Class Notes vs. Personal Notes Part 2

In our first article on this topic, we talked about the pros and cons of the Personal Notes part and the Class Notes part.  In this article, we'll give a quick overview on how to migrate from Class Notes to Personal Notes.

Step 1: The first step is to check the configuration of Class Notes the Blackbaud NetCommunity (BBNC) plugin within The Raiser's Edge (RE) to find out what Notepad Type your organization is using.  To do this, log into RE and go to the BBNC plugin.  Once you are in the plugin, click the blue Options link in the upper right corner.  Once the Options window opens, simply click Class Note Processing and write down the value in the Notepad Type drop-down.

Step 2: Now that we know the Notepad Type, we can begin creating a new Personal Notes part.  To do this, log into BBNC and go to Website -> Parts.  Once we are in the parts gallery, click New Part in the upper left corner of the page.  Give your part a name, select Personal Notes from the Part Type drop-down, then click Next.

Step 3: Now our part is created, but we still need to configure it to work properly.  The first section we see is Note Topics.  In order to "import" the topics from the previous part, we will need to ensure we mark the checkbox next to the Notepad Type we wrote down in Step 1.  You may select a display name for the Notepad type and choose whether to allow users to submit multiple notes.  If you wish to include any other Notepad Types for users to edit or create, simply mark the checkboxes next to the appropriate Notepad Types.

Step 4: Now we have our Notepad Types selected, but we need to make some decisions on how users will interact with the part.  In the Display Notes section, you will need to first decide if you want to display the notes on the page and if you want it to be the default action for the part.  If you do not make this section available to users, they will not be able to see notes created by other users.  After you have made that decision, enter a Title, Tab caption, and Instructions for the users.  Next, you will need to select your Search Options.  If you're familiar with the Directory part, you'll find this section familiar.  Simply select a query if you wish to limit the constituents included for this part, then select the Available Fields you wish to allow users to search.  Finally, select the Listing Options you wish to use for the part.

Step 5: The last section of the part configuration is Manage Notes.  In this section, just like Step 4, you will need to decide if you want users to be able to use this section of the part.  If you do not allow users to see this section of the part, they will not be able to modify or add their notes.  Next, you will want to edit the text you are going to use for the Heading and the Listing Options, then click Save.

Step 6: Now that the creation of the part is out of the way, we just need to replace your current part.  I recommend creating a new page for testing purposes.  Add the part to that page and let a few select staff members or active alumni test it and get a feel for the new part.  Collect any feedback they have to see if you can make the process any easier for them.  Once you have completed your user testing, you simply need to cut the Class Notes part off its current page and add the Personal Notes part you created. It would also be a good idea to write an email to your alumni letting them know about the change and give them some pointers on the new part.  If you have decided to allow multiple notes of the same type or multiple notes of multiple types, it's a perfect opportunity to advertise some new features of the website.

Well, that's it.  You have now traded in your Class Notes part for a brand new Personal Notes part.  If you have any questions please let us know in the comments below or create a case and we will be happy to assist.

Posts in this Series:
Class Notes vs. Personal Notes Part 1
Class Notes vs. Personal Notes Part 2

Class Notes vs. Personal Notes Part 1

For those of you who upgraded to Blackbaud NetCommunity (BBNC) 6.10 you might have happened to see this message on your Class Notes part:

So what gives?  Why should you use the Personal Notes part?  I am going to detail the features you'll gain, the features that change, and the features that haven't made it over yet.

What does the Personal Notes part have that Class Notes doesn't?

• The search functionality allows you to search on many fields other than class year, including school name, first name, and last name.
  
• Users can post multiple notes and use multiple note types you specify in The Raiser's Edge.
  
• You can change a note a user posted in The Raiser's Edge and it will be reflected on the website.
• You can show any notes in The Raiser's Edge even if the user didn't post them via the website.
• You can limit the group of individuals the part searches and displays using a constituent query.

What functionality changes when moving from the Class Notes part to the Personal Notes part?

• The approval process changes in the Personal Notes part.  Instead of approving the class notes on the website you will instead approve all notes in the plugin.  While approving the class notes you can also modify them if needed.
• The search functionality changes from a single class year drop down to a set of fields selected on the Personal Notes part.
• The parts display differently.  (Examples: Personal Notes & Class Notes)

What functionality hasn't made it over yet?

