THE FIELD GUIDE TO SOFTWARE FOR NONPROFIT IMMIGRATION ADVOCATES, ORGANIZERS, AND SERVICE PROVIDERS By the Immigration Advocates Network and Idealware THE FIELD GUIDE TO SOFTWARE FOR NONPROFIT IMMIGRATION ADVOCATES, ORGANIZERS, AND SERVICE PROVIDERS By the Immigration Advocates Network and Idealware THE FIELD GUIDE TO SOFTWARE FOREWORD Welcome, The Field Guide to Software is a joint effort between the Immigration Advocates Network and Idealware. Through straightforward overviews, it helps pinpoint the types of software that might be useful for the needs of nonprofit immigration advocates, organizers, and service providers and provides user- friendly summaries to demystify the possible options. It covers tried-and-true and emerging tools and technolgies, and best practices and specific aspects of nonprofit software. There’s also a section to guide you through the sometimes daunting process of choosing and implementing software. We know you have your hands full and don’t always have time to keep up with the latest information about the software that can help your organization. That’s where this guide can help. Thank you for all you do to make the world a better place. We hope this Field Guide will help you do it all just a little more easily. Matthew Burnett Karen Graham Director, Executive Director, Immigration Advocates Network Idealware iii THE FIELD GUIDE TO SOFTWARE TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE 1. Introduction 7 • Understanding What You Need 8 • Every Organization Needs 10 2. Case Studies: Putting Tools to Use 13 • Using Technology to Expand Legal Services: Ayuda Delaware 14 • A Holistic Approach to Serving Immigrants: Benevolent Charities of Oklahoma 17 • Giving Voice to Immigrants: Idaho Coalition for Immigrants and Refugees 20 3. Back Office and Productivity 23 Managing Productivity 24 • Accounting Systems 26 • Credit Card Processing 28 • Document Management Systems 30 • Email and Calendar 32 • File Backup and Recovery 34 • Firewalls 36 • HR and Office Management 38 • Office Software 40 • Password Management 42 • Virus Protection 43 4. Analytics 45 Analyzing Your Organization’s Data 46 • Analyzing Paper Data 49 • Custom Reporting Tools 51 • Dashboards 52 • Maps and Geographical Information Systems 54 • Measuring Social Media 56 • Online Listening 58 • Program Evaluation 60 • Survey Data 62 • Website Analytics 64 1 5. Collaboration 67 Collaborating with Others 68 • Board Support Software 70 Adapting File Sharing Systems and Project Management Tools 71 Using Dedicated Board Portals 72 • Collaborative Documents 73 • eLearning 74 • File Sharing 75 • Intranets and Portals 77 • Learning Management Systems 78 • Online Chat 79 • Online Conferencing 80 • Project Management 82 • Screenshots and Screencasting 84 • Wikis 85 6. Constituent Management 87 Constituent Relationship Management 88 • Advocacy-Oriented CRMs 93 • All-in-One CRMs 94 • Donor Management Systems 96 • Volunteer Management Software 100 • Specialized Constituent Management Systems 101 Attendance Tracking Systems 101 Custom Databases 101 Legal Case Management Software 102 7. Fundraising and Events 105 Raising Money and Managing Events 106 • Crowdfunding and Peer-to-Peer Fundraising 108 • Event and Auction Management 110 • Event Registration 111 • Foundation Grants Research 112 • Online Auctions 114 • Online Donations 115 • Ticketing 116 THE FIELD GUIDE TO SOFTWARE 8. Communications 119 Communications 120 • Communications Planning 122 • Crowdsourcing 124 • eAdvocacy 125 • Email 127 Broadcast Email 128 Email Discussion Lists 129 • Graphics and Multimedia 131 Charts, Diagrams and Infographics 131 Multimedia Editing 133 Page Layout 134 Photo Editing 135 • Mobile 137 Broadcast Texting 137 Mobile Apps 139 Mobile-Friendly Websites 141 • Social Media 142 Facebook 143 LinkedIn 144 Twitter 145 Other Social Media Platforms 146 • Websites 147 Content Management Systems 147 Landing Pages and Microsites 149 Online Advertising 149 Search Engine Optimization 150 Website Content 151 • Video Sharing and Streaming 153 • Webinars 154 9. Program Delivery 157 Program Delivery 158 • Document Assembly 160 • Kiosks 162 • Online Intake 163 3 10. Choosing and Implementing Software 165 Choosing and Implementing 166 Case Study: Implementing Software Hacer 168 • Prioritizing Technology Projects 170 • Defining Your Software Needs 174 • Creating a Software Shortlist 175 • Evaluating Software 177 • Comparing Open Source and Proprietary Software 178 • Comparing Installed and Cloud-Based Software 180 • IT Security Policies 182 • Choosing a Consultant 184 • Evaluating Software Contracts 185 • Migrating Data 186 • Training and Supporting Staff 189 • Caring for Your Data 190 11. For More Information 191 • About Idealware 193 • About the Immigration Advocates Network 193 • Authors and Reviewers 194 THE FIELD GUIDE TO SOFTWARE 5 THE FIELD GUIDE TO SOFTWARE INTRODUCTION What types of software would be helpful for your nonprofit in the areas of back office and productivity, analytics, collaboration, constituent management, fundraising and events, communications, and program delivery? The Field Guide is designed to answer exactly that question. This Introduction helps you understand how to use this guide, walks you through the software we believe every nonprofit organization should have, and provides an overview of a few key terms. 