landscape mode. And they might size their browser window up or down, or make is tall and skinny or wide and fat - and you don’t get to pick!

You DO get to pick in general though -and that’s where the fixed vs. fluid conversation comes in.

In a nutshell:

• Fixed: This is a design that has a fixed pixel count - and if you adjust your browser window -the content doesn’t change. So - if you make your browser window smaller - then you have to scroll right and left, or up and down.
• Fluid: This is a design that is based on percentages -so that when you re-size your browser window - the whole website resizes to use all of the available space.

Here are some quick links to additional articles about fixed vs. fluid design:

http://www.flyte.biz/resources/newsletters/04/12-fluid-v-fixed-web-pages.php

http://www.destroyallmonsters.biz/articles/guidelines-for-designers/fixed-versus-fluid/

http://www.wolf-howl.com/random-thoughts/fluid-fixed-and-1024-resolutions/

We’re in a changing world. The clunky CRT monitors of a few years ago are fading quickly - replaced by skinner flat panel monitors. Overall - that’s a good thing - they use less space and less energy and can be easier on the eyes!

But we’re in a world without a clear standard when it comes to sizing up your website. When you implement a new website, you’ll need to choose a size for your website that will meet the needs of most of your constituents. There aren’t a lot of terrific demographics out there to help, either - so this may very well be a bit of a guessing game for you. Do your stakeholders have older  CRT’s? Maybe in the 15 to 17 inch size? Perhaps they have one of the first flat panels - perhaps also in the 15-17 inch size?

But maybe they have a newer flat panel - more of the rectangular shape? Mine is like that - it’s a 19 inch monitor - but it’s long on the bottom (about 17 inches) and about 10 inches wide.  That means long-ish spreadsheets are dreamy to look at, while some websites seem to have a LOT of white space!

Here’s a quick grid to help you size up your website dimensions:

Page widths available (in pixels):

•     600 (suitable for 640×480)
•    720 (suitable for 800×600)
•    780 (just about suitable for 800×600)
•    840 (suitable for 1024×768)
•    900 (suitable for 1024×768)
•    960 (suitable for 1024×768)

Kudos to my senior website consultant Jesse Snyder for the research and to PE Ideas on Web Design for the details!

Yes. No. Maybe.

All correct answers! The free licenses from Salesforce.com haven’t really been around that long yet - but have been around long enough that the nonprofit community seems pretty aware of the offering. And the Foundation makes it easy to sign up and begin using Salesforce.com while they process your licence donation.

Still - I’ve been surprised at how quickly the phones calls to my office have begun to start with "we implemented Salesforce on our own . . ."

What comes next varies greatly. Some nonprofits implemented the nonprofit template offered by Salesforce.com. Some have used the Enterprise Edition as is. Some have used either of those options, and have customized those templates to better suit their needs.

A few have been exceptionally successful - and many have not. And that makes our work challenging. All too often, that means that a nonprofit has added data to Salesforce without taking time to map out their data gathering, analyses and reporting needs - and so when they call for help, it can be frustrating for me to tell them that they may have to take a giant step back to the planing phase.

Here are a few of the glitches we’ve noticed in the "do it yourself" world of Salesforce implementations:

1. Not understanding which template to install. Both templates have strengths and weaknesses, and can be more (or less) suited to a nonprofit. You’ll want to make a careful choice from the very start. If you don’t know which one you want - consult with a Salesforce expert!
2. Not considering the concept of "householding". Salesforce doesn’t easily or automatically help you group your constituents in a household - and if you need to track soft credits, have visibility into what a household is contributing to your agency, reduce your print mailing costs - you probably want to implement a householding scheme.
3. Entering dirty data. Salesforce makes it pretty easy to enter or import data - but if it is sloppy on the way in, it will be sloppy in Salesforce, too.
4. Not planning for a fundamental shift in how you work. This is perhaps the most important (and the easiest to overlook) item. You’ll need to re-think your workflow, how (and who) enters and reviews data, what (if any) automation can (and should) happen. Having a terrific CRM means that you have to commit to adding your notes, managing your giving pipeline, organize your campaigns and much much more.

Salesforce can make you much more effective at your work - as a matter of fact - it can transform your agency. But you still have to to the work!