While nonprofits are not defined by the dollars raised, tools that help them track the success and progress of their fundraising efforts are extremely valuable. But being able to compare themselves with other peer organizations has not been part of the equation. Until now.

eTapestry is pleased to introduce "Benchmark Reporting." For the first time, eTapestry customers can get reports measuring their fundraising activity while also providing comparison to a larger universe of organizations. Based on the aggregate results of participating organizations, you can now see how your efforts and results compare to others. For example, you will have access to the information and the reports that can show you how your average gift compares to other nonprofits of similar type, size, or location. You can compare your quarter to quarter gift volume with the trends of other nonprofits. There is even a report to show how your donor renewal rates compare with other eTapestry customers.

John Moore, Vice President of Development, states "This project is the culmination of an idea that we have wanted to implement for quite some time now. Because of the unique centralized hosting nature of the eTapestry Saas (Software as a Service) application, we are able to easily provide meaningful fundraising performance comparison metrics to the eTapestry customer base. All our clients have to do is opt in to the Benchmark Reporting survey and then click a button to get their reports."

Four new Benchmark Reports provide hundreds of data points that let you focus on the key comparisons and measures to help you analyze and strategize your fundraising efforts, enabling you to raise more money! To learn more about this innovative new tool, click here.

If you are a current eTapestry customer - you have the opportunity to get this incredible new module at remarkable savings. But it is only for a limited time. Contact your Account Executive for details - or simply email us at info@etapestry.com.

3rd Annual 'Best Places to Work in Indiana' List Announced; Company Rankings Given at May 7 Indiana Chamber Dinner

February 25, 2008 (INDIANAPOLIS) — Sixty-six Hoosier companies were designated today as a "Best Place to Work in Indiana" for their ability to create a strong workplace culture in which employees feel valued. The program, in its third year, is managed by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce and presented in partnership with Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

Of the 66 honorees, 40 received the same distinction in 2007. A record number of companies – over 120 – from throughout the state took part in the evaluation and were eligible for the ranking process.

The program honors the top companies in the state, as determined through employer reports and comprehensive employee surveys. Winners were selected from two categories: small to medium-sized companies of between 25 and 249 employees, and large-sized companies consisting of 250 or more employees. Out-of-state parent companies were eligible to participate if at least 25 full-time employees are in Indiana.

The Best Companies Group has overseen similar programs in 18 other states. ModernThink, LLC, a workplace excellence consulting firm, handled the selection process. The basis for this initiative is Fortune magazine’s noted "100 Best Companies to Work for in America."

"'Best Places to Work in Indiana' not only recognizes our state's outstanding employers, but also sets a high standard for other Hoosier companies by encouraging them to realize the importance of evaluating their own workplace," states Indiana Chamber President Kevin Brinegar. "It is clear that a positive work environment makes employees more engaged in their job and in their company, which is a win-win situation for the Hoosier workforce and for every business’ bottom line."

The actual rankings of the top Hoosier companies will be announced at the Best Places to Work awards dinner on May 7 at the Indiana Roof Ballroom in downtown Indianapolis. Winners will also be recognized via a special section of the Indiana Chamber's bimonthly BizVoice® magazine and through Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick – both of which reach statewide audiences. Additional program partners are the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, the Indiana State SHRM Council and the Indiana Youth Institute. The 2008 Best Places to Work in Indiana Awards Dinner is open to the public. Individual tickets and tables are available at www.indianachamber.com.

Earlier in the day, a session on what makes a company a Best Place to Work will be featured as part of the Indiana Chamber’s 44th Annual Human Resources Conference. To register to attend the awards dinner or for the HR session, visit www.indianachamber.com.

All companies that participated in the 2008 Best Places to Work program receive an in-depth evaluation identifying strengths and weaknesses according to their employees. In turn, this report can be used in developing or enhancing employee retention and recruitment programs.

For more information on the Indiana Chamber's Best Places to Work program, go to www.bestplacestoworkIN.com.

Program sponsors for 2008, in addition to Anthem, are Baker & Daniels, Ball State University, FedEx, First Merchants Corporation, French Lick Resort Casino, Hill-Rom, Professional Staff Management, Roche Diagnostics and Simon Property Group.

