I. What's New
A. Database Basics: The first in our new series of brown bag lunches
B. T4T Assistance Program (Check out the SPECIAL INFO only available to you our readers.)

II. Resources
A. Searching tips
B. Grant: Help Us Help
C. Free database software

_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_

I. What's New
A. Database Basics: A Brown Bag Lunch and Networking Opportunity for Regional Nonprofits
Presented by Rick Nicholson

July 24, 2002
11:30 - Noon Networking
Noon - 1 PM Database Basics
1 - 1:30 PM Discussion and More Networking

Bring a lunch - beverages will be provided

Space is limited, so please register early by sending an e-mail to rick@dca.net

An introduction to the basic concepts of databases. If you're just starting to collect data for your organization, this will be an important overview of the basic principles of data collection and some of the software tools available. Helpful hints on how to start out at no cost, or low cost, and still be able to move up to more sophisticated software in the future without re-entering your data. If you make sure you follow some very basic principles now, you can avoid costly data conversion services in the future.

In addition to our one-hour presentation (Noon to 1PM), we'd like to invite you to come a little bit early (11:30), or stay a little bit late (till 1:30) to talk with your peers and our staff. We believe that by meeting each other and working together, we can make the most of our limited resources!

Database Principles:
What data to collect
What's a field?
What's a table?
What's a "relational database"?

Database Software:
What is database software (and what is not database software)?
Free software options
Mac and PC options
Commercial database packages

Resources:
Online resources
Local training options
Finding local database consultants

B. T4T Assistance Program
Members receive a technology assessment, plan, five hours of consulting time ($250 value), access to our Hardware Access Fund, discounts on trainings and multiple IT services, and more. Check out the full description online http://www.uwsepa.org/team4ech. SPECIAL INFO for our newsletter readers. Because we have only recently introduced these services, the ratio of available new equipment to member organizations is extremely good. We do not guarantee equipment will be granted, but an agency signing up for services in the next two weeks that completes the Hardware Access Fund application has very good odds of receiving new IBM equipment.
Decisions are made on the basis of demonstrated need from submitted applications (only members can apply).
Membership dues are determined on a sliding scale based on operating budget. Annual dues range from $50-$500. Please email teamtech@uwsepa.org with any questions.

II. Resources
A. Searching Tips
Do you feel frustrated by the Internet? Do you have trouble finding what you are looking for? The following website includes explanations of how search engines work, a glossary of terms related to searching, clear directions on building searches, tutorials, and other nifty resources.
http://www.searchenginewatch.com/facts/index.html
The parent site contains information on all aspects of search engines for both users and web developers (tips for those of you looking for ways to make it easier for people to find your website). http://www.searchenginewatch.com/
B. Grant:
*** Help Us Help Foundation Offers Tech Grants to Schools and Youth Organizations ***

With support from the Oracle Corporation, the nonprofit Help Us Help Foundation (http://www.helpushelp.org) assists K-12 public schools and youth organizations in economically challenged communities to obtain information technology tools through a series of grants.

Grants of computer equipment and software are available to schools and youth organizations that provide educational programs in low-income communities. The foundation program will donate new Internet appliances and laser printers as well as all the ancillary equipment necessary to connect the devices, including network hubs, cables, and electrical surge protectors.

The foundation uses a number of criteria to determine applicants' eligibility. These are listed below. In addition, they evaluate applications based on the quality of the narrative and documentation provided by the grant seeker.

* U.S. K-12 public and public charter schools are eligible if a significant number of students qualify for the subsidized lunch program (roughly 50% for elementary and 35% for middle and high schools) or can otherwise be documented as low-income.

* U.S. community-based organizations are eligible if they have 501(c)(3)or 7871 Tribal Government status, and provide educational services to youth who lack access to technology. Additionally, low-income youth must make up at least 50% of the total population the organization serves annually.

* The foundation does not make grants outside the U.S. at present. In the future, the foundation plans to accept applications from educational institutions and non-governmental organizations outside the U.S. that serve low-income youth and provide technology education.
The deadlines for this round of grants are August 31, 2002 and February 28, 2003. For complete guidelines and online application forms, see the Help Us Help Foundation Web site at http://www.helpushelp.org/pages/grant_index.html.

C: Free database software.
Organizers' Database 0.8.9 available for download
From Organizer's Collaborative
It is a very good time to check out the ODB software if you have not already done so. Today marks the first major release of ODB since March 2002. This new version features a smaller download, an even simpler installation program, 8 bug fixes, and some advanced features that you don't even get in commercial database software for small organizations. We demoed the new version last Friday to 15 community activists in Boston, and we are planning a New York City demo for the fall (email me if interested).

If you already have a version of ODB that has the help '?' menu, you can upgrade by choosing Check for New Version... from this menu. Otherwise, go to http://organizersdb.org

When we released 0.8.8 in March, we created the odb-discuss email list. There are 210 people on the list. Please see: http://lists.democracygroups.org/listinfo/odb-discuss Back in March, we knew about 8 groups who were using ODB. Now we know of about 50 groups using it! The growing community, and the real-world testing, have enabled us to enhance the software enormously.

