News items from Hot Topics from TechSoup.org

Hello

I work in a small FP company that has started 501 c 3, Music City Motor Sports Institute.  The website is not complete, for further info.

I am on a MAC and got MYOB through Techsoup.  I understand conventional for profit accounting and am using the Service company not for profit chart of accounts that came with MYOB AccountingEdge.  Is there some one out there that may want to share how their set up for donations?  The only options given are: Vendor, Customer, Personal, Employee, so what do you designate a sponsor or contributor??  Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Irene

Have product downloaded from Tsoup. don't have email with license info. Called Intuiut, they have no account on record. Can't install. please help.

We've signed up for the trial of Wild Apricot. We like it, but the price ($25/month = $300/year (or $270/year with 1 yr prepaid)) is still a little steep for us.  Our annual budget about $5,000 which goes right back into programming. Can Wild Apricot imbed .flv files?

We're currently using Joomla with CiviCRM which is excellent.  However, the periodic upgrades are a bother for our 'free-lance' tech person who helps us out for free, but is more of a website designer than a server side type person.

 Any suggestions for less expensive online/hosted software similar to Wild Apricot or an easier way to handle CiviCRM upgrades?

Thanks!

I'm receiving a msg that reads:  The Adobe donation program is not available to your organization type.

I've read the Adobe requirements and it appears that we meet them.   We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit medical health center.   The Type that we choose was Health Services and Related Activities, and the Subtype was Health clinic.

I'm confused because all that Adobe really indicates is:  This donation is available only to nonprofits with 501(c)(3) designation.   If their requirements are more strict then that, why not indicate so?   It appears that many people have posted about this same issue.   Why create an environment where there's so much abiguity and confusion?

What are my options here?

Children Missing In Action - CMIA & Oppression

Our global community is witnessing oppression at it's worst in many years, especially towards children.

Oppression

Our troops are sacrificing their lives overseas to preserve our liberty and freedoms.  They are doing so so we in America do not fall prey to
 
Oppression

It strikes KPN like the crackling whip of lightening/thunder that there is something here we need to take notice of when it comes to the safety of all children in America vrs. the harsh realities of

Oppression

You have the freedom and liberty to go about your business in America free of

Oppression

Can that be said of the children of America as regards the terrorism they face from sex offenders, gangs, drug dealers, child abdoctors? Can it be said we rally in the thousands in anger when a child is abducted and murdered? Do we march to demonstrate our outrage when a child is taken from us by predators within our own borders? Where is the outrage?

Oppression

We, one person at a time -- The Power Of One -- have the chance to join ranks with law-enforcement to create a Community Watch and shield all children from predator terrorism.

While our troops sacrifice their lives overseas to protect us from

Oppression

Police Officers. State Troopers. Sheriffs. 
  They lay their lives on the line everyday so our communities are free of crime's ugly grip free from

Oppression

Are you aware of the crime issues your community faces? When a child is abducted and murdered or abducted and never found do you get angered by such insanity perpetrated against an innocent child?

Americans have the resources, the freedom and liberty, to tackle any and all challenges that face us. Nothing stands in the way if we get motivated enough about any issue that needs to be addressed.

Oppression

Sex offenders, gangs, drug dealers, child abductors.

Do you have what it takes to do your part to insure these terrorists are shielded from innocent children?

It is true one person can not do it alone anymore than the law-enforcement community can insure total public safety for all no matter the size of their juristiction.

So where does that leave US?

Child predators just as soon remove a child from this earth and do not care one iota who they hurt and our children face the threat from these oppressors day in and day out. While our law-enforcement community puts their lives on the line everyday to preserve our public safety. God bless them and our military family for their dedication to honor, duty, service to our nation.

There is, however, one key component missing from that daily equation of public safety, especially where America's children are concerned:

A nation united to stop oppressors before they strike an innocent child.

Oppression

We have the responsibity to rise to a much stronger, higher level of "It Takes A Village To Raise A Child" than we have ever known in our history.  Where is it written a child in this nation has to face such domestic terrorism without backup from all responsible members of the community defending shielding them from

Oppression

We have a distinguished history in America of rising to the occasion to help others in need.

