Patrick Shaw’s Weblog

One of the things I love about my job is working with smart people. Evan Callahan is one of those guys - he’s been leading our Salesforce for nonprofits program since its inception.

We were talking about Board Membership the other day - and he and I had very different thoughts about how to implement. I’m not convinced that we landed on a perfect solution - because - as in most database work - the right solution depends on the customer!

Here’s the deal: I love the opportunity pipeline. Tracking grants? Gifts you’re hoping to get? Volunteers? Event participation? In kind gifts? Sales? Yep. You can leverage the Salesforce.com opportunity to manage all of those things.

So you can imagine why I thought an opportunity would be great for board membership, too - you could:

1. Solicit members
2. Invite them through a screening/acceptance/courting process
3. Status the liklikhood that they would want to join
4. And that you would want them to join!
5. And then track their term start and end dates, maybe a reminder for when their term was going to be up, and perhaps even a board role (President, VP, Treasurer, and so on).

Evan had a different idea. He voted for a drop-down list on the contact record that would simply have these fields:

1. Blank
2. Current
3. Former

I have to admit - Evan’s solution is brilliant in its simplicity. Want a list of current board members? Just run a report on that field, looking for the ones where the field data = current. Want a list of anyone who as EVER been a board member? Same report - just look for those where that field isn’t blank.

Easy to use, easy to status, no futzing with start and stop dates and so on. When I think of how our customers are using Salesforce - I think - Evan’s answer wins for ease of use and simplicity.

My idea is still good - it’s just more (perhaps overly?) complicated. But it gets you more - you’d be able to report on the board membership from two years ago, for instance, and we able to report on terms, and when those folks were up for re-election and so on.

But I don’t know that many would use it that way. It goes back to the"what do you really need?" question. If you have a large board, complicated membership terms, a requirement to be able to re-generate board lists - then - my complicated approach might be right for you.

But if you need simple board tracking, can create a reminder (hint: create an activity) for when a term is up - then Evan’s solution is right for you.

So - here’s the takeaway: Don’t let me (or Evan) tell you how to do your work. Start by telling us what you need in your reporting structure - and we’ll tell you about the trade-off between simple, complex, and how that might impact your price point and your usability!

Helping you quickly enter and edit great content!

That’s it. Don’t get me wrong - Plone is HUGELY featured, and it integrates very nicely. But I think it is the printing press of the decade, if you get what I mean. When Martin Luther nailed his treatise on the church door in Wittenberg - it wasn’t the content of his note that was radical -it was that he was able to use the printing press to evangelize (no pun intended) his message:

The printing press is discovered and put into action in 1450. … Luther would have just been one more reformer in a small area if it had not been for the printing press. But thanks to the printing press, Martin Luther became the bestseller throughout the empire. He out-published all of his Catholic opponents. … He discovered the power of the press in ways that no one else had used it up to that point: everything from woodcuts being used in a polemical way, ditties and rhymes. He mastered this new medium; he used it to spread and turn what would have been a local affair into an international movement. ..

Plone can do that for you - but you have to have a communication plan, you have to know how to write for the web, and you have to know your audience. And (most of all) you need to regularly provide content updates to your website.

When you consider moving to a content management system such as Plone - make sure you START with an effective communication plan, that you identify the features of your website (NOT the visual design elements) that are most important, and implement your visual design in such a way that you further your goals, rather then just look pretty!

I’m a guitar player -and when I’m not here at the office, I occasionally play for local musicals. Last week, I was a substitute guitar player for "Big River" (it’s a terrific show - Huck Finn set to music!).

Anyway - being a sub means that you don’t have a lot of time to rehearse with the rest of the band -and that can be challenging -they’ve been playing together for several weeks, and they have learned the rhythm of the show, the cues, and, more importantly - have worked out some nuances of musical language that help them communicate quickly and in shorthand.

So - on my first night, the piano player gives me the signal to start a song, and I did. And she whispers a musical term to me which didn’t resonate -she wanted a slightly different kind of guitar chord - so I played a variation. I was still the only instrument playing - and it was NOT what she was looking for! She tried another term, and I adjusted again - and that didn’t work either! By then, though - I’d played three different version of that chord - and I knew what was most likely the chord she wanted, so I played it. Whew. And the show went on!

During intermission, we chatted about it and had a good laugh, because here’s the thing: She was telling me exactly what she wanted, and I was playing exactly what she asked for! But - because of the subtle differences between the way a guitar player approaches a chord and the way a piano player approaches a chord, combined with a different set of musical influences, study and experiences - our terms didn’t match.

And that can easily happen here at work, too. Many of our customers use words and descriptions that are particular to their practice - whether fund raising, serving customers, helping manage their volunteers and more. And we have to assimilate that information, and turn it into a database that works, or a website that renders. So a "top donor" or a "soft credit" or a "housing report" or a "rotating image" or a "calendar" can all mean different things to different people - and we have to find a way to make sure that we’re all talking about the same thing!

Here are a couple of music inspired tips for better listening/interpreting/translating when working with customers:

• Take time to learn a bit about the people/agency for whom you’re working - you’ll get context that will help you translate better. In music, a jazz guitar player is likely to play a chord in a very different way than a rock musician - and knowing that in advance can help you arrive at the same spot!
• Don’t be afraid to try something new. I had to hit three chords before I landed on the right one -and I didn’t have time to stop the show and have a lengthy conversation. You can adjust your language and terminology on the fly. Asking "is this what you mean?" can be effective and attractive - and can help you keep your project moving!
• Seek transparency in your communications. "I don’t know" is a great answer if it is true. It’s even better if you can follow it up with an "I’ll find out!". If you aren’t sure - ask. Musicians (and customers) want you to get it right, and will take the time to lead you in that direction if you’re open.
• Be honest about your capabilities. I’m not very good at sight reading music, and I told the band that right away. That enhanced, rather than detracted - that gave them the information they needed to support my work. It bears repeating that it’s far better to exceed expectations than it is to miss the mark!
• Practice helps! I still have a lot to learn about music, and even more to learn about how to help nonprofits use technology effectively. But I won’t get better at either by osmosis. I need to practice the tools of my trade. That can mean reading, coding, being an end user, paying for help and more. People rarely advance by resting full time.