A couple of words about our philosophy: to minimize the support requirements for the software, we have prioritized reliability and usability rather than rushing to add new features. By making sure that the core is stable, and even reengineering it so that the software is easy to understand, we will open the door to consultants who want to modify it, extend it, and even translate it into other languages. We are also putting a training infrastructure into place.

Since we are not trying to develop a complex application like Raiser's Edge, ODB is best suited to groups without a professional development department. It may be the best choice for small groups with 1-4 staff, or even community organizations with no paid staff. Most ODB user have budgets ranging from $1,000 to $300,000. The idea is to allow groups to get pretty far without using a consultant.

So, I encourage all of you to play with the software. Again just go to www.organizersdb.org! And if you want to try out some sample data, email me and I can send you a real data file with 3000 scrambled names and addresses to test ODB on.

If anything does not work for you, please let us know and we will fix it so that it will work!

Finally, feel free to forward both this email and the "release notes" listed below to listservs you are on.

Thanks, and good luck!

-rich cowan
for Organizers' Collaborative

ODB 0.8.9 Upgrading Information

1) We just posted an advanced 3-page guide to writing SQL queries in ODB version 0.8.9 at www.organizersdb.org. The relevant sections of the ODB user guide were rewritten.
2) We added some information on installing database drivers to the database driver help page, which is accessible from www.organizersdb.org.
3) The upgrade to version 0.8.9 involves a conversion step that is optional, but strongly recommended. ODB will ask you about running the conversion program the first time you use 0.8.9 on a database created in prior versions. The conversion program will not affect your data, but it will make it possible for you to customize ODB in many ways that would not otherwise be possible (open up the settings screen and scroll down to the bottom of the list of settings).
4) When you upgrade to version 0.8.9, we strongly recommend that you go to the settings screen and download the zip code file again. The new zip code file is just 60% of the size of the the old one, yet it is much more up to date and even includes information needed for a future GIS feature in ODB.

Recent ODB Enhancements and New Features

(this is an excerpt, based on a much longer 'release notes' document which is posted on the ODB web site. All the changes below were in versions 0.8.8c, 0.8.8d, and 0.8.9, the versions released in June and in July of 2002.)

1) Major New Feature: If you have someone set up the zip code file with the necessary information, ODB will auto-fill the region and congressional district of a person based on their zip code. We will be extending this feature to allow districts to be matched based on street address as well, so if you need it, please call us! (0.8.9)
2) The maximum number of tracking codes ODB will display was increased to 30 issue, constituency, or activity codes. (0.8.9)
3) The maximum number of VID codes ODB will display is increased to 24. (0.8.9)
4) It is now easier to search on the "comments" field from the Record Selection Tool. (0.8.9)
5) We updated the zip code file to January 2000 version based on a Census Bureau zip code file. (We will update to a 2002 version if we can find data that is free to distribute!) To get the new zip code file, you must download it from within ODB.
6) Turned on "area code matching" feature: if you hold the mouse cursor on top of a non-fax phone number in a data entry screen, you will find out where that phone number is located!
7) The add sql option now allows the sql to be added in two separate clauses, one of which will include records, the other of which will exclude records.
8) You can save and load SQL queries to a text file!
9) The installation program includes a working demonstration of a Spanish language localization file (this is very much an alpha version and handles only static text). (0.8.9)
10) We changed the installation program! This means that the software is even easier to install, and the download is 10% smaller. (0.8.9)
11) The color scheme is more consistent, and the user may choose custom colors for the main menu sidebar and "program text"
12) It is now possibly to specify a "minimum donation" that would be counted as a membership donation
13) It's much easier to upgrade to a newer zip code file; you can do it from within the program.
14) You can now save the results of donation searches in a form that can be easily imported into spreadsheet software for analysis of donation information.
15) The ledger view now displays the full description of the ledger categories.
16) Six templates have been added to the setup program. (0.8.9)
17) Added the ability to install externally executed programs to the Admin menu of ODB.
18) If you right-click on an email address in the Main Menu, you can choose all the people with the same email suffix.
19) During installation, the user is reminded how to access the user guide later.
20) During installation, backup procedures are explained more clearly

Major Bugs Fixed

1) The lastgave and lastgift fields were not updating reliably when you entered a donation for someone who already had gifts recorded. (fixed in 0.8.9)
2) Fixed zip code file extraction problem for Windows XP and a few other versions of Windows.
3) The go to web site function based on email menu choice is now working again.
4) Importing data into the voter registration field was crashing ODB. Fixed. These fields have also been moved into the "extended import' for people.
5) The show address on internet map function was updated to a newer URL and works again, and works even better than before
6) Marking a bad email or bad address from the main menu could crash ODB when the comments field was already close to full; now this won't happen.
7) Punctuation in the first or last name was causing the program to crash when checking for duplicates.
8) The label printing routines were printing too high on the page, especially with inkjet printers.
9) (bug affected only 0.8.8d users) reply slip printing was not working