Stop Chasing Shiny Red Balls!
How to Select the Right Donor Management Solution (or other software) for your organization

Let’s face it. Change is painful. The only reason we even consider change is because the pain of not changing something outweighs the pain of changing it. And when it comes to technology, that pain has to be pretty big to want to move, right? And then once you start the buying process, you and your team start getting “oohed” and “awed” with these distracting “shiny, red balls” that turn from a nice feature, into a must have -- then often a waste of money!

My goal is to teach you some ways to evaluate, not just software, but also vendors, and your organizational needs so you get the right software, at the right time, for the right total value to ownership.  I’m going to show you how to only grab onto the shiny red balls that really matter!

Heather Burton, product marketing director for Sage North America’s Nonprofit Solutions business, has been involved in the nonprofit sector for more than a decade. Prior to joining Sage in 2005, she worked in several development roles, including as a development manager for a 40-year-old social service agency, and a loaned executive for United Way. She also led volunteer fundraising teams for a hospice, and sat on corporate giving and workplace campaign committees.

Burton currently serves as past board president for the BookSpring organization in Austin, Texas. She has served on BookSpring’s board for nearly four years, helping to manage through a merger, re-branding, and now, the building of a highly functional and engaged board. She is also a member of the Greater Austin Chapter of AFP (Association of Fundraising Professionals), and the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy (AHP).

Burton is a frequent presenter at industry conferences, including the AFP International Conference on Fundraising, the AHP International Conference, and CASE district conferences, as well as regional conferences for both AFP and AHP. She also regularly contributes articles on fundraising topics to such nonprofit magazines as "Advancing Philanthropy," “Canadian Fundraising & Philanthropy,” "FundRaising Success," "Religious Product News," and "The NonProfit Times."