1. Seminoles United: How a Consolidated Advancement System
Conversion Project Led to Enhanced Stewardship Efforts and an
Integrated Web Presence
Jeanne M. Pecha, CIO, Florida State University Foundation
Wendy Jaccard, Senior Consultant, Blackbaud, Inc.

2. How did we corral 4 organizations into
collaborating on a complex conversion project?
Examine business requirements used to consolidate
information
Provide an overview of the infrastructure
Which led to improved online outreach
• Improved web-based reporting
• an integrated online presence
• enhanced stewardship

3. The Florida State University
Carnegie Foundation designation as Doctoral/Research
University Extensive
One of the oldest (1851) one of the largest (40,000
students) of the 11 public, 4-yr higher education
institutions in the State University System of Florida
Florida State College for Women until 1947
Direct Support Organizations (DSO) – Seminole
Boosters, Alumni Association, John & Mabel Ringling
Museum (Sarasota, FL), and FSU Foundation

4. Project Overview
Brought together four distinct, separate functional units:
• FSU Foundation
• Alumni Association
• Seminole Boosters
• Ringling Museum
Replaced 3 legacy CRM systems
• Re-implemented Ringling’s Raiser’s Edge system
Replaced 4 legacy financial/accounting systems
New implementation of FSU alumni online community
Replaced and greatly enhanced a data warehouse
New implementation of web/CRM/financial
system/warehouse integration

5. Dealing with the Users – Business Requirements
Everyone had a clear picture of end result/goal.
• Desired qualities, functions, attributes (sometimes refined during design)
• Understood the difference between critical items versus “nice-to-haves”
• Everyone knew the go-live date, why, what that meant to the
process.
• Is the goal to have something sooner rather than later, or can you wait until
more functionality is built out?
• Can help in decision-making and prioritizing, relegating items to phase 2 or
later implementation
• Design team members empowered to make decisions, process for
“bumping up” questions and getting answers swift and efficient.
• Process not dragged out by fear of making decisions, having to ask the
opinion of too many people
• Everyone understood the ground rules
• We are doing virtually NO customizing
• We have a deadline and core functionality we are working on
• You will cooperate (vs. “be dysfunctional, it’s okay”)

6. Examining existing processes with the users
What are all the pieces, phases, players involved?
WHY?
• The Inescapable - Legal or institutional rules, regulations,
requirements
• The Desirable - Industry standards
• The Changeable - Current or legacy system functionality
• The Delicate - Staff/talent/bias issues
• The Ugly - Entrenched rules or practices
• The Comical/Really Ugly - “We have no idea”
• Hash out what was critical versus what was just “there”.

7. Discussing desired goal and result
What /who will be the pieces, parts and players
involved?
• The Goal - End results/goals
• The Good - Information/data that will make the process work
• The Inescapable - Legal and institutional rules/requirements
• The Desirable - Industry standards
• The Delicate - Staff/talent
• The Changed - New system functionality
• The pieces don’t have to all fit the same way they did before for the
end result to be the same (or better).

8. (Re)building
Took into account all factors from above.
Designed to the norm, not the 5% exception (or this
project would never end).
Coordinated with members of the team who understood
associated business processes and software
functionality (didn’t build in a silo or vacuum).
Had to be creative (particularly because we had sworn
off customizations)!

9. Review
Wrote it out. Showed screenshots. Gave demos.
• Sometimes hard for people to visualize that the goal can be met without
going through the exact same set of steps as before.
• Especially if building a brand new process, seeing something describing it or
demonstrating it will help people understand and feel comfortable.
Solicited feedback and make changes where necessary.
• Sometimes we missed something.
• People change their minds (it happens).
• We made it more complicated that it needed to be (that happens, too).
• What looked great on paper doesn’t always flow as well as you thought when
you do it.
• Everybody/somebody/nobody-is-naming-names forgot a crucial element.

10. Testing (Software version of “measure twice, cut
once”)
Test, test, test.
• Is the process working as designed? Is it working as required?
(Those are not necessarily the same thing.)
Made changes as necessary.
Tested again.

11. Things to consider
• Plan, plan, plan, but expect that the unexpected will happen. Be willing to
be flexible, make changes as you go along.
• Keep the integrity of what you are trying to accomplish and who you are,
but don’t hold on to useless “baggage”/processes/data. Know the
difference between “unique” and “special”.
• Examine existing business processes. Don’t expect to move existing
processes wholesale into a new environment.
• For the future, reexamine business processes periodically after the
implementation is done to keep outmoded, redundant practices from
creeping in or hanging on.

