May 2009 - Posts
Have you ever been frustrated while updating AddressAccelerator? Have you ever seen "Error: The Serial Number for your PostalSaver is either out of date or corrupt. Please contact Blackbaud for assistance"? Since AddressAccelerator just updated to the June\July files I thought it might be helpful to go through the 2 most frequently seen error messages when updating.
Error: The Serial Number for your PostalSaver is either out of date or corrupt. Please contact Blackbaud for assistance
Why am I getting it? The error refers to the serial number in your computer's registry. Every two months (when you update) a new serial number is written to the registry key: "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Satori Software, Inc.\MailRoom ToolKit\Registration\MailRoom Toolkit". If this key does not have the correct number after updating you will get the serial number error message.
What Causes it? After installing the AddressAccelerator update, the registry key with the serial number is not always carried down from the server to the workstation. This is because AddressAccelerator was not created to be a network installation. The size of the data files (over GB now) has forced many organizations to install on a shared network drive and this is a side affect of using AddressAccelerator on a network.
How do I Fix It? Go to the server or workstation where the latest AddressAccelerator updates were run and export the registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Satori Software, Inc.\MailRoom ToolKit\Registration
- Copy this key to the workstation getting the error and open it (be sure to be logged in as a local administrator).
Error: Active X Component Cannot be Created
Why am I getting it? The Mailroom Toolkit components on the workstation have not been installed.
What Causes it? Once again we get a side affect of a network installation. This is something that would be installed when running the AddressAccelerator update locally but because the files are on a shared drive the local workstation did not the get the required components.
How do I Fix It? The Update.exe file was built to mimic a local install without actually installing GB worth of data. We need to browse to the location of your AddressAccelerator data files and copy the Update executable file. Paste this file to your desktop and install (accepting the defaults is OK).
I hope the explanations above make the updates a little easier and also give you more insight onto why the errors are appearing. We are always looking into improving the process but if you are in charge of updating AddressAccelerator I would keep this information handy. Thanks for stopping in!
Doesn't that statement get everyone's attention? Just the idea of free money being out there for the taking is an exciting prospect, especially with the current state of our economy.
In the past year or so we’ve seen multiple large organizations receive bail out money to continue functioning (we are looking at you General Motors). You may not realize it but there is a stimulus package out there for you and you don’t even need to go to the government to get it. What you need is already in your donor database.
If you would like a list of potential donors that are guaranteed to donate to your organization then all you need to do is open your database (if you do not want free donors then you can go ahead and stop reading now). Your database is full of records that are required to give to you. You read that correctly, they are required to donate to your organization.
This is true because there are tens of thousands of organizations out there that will match a gift given by their employees. The interesting thing is a lot of these organizations don’t actually end up matching the gifts and it isn’t because they are short on funds or because they don’t identify with a mission. The main reason many of the companies have not donated to your organization is because they have not been asked.
Ok, so a lot of matching gift organizations are out there. How many could possibly be in my database? The organizations that match gifts range from Fortune 500 landmarks like JP Morgan and Home Depot to local newspapers like The Newton Kansan or the Haines City Herald. So whether you are in New York City or Florence, SC your matching gift organization is just around the corner.
How do you know if an organization will match gifts? There are multiple online offerings (some free) that will allow you to search on an organization and other options that can look at every record in your database. There are even services available that will put a link on your online donation page asking a donor to see if their organization matches gifts (how great is that?! You get two gifts for the price of 1!).
If you’ve made it this far, take that next step and find those matching gifts. It’s about time you received some bailout money!
Editor's Note: MatchFinder just became available for Blackbaud OnDemand databases! Contact your Account Executive or Product Support for more information.
Additional Resources:
Matching Gift White Pages
MatchFinder User Guide
Steven had a great comment on my original blog entry about care of and attention lines on addresses and instead of responding only to him I think it is best to make my answer available to everybody. His question points to something everyone (Canada and US alike) can use for data entry with AddressFinder and most NCOA services. So what can we do to make sure our attention and care of information is not lost in an AddressFinder screening?
The root of this problem is the difference in what the Post Office sees as mailable and what we see as mailable. Post Offices do not need the extra contact information to deliver a piece of mail. The letter is considered successfully delivered once it is placed in the mailbox. You, as the sender, need to make sure the letter reaches the appropriate person at the organization and does not get lumped in with junk mail. In Raiser’s Edge we have two ways to handle this. I recommend the 1st one but the 2nd option can be used as well:
Option 1:
- Open the appropriate Organization Record.
- Go to Relationships and add an Individual Relationship.
- Enter your specific department\office\etc in the last name field, mark the relationship as a contact, and to print the organization name.
- On the General 2 tab make the Primary Addressee editable (mark the box) and enter Attn: Accounts Payable.
- Save and close the contact record.
The next time you run a mailing all you need to do is make sure to mail to contacts at organizations and to use the Primary Addressee as the recipient. This will put the attention information on line 1 and the organization on line 2 (If you do not want the organization to print just unmark the Print Organization Name checkbox on the contact relationship record). The finished address will look like:
Attn: Accounts Payable
Blackbaud, Inc.
2000 Daniel Island Drive
Charleston, SC 29492
Option 2:
- Open the appropriate Organization Record.
- Go to Relationships and add an Individual Relationship.
- Enter Attn: department\office\etc in the last name field, mark the relationship as a contact (Do not mark the option to Print Organization Name).
- Save the contact record.
The next time you run a mailing all you need to do is make sure to
mail to contacts at organizations and to use the
Individual Name as the recipient. This will put the attention information on line 1 but no organization name. The address would look like:
Attn: Accounts Payable
2000 Daniel Island Drive
Charleston, SC 29492
I recommend these options because it gives you the most flexibility with your mailings. If you have multiple departments at an organization you can just create one organization record with multiple contacts. This prevents needing multiple records for one organization to make sure you have the different c\o or Attn information on the addresses. Not losing the information when running AddressFinder is really just a positive side affect of having a cleaner database.
It's that time of the year again for the annual postage rate changes for the Post Office. All the post office changes went into effect on May 11th so make sure you are prepared for your next mailing whenever that may be (if you are a PostalSaver user and have not downloaded the May Patch the June\July updates will have the new rates).
All changes can be seen at the Post Office Website (
Post May 2009 Price List) and if you would like you can compare this to the previous rates (
Pre May 2009 Price List).
The prices that concern most Nonprofit Mailings are found on these pages on the new price list:
- Page 12 - Nonprofit Commercial Letters
- Page 13 - Nonprofit Commercial Flats
- Page 14 - Nonprofit Parcels
- Page 15 - Nonprofit Non Flat Machinables
This change is separate from the Move Update Standards that went into place in Nov '08 and will not change those requirements. Your local Post Office will be able to answer any questions you have about the rate changes. Happy mailings!
Welcome to Finders Keepers, the official blog of Blackbaud’s
Data Enrichment Services. My name is Jimmy and I will be the primary author here although my teammates may chime in periodically.
First a little background on me. I’m a born and bred Carolinian so I love sweet tea, porches, and the beach. After graduating from Wake Forest University I moved down to Charleston and started working at Blackbaud. I am a Senior Support Specialist on the Data Analytical and Enrichment Services (DAES) support team and if you are reading this blog we have probably talked on the phone at some point.
Second this blog is about you. My goal is to post a few times a month with things like; pointers on using our Finder products, updates on any laws or requirements (who loves the new
USPS Move Update Standard!) and anything else you, the user, would like more information on.
Feel free to leave any comments or suggestions and come back to see me again.