Come on by before you buy!

by John Bird, Head of thankQ

We sell software, so it’s quite understandable that our potential customers invest lots of time into understanding what our software can do and making sure it fits their requirements. But we’re also a service industry (we could burn you a CD of the software, but it doesn’t really count as manufacturing something) – and it always amazes me how few of our prospects actually want to check us out in person and get to see as many of the people as possible behind that service…

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tags: procurement

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HMRC Charities Online Gift Aid submission – are you a supporter?

by John Bird, Head of thankQ

Unless you’ve been hidden away from the NFP news over the last few months, you’ll be aware that HMRC Charities Online Gift Aid submission goes live this month.  But what caught my eye recently is the announcement by Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research that they’ve developed an extension to CiviCRM and are planning to share this interface with other organisations that may need it.

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tags: Gift Aid

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It was fun, but it wasn’t about us

by Neil Pheasant, thankQ project team leader

It was fun, our thankQ project. Before I ever worked for thankQ, I was a thankQ customer and I must admit I look back on the experience with a smile.

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tags: CRM

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It's not goodbye - just au revoir!

by Jayne Arnold, Head of Customer Services

Firstly I think I owe you all an apology. It’s not like me to just disappear off quietly, but unfortunately this time it’s been unavoidable. Just as my maternity leave was about to kick in, I have caught chickenpox from my 2 year old, a condition not best suited to an office environment!

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tags: customer services

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An announcement from thankQ

by John Bird, Managing Director

As you’re probably aware, thankQ (the company) has been acquired by Access Group.  Access has over 500 customers in the not for profit sector and adding a fundraising and membership CRM software solution to their product range is a natural development for them. The benefits for us of joining a larger organisation are many and varied.   However, I guess if you’re reading this you don’t want to hear the marketing side of the story you may prefer some personal insight.

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tags: customer services

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Supporter Journeys: What matters most? The destination, or the reason they set off in the first place?

by John Bird, Managing Director

Coming from the IT world I am only too familiar with being surrounded by jargon which people use without really understanding. Having had the chance to discuss Supporter Journeys with a range of people over the last few months, I am of the view that Supporter Journeys is a fundraising term that fits that bill – a phrase that many use but on which there is little consensus…

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tags: supporter journeys

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Congratulations on the safe arrival of your CRM system!

by John Bird, Managing Director

A few months ago I talked about the need to invest time and effort in making your CRM software work for you. I got myself wrapped up in horticultural analogies, for which our friends at Kew were very appreciative!  This time, when thinking about how to get your users to embrace the software (user adoption), I am drawn to thinking about bringing up children.*

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tags: user adoption

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Taxes and blind faith

by John Bird, Managing Director

Last week two of our developers, let’s call them Chris and Anthony, were invited to HMRC’s swanky Nottingham offices to spend the day in the company of developers from all of our competitors. While I’d enjoy treating this as a recruitment opportunity (think foxes in henhouses), the purpose was in fact to get a briefing on the much talked about and little understood introduction of Online Gift Aid Submission which WILL be introduced from April next year. Like everything to do with tax, this isn’t easy reading, but you need to know it…

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tags: Gift Aid

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