12. Why it worked
FSU set very clear goals internally regarding
expectations for the project.
Collaboration across departments, very little “turf
defending”
FSU was “all in”. Positive about the experience, no
second-guessing, no negativity. Process of selection
handled well internally.
FSU saw itself as a partner with Blackbaud. Approached
project with attitude of trust (but verify); they accepted
responsibility, were accountable, were flexible, worked
hard. Expected the same from us as a vendor.

13. FSU Advancement Systems:
From a Technology Perspective
Blackbaud applications are light years ahead of
what we had
All the DSOs were Microsoft-based so it was a
good fit
Built upon commonly-used technologies
Finally have the ability to effectively report
Integrated solution really works for us
Gave us the platform to build for the future

15. Overview of the Technical Infrastructure
Highly integrated with Foundation’s Windows Active
Directory
Leverage the Campus LDAP and FSU ID management
tools
Tapped into MS SQL Server Environment
Fully utilize Blackbaud’s API and programming
environment
Vastly expanded data warehouse
Working on CAS authentication for single sign-on from
within Blackboard and all campus apps

16. MS Reporting Services - Reporting Tool of Choice
for Us
Included in the MS SQL Server product
• Which saved us $
Web-based on external site from advancement system
• Which saved us $ on Raiser’s Edge licenses

17. MS Reporting Services - Reporting Tool of Choice
for Us
Reporting tool of choice for next generation of
Blackbaud apps
Utilize ‘magic’ web part
• Report Viewer – render Reporting Services report from
within NetCommunity

18. How We Leveraged the New Technology
Improved Online Outreach
• Web-based reporting
• Integrated online presence between DSOs
• Enhanced stewardship reports
• Incorporate Web 2.0 where we could
Target Audiences
• Campus community
• Alumni, donors, and friends

19. Online Outreach: Campus Community
What we had…
• Web-based fund reports
• Refreshed monthly
• Limited in the amount of information distributed
• Created and hosted by the University
• So old that no one left at the university who could maintain
• Cost the University money (CPU cycles on the mainframe) so they
were eager to get us off their systems
• Development/Stewardship reports
• Weekly Gifts Report
• Printed out and manually collated
• Distributed via campus mail
• Extremely labor intensive

20. Online Outreach: Campus Community
What we needed…
• Improvement!!
• Re-develop using modern day technology
• Timely and accurate access information
• Be mindful to the ‘sensitivities’ of the Dean’s and Department Chairs
• Institute a granular level of security

21. Fund Reports
Balance Sheet
Income Statement
Detailed Spendable Income and Endowed Principal
Transaction Reports
Fund Profile
Authorized Funds Listing
Custom Security – at the fund level. Only authorized
signatures can see their funds

22. Custom Security Macro
In FE, link user account to authorized fund(s)
Could be individual funds, by department, or by college
Department or College are recorded as fund attributes
Integrated with Windows Active Directory

23. Development Reports
Weekly New Gifts
Weekly Gift Adjustments
In Memoriam by College
Real-time Online Donations
Endowed Fund Activity
Alumni Association Memberships
Alumni Association Appeal Analysis
E-blast Summary Report

24. Development Reports cont’d
Gift Summary and Detail Reports
• By any date slice
• By DSO
• By Unit/College
• By gift type
• By Fund
• Drill down to donor
Custom Security – at the College level for detailed
information

25. A Look Ahead… Campaign Reporting
Drill-thru Campaign Pyramid
Really tap into business intelligence
Further develop our warehouse environment
Data Model to ensure fundraising analytics can be
measured and reported
Dashboards, Leader boards, KPIs

26. 26
Strategic BI:
Stacked Charts Balanced Scorecard Daily Key Performance Indicators(KPIs) Results
Historical Context Organizational Performance Drilldown:Leaderboards and Year of Year Details
Strategic BI – Executive Dashboard

27. 27
Tactical BI – Measure Results
Tactical BI:
For Any Measure Peer deeper into the daily operations of the organization
Historical Context Year over Year Trend Analysis allows for more efficient application of resources

28. Online Outreach: Alumni, Donors, and Friends
What we had…
• 3 public websites that all looked completely different
• Alumni Association had an online alumni community
• Harris Connect
• Updates were not getting back to legacy advancement system
• End users didn’t care for the application
• Boosters had a web portal
• Application developed locally
• Mainly used for collecting payments and sending out eblasts
• Foundation did not have an online community

