Netforum Implementation Plan Finalized

This edition of NAMI Membership Manager Insider is being sent early due to the holiday season. We will resume the regular distribution schedule in January 2012. This newsletter is sent to membership staff, all NAMI State Organizations and NAMI Affiliates, executive directors, state presidents and the NAMI board. If you know anyone who should be receiving this communication, please email their name, email address, position and affiliate. netForum Implementation Plan Finalized As we have moved through the different phases of the project with the Avectra team, we have successfully completed the first three phases (Vendor Selection, Proof of Concept and System Requirements Analysis). The outcomes of these phases are: Where We Are 1. An exhaustive list of all the features and customizations that will be implemented for the initial system launch 2. A data conversion map allowing us to guarantee that all our data will be converted accurately 3. A detailed project plan including all the tasks that need to be completed before the netForum launch date What's Next We are now ready to start the final phases of the project (Data Conversion, Configuration and Testing and Final Implementation) based on NAMI and Avectra's thorough analysis of all the work that needs to be completed before netForum is ready on Apr. 16, 2012. As you know from years past, there is always a window of time where NAMI will need to continue processing memberships beyond the annual membership deadline which will fall on Apr. 20, 2012. Launching netForum in April would be disruptive to NAMI State Organizations and NAMI Affiliates meeting the membership deadline and NAMI staff's ability to process those memberships for calculating accurate vote weights. Taking this into account, we are projecting that the netForum launch dates will be May 21, 2012 for a first soft launch and May 29, 2012 for the full launch. The soft launch will be open to a select group of users who would have been previously involved with testing activities. The full launch will include training sessions for everyone. When netForum is launched on May 21, all previously converted memberships and memberships submitted and paid for by the April 20 deadline will appear on your membership roster. What these new dates mean to you When the new system implementation project began in November 2010, a project plan was developed with a targeted launch date of Feb. 1, 2012. That date was set prior to knowing what vendor would be selected and what capacity and implementation plan the selected vendor would propose. The new launch dates offer these advantages:  Less disruptive to you now o It will occur at a time when membership activities tend to slow down as opposed to the busy February period o It will allow for the voting process to occur without major changes or disruptions o It will allow more time to arrive at good, collaborative decisions regarding the implementation of standardized dues and the share agreements between NAMI State Organizations and NAMI Affiliates  Stronger product in the long-run o It will enable us to roll out netForum to our users at a more manageable pace over a longer period of time o It will give us additional time to thoroughly test netForum and the data conversion o It will provide us additional time to work on web integration tasks

Voting 2012 All memberships submitted via TouchBase batches, spreadsheets and other methods, and paid for prior to 11:59 pm EST on Apr. 20, 2012 will be counted towards your NAMI Affiliate's vote weight.

Interested in using netForum? The benefits of using netForum to process your membership updates include:  members will have access to their online benefits immediately after their dues are paid in netForum;  NAMI State Organizations and NAMI Affiliates will receive their share of dues monthly;  netForum updates happen in real-time, and updated data is immediately accessible; and  up-to-the-minute online accessible membership reports that you can generate at your convenience.

Preparing for the netForum Implementation TouchBase Modifications to be made in December 2011 In order to prepare for the netForum implementation, we are changing our electronic payment processor requiring us to slightly modify how payments are submitted for TouchBase batches. Here's what you can expect:  TouchBase will be shut down for one day sometime in mid- to late-December  TouchBase will be back online the following day.  From that day on, payments will no longer be accepted electronically via TouchBase.  Payments will need to be submitted the same way they are currently made for spreadsheets sent to NAMI Member Services. TouchBase will remain accessible online until the 2012 membership deadline has passed. More details regarding the December TouchBase modifications, including the exact day it will be unavailable, will be sent directly to TouchBase users.

Discuss What You've Read with the Information Services Team We will be holding an hour-long conference call on the fourth Monday of each month to give readers the opportunity to discuss the content of that month's newsletter. Due to the holidays, the call information for December is as follows:  When: Monday, Dec. 19 at 2 p.m. Eastern (1 p.m. Central, Noon Mountain, 11 a.m. Pacific)  Where: 1. Dial 1 (888) 858-6021 2. Enter conference code 7035247600# when prompted Notes from this call will be available in the next newsletter for anyone who is unable to participate. To view notes from previous calls, please visit the Document Resource Center.

Update on Standardized Dues Many organizations have had questions about the mutually agreed upon split, and a discussion of that topic is contained in this fact sheet. The fact sheet can also be easily printed for distribution to others who you feel may need the information. For NAMI State Organizations that have not yet communicated their membership dues split agreement for use in the new database, please contact Susan Gaffney at [email protected] with that information, or if you have any questions.