• When a user accesses the Class Notes part, it displays the class year from their constituent record and will default the search results to their class.  The Personal Notes part requires the user to enter search criteria to find the class year they wish to view.  This limitation can be avoided, and we'll discuss that in our next article.
• The Class Notes part allows you to select a Profile Display page to link the student names to.  Currently the Personal Notes part does not support this functionality.

Whew... that's a lot to take in, and there is a lot to consider.  I recommend reviewing the Website Design Guide page 125 for more information on the Personal Notes part.  In the next article, we will go over the best way to convert from the Class Notes part to the Personal Notes part.

If you have any questions please feel free to comment below or create a case and we'll be glad to help you out.

Posts in this Series:
Class Notes vs. Personal Notes Part 1
Class Notes vs. Personal Notes Part 2

What do you want to hear about?

As the primary contributor to The Connector blog I have a lot of ideas, but are they what you're interested in?  Coming up we are going to be covering several different topics (listed below) and we'd like to know if there are any specific questions you have or topics you'd like us to cover.  While we can't promise to cover every topic and some topics might be a little in depth for a blog we'll give it everything we have to help you get the information you need to be successful.  So take a look at our topic list below and feel free to comment on what you'd like to see more of or new topics you'd like us to write about.

Upcoming Topics:

• Facebook and Blackbaud NetCommunity Part 4
• Twitter and Blackbaud NetCommunity (new series)
• The NetCommunity Tab and What It Can Offer Part 2
• New Features in Blackbaud NetCommunity 6.10
• Class Notes vs. Personal Notes

Blackbaud NetCommunity Idea Bank

Recently we have been talking a lot about the functionality and features in Blackbaud NetCommunity but we all know they can be enhanced or implemented in ways that would benefit your organizations more.  The best way to communicate your ideas is our Idea Bank.

The site allows you to post ideas, vote for ideas that have been submitted, and see our responses.  We frequently review the site and update or comment on the ideas to let you know if we are reviewing the idea, have the idea planned for a future release, or have started working on the idea.  The site uses a voting system that allows you to add points to the different ideas so we can see what the most popular ideas are.  Knowing this information helps us to better prepare our new releases to suite your business needs.  So if you haven't had a chance to visit yet give it a shot and if you have ideas on how to improve this process feel free to add those too.

Facebook and Blackbaud NetCommunity Part 3

For those of you who have been following along in my series on Facebook integration, we have discussed why you should use Facebook integration and how to configure Facebook to work with Blackbaud NetCommunity (BBNC).  Now it's time to talk about Facebook functionality in BBNC and allowing users to integrate their BBNC and Facebook accounts.

What do I need to get started?

• A Facebook account (Join Facebook)
• A BBNC User Account with Rights to create Pages and Parts within Blackbaud NetCommunity

How do I integrate BBNC user accounts with Facebook accounts?
To integrate accounts between systems, you need to create a Facebook Profile Link part so users can link up their accounts. To do this, follow the steps below:

1. Navigate to the page you wish to add the link part to.
2. Click on the placeholder where you wish to insert the part, and then click New Part.
3. From the part type selector, choose Facebook Profile Link.
   Note: If the part is not visible, your configuration may not have completed.  Review this article and double check your settings.  If that doesn't help, create a case and an analyst will be happy to assist.
4. Enter a name for your part and click next.
5. Type any changes to the default prompt text.
6. In the Generate Profile Update drop-down, select the The Raiser's Edge phone type to add the users Facebook profile link to. Once a user links their account, a profile update will download to the BBNC Plug-in in RE with the link for the phone type you selected.
7. Define the redirect text and link so when users link their accounts, it will point them to a page.
8. Click Save.

Now that the part is added to the website, you can test it by previewing the page and linking your own user account to Facebook.  If you didn't change the text the default part, it will look like this:

So now that my account is linked, what options do I have available in BBNC?
This depends on what you have setup in BBNC.  If you have Team Fundraiser, Personal Pages, User Networking, or any other part that allows users to add photos, users  will be able to add them directly from their Facebook accounts.  The screenshot of this functionality is below:

The other option you have available is in the User Networking Manager.  If you have the Friends tab enabled, users linked to Facebook will see an option to view their friends list and click through to their profiles.

