On Sunday mornings, one of the volunteers for Mama Lana’s (http://mamalanas.org.au) posts on Facebook asking for people to fill in the gaps during the week to cook, make sandwiches, desserts and salads, and serve the same for the next 6 days. Other volunteers respond with a comment to this post assigning themselves to particular tasks.

It works on some weeks and not on others. For example, last Saturday, we had pies for almost everyone but only one tray of salad for 26 homeless people. At other times there are too few volunteers to serve, etc. I don’t even know the challenges faced by the volunteers responsible for getting donations and keeping the whole thing going. This while doing their regular day jobs and looking after their families when they return home.

Being the busybody that I am, I started exploring to check if technology could solve some of logistics problems faced by Non Profit organisations.

Firstly, I noticed that Salesforce has a Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP) )http://www.salesforce.org/nonprofit_product/nonprofit-editions-pricing/) which appears to be free for the first 10 users which has:

• Constituent Relationship Management
• Volunteer Management
• Donation Management
• Basic Grants Management
• Basic Batch Entry
• Mobile access
• Content library

Then I noticed Google for Non Profits (http://www.google.com/nonprofits/) has:

• G Suite for Non Profits
• Google Ad Grants
• Youtube for Non Profits

Finally I found Amazon has AWS for Nonprofit Organisation (https://aws.amazon.com/government-education/nonprofits/) which is infrastructure technology to:

• build websites
• host core business
• host employee-facing systems
• manage outreach and fundraising

By this time, I was totally confused, a bit like someone from North Korea being dumped in Walmart and I have a technology background. Are people really using these solutions or a combination thereof? So far, the Facebook page I mentioned in the beginning is the most sophisticated solution that I have seen actually used.

I think what is needed here is a low-cost (free if possible) solution that can be used my people who are not technology savvy and requires a limited budget to implement and maintain.

Any ideas?

We all have many roles in life including employee, manager, husband, brother friend, etc. Each role brings out different aspects of our character. Social media has allowed us to segregate these roles and develop them in ways that were not available to past generations of human beings. Of course, some of us develop them in ways that are frowned upon by polite society and may even be illegal and criminal in nature. Others have used the platforms to reach new heights of artistic and intellectual development.

Many of us tend to emphasise different aspects of our characters in different social media platforms. I use LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter almost every day. My LinkedIn profile is used for professional purposes, my Facebook one for interactions with friends and family, and Twitter to speak frankly. There is very little crossover between the people I am connected to in each platform. I have noticed that many people have a similar demarcation and become quite agitated if the lines are crossed. Posting political stuff on Linkedin is “stepping over the limit” and promoting a business on Facebook is considered gauche. I don’t know what the limitations on Twitter are but Trump seems to take us to new horizons with every passing day.

The dilemma for those of us that either write blogs or post on any platform is that little button titled “share” on most social media platforms. What happens when a post designed for Facebook and targeting your friends ends up on LinkedIn with the click of a button. Outrage from some and even worse consequences for others have been the result. Most of us don’t realise we have put the proverbial “foot in the mouth” until the comments start coming in. Then we are forced to explain, defend and finally retreat.

Far better then, to take a deep breath after we write, reflect on what the impact will be on our diverse group of connections, and post on the correct platform. Sometimes we may not post at all. This is the new version of the “count to 10 rule.”

Now if I can only follow my own advise

Most cloud rollouts are intensive affairs, time bound and straining to keep within budgets. Cloud implementors usually deploy an experienced team and a well oiled methodology to keep within these constraints. This sometimes ends with a training session for the end users. The team then moves on to another project with a different client. For you this means that the people you worked closely with are no longer available just when you need them.

Unless you have some in-house expertise to support users as they start using the new solution and associated tools, frustration will lead to an erosion of the initial euphoria and uses will avoid “wasting time” using the new solution. Once this happens it is difficult to gain momentum again.

So my advise is that you include post-implementation support plans before you start the rollout. This may seem obvious but most, I would say almost all, clients do not do so.

The good news is that cloud implementors have packages suited to the this specific technology environment. Typically these include:

• Access to Certified Developers and Administrators
• Phone / Email Support
• Time defined response for all issues
• A Dedicated Contact

Check out our support packages on http://www.cloudriverdale.com.au/salesforce-support-services/