29. Online Outreach: Alumni, Donor, and Friends
What we needed…
• They know us as FSU not by the individual organizations so…
• Create an integrated web presence between each DSO
• Streamline our communication efforts
• Make it easy for them!
• Make it easy for us – integrate with advancement system

30. Online Outreach: Alumni, Donor, and Friends
Integrated web presence for all DSOs
Outcome: oneFSU

31. Insert oneFSU page

32. oneFSU – How Did the Concept Come
About?
By Accident

33. NetCommunity
o Part of the project where we had the least initial
discussions during the discovery phase
o The software, NetCommunity, was sort of ‘throw in’ at
the last minute
o Foundation needed a web portal for its stewardship
efforts

34. o FSU team didn’t fully understand the software yet
o Kept thinking we would have three different sites – just
on one platform
o Things got interesting once we realized we could have
three public sites but only ONE place to ‘go’ behind the
login
o This forced us to shift our thinking in terms of how are
we going to integrate our unique presences and
processes
Technical Infrastructure Dictated the Initial
Integration Concept

35. Timing Is Everything
o Focus on the first half of the project was on Raiser’s Edge
and Financial Edge
o First design session for NetCommunity was held XX months
into the project
• An advantage here was that the FSU team had had the
chance to develop into a more collaborative unit
• The ideal of creating ‘one system’ was being realized

36. Public Websites
The Foundation, Seminole Boosters, and Alumni
Association redesigned their public websites
Similar look and feel but had to convey the uniqueness
of each organization
Consistent Navigation
Focus on ‘Call to Action’
One graphic designer worked on design templates

37. What Happens Once One Logs In?
oneFSU landing page
Branding Gateway – cross promote
Take advantage of targeted content
• Renew versus Join
• Focus Groups
Make it easy for someone pay, update, or register

38. Streamline Efforts
Improved Communication Efforts
• “Organized” E-blast communications
Strategic marketing efforts
• Consolidated End of Year appeals
• Cross promote initiatives
Coordinated regional events

39. Endowed Fund Stewardship Reports
What we had…
• Provided once a year
• By the time the donor received the report the information was 5-6
months old
• Only a portion of our donors received the report
• Tremendous amount of staff-hours spent in creating these reports

40. Endowed Fund Stewardship Reports
What we needed…
• Timely access to accurate information
• Provide more than just once a year
• A process where development of report could automated
• Staff resources were already constrained
• Include all donors to endowed funds
• Tailor the reports to the requests of the donor

41. Enhanced Endowed Fund Stewardship Reports
In addition to the hard copy report that is still sent out
once a year…
Reports are delivered via oneFSU
Updated on a quarterly basis timed with our investment
returns
New report available the day after returns are posted in
FE
Several types of reports created

42. Enhanced Endowed Fund Stewardship Reports
Added Push to Contribute
• Developed custom donation web part used to accepts additional gifts
or make pledge payments towards the Endowed Fund

43. Web 2.0 and Social Networking
During the implementation project the concept of social
networking was changing
By the time we hit go-live most everyone was
somewhere else
Forced us to look at oneFSU and ask: What do we want
it do? What does it offer? Where did that leave us?

44. Where do we focus oneFSU?
Transactional activities
Targeted Content
Stewardship reports
College Build-outs
Alumni social network

45. Web 2.0 and Social Networking
What we had…
• Nothing
What we needed…
• We didn’t know
• We still aren’t sure
What we think…
• We will go to them

46. oneFSU Facebook App
We knew we didn’t want to compete with Facebook
We still want alumni/donor data
Develop a ‘hook’ so that the Colleges could interact with
their donors but we could still have an opportunity to
grab the data
Let the University, Colleges and DSOs drive the viral
marketing effort

47. Measures of Success
Web-based Reporting: Highly visible at the University,
strong support for our efforts
Integrated Web Presence: Uptick in online donations,
memberships, user registrations
Enhanced Endowed Fund Stewardship Reports: Positive
feedback from donors, positive ROI, reduced staff hours
to complete
oneFSU app: Colleges are enthusiastic. A little too
early to tell. We shall see…

48. Ultimate Guide To Success
Have a plan but…
Know that the unexpected may happen and face these
new challenges with:
• Flexibility
• Creativity
• Confidence
oneFSU came to be because instead of concentrating on
how the software and functionality didn’t meet
expectations and being discouraged, FSU decided to
rethink the whole approach and created business
processes and designs from a new perspective.
The unexpected result was even better than they could
have originally imagined.