Is that it?
For now that is the only out of the box functionality offered in BBNC. You can use custom parts and other solutions to further utilize the integration.  Our next post will cover these topics and provide some examples.

More Information:
We talked about User Networking parts but we didn't really get into how they are configured or what they do.  For more information, check out the User Networking Guide in our User Guides section.

Posts in this series:
Facebook and Blackbaud NetCommunity Part 1
Facebook and Blackbaud NetCommunity Part 2
Facebook and Blackbaud NetCommunity Part 3

The NetCommunity Tab and What It Can Offer (Part 1)

Constituent records in The Raiser’s Edge (RE) are the entry point of individual information for constituents that interact with your organization. The records include phone numbers, giving history, and relationships with other constituents and organizations. But for constituents that interact with your Blackbaud NetCommunity (BBNC) website, it can offer so much more.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll discuss the features and capabilities of the NetCommunity tab on a constituent's record and how you can use this data to gain a better understanding of how your users interact with your BBNC website. We’ll begin with an overview of the tab and information displayed in the General section.

After RE is integrated with BBNC, you’ll notice a new NetCommunity tab on every individual record. In order for data to display on this tab, you must link the record to a sign-up request from the Blackbaud NetCommunity Plug-in or you must send an email to the constituent. This record linking provides the connection between the user’s constituent record and their Blackbaud NetCommunity login. Information is automatically updated on this tab using the Blackbaud NetCommunity Service once the BBNC and RE record link has been established.

On the General page, you’ll get an overview of the constituent’s login information. This section provides the user's BBNC login, the last time they logged in, and the date they registered for the BBNC account.  

In addition to user's information, the General page provides information and links to the user's personal and fundraiser pages so you can access them directly from the constituent record. Additionally you can see the number of page views and the page visit dates.

For even more information on this tab, check out the Blackbaud NetCommunity & The Raiser’s Edge Integration Guide.

In our next blog, we will be continuing this series with details about the Email/Newsletter sections of the NetCommunity tab.

Facebook and Blackbaud NetCommunity Part 2

Our last post on Facebook explained why you should use Facebook; now we'll go into how Facebook works with Blackbaud NetCommunity. First, you need to connect the two applications.  In this post, we'll go through the process.

What do I need to get started?
To get these two applications to talk, you will need:

• Access to the Blackbaud NetCommunity web server (If you're hosted with Blackbaud OnDemand, contact support in the steps ahead)
• A Facebook account (Join Facebook)
• Rights to create Pages and Parts within Blackbaud NetCommunity

What needs to be done in Facebook?
After you set up your Facebook account, you have to create a Facebook application to bridge the gap between the two systems.  If you've never created a Facebook application, follow the steps below.

1. In your browser, go to http://www.facebook.com/developers/
   
2. Log in if you have not already done so.
3. If you haven't added the Developer Application before, you will see a prompt asking you to approve it.  Click .
4. Click the  button in the upper right.
5. Enter a name for your application.
6. Carefully read Facebook's Terms, and if you agree to them, click Agree.  Note: You must agree to these terms to integrate with Facebook.
7. Click .
8. Copy or write down the API Key and Secret Key for your application.  You will need this information to configure your server.

What needs to be done on the Blackbaud NetCommunity web server?

1. Log into your web server.
2. Navigate to the Blackbaud NetCommunity folder.  The default location is C:\Program Files\Blackbaud\NetCommunity\.
   
3. Find the file called Web.Config and open it in a text editor such as Notepad.
   
4. Find the appSettings section in the file.
   <appSettings>
<add key="ConnectionString" value="server=BBNCLEAD-TEST;database=BBNCLatest;user id=BBPortalWebUser;pwd=admin"/>
</appSettings>
   Note: Your appSettings may contain additional settings.
   
