Didn't we do this already?

I was recently chatting with a workplace giving professional at a Fortune company. As I was describing new capabilities for workplace giving technology, she stopped me. "Didn't we do this already?" she said. "I mean, we automated our campaign four or five years ago."

And the answer to her question? Yes and no.

Like all good technology, workplace giving platforms are out of date. By "good technology" I don't mean "well designed" or "designed for a lifetime". I just mean it is being used, and used a lot. Use forces change. And workplace giving technology hasn't changed much.

When I was designing one of the very first online giving programs in the United Way system, it was a simple client server program that could be installed on Windows 95. We piloted it in over 25 companies the first year. They loved it. United Way thought I was crazy. Then at KindMark we built the first giving platform that integrated multiple giving programs. ASP and .NET stuff.  Hard coded reports. Tons of permission controls. Payroll deduction automation was the most important feature.

Now, we need a better mouse trap. Most of the technology platforms we build at Carr Systems are open source - Drupal based. Modular architecture, lots of workflow, minimal raw coding. Drupal brings with it a wide array of community or social tools - CMS tools for users, multi-media display, group administration, peer to peer chatting, and a lot more.  Open source platforms function more like the way people expect technology to work - it's easier, more flexible, and more fun.

So, for all my friends in the workplace giving world, "yes" we did this already. We automated online giving payroll deduction campaigns. And we built volunteer tracking systems. And we integrated program platforms. And it's time to do it again.  New tools for online fundraising, donor experience, and social media are talking to us.  We need to build better mouse traps.