Treatment for database growing pains and head banging

When you decide to move into a more advanced FundRaiser program, it usually means that your organization is in a time of positive change: your organization is growing and having enough success that you can no longer make due with the limitations of your previous software. You make the jump to a more powerful program, open it up and then try to get as comfortable as you used to be with the old software.

I had that kind of positive confusion on my mind when I went over to the FundRaiser Tech Support department and asked Jonathan what would be his ‘best advice’ for organizations who were having 'software growing pains.' He had some great suggestions, but overall it boiled down to this simple piece of advice:

“Don’t ever beat your head against the wall trying to learn the program. If you are stumped by something in FundRaiser for more than a couple of minutes, give us a call! We’re friendly people and we want to help.”

I asked him why people might not call. He thought for awhile. “I think they don’t realize that we have a different kind of support. We want you to call, for anything, even if you think you ‘ought’ to know it. People think that calling is a burden to us and that isn’t true at all. They can check the HELP files that come with the program, of course, but helping is why we are here at the other end of the phone.

“We also feel fine about doing training. In fact, talking to us when you are in the middle of a task and can’t quite figure it out, is a great time to learn. When you are taking a training class, without the practical application in front of you, it can be harder to remember then when you are right in the circumstance. If you call when you are having a problem, say, with printing labels, and someone shows you how to do it right then, you tend to remember better. It’s easier to remember the steps.

“We’ll spend as much time as needed for someone to understand how to do what they want to do.

“Also, I think people expect the frustration of being put on hold for half an hour. Right off, you don’t have to do that. We nip that in the bud with our answering machine. And we will contact them quickly, usually within the hour. During our busiest times, it may be a little longer than that, but usually you’ll get help quickly," says Jonathan.

When you change to a new system, of course your are going to be trying out new features. You may also be able to gain greater success by changing some of your familiar habits too.

“Contact Tech Support," says Jonathan. "We like happy customers. We want you to have a good experience with FundRaiser software. It’s better for us all if you are happy, and we will go the extra mile.”