Hi- I am recommending that a few of our teams look at using Microsoft Project to help them manage major projects. Direct marketing appeals certainly falls into that category for us. Is anyone else using MS Project for this and willing to share samples of what's worked for them? I apologize for this, but since the forums are split up by topic, I'm going to cross post this to cover other areas I'm recommending the product to as well. Thanks! Mitch Gibbs Director, IS Advocate Charitable Foundation [Email Removed]

Hi Mitch I personally use Microsoft Project but do find that in many cases it's rather too powerful and multi-facted for the project I'm managing! The temptation is there to make the project more complex just to make sure I can use the software fully :)) Can't have too many Gantt charts ... Given the range of skills and planning methodologies used by fundraisers, I've really been pushing use of Outlook or similar integrated task/calendar/contact management function, which has the advantage of being automatically used because of e-mail. Whilst Tasks in Outlook are relatively limited, you can always link to intranet documents etc. as required, and it provides a slightly less intimidating way in to project management ... The other issue is duplication of data - for Direct Mail appeals, some information can (and should) be recorded in RE - dates, costs, staff etc., in order to enable net profit reporting, canvasser performance monitoring etc. At the same time, much of this also typically needs to be recorded in whatever Finance system you are using, for production of budgets etc. So to have an additional data resource where more of the same info is being captured and reported does create the possibility of error, confusion or inefficiency, unless there are ways of integrating all the data sources ... But having said that, personally I do use it and it can be very useful. Best wishes :) Chris [b]Chris Trevor[/b] Database Consultant St Dunstan's DDI : 020 7616 7931 [Email Removed] [i]--- Edited at 10/19/2004 6:23:24 AM by Chris Trevor[/i]

Thanks Chris. Great feedback. The power and complexity are big concerns of mine. For us, unfortunately we don't have a decent shared calendar system. We're part of a very large health care system and have a web e-mail and calendar system that meets almost no one's needs :-) Also, because we are a small part of a big organization, many of our expenses are managed a little more manually because we are rolled up into much larger books. So the duplication wouldn't be a BIG concern, but I'm certain people would continue, at least until they really understand Project, to track things in various other spots instead of consolidating. Thanks again for the input. Mitch