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Semper Technology, Inc. (STI) is dedicated to helping you maximize your Blackbaud investment. Since 1998, STI has been privileged to work with nonprofit organizations that push the envelope with Blackbaud products.

While the majority of our experience centers around The Raiser’s Edge, our capabilities extend to other Blackbaud products. Combine these capabilities with our broad range of business management, and IT experience, and you have a full-service partner to help your organization achieve its full potential.

Our goal is to help your organization get the most out of its valued operational funds by employing best practices, fully utilizing the features of Blackbaud products, and integrating them with existing systems. Benefits include a faster, more efficient fund and friend-raising operation, with more accurate and timely information.

Purchase Support

STI will assist you in optimizing your Blackbaud investment throughout its life-cycle.

• Pre-purchase Analysis
  We’ll help you determine what Blackbaud products, if any, are right for your organization, and provide a practical real-life perspective for getting the most value from the products.
• Initial Purchase
  While Blackbaud products like The Raiser’s Edge are purchased directly from Blackbaud, STI is a member of the Blackbaud Solution Referral Network, and we’ll donate a portion of the referral fee back to your organization if you allow us to make the initial contact with Blackbaud on your behalf.
• Licensing Evaluation
  STI will help you determine the right licensing level for your organization. If you are currently a licensee, we will provide insight to further optimize your existing licensing agreement and pricing plan.

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STI will take the guesswork out of Blackbaud product installation. From new installations through major conversions, STI’s proven life-cycle management methodology will help you manage your investment. And since STI is also a full-service Information Technology service provider, we can evaluate your existing computing infrastructure and help you tune your systems for maximum performance.

• New installations
  If you are starting from scratch, we will help you install and configure your system right the first time. Prudent upfront planning will pay dividends in the long term.
• Upgrades
  Deploying much needed upgrades can sometimes be a daunting task. STI will help you streamline the process so the latest features can be utilized quickly.
• Conversions
  Converting from one major Blackbaud release to another (for instance, Raiser’s Edge version 6 to 7) can be both time-consuming and challenging. Attention to the details is critical. We have the experience to guide your organization through the process, with minimal operational impact, while getting the details right.
• Migrations
  Migrating from another fundraising database system is a sizeable project. Tasks like data-mapping, data extraction, data import, implementation, and training must be thoroughly analyzed and planned before execution. Our proven methodology, tools, and techniques will get you up and running in the shortest possible time.

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STI brings to your organization over twenty years of enterprise database management experience. With this knowledge, we can help you with all aspects of database administration.

• Data Integrity
  Utilizing best practices, STI will help you achieve consistent, accurate, retrievable data and then keep it that way by recognizing data pitfalls and avoiding them.
• Data Analysis and Cleanup
  Organizations large and small face the common dilemma of unreliable, scattered data, along with tables that contain useless and confusing entries. We have developed special tools and techniques to quickly identify problem areas and facilitate the cleanup of your database.
• Policies and Procedures
  By analyzing your business practices we’ll help you shape policies that will establish what is acceptable and pertinent, and then assist with the publishing of methods and procedures that support best practices.
• Business Rules
  Whether you use the standard built-in business rules or customized ones built by STI using the optional VBA module, we’ll help you deploy rules that automate as well as enforce security, data integrity, and policy.
• Security
  We will assist in setting up common-sense security groups that are scalable, and we’ll help you determine the proper group assignment for each staff member.

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• Custom Business Rules
  With the optional VBA module, STI can maximize your control over the data and how it is manipulated for database administration purposes and simplified data entry.
• Microsoft Office Integration
  If the built-in Microsoft Office integration does not meet your needs, STI can help you get the most out of your Office tools, by building flexible letter and label generation, and powerful report writing.
• Conditional Mail Merge
  STI can help you take the mystery out of conditional mail merge for simple custom letters.
• Data Synchronization
  By using conventional methods, keeping your data synchronized with other systems or trusted business partners is very labor intensive, and if not performed in near real-time, could result in overwriting good data with bad. STI has addressed these issues with a synchronization system that provides secure, automated data synchronization in near real-time.
• Web Site Integration
  STI can help you present your data as Web content. This can be used for stewardship, contact information, current events, etc. Combine this capability with the data synchronization system mentioned above, and now you have a very powerful data entry platform for constituent address/profile updates, donations, membership, event registration, and volunteer sign-up.
• Systems Integration
  If you have other systems that need to communicate with a Blackbaud program, like The Raiser’s Edge, we can provide an interface that will be as seamless as possible.

