All about CharityTracker

We had the great privilege of interviewing with a friend from our local newspaper – The Times Daily. He was very kind to write a nice article about our work with CharityTracker across the state of Alabama. Next thing we knew other news venues were picking it up and posting it on their websites! So, we just want to thank y’all!

Thank you, Times Daily, AP, WEDF, WAFF, WBRC, Houma Today, The Ledger, Al.com, The-Dispatch, Herald Tribune, WAKA! We appreciate you helping us get the word out about CharityTracker!

We were also honored to discover a wonderful article describing the impact of the United Way of Whitewater Valley’s use of CharityTracker in their local newspaper, the Palladium Item out of Richmond, IN. We’re more than grateful!

We have to say, 2010 has been quite the year for CharityTracker. We now have networks in over 380 cities across America and have also established our first international network in Ontario, Canada! We welcome the opportunities 2011 has in store for us. We couldn’t be more excited!

As of December 2010, thousands of users have used CharityTracker to collaborate and provide help for 888,125 individuals, adding 1,400,130 assistance records totaling $42,456,541 of assistance dollars! We’re just as blown away.

To start the year off right, we’ve added four new features that we think you’ll find useful:

1. You can now track personal and household expenses for each case. When you add or edit a case, there is an improved section labeled ‘Income & Expenses.’
   
2. Network administrators can now add, edit or delete assistance category sections. Under the categories tab in the administration section, there is a new button labeled ‘Manage Category Sections.’
   
3. We’ve added a ‘Reset Search’ button within advanced search. This button allows you to empty all the fields of advanced search with one click.
   
4. Last, but not least, we’ve added a field for phone extensions on all cases, agencies and agents.
   

As always, just about every feature we add to CharityTracker has been suggested by our partners like you. This way CharityTracker is improved based on feedback, and not solely on what we think is important. If you have an idea you would like to share with us, simply click the feedback button in the top-right corner of CharityTracker and shoot us a message. Thank you for a wonderful year! Together, we can make 2011 the best year ever!

Well, we’ve been at it again, and we’re happy to show you several more improvements made to the reporting feature of CharityTracker.

1. The Reports tab, in the My Agency tab, now features a list of Recently Requested Reports. Now you can easily access reports you’ve recently made. This is also handy to be able to check the status of your CSV reports.
   
2. Also in the Reports tab, a new report: Household Report. This report gives you a list of households based on the criteria you choose.
   
3. When requesting a report on assistance given to a case, there is now the option to sort the results based on Newest to Oldest.
   
4. There is now a checkbox to give you the option of whether or not to include the Assistance Summary on each report.
   
5. Now, on an individual case report, it is noted who verified the ROI, when they verified it, and when the ROI will expire.
   
6. Now reports will show, within a specific date-range, how many clients were first-time visitors.
   

As always, your voice matters to us and shapes CharityTracker each and every day. We’d love to hear your thoughts. Just click the “feedback” button in the top-right hand corner of CharityTracker anytime.

On October 26, 2006, the brainchild of the United Way of Northwest Alabama, S.E.A.N. Tracker (Shoals Emergency Assistance Network), went live in our community of Florence, AL. Four years later, 352 cities have implemented S.E.A.N Tracker, now in its third version and known today as CharityTracker.

As of this morning, thousands of users have added $35,079,472 assistance dollars, 1,177,783 assistance records and 749,959 cases into their CharityTracker networks. We couldn’t be more honored.

As you may know, we’re constantly working to improve CharityTracker. We’d like to introduce you to four new features we’ve just added.

1. Demographics now include an “other” field. This feature adds a layer of flexibility within demographics to allow agents to not only choose from the pre-defined list, but also to provide an alternative response.
   

2. You can now view the current status of the Release of Information for each case. We’ve also added the ability to print a new ROI as well as re-verify the Release of Information.
   

3. Within both simple search and advanced search, you now have the option to create a new case from your search terms. For example, if you searched for a name, address, and phone number in advanced search and do not find a case, you can click a link to automatically populate the fields you searched for on the add new case dialog.
   

