We are looking into purchasing NetSolutions. Currently we use Network for Good for our online donations and we don’t currently accept event registrations online. I know we are behind the times.

One issue we have with NetSolutions is the eAcknowledgement that is sent. Our BB Account Manager told us that if a constituent registers for an event and makes a donation the amounts are not separated out. Is this confusing to your event attendees or do you use wording in your eAcknowledgment to make it clear that this is only the amount that they are being charged and not their tax deductible amount?

Can you give me the good, the bad and the ugly on NetSolutions? Would you purchase it again given the chance or is there a better product out there?

Thanks for your help.

Linda Watterworth

New College Foundation

The reply we use for an event registration is simply an acknowledgement that they are now registered and how much their credit card was charged.  We state that they will receive an official acknowledgement by mail.

The only ugly that I find in NetDonors is the design package.  The page is not customizeable enough to look anywhere near the look of our website.

The ugly I find in NetMail is the same thing - there is no ability to design using HTML and get anything like a newsletter.  Therefore although we have it - we very rarely use NetMail.

Otherwise for what you pay for NetSolutions (compared to NetCommunity) it is worth it for us.  Much more customizeable then NFG with more capabilities and the import process is a snap.

Hi Melissa,

 When you mention that "the import process is a snap", have you had any issues with tribute gifts?  I've noticed that if you link an online tribute gift with one acknowledgee to an existing tribute record with multiple acknowledgees, the gift then has all the acknowledgees marked to receive an acknowledgement.  Have you experienced that issue or do you have a workaround?

 Regards,

Jenny Bailey, Director of Development Services

Lucile Packard foundation for Children's Health 

I'm currently sorting through the mess that was left in the wake of our Alumni Reunion.  We had some pretty serious (but interesting) issues with the Event module in RE & online registration through NetCommunity. 

The online registration component seems to work pretty well for small, one-time events (a dinner here, a luncheon there, etc), however if you are intending to do complex events (such as our 40-50 "event" Reunion), I would suggest you look elsewhere.  The registration process is fine if you are registering for 1 event at at time, but gets incredibly confusing as you add more events.  I have yet to find a way to get the eAcknowledgement to specify clearly what the constituent registered for.  If it's one event, this is easy, as you can simply include it in the email.

I've also found that, especially with the large, complex events, it is hard to accurately track participant numbers.  We found that constituents often ended up registering themselves twice, which thoroughly messed up what should have been an easy way to keep track of numbers.  

That said, our Development department seems to like the event module and online registration.  It just hasn't worked well for our purposes.  

Diana

Does anyone have experience with providing access security to a NetDirectory page? According to the NetSolutions folks at Blackbaud, a NetDirectory page is on the Web with no front-end security, and we're looking for a way to limit access to our Alumni directory to authorized people only. Thanks.

Phil Leonard
Warren Wilson College

 Have you tried inserting the link to the NetDirectory on a page that ONLY alums have access?  It wouldn't make the Directory completely inaccessible to non-alums, but it would definitely prevent people from randomly navigating to the page. 

We have NetCommunity, so it might be a bit different, but I'm pretty sure we can make the link to the directory part of a targeted content part (making it only visible to people with the right attributes).  We've not done that yet, but as far as I know it's entirely possible.