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• Training
  STI takes training very seriously, realizing that a great system can only do great things if personnel know how to get the most out it. That’s where training comes in. We can help by providing the custom training solution that your staff needs for The Raiser’s Edge and related products.
• Information Systems Audit
  STI can help your organization assess its information systems. By combining the analysis results and the organization’s goals, we will make recommendations on how to best attain the goals given the organization’s timetable and constraints.
• Custom Reports
  While built-in reports are very useful, if your organization has a need for unique formatting or special information, STI can help you utilize Crystal Reports, Microsoft Excel, or various other tools for the best possible custom reports.
• Fast Off-Line Reporting
  If your reports are taking too much time to run, we can implement a supplementary reporting system that can potentially speed up your reports significantly. For example, a Pledge Status Report that may take a half-hour to run on a good day can be produced in 4 minutes by using the off-line method. This timesaving can really add up when several reports are needed in a day.
• Supplementary Database Support
  If you have information that you would like to associate with existing Blackbaud records, but it does not fit into the existing structure, we can help you extend your Blackbaud program so that your staff may not even be aware that the information does not reside within the Blackbaud program.
• Fast, Efficient Queries
  With years of enterprise database experience, we can help you build queries that are fast and efficient, ensuring that your organization gets the most out of the data model that is represented by your Blackbaud program(s).
• Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) Integration
  STI has refined the deployment of EFT to a science. Taking into account your current and future needs, we will help you select the credit card processing system and merchant account that is right for your organization. Then, using our extensive experience, we’ll assist in the setup, testing, training, and EFT rollout.
• Blackbaud API
  STI can help your organization go beyond the standard Blackbaud program interface by implementing custom applications built around the optional API module. This powerful module, together with smart programming, gives you the ultimate in external interface flexibility. Please refer to STI’s Blackbaud Customizations document for additional details.
• Blackbaud VBA
  By using the optional VBA module, the sky is the limit when it comes to business rules and data entry automation. STI can assist by taking your requirements and turning them into macros that will keep your data clean as well as speed up the data entry process. Please refer to STI’s Blackbaud Customizations document for additional details.
• Blackbaud Read-Only Database Assistance
  STI can help your organization exploit this great data extraction tool. Typical uses include Web integration and off-line reports.
• Remote Access
  As your organization grows and spreads, remote access becomes even more important. Using various programs such as, RE:Anywhere, Citrix, and Microsoft Terminal Services, we can help you deploy a system that is right for your organization, or help you tune your existing remote access installation.
• Point of Sale Implementation
  If you are considering The Raiser’s Edge Point of Sale (POS) optional module or The Financial Edge School Store Manager optional module, we can assist in getting your POS implementation up and running smoothly and efficiently.
• Integration of Fundraising and Accounting Systems
  We understand the basic needs inherent to the fundraising and accounting sides of a nonprofit. Whether or not you use the Blackbaud suite of products, STI can take the guesswork out of integrating these systems – efficiently and accurately.
• Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity Planning
  We can help your organization prepare for the unexpected. Our proven methodologies, tuned to your organization’s needs, will minimize disruptions to day-to-day business and give you the confidence that your organization has an effective disaster recovery and business continuity plan – just in case.
• Other STI Business and IT Solutions
  STI brings to your organization many years of experience in the business and IT sectors. From strategic business planning to network infrastructure, we can help your organization maximize its potential.

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 Semper Technology Blackbaud Capabilities (28 KB)

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