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Newsletter, August 2007

By Karen Graham, Client Development Manager

Nonprofit Neighborhood

Introducing Tom Lehman, Lehman Associates

Tom Lehman joins thedatabank as a strategic partner offering e-marketing and web strategy consulting, and industry and market research services. Lehman Associates works primarily with associations and other non-profit organizations. Tom splits his time between Minnesota and Washington , and will help support our clients and partners in the DC area. He has co-located his Minneapolis office with thedatabank.

Tom has 25 years experience in the online and research industries, having been instrumental in the formation of online information businesses at Control Data Corporation in the early 80's. He held a number of management positions prior to forming Lehman Associates in 1992, and served on the executive team to launch an Internet market research company in 2000.

We think Tom is an ideal resource to help our clients gain even greater value from their Databank by helping organizations strategize, plan and execute e-marketing programs; tap into the CRM data to better understand donors and members; and refine your market knowledge and segmentation using online research capabilities.

If you are interested in these services, you may call us or call Tom directly at 612-343-2100.


Privacy Policy Link is now required in email communications coming out of the Databank

As of July, all PowerMail and Action Alert emails automatically include a link to a privacy statement.  This link appears at the bottom of the email, next to the Unsubscribe link.

• If a client does not provide thedatabank with their own privacy URL, a generic privacy policy is provided. 
• If you're not sure whether your organization has provided a link or is using the generic policy, send yourself a test email, then click the Privacy Policy link at the bottom. 
• To submit a privacy URL for your organization, use the Support Request under your Help menu.

Text messaging - your ideas wanted

Does your organization have any experience with SMS text messaging?  Are you interested in doing this?  We are exploring the idea of nonprofits and campaigns using blast text messaging for advocacy, fundraising and outreach, and we would like to hear your thoughts. Please contact Karen Graham, karen@thedatabank.com , if you would be willing to discuss this.

Merge fields available in PowerMail subject lines

Personalizing the subject line is one strategy for increasing the open rates on your email messages.  We recently added this feature to PowerMail, the email tool that comes with thedatabank's eMarketing Module.  If your first name is in our Databank, you'll see this new feature demonstrated in the subject line of this message.  Clients are invited to attend our free eMarketing Module Training on August 15, to learn how to use this and other great features.

New Clients

Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana is an advocacy organization and will be using the databank to reach out to its constituencies and target audiences on matters related to coastal restoration efforts in Louisiana.  They hope the Databank will help to refine and better utilize their volunteer database as well as facilitate more efficient communication between different audiences related to their specific areas of concern.  CRCL is also looking forward to implementing online registration for events and programs that serve to help educate its members about issues related to coastal restoration.

Featured Resource

Eagle Crest Capital Bank , located in Edina and Rochester, Minnesota, offers a Nonprofit Preferred Checking Account, giving organizations the opportunity to earn an attractive rate of interest on higher balances.  Its Nonprofit Interest Checking Account helps organizations maximize the interest-return on available balances and eliminates the administrative expense associated with having a separate sweep account or manually moving funds to a separate investment account. This account is available to most nonprofit, religions, educational and fraternal organizations and pays a very attractive interest rate on all excess balances. Contact the Vice President of Private Banking, John.Dinusson@eccbank.com .

Tip du Jour

Make a Customized Tell-a-Friend link or button

We've added Tell-A-Friend, Unsubscribe, and Privacy as choices on the Form Links drop-down, which is part of PowerMail, the bulk HTML email tool included with thedatabank's eMail Marketing Module.

This allows clients to place links to these standard forms in the location of their choice in their messages, instead of being forced to accept automatic locations. It also enables them to use other text or images for those links. 

More details on using the Tell-A-Friend, Unsubscribe and Privacy Links can be found in the eMarketing User Guide, in our Help menu.

Karen's Blog

Bridges

Here in Minneapolis, we are still reeling from the collapse of the bridge over the Mississippi River, just a few miles from thedatabank's office, on August 1.  No one on our staff was involved, but our hearts go out to the victims and their families.  And as someone I know predicted, this event will likely become part of the fabric of our community for years to come.

I'm sure some of us will be reflecting on this over the next week, as many of our staff enjoy their summer vacations.  (I am looking forward to an overnight camping trip featuring Pudgie Pies.)  During this time, it is especially important that clients use their Support Link to contact us.  You can still expect a response within an hour or less.

By the end of the month, we will all be back and working in earnest on some new projects.  These include possible implementation of a bulk SMS messaging feature , completing enhancements to our Advocacy Module, and upgrading our subscription management tools. 

We are also pursuing some strategic partnerships that could make complementary technology more integrated for Databank clients.  And we have already joined forces with Lehman Associates , which will be a great resource for clients needing strategic advice. So I guess you could say we are building some bridges.

I hope you are having a good summer.

Karen

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