Question

Mary is Executive Director of the Helping Hand Assistance Agency, a non-profit organization that provides support and services for adult caregivers. The Helping Hand Assistance Agency has been operating for eight years and has seen growth in the number of clients served and the range of services provided. Mary has been in the executive director position for the last two years. A factor that is critical to the agency’s success is its fundraising. Every year, Helping Hand has seen its donor list grow as word of its quality services spread throughout the region. Four years ago, the person who was then serving as executive director authorized the purchase of a PC-based system to manage all the data associated with fundraising and donations. The software that was purchased had an interesting history. The author of the software developed it in his spare time to assist a charitable organization with which he was involved manage its fundraising efforts. After developing the system, the author decided to market the system to other not-for-profit agencies. The price for the software was quite low, and the software did well in terms of initial sales. The author of the software promised little in the way of support for his product, however, and many of the agencies soon found that they could not adapt to some of the quirks in the software’s design. There was little that could be done to customize the software, and the author was either very slow to respond or was non-responsive to requests for modifications to the product. Eventually, the author notified all purchasers of the product that he was moving on to other ventures and would no longer be providing support of any kind to the purchasers of his software. The staff at Helping Hand Assistance Agency struggled to adapt to this software, and eventually got several of its routines to function correctly. They were unable to use all the software features, however, and today, their fundraising system is a cobbled together blend of automated and manual processes. Sometimes Mary considers their fundraising success a miracle, considering the tangle of processes used. The time seems right for the Helping Hand Assistance Agency to obtain another software package that will support their fundraising and donation activities. Mary wants to do a good job this time in finding an appropriate package. There is no question that software must be purchased; the agency has little IS expertise on its staff.

A. Prepare a set of guidelines that will be included in the organizations standards and procedures manual. Your guidelines should be specific enough so that they can easily assist her in selecting a suitable software package for the organization, and at the same time the guidelines should provide enough detail so that Mary understands why each step is useful and necessary. Again, your guidelines should be specific and should provide adequate information to guide anyone in the origination through the software selection process in the future. You should incorporate the concepts that have been covered in the class; however, you are not limited to using only the class content.

Answer 1

Mary should follow comprehensive guidelines to select a suitable fundraising and donation software package, including assessing specific needs, scalability, user-friendliness, customer support, data security, budget considerations, and seeking trials and references. Involving staff and ensuring provider commitment are also key.

Step-by-step explanation:

Mary, as the Executive Director of the Helping Hand Assistance Agency, needs to consider several guidelines when selecting a new software package to support their fundraising and donation activities. The guidelines should include:

• Identifying specific needs and functionality required by the organization for fundraising activities.
• Evaluating the scalability, user-friendliness, and customization options of the software to ensure it can grow and adapt with the organization.
• Assessing the software vendor's reputation for support and customer service, as well as the availability of training for staff.
• Considering data security features and compliance with relevant regulations to protect donor information.
• Looking for software that can integrate with existing systems and platforms used by the agency.
• Establishing a budget and considering both the initial purchase cost and ongoing maintenance fees.
• Requesting demonstrations, free trials, and references from other non-profit organizations that have used the software.

It's crucial to involve key staff members in the selection process to ensure the new system meets their requirements and to facilitate buy-in from the team. Learning from the previous experience with the unsupported software, Mary should place a strong emphasis on after-sales service and commitment from the software provider.