Block Watches. Neighborhood Watches.

It's time, folks, to take it to the next level.

Community Watch/NationWatch

The single most important national security challenge we face in our nation is the safety border to border of all children from those who would do them harm.

We are capable of raising the bar of safety to it's highest level for all children to be safe if we would but raise our awareness of the issues of crime in our communities and work with  law-enforcement and town leadership to create a Community Watch partnership and put a knockout punch to those who would prey on innocent children.

We pride ourselves on our freedom to vote.

Cast your vote, then, on stopping terrorists who prey on our children and do your part to insure a safer community for all children. Only then will an innocent child in this country be truly free of

Oppression

and realize the priceless right of safe passage to a full life built on the values of

 
FREEDOM

Michael E. Cluney
http://kidprotectionnetwork.org
http://childrenmissinginaction.org

Has anyone developed and packaged a standard set of non-profit-ready extensions, modules, and/or plugins for an open-source CMS like WordPress, Drupal, or Joomla? I would appreciate any leads.

I'm thinking of something like ScholarPress, a project that describes itself as "a hub for developing WordPress plugins for Education." It seems to me that something similar is needed for the non-profit world.

I realize that non-profit organizations are not all the same, but they have enough of the same needs when it comes to websites that it ought to be possible to create a ready-made package that could be easily installed, allowing the organization to activate only those features that they need.

If such a project does not already exist, I'm interested in creating one. (I'd rather not re-invent the wheel, however, which is why I ask the above question.)

Thanks in advance for any feedback or advice!

--George | http://GeorgeHWilliams.net

Do you know when SUN server will be in stock again??

Hi,

I've been researching a few accounting packages recently and have narrowed my focus to do a little testing with Dynamics GP and Sage's MIP accounting software.  Has anyone used either or both of these products?  Were there any pitfalls you wished you had known about before choosing one or the other?

I plan on installing their respective demos to start comparing these two products, but one factor in an eventual purchase would be the availability of these software packages on TechSoup.  I did look an the article on accounting software in the learning center, is that any indication of what products might be offered by TechSoup in the future?
http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/software/page5144.cfm

I'm basically looking to upgrade from Quickbooks to get better reporting functionality and room for growth, both MIP and Dynamics GP would suit me fine as far as I can tell.

Thanks,
Jon

I am looking for free software that will let me create a map of NYC with about 75 geographic locations and categorize the locations into 3-4 different categories. Any ideas what would work for this?

When a Vista client is added to the domain and applies the default group policies, the diagnostic policy service and dhcp service will not start and responds with an Error 5 Access is denied.  However, if the Vista client is placed into a separate OU and policy inheritance is blocked the Vista client functions as it should.

I need to install Crystal reports on two users machines, but our database will only work with Crystal 8.5

could I order Crystal 2008 license and then load our copy of Crystal 8.5?

In the ever-expanding marketplace, there are so many options for an organization to look at when choosing the right software. Traditional desktop office productivity suites like Microsoft Office or OpenOffice.org are now finding real competition from online/hosted software options from Google, Zoho, and ThinkFree.

What tool(s) are you using at your organization? Have you committed to only using one type of office suite? Or do you use a desktop suite for some functions and an online suite for others? What are the advantages and disadvantages you've found?

This week, TechSoup will be publishing a new article from our friends at Idealware that discuss this exact topic. We'd love to hear about your experiences so share them here!

Hi,

My name is Sandy Brindamour, Executive Director of Alliance for Living, southeastern Connecticut's only AIDS Service Organization.  We take a holistic and harm reduction approach when serving our members, close to 270 currently, not including children.  Most of our members live at or below the poverty level.  Layoffs are making it all the worse as are cuts from government sources.  Our services range from case management to meals and a food pantry to housing program to support groups and activities (it costs $14 p/person to bowl so to save money, we bought a WII and "we" are having a blast).  Slight diversion, a member's son - all of 6 years old - showed up the adults with strike after strike! 

