An Open Civic Engagement Platform: Plone, Salesforce and Friends

An Open Civic Engagement Platform

A New Generation of Tools That Play Nice Together

Jon Stahl - ONE/Northwest

Chris Johnson - ifPeople

Steve Andersen - ONE/Northwest

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Agenda

1.Intros/warmup2.Throatclearing3.Demostrations4.Discussion5.Questions


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Software EvolutionParallel and complimentary trends: 1) Software that lives online Desktop --> Client/Server --> "Software as a service" +Web APIs

2) Software that shares

Programs that do everything and share with nobody --> Programs that do one thing well and assume they need to play nice with others.



Monolithic software

Tuesday, May 5, 2009Monolithic software does many things moderately well, but few components are "best of breed." No choice. Tends to be all-or-nothing. Rarely communicates well with others. Raisers Edge is a classic example.

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Alternative: Hybrid vigor

(Our friend the Goldendoodle)Tuesday, May 5, 2009An alternative vision: multiple pieces that are independent. Each is chosen because it best fits your needs. They play nicely together because they all assume they are part of a larger system.

Allows for each piece to evolve independently (and thus more rapdily).

Allows you to not spend money on elements you don't need.

Leverage great work that the market is providing.

Mix open-source, closed-source, custom software and services.


...and many more!


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Small pieces, loosely joined can be very powerful



API - Application Programming Interface. An element of a software system that allows other products to exchange data. Open API an API that is publicly documented and available without cost to its intended audiences. Web Services API a generic term for APIs that are built to be used "over the internet" -- by software systems on entirely separate servers.

SOAP - Simple Object Access Protocol. A widely used standard for building web services APIs. REST - REpresentational State Transfer. Another widely used standard for building web services APIs. Simpler than SOAP but less powerful in some ways. CRM - Constituent Relationship Management. A database of people. CMS - Content Management System. A database-driven website.


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Questions: http://is.gd/tVgkDemos


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11



Oregon Environmental CouncilEco-Healthy Child Care


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Goals

• Build a database of eco-healthy childcare providers who’ve completed a certification checklist

• Connect parents with eco-healthy child care providers


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A "reverse mullet" web app A fancy front-end, but all business in back.

: A Plone website presents data stored in Salesforce.com




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Finding childcare providers on a Google map, by state and city.


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New childcare providers can request a certification packet.


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Questions: http://is.gd/tVgkProvider information flows directly into Salesforce


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Inquiry Handling System

Plone + Salesforce


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Van Jones



Problem:200+

requests per month


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Goals

• Allow efficient “team coverage” of speaking, information and media requests.

• Accumulate a database of interested people for long term organizing & followup.

• Track and report on all of this activity


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Plone and Salesforce to

the rescue



All requests come in

through a form• Built in Plone• Easy to edit• Dumps directly to

Salesforce


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Request dashboard in Salesforce


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A single request


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Send a templated email response - fast!


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Online DonationsPlone + Salesforce



Goal: Grow online revenue

• Connect donors more intimately with impact their contribution has

• Make the giving process easier

• Make tracking and reporting on giving easier


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Questions: http://is.gd/tVgkExample product pageTuesday, May 5, 2009

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Questions: http://is.gd/tVgkShopping cart and additional donations


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Questions: http://is.gd/tVgkCheckout = Valuable Information


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04/23/09

User data


04/23/09

payment

order

data


04/23/09

contact opportunity dona1on details

payment

order

data


Questions: http://is.gd/tVgkDumped into unverified contacts


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Questions: http://is.gd/tVgkContact record with donation


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Questions: http://is.gd/tVgkDonation details include products


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Verified Contacts Now in the Loop

• Added to printed newsletter (managed by Conga)• Added to email list (managed by VerticalResponse)


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Questions: http://is.gd/tVgkAll web donations roll up to campaign report


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Strengths and Weaknesses


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Strengths Platforms with a future: hosted apps constantly upgrading, open source has strong support.Low entry cost, pay only for what you eat.High end tools provide lots of headroom for growth

Weaknesses Demands rigorous understanding of your processes Easy to underestimate implementation & learning effortMultiple moving parts require coordination

Tuesday, May 5, 2009Chris

What will it cost?



• Basic websites + simple integration: $10k-20k and up. 3-4 months.

• Basic CRM database $8-15k and up. 3-4 months.

o Wildcard: data migration

• Email broadcasting & online activism: $1k-2k setup, plus ongoing costs ($50/month and up). 1-2 months.

• Custom integration functionality: varies widely.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009Steve + Chris

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Making engagement platform projects successful

Stakeholders

Articulating requirements

Chunking/phasing

Tuesday, May 5, 2009o Stakeholder involvement: this will involve your whole organization! Be prepared to have to deal with

organizational change, challenges, and diplomacy (aka, the technology is the easy part!) Product Owner: someone in the organization with authority to decide, point of reference to

consultant(s) throughout project, determines priorities. Stakeholders: cross-functional internal stakeholders; may also include external stakeholder. Involved

throughout process. This is hard! Good consultants will expect to help guide you through this.

o Articulating your requirements Know where you want to get to, but be open about the road Avoid pre-maturely articulating requirements Work with consultant to articulate what you really need Focus on your goals, your mission, your business processes, and how you imagine new systems

helping you improve your business processes. Holistic projects often raise deep and uncomfortable questions about what your organization does,

how it does it and why. Be prepared to grapple. o Chunking/phasing projects (web, CRM, etc.)

All things being equal (and sometimes they're not), try to start with your CRM and work outwards from there. (Why? Relationships with people are the heart of your work.)

Discovery scope CRM Website Email broadcasting Iterate - work back through elements and develop additional, discrete features and

improvements or integrate new tools into your mix. You have limited attention; try to focus on one thing at a time. You will learn as you go! Allow time to consolidate your gains and learn from experience before

introducing additional changes.

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A holistic approachcan be uncomfortable.



Roles

• Executiveresources, leadership support & vision

• Program staff whowill be using these systems daily

• Communications• Organizers • Fundraising• IT

Skills • Project management • Ability to investigate &

articulate your business requirements

• Collaboration and negotiation

• Operations & technical implementation

• Ongoing training/support

Roles and Skills You Need


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Finding vendorswho can balance and juggle.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009You need people who can juggle AND balance.

Any vendors in the room?

More informationPlone: plone.org Consultants and example sites: plone.net Salesforce.com: http://salesforcefoundation.org (donations, info) AppExchange: http://sites.force.com/appexchange Plone-Salesforce Integration: http://groups.google.com/group/plonesf http://snurl.com/plonesfdoc (documentation)

ONE/Northwest: http://onenw.org twitter: @onenw @jonstahl @gokubi

ifPeople: http://ifpeople.net twitter: @nomadslounge


Thanks, Flickr users!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/taylormiles/601779414/http://www.flickr.com/photos/55079705@N00/2869549151/http://www.flickr.com/photos/45238005@N00/129823044/http://www.flickr.com/photos/senorwences/2366892425/http://www.flickr.com/photos/69319106@N00/2925035414/http://www.flickr.com/photos/greenery/3365081/http://www.flickr.com/photos/51614546@N00/12877197/http://www.flickr.com/photos/22384185@N08/2608411576/http://www.flickr.com/photos/7159451@N02/420404675/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/18650097@N08/2323398662/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/11657252@N06/3007393167/


Questions


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An Open Civic Engagement Platform: Plone, Salesforce and Friends

Technology

Transcript of An Open Civic Engagement Platform: Plone, Salesforce and Friends