I'm the web manager (non techie) for a national nonprofit and we're looking at both Kintera and Convio and was hoping to learn more about them from users' experience with them.

I've searched the discussion boards pretty thoroughly and haven't found the nitty-gritty details I want -- How do they compare for customer support? East of use? Can anyone help? --Jayne

Hi--
We recently installed Symantec Corporate A/V 10.0 which we just obtained from Techsoup on a Windows 2003 Small Business Server and Deployed to XP Pro SP2 clients. Are running into a problem which is fixed by an updated build as described here:
DoScan.exe causes high CPU usage
Link to How to Obtain is broken.

How do we go about obtaining 10.0.1?

Thank you.
--Mitch

I am thinking that there are probably people here who do it with software, so I am going to ask, what software do you use to track volunteers hours?

Thanks, this is something that I have had a hard time finding an answer to!

Hello,

Would you know how raiser edge is similar and different from ms access. How easy/difficult is it to learn raisers edge?

Thanks,
Zeba

We've just posted an article on Client Management and Outcomes Tracking Databases.

How do you go about quantifying the impact your services have had on your community? Do you use a database? Do you have tips for implementing a system?

[admin edit to correct URL]

okay, there is probably some stupid answer to this that i'm simply haven't come up with, but... i have a LAN with 3 PCs on a befw11s4 on broadband, and my neighbor downstairs has his on LAN on a broadband connection. the problem is, we want to link the two LANs to share files or possibly even bridge the two LANs to maybe double bandwidth? can anyone help? sorry, i don't have info on his router.

Does anyone know of some good calendar software that isn't Microsoft Outlook?

I managed to get everyone in a fairly large NPO organisation off of their illegal copies of Microsoft Office and onto Openoffice.org but there are a few complaints still going around. These are mainly on formating issues to do with word file formats and also macro support.

The other main issue is around their great need for a group calendar. I installed egroupware but a couple of managers complained that it didn't work properly and deleted their items - I do not know if this is true or a plan to get Microsoft Outlook back. Is their a reliable & free group calendar program around that will save their ICT budget from being devoured by Microsoft.

Note that this is in South Africa where we do not get discounted/free software from the big players.

Thanks in advance

I am looking for suggestions for some inexpensive non-profit donor fundraising software on the market for an agency that is currently using Excel but has more than 2,000 records. Any ideas?

Does anyone have a favorate printer auditing software solution> All printers are networked and I 'd like to track usage by individual - and job if possible - to accurately charge back the individual departmetns.

We are a relatively small non-profit which has in house production facilities for developmentally disabled individuals. Our current software for tracking time and piecework of our clients is pre-1990. We need something more recent that will integrate with accounting software payroll modules. Anything which would help our case coordinators and employment consultants would be helpful as well. We are in the budgeting process now so there may be money available. I'm the staff accountant and most knowledgeable about computers/software/networks at our organization but I'm no techie. I would like to here from anyone using production friendly software.

I'm working with a small nonprofit which is in need of a donorbase.  We tried eBase, but it is too difficult for our staff.  They were shown a very nifty piece of web-based software which keeps all of the information that they need as well as creating excellent reports.  The problem: the app is PC and all of their computers are Mac's.  The salesperson says that, if they purchase a copy of Windows plus copies of Word and Excel for each user, and pay a monthly fee, they can run the software by first logging onto a server in Chicago (the school is in the SF Bay area), and run an emulation of Windows 2000 over the web.  Then, they will be able to log into the donorbase in Windows 2000 emulation.  The school has an onsite Mac techie, but no one with any Windows experience.

What are your recommendatons?

Thanks!

TechSoup has just published a new article titled Greening Your Office. It describes the experiences of nonprofits that have succeeded at improving environmental practices inside the office, and offers tips to those who are interested in initiating small- or large-scale changes within their own organizations.

Have you made small changes in your office, or started a recycling program, or another conservation program onsite? If you've already made some attempt at going green or are an environmental expert, we'd love for you to share your experience. If you're not green yet, but green with envy, you can ask for advice from your colleagues here on how to get started.

Sarah Marx
TechSoup Stock Content Manager
Author, "Greening Your Office"

Does anybody know a good alternative diagraming program? I think the standard is MS Visio. Anybody have experience using something else?

Thanks,

Adam

We used to receive donated software from Microsoft at no fee. This is what "donated" should mean.

When I went to Techsoup, I found that what had been previously a donation now costs $2000.

I don't know about all the "cocktail liberal" non-profits out there who can afford to pay this kind of cash for a "donation", but ours, for one, cannot.

Where Tech soup is ripping us off is in the site licenses, where they charge $20 per site license, although each license requires virtually no additional administration on their part.

Tech Soup should be ashamed of itself. Microsoft should be equally ashamed for participating.

Someone should do something about this scam. You make me want to vomit.

I have written an article on TechSoup called, Top 20 Ways to Prevent Spam as a part of our spam prevention month. As you may know, we will be hosting an onmline event on the topic of spam next week.

What are your personal favorite ways to keep your inbox spam-free?

Share them with the TechSoup Community here, in this thread.

I am currently searching for fundraising software that is compatible with Macintosh operating system, I mainly need
software that has donortracking capabilities, and offers assistance with bulk mail (mail merge). I'v researched, donorperfect, giftmaker pro, and blackbaud's RaiserEdge. Are there any other out there? The software should also be user friendly, for a database of 10,000.

