Communication was the name of the game during September when the TSC hosted four status briefings for CEO's and senior managers of foundations invested in the Technology Funding Syndicate. Forty three of the 48 foundations in the Syndicate were represented on these calls. On-line briefings were augmented by three TSC-related sessions conducted at the COF Fall Conference.

In addition to updating investors on achievements to date, the briefings identified areas of challenge, particularly as they relate to the development contract with Microedge/NPO. According to TSC chair, Sid Hartman, "It is our hope to resolve outstanding issues in the contract negotiations with Microedge/NPO that will enable us to proceed expeditiously. At the same time, as one would expect with an effort of this size and sophistication, we are also vigorously exploring the options available to us."

Funding Syndicate contributions now total more than $4 million as of October 1, 2004. Welcome to The Stark Community Foundation which became a new member this month.

Chair: Teri Hansen, Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice

The Accountability Subcommittee has selected a consultant who will draft recommendations for policies and protocols that can be used to support both local and national accountability efforts. Specifically, the consultant will produce a white paper incorporating the following elements:

1. Review of relevant philanthropic sector materials related to foundation business and operating models and documentation of various business uses of accountability tools for each.

2. Analysis of existing accountability tools and development of a decision framework that will enable community foundations to identify appropriate accountability tools for their operating model, level of organizational development/maturity, and specific business needs.

3. Definition and documentation of specific business functionality for accountability tools for technology vendors to use when developing accountability tools including minimum system standards for usability, integration, security, and data integrity.

4. Definition and documentation of policies for accountability data, including quality standards, sharing protocols, and legal/privacy concerns.

The Subcommittee will convene in person in early 2005 to consider proposed recommendations. Upon approval, the white paper will be submitted more broadly to the field.

Chair: Deborah Whitehurst, Arizona Community Foundation

On September 8^th, the TSC Executive Committee unanimously approved provider recommendations from the CRM Subcommittee for plug-and-play solutions for the Web Presence, CRM and Accountability portions of the Technology Initiative. Recommendations include:

• Kintera as the preferred provider for an extensive solution . Kintera provides an integrated platform that includes functionality in the areas of web presence, CRM, and grants management. Although these functions can, in some cases, be unbundled as alternatives to the intensive solutions selected below, Kintera's comprehensive platform will enable community foundation clients to access a broader range of functionality at significant cost savings.

• Neulogic – with its flagship product VisionMgr --as the preferred intensive Web Presence solution.

• eTapestry as the preferred intensive solution provider for more classic CRM functionality such as opportunity management, event management, etc.

• B2P -- with its flagship product ImpactMgr -- as the preferred intensive Accountability solution.

• Collaborative Standards – The CRM Subcommittee recently completed its due diligence process for the intensive on-line grants application and review portion of the RFI. Collaborative Standards was selected as the preferred provider with its GrantStream product. The Subcommittee's recommendation was accepted unanimously by the TSC Executive Committee.

The approval of each of these selections is subject to contract negotiations and final due diligence, all of which is targeted for completion within the next 60 days.

Chair: Bill Solomon, The Dallas Foundation

Bill Solomon developed and facilitated a well-attended session at the COF Fall Conference in which vendors from Microedge/NPO, Collaborative Standards, Kintera and AST Trust provided an overview of their products which have been endorsed by the TSC.

Chair: Kit Conroy, NY Community Trust

AST will act as an intermediary, managing relationships with investment managers that interact with a foundation. The seamless solution allows community foundations to electronically link investment management and custody information to their core systems. It also allows: 1) the ability to provide donors with daily investment information by allowing intra-month unit pricing of investment pools; 2) automation of the accounting of the investment information through the core system; 3) automated bank and checking account reconciliation; and 4) automated scanning of brokerage accounts to locate the deposit of gifted securities.

Chair: Greg McMillen, The Indianapolis Foundation

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 and was thought to pave 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.

Implementation of the API's has fallen behind our initial expectations for timelines due to a host of factors, some predictable and others less so. The TSC is working on various ways to ensure that the following contract deliverables are met in a timely manner:

• Application Programming Interfaces (API) required to fully implement the seamless processing solution for the FIMS and FoundationPower users

• Other APIs scoped out as key business needs within the Technology Roadmap

• Selected components of the customer relationship management (CRM) business needs

A series of options are being discussed and explored related to this challenge.

Chair: Tom Hay, Pittsburgh Foundation

The Web Presence Committee provided feedback to CRM's analysis of vendor proposals in these three combined areas. Rebecca Arno, who serves on both Web Presence and CRM, provided perspectives and insight from the CRM deliberations.

In addition, the subcommittee has completed a white paper intended to help community foundations build and refine their web presence by:

• Outlining elements of an effective community foundation website

• Providing some helpful starting points and guidelines for those developing new sites or enhancing existing ones

• Sharing available resources.