5. After the last add key= item in the list, add two more <add key= lines, one for "FBAppKey and FBSecret. The value for FBAppKey and FBSecret should be the values that you copied or wrote down when you created the Facebook Application.
   <appSettings>
<add key="ConnectionString" value="server=BBNCLEAD-TEST;database=BBNCLatest;user id=BBPortalWebUser;pwd=admin"/>
<add key="FBAppKey" value="e239ad1c05e6de055c5bbb88c939c345" />
<add key="FBSecret" value="a6b455364cb81c0cac44a0f6c644239d" />
</appSettings>
   
6. Save and close the web.config file.

What does it do?
After the integration is established, you can do many things with the application.  In my next post, I'll cover importing photos from Facebook and other features that are part of the built-in integration.

Posts in this series:
Facebook and Blackbaud NetCommunity Part 1
Facebook and Blackbaud NetCommunity Part 2
Facebook and Blackbaud NetCommunity Part 3

Blackbaud NetCommunity 6.10 Release Information

As many of you know, the Blackbaud NetCommunity 6.10 and Online Campus Community 3.11 releases are just around the corner. I wanted to take a few minutes to highlight the key considerations before you update.

Do NOT update to version 6.10 at this time if:

• You have any additional modules such as eStore, Online Application, Custom Form Builder, or any other custom parts. To check the compatibility of these parts please see BB572510.
• You are using The Raiser's Edge and are not updating to The Raiser's Edge 7.91 at this time.  Please review Important Changes in The Raiser's Edge 7.91.

If you are not hosted by Blackbaud OnDemand:

• You must register for the Blackbaud Payment Service to use Blackbaud NetCommunity 6.10. When version 6.10 is released, please review the Update and New Features Guide for more information.
• You must update to The Raiser's Edge 7.91 immediately after updating to Blackbaud NetCommunity 6.10.
• If you are installing Blackbaud NetCommunity on Windows Server 2008 (IIS 7), you must install the IIS 6 Compatibility components.
• Version 6.10 does not support Windows Server 2000 or SQL Server 2000.
• Version 6.10 supports SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2005. SQL Server 2005 will no longer be supported as of our fourth quarter release.
• To access your website's administration, you must use Internet Explorer 7/8 or Firefox 3 browsers.
• In order to track referrer URLs for Google Analytics and other analytic solutions, we changed how the script must be configured. The URL tracked for each page in your analytics solution will change.  For more information, please refer to the Update and New Features Guide when the release is available.
• You must update to Blackbaud NetCommunity 6.10 from version 5.0 or higher.  If you are not on version 5.0 or higher, you must update to version 5.6, which will be available on the Blackbaud NetCommunity 6.10 download page.
  
• If you do not have Microsoft .Net 3.5 installed, you must be connected to the Internet during the installation process. If you cannot connect to the Internet, download and install Microsoft .Net 3.5 Full Install before beginning the installation process.

If Blackbaud NetCommunity is hosted by Blackbaud OnDemand and The Raiser's Edge is not:

• You will automatically be registered for the Blackbaud Payment Service, which is required by Blackbaud NetCommunity 6.10. When the release is available for download, review the Update and New Features Guide for more information.
• You must update to The Raiser's Edge 7.91 immediately following the update to Blackbaud NetCommunity 6.10.
• If you are installing Blackbaud NetCommunity on Windows Server 2008 (IIS 7), you must install the IIS 6 Compatibility components.
• To access your website's administration, you must use Internet Explorer 7/8 or Firefox 3 browsers.
• In order to track referrer URLs for Google Analytics and other analytic solutions, we changed how the script must be configured.  This means the URL tracked for each page in your analytics solution will change.  For more information, refer to the Update and New Features Guide when the release is available for download.
• You must update to Blackbaud NetCommunity 6.10 from version 5.0 or higher.  If you are not on version 5.0 or higher you must update to version 5.6, which will be available on the 6.10 download page.
• If you do not have Microsoft .Net 3.5 installed, you must be connected to the Internet during the installation process. If you cannot connect to the Internet, download and install Microsoft .Net 3.5 Full Install before beginning the installation process.
  

If both Blackbaud NetCommunity and The Raiser's Edge are hosted by Blackbaud OnDemand:

• You will automatically be registered for the Blackbaud Payment Service which Blackbaud NetCommunity 6.10 requires. When the release is available, please review the Update and New Features Guide for more information.
• You will be updated to The Raiser's Edge 7.91 immediately following the update to Blackbaud NetCommunity 6.10.
• To access your website's administration, you must use Internet Explorer 7/8 or Firefox 3 browsers.
• In order to track referrer URLs for Google Analytics and other analytic solutions we changed how the script must be configured.  This means the URL tracked for each page in your analytics solution will change.  For more information, refer to the Update and New Features Guide when the release is available.
• You will no longer be able to use ICVerify as a payment processor for The Raiser's Edge.
• You will be contacted with your scheduled update date.