Is anyone out there using Donor Perfect? I just started a new job and Donor Perfect was dumped in my lap./ I'd appreciate any helpful hints...I can't seem to make the $%#@ do anything I want/need to do.

thanks in advance....

amy

Hi,
I have a web page that is designed to the HTML 4.01 strict standard using CSS. I just don't know how to avoid using the border="0" html tag, I should be using a CSS tag but I don't know what will work. I don't want a border around my company logo which is a link. Here is the code:
..img src="../images/SEC_Logo.gif" alt="Shore Educational Collaborative Home" width="233" height="56" border="0"..
Because I have the border tag the page is not strict HTML. I need it to be Strict.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,

The benefit of teaching is that I get summers off. And I enjoy the chance to teach about technology.

Today CNN has reported what I knew for years. That if you have windows and browse the web with IE you are at risk even if you have all the "windows updates" for security and the best virus protection.

You already know that if you get pictures in an email from a friend you can't really trust your computer. It might not be your friend. Could be his or any computer got a virus and knew you 2 had exchanged email. And like any virus it wants to spread or spy. And you can't know those pictures are .JPG files. In the windows world you can't trust what your eyes see. And so we find the summer of 2004 upon us and the hackers have dropped a kiloton bomb: You are not really safe even going to trusted web sites.

I'll repeat, you are not safe if you browse the web on windows with IE. You are not safe if you have virus protection. You are not safe even if you only go to trusted web sites. Hackers have learned to attach their bugs to major websites and those bugs can bypass current security. Worry if your start page is suddenly not what you want.

I don't want to spread paranoia but I'd really suggest that you download a non microsoft web browser so that you can surf the internet with more safety. I also suggest you buy or update your Norton or Mcafee virus protection.


Don't believe me? Read the conservative, pro business web sites:
July 2, 2004 or http://tinyurl.com/yvt8a Ass. Press
June 11, 2004 New IE Holes Defy Latest Patches http://tinyurl.com/2dblx

Yes, I'm writing a biased, one sided essay. But if a Microsoft advocate was here they would declare the problem fixed, and this was all old news. They would continue by saying microsoft has changed.

To me this cat and mouse, fixed then broken logic is like saying the USA had a few policy adjustments to make to win the war. The real blame is on those vietcong/hackers/terrorists who won't play by the rules of war invented, then abandoned, by a dominant power. There is no exit strategy because you can't delete windows. Not even in the next 2 years. But you can set yourself free with an embargo on the ways viruses get into your computer. Start by downloading and installing the free alternatives. Use them and in a few weeks you can stop using outlook, explorer, and the windows media player.

Also see the good Tech Soup how to From Dec '03

3 Alternative browsers, topmost as most recommended.

FIREFOX http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/
Very small, Quick, xtra secure, installs no extra junk, a bit leading edge,
it imports all your IE bookmarks. Free.


MOZILLA http://www.mozilla.org/products/mozilla1.x/
Mozilla has some DNA and roots from Netscape. It is open source and a lot of security geeks have worked on it for a long time. Very Mature and stable. Installs some stuff you may not need so hit the custom button in the installer. Free.


OPERA http://www.opera.com/download/
Solid, Some rare websites don't work, some screen space used for advertising unless you pay the $39 bucks to get rid of the advertising


PS: Other than MS Office, I'd say you should not be using Any Microsoft products like Outlook, IE , Entourage (outlook w new name), Hotmail (yes hotmail is the next target), MSN Messenger, or even Windows Media Player. WMV files are movie files that also have embedded visual basic code loved by hackers.


Proper alternatives for all of these Microsoft tools:
- Email: Webmail such as Yahoo.com or excite.com or soon gmail.google.com or use local mail like Eudora or Mozilla
you will have to export your hotmail address book.
- Web Browsers: Firefox, Mozilla, Opera
- Chat: Yahoo Messenger, ICQ
- Media Players: Itunes (5 stars), Real Player ( free or $19 version )


Why has it gotten so bad? Well the same reason science has progressed. Hackers have started to document what they do, they are sharing their documentation and code more openly, and they are developing new tools. At the same time Microsoft is more arrogant, more closed , not honest about their existing security holes and they keep developing more code. I tried to talk security with a friend of a friend, a Microsoft employee who wrote their email programs. He literally asked me to prove my claims were false and then when he found out I had supported a high school for 6 years and could back up what I say he asked me to stop.

And if you let me rant on let me say capitalism is bad but Microsoft is worse, for it is not capitalism, it is abusive and a monopoly of power. One of my favorite movies shows how Goodyear and Ford used Enron style subsidiary companies to buy up trolley lines in major cities. Soon the trolley lines became less frequent and broke down due to lack of maintenance. Arriving to save the day was a new marketing and a new bus with a gasoline engine and rubber tires not constrained by those rails, which were a nuisance anyway. It was the first anti trust lawsuit in the country.

Lucky for us, we don't have to buy back the land and lay down new rail lines to undo a computer monopoly.

yours truly, joe

References:

Taken for a ride, the movie
http://www.newday.com/films/Taken_for_a_Ride.html

AP article saying current IE not secure, needs alternative
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/internet/07/02/alternative.browsers.ap/index.html
or http://tinyurl.com/yvt8a


Great summary of web browsers, not from Microsoft
http://www.techsoup.org/howto/articlepage.cfm?ArticleId=345



June 11, 2004 Headline: New IE Holes Defy Latest Patches
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,116492,00.asp
http://tinyurl.com/2dblx

Alternative web browsers
FIREFOX http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/
MOZILLA http://www.mozilla.org/products/mozilla1.x/
OPERA http://www.opera.com/download/
Alternative software, listing by CNET Magazine
http://www.download.com