As more and more of our members are Latino and African-American, we are trying to be culturally sensitive.  It is only right that our newsletter and website (www.allianceforliving.org) be translated into Spanish.  We have very generous Board Members who translate articles from English to Spanish, but there is usually a time lag.  I am looking for software that has the capacity to take something written in English and translating it into Spanish with a push of a button.  Does anyone know of a reliable software that does this?

Many thanks for your help, Sandy

Here is a list of free open source applications that might be of use to nonprofits.

(If you find one you like, do share!)

I have decided to possibly go with a Managed Server. 

What is the difference between a Managed Dedicated Server and a Managed VPS?  I am not sure I understand the dfference.

I plan to have employees who work from home or a remote location that will have to dial into the server.  I'm working on the budget and need to find a hositng company.

Thanks in advance

Kyra

What is a good way to go about developing a Terms of Use policy for my website? What are "the basics" such a policy should include?

Yup, TechSoup is excited to have a new donation partnership with Sun to make its server products available through TechSoup Stock.

But before you sing, "It's alright...", just wait a minute. How do you know if you even need a server? What kind of servers are out there? And very important--how much should you expect to spend on one?

Never fear, TechSoup has compiled some handy discussions and articles to help you determine if serving up one of these Sun servers is right for you.

You can find relevant server discussions here under the "server" tag that contain some helpful discussions including How to know when it's time for a new server and

Keep or replace?.

If you use RSS, you can subscribe to server-related discussions: http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/search/Searchrss.aspx?o=DateDescending&tag=server&orTags=0

You can learn about more hardware servers with these Learning Center articles: Do I Need a Server? and A Field Guide to Servers.

And don't forget virtualization, another server option. There are many different virtualization methods and this Virtualization 101 can help you get your head around them.

Hopefully these resources will help shed some (sun)light on servers, but if you have any further questions, post 'em here in the Hardware forum.

Best,

Megan

We are about to set-up SalesForce for our non-profit and wonder if anyne has faced any challenges.  Any tips you can provide would be great as well!

I couldn't find any previous Tech Soup Forum discussion regarding this service. Database options for grantmakers are few and far between, so I'd be very interested in hearing from anyone who has worked with them (or considered it and decided not to).

Out nonprofit is getting ready to consolidate operations onto a single floor of our building. Currently we have a Cat-5 wired network spanning two floors with a server running SBS 2000 and Exchange 2000 (woefully short on hard drive space but that's another issue). When we move the server, along with the patch panel, dsl router and network switches, it will be relocated to the first floor. Our executive director has asked me to look into a wireless network instead of a wired configuration.

We already have a Linksys WAP11 2.4 Ghz 802.11b access point, which is only used sporadically. None of our desktops (Windows XP Pentium 2s or 3s) have wireless cards.

In the reconfigured space, the server will share space with our workroom/kitchen, which includes a microwave which is used frequently. Ten PCs and one Mac G4 will be connected to the server, plus a copier/fax which is used as a shared printer with heavy usage. Our DSL connection is also shared over the network. File use includes shared Access databases, Quick Books, desktop publishing and Giftmaker Pro, all of which have data files which reside on the server.

My question is, would a wired network better suit our needs?  I wonder about the stability of a wireless-only network, especially with the server in the same room as the microwave. Laptops are seldom used with our system - the two that are have both LAN cards & wireless.

All of our desktop PCs have 10/100 network cards. We also have boxes of Cat 5 cable left over from the last rewiring. The first floor has easy access to the basement, and cable could be run under through the basement and up through the hardwood floor (which unfortunately will be carpeted to help reduce noise). If we are not able to move the patch panel, a new one would have to be purchased, along with new jacks (we do have some spares but may be shifting from a solid- plaster wall cubicle to a more mobile system with integrated channels)

I need to be able to present both sides to our executive director, and am open to suggestions in either direction... perhaps my wireless knowledge is also out of date (I do know my wireless access point at home must be power cycled every 3-4 months - it's about the same age as the work hardware).

Thanks for your thoughts.