Please review these considerations carefully before downloading or updating to version 6.10.  If you have any questions, create a case and an analyst will be glad to help you.

Updated System Requirements and Configuration Documentation

We improve existing functionality and add requested features in every new Blackbaud NetCommunity release, and these changes may require additional hardware resources for optimal system performance and user experience. Our Blackbaud NetCommunity Configuration Overview Guide and system requirements are updated to include these changes. We strongly recommend your IT Department review this documentation before updating.

System requirement changes in Blackbaud NetCommunity 5.6 include:

• A minimum of three servers if your organization hosts The Raiser's Edge and Blackbaud NetCommunity:
• A server for the Blackbaud NetCommunity website, COM service, Blackbaud NetCommunity Windows Service and Plugin Service
• A server for The Raiser's Edge Web Service components used connect and transfer of data between Blackbaud NetCommunity and The Raiser's Edge
• A server for The Raiser's Edge and Blackbaud NetCommunity SQL Server databases
• A minimum of two servers if Blackbaud OnDemand hosts your Blackbaud NetCommunity database and not your Raiser's Edge database:
• A server for The Raiser's Edge Web Service components
• A server for The Raiser's Edge SQL Server database
• Support of both SQL Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 with Blackbaud NetCommunity

Features Added and Changed in Patches 4, 6, & 8

It's been a busy few weeks over here as we prepare for version 6.10 of Blackbaud NetCommunity to release but I wanted to take a few minutes to post about some changes we made in our last few patches.

Patch 4:

1. You are now able to change the "Please Select" text for address dropdowns on the Donation Form.  It is located in the Address Messages section of the language tab.
2. Supervisor users can now delete or edit comments made by end-users to a solicitor on their Team Fundraising page.  When viewing the solicitor's page the supervisor user will see an edit and delete image next to the comment in question.  (The internal supervisor was skipped in patch 4 but that account can perform the same function as of patch 5.)
3. When requesting notifications for activity on your Team Fundraising page the system will now send you the notifications even if you previously opted out of all communications from the organization.

Patch 6:

1. You are now able to change the "Tribute Information" heading text on the Donation Form.  It is located in the Tributes section of the language tab.
2. The Month dropdown on the Donation Form is now listed numerically.  This makes the form more accessible and language neutral.

Patch 8:

1. The User Login Form and the User Profile Form now validate the birth date field to ensure the user is not older than 150.
2. The Email Preferences Form now shows notifications separated out from other forms of communication to allow users to manage them separately.

If you have any questions on these changes please comment below and let us know.  In addition if you have suggestions or requests for a change in functionality please let us know by using our ideabank at http://blackbaudnetcommunity.uservoice.com/.

Facebook and Blackbaud NetCommunity

I have had quite a few users ask me about Facebook and what exactly it does or why to use Facebook in Blackbaud NetCommunity.  After looking over our functionality and seeing how complex it could seem, I thought it would be a great topic to write about.  Over the next few articles I will discuss what Facebook is, why you should use it, and how to get the most out of it.

What is Facebook?
Facebook is a social networking site that empowers users to connect to others who share the same interests, experiences, professions, employers, schools, etc., through groups and direct user to user interaction.  In a nutshell, it's a large network of networks.

Why utilize Facebook?
Social networking has been an important part of the internet's development over the last few years, and it is continuing to grow in users.  This is an important market to break into as it will help reach a wider and younger audience that isn't being reached by traditional fundraising campaigns.  So why Facebook over MySpace or another option?  Facebook is a leader in this area and provides a professional looking yet friendly approach to user interaction.  In more numeric terms Facebook gets more traffic and has better opportunities for increasing your user base.  According to Complete.com, ever since Facebook overtook MySpace last December, they have continued to grow rapidly.  In the last month alone they have experienced an increase of unique visitors by a little less than twenty-million.

