Release 1.0-2012-08-25
The future's bright. This week we have implemented some features that will add value immediately but highlight the directions in which we are now innovating.
1. Edit payments made. Payments added via batch import or manually in the edit screen for each sign up may now be edited or deleted. If you would like to record a failed payment, edit down to zero (0) and the payment will not be counted in the search filter for number of payments made on the Pledges tab. Failed payments statistics will be included in analytics coming later in the year.
2. Modulus checking for UK bank accounts. If you are in the UK we perform online verification of bank accounts via the guys at PostcodeAnywhere whose service you can try here www.postcodeanywhere.co.uk/bank-account-validation/try-it-now/. This is great, but it does require an internet connection. So, we've now implemented an offline bank account check using the UK modulus algorithms. You can find out more about them here. This now means there's a double check for UK bank accounts. We can even count the number of times an entry has failed the validation to detect and highlight suspicious behaviour.
3. New email merge field for transaction types. This new merge field is for those of you that accept quarterly, half-yearly, annual and one-off donations. It allows the text in the automated welcome email to contain sentences like, "thank you for your ongoing donation of $100 that will be debited from your account quarterly..." Not that impressive? Well, it is valuable to some but I agree it's a little pedestrian as new feature announcements go. It is however a good excuse to inform you of the upcoming mailchimp integration. Not only will we give you access to beautiful templates and feature rich email but we'll start to get really clever with mail analytics. It's all part of treating every sign up as the precious and unique individual that they are. Coming very soon...
4. Contact Preferences component. We've added a new standard field component to the form that allows questions like this:
There's an option for phone and do not contact preferences. We've also refactored to record preferences in a common data model. Why did we do this? We will soon be able to provide you with meaningful information on what happens as a result of these preferences. Ongoing communication and its impact on retention is probably one of the biggest areas for improvement in regular giving management. This is just a small step in assisting you with the decisions, strategies and creative required to optimise it.
Some less noticeable changes include refactoring the campaign manager page and filters with more elegant code to make them run faster. We've fixed the MMS of the supporter's photo. And we've added and amended data transfer templates for some fantastic new charities.
Lastly, I shared this photo with the team this week, a photo of a child titled "Agnes". It was provided by Concern Worldwide for the background to their sign up form. Our eminent Creative Director lectured me the other day on the valuable connection that faces have to emotional instincts. The photo also captures the fantastic work of Concern, and also why we do this. Have a great week.