The 2008 Best Places to Work in Indiana companies listed in alphabetical order, no ranking:

Large Companies (250 or more employees)

Company / Location

Angie's List / Indianapolis

Baker & Daniels LLP / Indianapolis

Bingham McHale LLP / Indianapolis

Bose McKinney & Evans LLP / Indianapolis

BSA LifeStructures / Indianapolis

Centier Bank / Crown Point

Cintas / Carmel

Clarian West Medical Center / Avon

Clark Memorial Hospital / Jeffersonville

Columbus Regional Hospital / Columbus

Crowe Chizek and Company LLC / Indianapolis

Duke Realty Corporation / Indianapolis

Edward Jones / Indianapolis

Emmis Communications / Indianapolis

Ernst & Young, LLP / Indianapolis

Fort Wayne Metals Research Products Corporation / Fort Wayne

FORUM Credit Union / Indianapolis

Goshen Health System / Goshen

Indiana Business College / Indianapolis

Interactive Intelligence, Inc. / Indianapolis

LaPorte Regional Health System / LaPorte

Monarch Beverage Company, Inc. / Indianapolis

Shiel Sexton Company, Inc. / Indianapolis

St. Joseph Hospital & Health Center / Kokomo

The Capital Group Companies, Inc. / Indianapolis

Small to Medium-sized Companies (25-249 employees)

Company / Location

AIT Laboratories / Indianapolis

ANGEL Learning, Inc. / Indianapolis

Aprimo, Inc. / Indianapolis

Ash Brokerage Corporation /Fort Wayne

Bamberger, Foreman, Oswald and Hahn, LLP / Evansville

Bowen Engineering Corporation / Fishers

Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company / Fort Wayne

Colliers Turley Martin Tucker / Indianapolis

Cripe Architects + Engineers / Indianapolis

Double-Take Software / Indianapolis

Elwood Staffing / Columbus

Employment Plus Bloomington

eTapestry / Greenfield

ExactTarget, Inc. / Indianapolis

Fusion Alliance / Indianapolis

G & S Research, Inc. / Indianapolis

Gregory & Appel Insurance / Indianapolis

Hall, Render, Killian, Heath & Lyman, PC / Indianapolis

Heartland Community Bank / Franklin

Indiana Organ Procurement Organization / Indianapolis

Jackson Systems, LLC / Indianapolis

Katz, Sapper & Miller / Indianapolis

Keystone Construction / Indianapolis

KPMG LLP / Indianapolis

Krieg DeVault LLP / Indianapolis

Lake County Convention and Visitors Bureau / Hammond

Matrix Integration, LLC / Jasper

Morales Group, Inc. / Indianapolis

Network Solutions, Inc. / Granger

RW Armstrong / Indianapolis

Safety Management Group / Indianapolis

Schmidt Associates / Indianapolis

Somerset CPAs / Indianapolis

Sommer Barnard PC / Indianapolis

T2 Systems, Inc. / Indianapolis

The Estridge Companies / Carmel

The Heavyweights, Inc. / Indianapolis

TLS.net, Inc. / Columbus

United Consulting / Indianapolis

VMS / Indianapolis

WestPoint Financial Group / Indianapolis

###

The Indiana Chamber of Commerce has been the state’s largest broad-based business advocacy organization for over 85 years. Today, it serves more than 26,000 members and customers.

Do you know of another organization that might benefit from eTapestry? If so, you may be eligible for a financial incentive simply by referring them to us!

What is the Client Referral Program?

The Client Referral Program rewards our clients for sharing information about other nonprofit organizations that they feel would benefit by learning more about eTapestry. Many of you do this every day, so we want to show our appreciation. The referred organization must be someone who has not previously expressed interest in eTapestry to qualify.

If the organization you refer becomes an eTapestry client, you receive a referral credit to apply toward your existing eTapestry services.

Who can participate?

Any current eTapestry client can participate in this program. Referral credits cannot be honored in conjuntion with special customer offers and may not exceed the investment of the referring client.

How do I earn the reward?

If you know of a nonprofit organization that would benefit from eTapestry software or services, simply share their information with us by registering it on our Client Referral Form.

If we are not already working with the organization as a prospective customer, an eTapestry representative will follow up with them to determine whether our software or services fit their needs. If the organization then becomes a client within 6 months of the date you submit the referral form, your organization will recieve a credit on your next eTapestry invoice equal to 10% of the new client's first year recurring investment!

Your credit can apply to any of the following services:

• Annual or Monthly Service Fees
• Training
• eTapestry Consultant
• Additional Modules
• Additional User Licenses

How do I learn the outcome of my referral?

We will communicate with you at every step. When we receive your referral form, we first email an acknowledgment to let you know we got your information. If we are already working with the organization you referred, and therefor they do not qualify, we will notify you of this situation.. If the organization does qualify and purchases our products or services within 6 months, you receive the reward credit (credit rewarded once new customer payment is received)!