How do I get started with Facebook?
There are several resources about Facebook.  I recommend doing the following:

• Create a profile of your own if you haven't done so yet
• Check out Facebook's page on Non-profits (They have some great examples)
• Read How to Set Up a Non-Profit Facebook Page by Wild Apricot
• Get some ideas by reviewing Top-12 Nonprofit Facebook Applications by BL'ONG

So what about Blackbaud NetCommunity?
So how do you integrate and see Facebook content within Blackbaud NetCommunity or see your website content in Facebook?  I'll get into this functionality in my next few posts.  In the meantime, check out Blackbaud on Facebook.

Posts in this series:
Facebook and Blackbaud NetCommunity Part 1
Facebook and Blackbaud NetCommunity Part 2
Facebook and Blackbaud NetCommunity Part 3

Using Google Analytics with Blackbaud NetCommunity

You've spent hours setting up your parts, pages, templates, and layouts. You can analyze your site's flow and efficiency using Google Analytics with Blackbaud NetCommunity to form an accurate and robust reporting tool for website traffic. 

In version 5.6, Blackbaud NetCommunity improves integration with Google Analytics to make sense of the hits, visits, and views on your site.  While Blackbaud NetCommunity offers its own traffic reports, you may find Google Analytics’ robust reports an invaluable tool for gathering stats and data about visitors’ web viewing habits.

To begin utilizing Google Analytics, set up an account with Google and obtain your Google Analytics tracking script.

Next, open Blackbaud NetCommunity and go to System Options to add your Google Analytics script.

Each time a Blackbaud NetCommunity page is loaded, the snippet of JavaScript is injected into the page. The script calls back to the Google servers where visitor data is collected for processing.

In about twenty-four hours you can begin viewing your data.

We are continuing to work on improving the reporting of site referrers and will be utilizing the eCommerce features in Google Analytics as well.

Stay tuned for future posts where we will delve into data and uncover the meaning behind the stats...

Further reading:
The Official Google Analytics Blog - http://analytics.blogspot.com/  

New Blackbaud NetCommunity eLearning Library

Our new Blackbaud NetCommunity eLearning Library is a collection of online software lessons that take you step by step through key concepts and tasks in the software. You can take the lessons whenever you need them, at your own pace. Lessons include:

• Logging in and Navigation
• Content Management
• Layouts and Templates
• Parts
• Raiser's Edge Integration

The Blackbaud NetCommunity eLearning Library is a subscription-based service, but, through the end of 2009, it is available to everyone at no cost. To view the Blackbaud NetCommunity eLearning Library, select Training from the Services menu, and then click Subscriber Login under eLearning Library for Blackbaud NetCommunity. Send us feedback by emailing elearninglibrary@blackbaud.com or by clicking Tell Us at the bottom of the lesson menu.

Blackbaud NetCommunity 5.6 New Features Highlight

Blackbaud NetCommunity continues to expand its feature set and integration with The Raiser's Edge, Blackbaud Enterprise CRM, and our educational software.

This week we are going to focus on three of the new features:

• Adding metadata descriptions and keywords to both templates and pages
• Comparing content performance for testing purposes using the Content Comparison part
• eReceipt data now available in The Raiser's Edge

Metadata

In version 5.6 when you create web pages and templates, you can now include metadata.  This information is used by search engines to categorize and rank your site. On the New Page and New Template screens, two new fields allow you to embed metadata in the HTML coding.  We currently allow two metadata fields to be manually entered.

In the Metadata Description field, enter a description to appear with the link when search engines include a page in search results.

In the Metadata Keywords field, enter keywords for search engines to include in online searches. For example, you can use keywords to describe pages with little text or to include terms that are not on the page but are likely to appear in search criteria.  In addition, you can have the option to automatically include the keywords from the template, if specified, allowing you to further define the content without needing to reenter all of the keywords for every page.

Note: The page's or template's HTML coding also includes metadata for the last date the page was modified. This date reflects the most recent change to the page or to a part on the page. However, it does not include changes to parts that are stored within parts on the page. For example, editing a Formatted Text and Image part within a Targeted Content part would not cause this value to update.

For more information on how to add Metadata fields to your pages and templates please see BB599030.

