Posts Tagged ‘due diligence’

The largest YMCA and YWCA organizations in North America rely on robust software packages to help manage everything from program registrations, facility reservations and child care scheduling to membership management, donation and payment processing, and Web site content management. To find the right software for your YMCA, there are a few common mistakes you’ll want to avoid.

1. Copycat Selection. Just because other YMCAs are selecting a particular software package doesn’t mean that you should too. Evaluate why they’re selecting certain software, how it’s meeting their needs, what the total cost of ownership is, and whether or not they would buy the same software if given the chance all over again. If relying on industry peers for advice, make sure to ask the important questions to see if your criteria closely aligns with theirs.
2. Focus on Features. Features are great. Poor customer service support or high maintenance costs are not. Just because a software package may be feature-rich (think fundraising integration, automated emails, etc.), doesn’t mean it’s the right software solution for your YMCA. Make sure the software meets your other requirements, including scalability, ease of use, budget friendly, 24/7 customer service support and customizable options. You’ll want a software solution that can grow as your YMCA grows without interruption in service, data access or overall business continuity.
3. Stranger Companies. It’s important to know the software company you’ll be partnering with. Do your due diligence and look into financial data, company news, customer testimonials and case studies, product data sheets, and accessibility of company contact information. The more positive information you can find, the more established the company likely is.
4. Solo Pursuit. Don’t take on the software selection process on your own or just with a group of department heads. Instead, involve other staff members in setting the criteria, developing questions and evaluating software packages. This not only ensures that you are selecting a software solution that will meet the needs of the entire organization, it will also help drive adoption of the new software technology, as staff will feel personally involved in the organizational change.
5. Hidden Future Fees. Know the total cost of ownership of the YMCA software from the outset. Just because a software solution requires no out-of-pocket expense doesn’t mean it is the most cost-effective solution for the long-term. Understand all fees, now and in the future, required to own and operate the software. Additional fees may include annual license fees, maintenance costs, training fees, IT investments, customer service support fees, upgrade charges and usage costs. Understand the total costs of each software packages now, a year from now, and five years from now, before making your selection.
6. Here Today, Gone Tomorrow Technology. Beware of investing in a dying breed of technology, such as outdated platforms, operating system or databases. Older technologies may no longer be supported or taught, and may even cause major issues when trying to upgrade. On the other end of the spectrum, you should also beware of technologies that are too new, as they have not yet proven their effectiveness and your YMCA may be faced with navigating around technology bugs and errors. Look for a software company with a proven track record for developing new software versions and upgrading customers without difficulty.
7. Complex = Robust. Complex software does not translate to feature-rich or robust software. It translates to being complex. Know what you need to achieve your desired results and don’t buy anything more. You will not only be spending money that doesn’t need to spent, you’ll also be giving staff members more to do and learn that they wouldn’t ordinarily need to with their current workload. Implement only the software solutions you need right away and, with a scalable solution, you can add on other features you want in the future without difficulty.

I hope these tips give your YMCA an idea of the common mistakes to avoid in the search for a new software solution. By focusing on your specific needs and your specific budget and partnering with a company that understands both, you will be able to find and implement a YMCA software solution that improves operational efficiencies and maximizes participation, thus bringing more value to your members and the local community.

James Reyes is the General Manager for ActiveCommunities, a division of Active Network, Inc.

ActiveCommunities delivers recreation software and marketing solutions to non-profit organizations of all sizes throughout North America.

Author: James Reyes
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Programmable Multi-cooker

It’s one thing to ask “how do I clean my PC Registry” and another actually finding a program and then using it without harming your hard drive. No, we’re not saying that registry cleaners aren’t safe, you need to be using them to maintain your computers in tip, top order.

No, we are saying that because of the lack of knowledge among computer users with the technical aspects and safety of their machines, many problems occur because of user lack of understanding. Many people are great at finding their way online, interacting with one another on web 2 sites or doing the simple email functions but when it comes to having a little knowledge of things like hard drives they go to water.

What Does My Registry Do?

Another confusing issue is cleaning a PC registry. Many simply don’t know where to start. Let’s explain a little about what a registry’s role is. For Windows users, it’s basically a record of everything on your machine. Can you start to appreciate how important then it is to maintain it and free of any rubbish.

That’s why it’s important you know a little about the cleaner you’re going to use before you actually use it. The reason? So you avoid accidentally deleting important files.

There are many aspects to consider when selecting a cleaning program. Having a backup safety feature is extremely important so that nothing you need is deleted. The most important thing that you should be looking for is what other customers thought about the product.

If it worked for them it will probably work for you. This way you can see reviews as well as complaints about the product. This is an area where many get themselves into trouble simply for acting in haste without doing some due diligence on the product they decided to use.

Clean My PC Registry

There are tons of free online scans available so you can see how many errors your system has. Many products allow you to scan fifty errors for free until you have to buy the software. This is part of the marketing of these products and the positive side to this is at least you will get some idea as to it’s efficiency.

The majority of the PC Registry cleaning software out there costs around twenty five dollars. You may be trying to avoid spending money but the investment can be well worth it. The positive thing about paying for a product is that in most cases, you get technical support with it.

Make sure you take some precautions before you run a PC registry cleaning software. This way in the event that you delete something important you can restore it to the hard drive of your machine. It is also extremely important that you back up your files.