The Townsend Report

  Top Portal Types Businesses, schools, governments and nonprofits use web portals in many ways.  The Portal Connector has identified 6 of the most popular scenarios that require web portals: Sales . Customer portals can make it easier to add new products and conduct sales activities with fewer communications.  They offer 24x7 access even when this would not be practical for sales staff. Consider how self-service has changed home and car buying and ask yourself whether your business would benefit from similar sales portal capability.  Profile management . Errors in customer data are expensive, so allowing self-service profile updates can improve the quality of your data along with better customer service.  Form management . Portals can replace email for completing electronic forms.  The data from the forms can flow straight to the database or customer relationship management system (CRM) where it needs to be. Forms with online help and validation also result in better quality data tha

Although the most popular accounting  software  products, from QuickBooks to SAP, handle the needs of businesses in many industries, nonprofits have a business model and therefore accounting standards that are different from those of manufacturers, retailers, healthcare and other  commercial  sectors.    What makes nonprofits so special that their accounting tools must be different?  How can you find out which accounting software will be suitable for your nonprofit organization?     For starters, the essence of being a nonprofit is that, unlike nearly every other business, your organization is driven by goals that do not relate to financial profit.   You are pursuing a mission.   Your success is not measured by a profit and loss statement, but rather by nonfinancial metrics for activities such as feeding the  hungry , improving the environment, conquering disease or whatever your mission may be.      Churches fall under the category of nonprofits.  Unlike for-profit businesses, churche