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Newsletter, March 2008By Karen Graham, Director of Business Development Nonprofit NeighborhoodDon't Forget to do Database Spring Cleaning It's a good practice to regularly check your Databank for duplicate records, review user accounts and permissions, update your online forms (e.g. update the contact information listed), and utilize data cleansing services such as NCOA. While you're at it, get an in depth training on database management tasks and responsibilities. We're offering Databank Administrator Training for the first time on Thursday, April 17th at 1:00-2:00 Central. There is no charge for our clients. Register for Databank Administrator Training
Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights - ICIRR educates and organizes immigrant and refugee communities to assert their rights; promotes citizenship and civic participation; monitors, analyzes, and advocates on immigrant-related issues; and, informs the general public about the contributions of immigrants and refugees. They will use a variety of thedatabank's services for data management and communication. League of Education Voters of America - LEVA is building a national movement to ensure that elected officials fulfill the promise of excellent education for all children. They will use our Coalition Power Tool to grant state coordinators access to supporter lists and the ability to manage online and offline communications. They are currently undergoing a web site redesign, and the new site will include online giving and other services provided by thedatabank.
thedatabank Co-Founder Chris Hanson Remembers Our First Client
At the time, I was still doing some direct mail work for a couple of local organizations and felt that one - IATP, the Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy - would be a good candidate to test the new system. After discussing it with IATP, they agreed to be our beta-tester and on November 1, 1998 we put them up on the Databank. A couple of days later, Mark and I went over to IATP and demonstrated the Databank for them. Today, over 9 years later, IATP is still a client, and the Databank has expanded to a level that we never dreamed of back in 1998.
Sue Ponsford, Manager of Client Services
What she likes best about her job: "The fact that I don't get fired for being snarky." What she does in her spare time: Serves martinis to intimate gatherings of 60 friends, plays board games with her boyfriend, and is fervently watching Battle Star Gallactica past seasons to catch up before season 4 starts. Famous person she would like to have lunch with: Alton Brown. She obstinately refuses to say why. Tip du Jourthedatabank's Blog Features Tips and News One of the categories in our new blog is Tips . Clicking on the Tips label will bring you to an archive of tips that have been published in this enews and on our web site, in addition to previously unpublished tips. Here's a recent tip from the blog: Make the most of user permissions
Karen's BlogGoin' to Carolina - Not Just in My Mind I always liked that James Taylor song, not least of all because it mentions my name. It has been running through my mind lately as I prepare to travel to South Carolina - my 50th state! - as a guest at the annual League of Conservation Voters gathering of state leagues. Thirteen of the state leagues use The Databank, which has been the national preferred provider for action alert technology since 2005. While in SC, I'll meet one-on-one with LCV folks to talk about what the future holds for their organizations, and how thedatabank can best support them in that. Got To Lose My Basin Street Blues I'll also be at NTEN's Nonprofit Technology Conference, this week in New Orleans. At our booth in the Science Fair (exhibit hall), we're giving away a prize that is not only delicious, but also has a special meaning for us: a gift basket from Peace Coffee. Peace Coffee was started by thedatabank's first client, IATP, and it seemed fitting as we celebrate our tenth year in business that we should nod to an organization that has been with us all ten years. At this conference, we'll also be looking forward and highlighting our latest technology: integrated blast text messaging. Snow Day* Chris Hanson and Bridget Kelly will be at the Minnesota Nonprofit Technology and Communication conference next week, right here in Minneapolis. Hopefully it will stop snowing by then. (We got a couple inches of snow this morning!) We'll have an exhibit, another Peace Coffee basket, and warm wishes for our clients who attend. If you're at any of these March events, please say hello. Karen *Sticking with the song title theme, I chose a tune by the mighty Minnesota band, Trip Shakespeare. I think it's destined to be a classic.
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Mark and I began working on the Databank system in early 1998. The first version of the Databank was based on a direct marketing database system that had been developed at Direct Expressions in the early 1990s. Initially, the Databank used a Microsoft Access database and was hosted at a ISP somewhere in Florida. We quickly changed this to use Microsoft SQL Server and a local hosting company which we still use today. After several months of development, using a couple of contracted developers that Mark had worked with in his previous job, we had a prototype system that was ready for testing. 
At thedatabank since: 2005