Contract negotiations with American Stock Transfer (AST) have been completed, securing AST's involvement as the preferred provider of the seamless processing solution for the Technology Initiative. Details about how to begin accessing this first Technology Initiative solution are provided below.

TSC Chair Sid Hartman says, "The TSC is excited to be able to provide this initial—and critical—product to the field. During planning many colleagues indicated that seamless processing was vital to their work and should be a high priority for the TSC. We are proud that, just a year after launch of the TSC, seamless processing is available to the field." Details about other subcommittee activities for the quarter are provided below.

TSC Quarterly Report
May, 2004

All TSC subcommittee chairs met in Louisville, KY on March 15 to discuss and negotiate critical issues related the intersection of business needs of the various subcommittees. In in-depth discussions, chairs reviewed activities to date, considered budget implications and analyzed next steps (including timing issues of cash allocations.) While budget projections have remained relatively similar to the original Tech Initiative proposal, timing of cash outlays has been adjusted and is receiving careful oversight.

Chairs reviewed the business needs analysis recently completed for Tech Initiative activities for which monies have not yet been committed (including Web presence, accountability and some aspects of CRM). With new analysis before them, chairs began to determine how overlap in those areas would be managed and how to get most accomplished across all the committees.

Funding Syndicate contributions now slightly exceed $4 million from 46 partnering foundations, as of May 15, 2004.

AST offers a ready-to-use seamless processing solution as well as extensive relationships with investment managers around the country. The seamless processing solution will permit community foundations to electronically link investment management and custody information to their core operating systems. The seamless processing solution will also facilitate: 1) daily fund valuation; 2) automated accounting; 3) automated bank and checking account reconciliation; and 4) automated scanning of brokerage accounts to flag the deposit of gifted securities.

Similar to the role of a master custodian, but not replacing existing relationships, AST will assemble information from each manager or custodian, aggregate it, and then supply the information electronically to individual funds and other accounts.

Application Programming Interfaces (API's), provide critical capacities for implementation of other Technology Roadmap components. API's are also complex to define and tricky to sequence for maximum effectiveness.

The January, 2004 development agreement with MicroEdge/NPO (the vendor for FIMS and FoundationPower) to develop three fundamental elements of the Technology Initiative was an important accomplishment, paves the way for: (1) the APIs that will open core operating systems to be used in tandem with other products; (2) a number of CRM enhancements; and (3) the integration tools necessary to build a seamless processing solution. This significant contract both protects and enhances community foundations' investments in their legacy systems.

This quarter a milestone was reached in terms of understanding and gaining consensus on the framework that will drive this work. The API Subcommittee reviewed the TSC staff's proposed framework for APIs as well as the overall approach for sequencing of API implementation (i.e. how API's relate and in what order API's will be developed). These discussions will help make clear TSC expectations and will inform the creation of a negotiated timeline for completion (a process still underway with MicroEdge).

The CRM Subcommittee reconvened in March after a transition to a new chairperson—Deborah Whitehurst of the Arizona Community Foundation.  The subcommittee reviewed the MicroEdge CRM approach negotiated under the API development contract and discussed additional CRM components needing to be developed.  Action was taken to initiate a Request for Information (RFI) for remaining CRM needs, including a process for online grants management and donor/program matching solutions that can 'plug-and-play' for those Foundations wishing to take best of breed approach to their software needs. 

The Accountability Subcommittee has completed and approved its research, encapsulated in a report titled "Actionable Blueprint: Operationalizing Accountability in Community Foundations." This report:

• provides a very useful analysis of the field's accountability business processes
• clearly outlines overlap with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Web presence initiatives of the TSC
• will be useful in guiding decision making about focus areas for development

The report recommended that the Accountability Sub-Committee should pass overlapping elements (especially on-line grants mgt and donor matching) to the CRM Subcommittee. This recommendation, which included some significant budget shifts as well, was approved, and shared at the TSC chairs meeting on March 15.

In April the Blueprint was been circulated to (and feedback was sought from) the full TSC, as well as members of two related subcommittees: Seamless Processing and CRM.

Next, the subcommittee will begin work to 1) catalyze development and delivery of appropriate tools and 2) develop, approve and communicate standards and protocols that should drive local accountability efforts so that they can eventually be linked nationally.

In early March the Web Presence Subcommittee discussed the findings of a mid-point report prepared by consultants, which summarized the research conducted over the previous several months. This report presented a number of concepts which were reviewed by individuals in the field during a series of webcasts. Participants rated these ideas and a final project report was presented to the sub-committee in early April. The sub-committee identified three areas as priority projects that will be scoped out and considered for implementation:

• personalized home pages for donors, grantees and professional advisors, including 'single log-in' for each type of constituent
• e-marketing suite (a suite of tools that providing e-newsletter and email marketing and communications services with template and tagged content from Websites)
• advanced communications training on using technology as part of an overall communications plan

Business needs have been prepared and put out through a Request for Information (RFI) that is currently in process. Within 60 days the subcommittee should be prepared to take action on these areas of work, which will seek 'plug-and-play' solutions, making best of breed approaches available to foundations for their software needs.