7 Understanding What You Need Ready to think through the types of software your nonprofit is likely to find helpful? Dive right in... This Introduction walks you through the software we believe every nonprofit organization should have, regardless of size or mission, and provides an overview of a few key terms that apply to nonprofit software. The Case Study section provides an overview of the different types of software used by a set of fictional—but plausibly realistic— nonprofits. If you’re unsure what you might need, this is a good place to start. These examples can help you pinpoint the specific types of software to investigate further in the next section. The remainder of the guide is organized to help you find the types of software that might be useful based on the goals you’re trying to achieve. We’ll walk through the software designed for seven different areas: Back Office and Productivity, Analytics, Collaboration, Constituent Management, Fundraising and Events, Communications, and Program Delivery. In each section, we’ll first take an overall look at the types of software that might be useful based on your own situation and your organization’s level of technical sophistication. Each section then contains an introduction to the software types that might be useful in that area. Note that some systems overlap different areas. For example, Page Layout software can be considered part of both the Back Office and Productivity area and Communications area because of the different ways in which an organization might use it. In those cases, we included the full description of the systems in the area in which we think they fit best for their primary use, but also refer to them in other sections. THE FIELD GUIDE TO SOFTWARE The eighth section, Choosing and Implementing Software, walks you through the process of selecting the best tool for your budget and needs and putting it to use at your organization. We recommend that you begin with the case studies or the walk- throughs for each category to identify the types of software you’re likely to find useful. Every time you see a software typehighlighted like this, it means we covered it elsewhere in this guide, so you can refer to the appropriate section for more information. Where did all this information come from? Our mission is to provide information to help nonprofits make smart software decisions. Over the years we’ve done impartial research and reviews of many different types of software. This Field Guide is the synthesis of all that research—it boils thousands of pages of reports and articles down to a handy, concise guide. 9 Every Organization Needs Systems that help with common tasks—such as managing constituents and maintaining websites—can benefit nearly every organization, regardless of mission or budget. Back Office and Productivity Whatever your mission, there are certain tools you’ll need to manage your organization and staff day in and day out. If you have more than one staff member, an Excel spreadsheet will not be sufficient for accounting purposes—you’ll need a dedicated Accounting System to track finances, expenditures, and payroll. Office Software is important to help you create and edit documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and all the other materials on which organizations run. Email and Calendar software lets you and your staff send and receive critical emails and share your schedules. You’ll need an internet connection to support email, obviously. And if you have an internet connection, you need Virus Protection software to keep malicious computer viruses and spyware from compromising your data or your productivity. Firewalls are also important to prevent hackers and others from gaining unauthorized access to your data and computers. Finally, you’ll need a File Backup and Recovery solution to protect your organization’s data and save you the time, cost, and effort of recovering from a data loss. THE FIELD GUIDE TO SOFTWARE Analytics You can learn a lot about the impact of your programs and what people think of your work by collecting and analyzing data. To help with Program Evaluation, many organizations create Dashboards that aggregate constituent data, Survey Data, Website Analytics, and more. They also use