4. Instead of seeing a blank screen, all reports now include a loading dialog to let you know the server is working hard to process your request.
   
   

We hope these additions make your life easier. As always, we add features based on feedback from users like you. If you think of a great feature, want to explain a bug you may have discovered, or have thought of a way to simplify CharityTracker — click the feedback button in the top-right corner of CharityTracker and share your thoughts. We always love hearing from you!

Popular Posts

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With thousands of users in over 300 cities, we’re honored to provide a tool that is keeping track of more than 1,000,000 assistance records. This assistance includes, but is not limited to, food, clothing, shelter, financial assistance, appliances, vehicles and counseling.

Our mission is to constantly improve CharityTracker based on your feedback. In the upper right-hand corner of CharityTracker, you’ll find the feedback button. Found a bug? Want to share an idea you’ve got? Maybe you just want to say “hi” to the developers? We love hearing from you!

7 Awesome Improvements Now Available in CharityTracker

1. Demographics and Other IDs are now column-based and easy to read on the ‘Personal Information’ tab of cases.
   

2. Funding source is now displayed on the assistance record as opposed to only shown when editing.
   

3. If someone in your agency hasn’t logged in yet, you can resend their login information with one click.

4. Zip Code is now available for searching within the ‘Advanced Search’ screen.

5. The ‘Billing’ tab will now display when your next payment is due, your current invoice amount, the ability to update your credit card and the option to make one-time credit card payments for invoices.

6. Income source and assistance record amounts now prevent errors by limiting the field to numbers and decimals.

7. Recent Cases and Searches now have the option to be shown or hidden.

We hope you enjoy these improvements! With your help, we’ve collaborated to add hundreds of features and improvements to CharityTracker. If you’ve got a great idea, click the feedback button in the upper right-hand corner of CharityTracker and let us know. Your idea could impact communities all over the United States.

P.S. Did you see the recent reporting tutorial we just added?

For those CharityTracker users who haven’t had a chance to check out the newest reporting features, this walk-through will save you a minute or two.

Our motto – “if you can record it, you can report it.” – CharityTracker’s powerful reports will give you the statistics you need with just a few steps. Here’s a tutorial video to demonstrate how easy it is:

With so much going on across the country, we would love to provide you with brief update on our progress of helping communities unite and mobilize for common good.

Several of the largest food banks in Texas have implemented CharityTracker to streamline food distribution. Notably, one of the most important solutions CharityTracker offers food banks is accurate, instant reports. CharityTracker reveals a bird’s eye view of who’s being helped, by who, when and how within the community.

A very special thanks to Karla Cantu, Senior Director of Agency Relations for the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas. Karla invited Larry LaBarge, an owner and team member of Simon Solutions, to speak at a state-wide gathering of food bank Agency Relations Directors.

Also In Texas, we’re working with the OneStar Foundation to help in building capacity for collaboration and community partnerships, especially among food banks. In Michigan, we are working with Jeremy White, Restore Hope Consulting, in providing a “2-Rail Model for Collaborative Solutions” – technology and capacity-building.

In South Carolina, we’re partnering with The Benefit Bank and United Ways. Together, we are working on a possible state-wide launch of CharityTracker networks for every county in South Carolina. We are also developing a fast and easy way for sending out state-wide bulletins and alerts. This feature will give state leaders (emergency response directors, VOAD, FEMA) a simple way to quickly mobilize charitable organizations for emergency care and disaster relief throughout the entire state of South Carolina.

U.S. Senator Richard Shelby sent us an encouraging letter saying, “I commend the valuable work this organization [CharityTracker] is accomplishing in countless communities, and I look forward to hearing more stories of its success. I will support this organization’s efforts should a legislative opportunity arise in the 111th Congress”.

With great excitement, we’re proud to announce CharityTracker is going international. We’ve been invited to Canada to speak at a major conference to discuss a strategy for launching CharityTracker networks across their country.

We’re honored to receive encouraging words and the chance to see CharityTracker serving in the role we always wished – helping churches, nonprofits, and government agencies work together at grassroots levels.

Warmest Regards,

Mike Simon
President/CEO