Donor Files & Attaching Documents

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Hello,

Since we opened our doors over 30 years ago, we have maintained a paper file for each of our high level donors. There are close to 1,000 files and they are filled with copies of every thank you letter and bill we’ve ever mailed, as well as correspondence from the donor, newspaper articles, etc., etc.  We would like to scan the contents of each file and attach it to their Tessitura file under the Research/Documents tab.  And as a result, minimizing or completely doing away with all of the paper files.

What do other organizations do with their donor’s communications?  Has anyone else tackled a project like this? I would imagine space would become an issue for Tessitura? 

I would think the best way – although the most time consuming – would be to scan each item separately so it can be individually titled in the notes field.  It would be nice to have another column available so we could categorize the type of document (i.e. Acknowledgments, Accounting, Stewardship, etc), but I think if we standardized how we used the notes field, it would work for sorting purposes.

Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated!!

Thank you in advance!!

Parents
  • Martin!

    As it stands, apart from a rewrite/redesign of the user interface, the Documents panel on the Constituent window has no change in functionality.  I believe that it was disabled in the sandbox because it wasn’t quite ready for showcasing when that build was made, so it simply was disabled for the sandbox usergroup.

     

    Great thoughts though!

    Ryan

     

     

    From: Tessitura Development Forum [mailto:forums-development@tessituranetwork.com] On Behalf Of Martin Keen
    Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2011 7:49 PM
    To: Ryan Creps
    Subject: Re: [Tessitura Development Forum] Donor Files & Attaching Documents

     

    I believe scans like this could increase your database size quite considerably.

    I notice in the v11 sandbox that the Documents radio button is disabled in the Research tab.  I have my fingers crossed that functionality will be there so that a clickable link to a local network document can be entered here.  I have seen this in OPAS (orchestra management software) this where this works very well.  With the added advantage that local network security comes into play adding a further layer of complexity to permissions.

    Hmm - doesn't really answer your question though - sorry!

    Martin 

    From: Heather Wilson <bounce-heatherwilson7333@tessituranetwork.com>
    Sent: 6/28/2011 12:24:35 PM

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    Hello,

    Since we opened our doors over 30 years ago, we have maintained a paper file for each of our high level donors. There are close to 1,000 files and they are filled with copies of every thank you letter and bill we’ve ever mailed, as well as correspondence from the donor, newspaper articles, etc., etc.  We would like to scan the contents of each file and attach it to their Tessitura file under the Research/Documents tab.  And as a result, minimizing or completely doing away with all of the paper files.

    What do other organizations do with their donor’s communications?  Has anyone else tackled a project like this? I would imagine space would become an issue for Tessitura? 

    I would think the best way – although the most time consuming – would be to scan each item separately so it can be individually titled in the notes field.  It would be nice to have another column available so we could categorize the type of document (i.e. Acknowledgments, Accounting, Stewardship, etc), but I think if we standardized how we used the notes field, it would work for sorting purposes.

    Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated!!

    Thank you in advance!!




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  • Former Member
    Former Member $organization in reply to Ryan Creps (Past Staff Member)

    Actually, in NextGen Pony World, you would be able to link out to another document management system as well as a simple file system link.

    For example, the SOH uses HP Trim for records and document management, which provides subtle and powerful tools for managing information - Trim provides a way to link to documents in the system with what it calls a TrimRef, which is just a piece of pointer text. If you could link to any reference like that (or a URL, of course, if you use a web-based doc management tool), then you could access docs either via the front-line system that uses them (ie Tess, in this case) or via the back-end doc management tool, depending on your needs and preferences, but the doc remains under secure control the whole time.

    Ken

Reply
  • Former Member
    Former Member $organization in reply to Ryan Creps (Past Staff Member)

    Actually, in NextGen Pony World, you would be able to link out to another document management system as well as a simple file system link.

    For example, the SOH uses HP Trim for records and document management, which provides subtle and powerful tools for managing information - Trim provides a way to link to documents in the system with what it calls a TrimRef, which is just a piece of pointer text. If you could link to any reference like that (or a URL, of course, if you use a web-based doc management tool), then you could access docs either via the front-line system that uses them (ie Tess, in this case) or via the back-end doc management tool, depending on your needs and preferences, but the doc remains under secure control the whole time.

    Ken

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