Content Comparison

With the new Content Comparison part, you can measure the effectiveness of different appeals to your website users.  For example, you create different Formatted Text and Image parts to promote an event or to solicit donations. On the Content Comparison part, you then add up to six of these Formatted Text and Image parts and select a target page with an Event Registration Form part or Donation Form part. When you place the Content Comparison part on a page, it randomly displays the different Formatted Text and Image parts to website users and tracks the click-through rate to the target page.

The comparison measures the effectiveness of the Formatted Text and Image parts by the click-through rate to the target page, so the parts must include links to the target page. The comparison also measures the conversion rate if the target page includes Donation Form, Membership Form, Event Registration Form, Payment, Survey, or User Login parts. For example, if the target page includes an Event Registration Form, the comparison tracks how many users register for the event.  If the target page includes a Donation Form, the comparison also tracks the amount donated.

The comparison continues until enough users click through to the target page for the Content Comparison part to achieve statistical significance. The number of Formatted Text and Image parts in the comparison determines the threshold to reach statistical significance, but you can also override this with your own threshold.  After the comparison reaches statistical significance, the Content Comparison part displays only the most effective Formatted Text and Image part. However, you can override the selection to use a different Formatted Text and Image part.

For more information on how to create Content Comparison parts please see BB599031.

eReceipts

In Blackbaud NetCommunity 5.5 we added the ability to send eReceipts out to end users that made a donation on your website.  In version 5.6 we expanded that functionality.  If you select the Mark gift as receipted in The Raiser's Edge checkbox, the receipt stack and receipt number from Blackbaud NetCommunity will now populate the Receipt Stack and Receipt no. fields on the gift record in The Raiser's Edge.  Also, the URL for the eReceipt PDF is added as a Gift Attribute.  If the donor was logged in during the donation the link can be accessed by the donor and any user with supervisor rights in Blackbaud NetCommunity.  If the donor was not logged in the link can be accessed by anyone who knows the link.

For more information on how to collect this information in The Raiser's Edge please see BB598682.

For the full list of features added to Blackbaud NetCommunity 5.6 please see our Update and New Features Guide.

Professional Services is Working to Help You!

We are aware of what’s happening in our economy. As personal incomes shrink, communicating your organization’s mission and raising funds for your causes becomes even more important. You may have seen the article, Study Shows First-Time Online Donors Often Do Not Return, about online donor loyalty in The New York Times. Professional Services can help increase your donor loyalty through innovative service offerings targeted to get your organization’s online presence more visible and more appealing. Here are some of the services we offer:

• Website assessment and analysis – We research and analyze your current web presence and targeted audience to help you understand the fundamentals of a successful website, identify areas of your website content and/or navigation that are performing well and those with opportunities for improvement, evaluate industry websites or examples to demonstrate real-world application of best practices, and leave you with tangible recommendations for improving your site in line with the current trends and best practices.
  
  
• Website usability testing – We conduct an in-depth usability analysis on your current website to determine opportunities for improvement, including planned target audience analysis, develop up to ten (10) targeted tasks to be performed on your current website, conduct usability analysis with actual audience members observing facial reactions, time taken, number of clicks via a sophisticated video camera and screen activity capture system.
  
  
• Website analytics – We introduce you to Web Analytics, assist with the installation of Google Analytics, and set up quarterly metrics reviews to help you get the most out of your analytics investment and your valuable web presence.
  
  
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – We review SEO best practices with you, make recommendations on how to refine your targeted keywords, and set up quarterly 1:1 SEO monitoring along with keyword and content strategy updates.
  
  
• Email Marketing – We review email trends and best practices with you, review your subscription process, assist with custom email design and help you utilize these items with the development of a 12 month campaign communications plan with quarterly wellness checks to ensure maximum success.
  
  
• Content Management for Successful Websites – We review your current content management practices to assist you with ongoing recommendations for ensuring your content and forms are formatted and styled appropriately, provide hands-on visual content edits and updates, ongoing development of additional CSS styles to support content formatting needs, ongoing development of additional HTML layouts for the contracted website to support content formatting needs and ensuring content is formatted for the best possible visual impact and flow.
  

In addition to the above solutions, we have services focused on Information Architecture and Wireframes. Have other questions or ideas on how shore up your online presence? Our Strategy Services can help you out. Contact your Account Manager for more information on any of our professional services offerings.