If you have questions, please contact us at 1.888.739.3827 or email leads@etapestry.com

The following interview with Blackbaud's president and CEO Marc Chardon and Jay Love, president and CEO of eTapestry was recently featured on the Baudcast, Blackbaud's recurring podcast. Having taken place one month after Blackbaud announced its acquisition of eTapestry, the discussion focused on the progress of the partnership.

This is a condensed transcript; to listen to the full podcast, visit www.blackbaud.com/baudcast or www.etapestry.com.

Will eTapestry continue as a separate product and company, or will clients be required to migrate to a new system?

Marc: Blackbaud acquired eTapestry precisely because they are the leader in serving customers who want an on-demand fundraising solution. When Jay and I were talking about this combination, we were really clear that we wanted to have the product continue on and the company managed independently as a wholly-owned subsidiary, based in Indianapolis. I fully expect both solutions will serve important market needs for many years to come.

Jay: Let me begin by stating that for the eTap customers, there's no plan at all in the future for asking them to change anything. We are delighted to be a part of the Blackbaud family of companies. Blackbaud brings so much to the eTapestry customers and to our hundreds of partners. Some of the key things that come to mind for me are: immense resources; financial stability; top notch products to integrate to, and I might add perhaps that will work in both directions; economies of scale for our hosting centers; and the ability perhaps to allow eTap products to be sold and supported in other locations around the world.

And I understand, you've also seen some progress with this partnership already with some of your customers converting to the WealthPoint solution?

Jay: We had a solution for allowing our customers to access prospect research information online, and when we found out there was a need in a very short time period to bring the Blackbaud WealthPoint offering into the fold for us, we actually saw both of our technical teams jump into action and bring that product and the full integration with the eTapestry application to fruition in less than a week.

Marc: I think it is great proof of the quality of both of our technical teams that we could get the Wealth-Point offering integrated to eTapestry within a week—that's pretty astounding.

Our next questions come from Peter Gulka, "Chief Bus Driver" at Blackbus, the Blackbaud User Society.

He asks: What is the drive behind the acquisition of eTapestry; in other words, what is the direction Blackbaud wants to head that would be served by acquiring rather than internal development?

Marc: First, Jay and his team have been developing and growing this business for seven years. So, if we were going in the on-demand direction, which I believe Blackbaud must do, we had a very clear choice of either combining with the leader or trying to catch up from behind. Combining with the leader made more sense.

The question about why be in the on-demand segment is also an interesting one. There are 200,000 charities that raise under half-a-million dollars a year, and many of them don't want an IT infrastructure—they want a simple, on-demand solution.

To Jay, Peter asks: How will eTapestry clients be supported going forward?

Jay: Our same level of support and implementation functions that we have been providing over the last seven to eight years will remain identical. Our team is going to remain and, in fact, grow faster here in Indianapolis. We don't plan on making any changes as far as moving folks in one direction or another.

One other thing, too, is that we plan on sharing ideas and concepts with all of our counterparts in both Charleston and Boston. We hope by doing such in regard to implementation, training and services, that the best-of-breed practices will emerge throughout the entire organization.

Holly Ross, who was recently appointed to become the executive director of NTEN (the Nonprofit Technology Network), submitted the following question:

How are you planning to integrate eTapestry into your product suite? Are you keeping some or all of the product features?

Marc: eTapestry will continue to evolve independently, and I've asked Jay and his team to listen to what their customers need and decide what features to add to eTapestry offerings as they make sense to them.

Jay: We have a multi-year roadmap in place now with the various functions customers have asked for, as well as consultants and industry leaders that we hope become part of the product as we continue to evolve it and move things forward.

Our next questions come from Allan Benamer, founder of the NPTech Blog "Confessions of a Nonprofit Executive Director."

He asks: eTapestry was written in Java but Blackbaud uses Microsoft's .NET framework. How do you propose to make these products work together?

Marc: Web services interfaces are a wonderful thing! The back-end technology differences in the Internet world matter very little. Java and .NET mash up and integrate deeply in many real-world applications. The users never know what part of the service is happening with a Java machine and what part is happening on some kind of .NET background. Our Infinity platform is a service-oriented architecture; it underlies all of the next generation of our products, and it's designed to integrate seamlessly through web services.

eTapestry has a good web-services interface, as we just proved with the WealthPoint integration, so I expect that we will integrate Blackbaud solutions to eTapestry, only in response to what customers tell the team in Indy. For example, the combined team is already evaluating possible scenarios where we might integrate subsets of our Internet offering, Blackbaud Net-Community—the content management of the web transaction processing technologies, into eTapestry—but that's very early in the process. We're looking at it, and we're going to listen to the eTapestry customers to tell us what we should do and in what order.

Also, to Jay: How will Blackbaud and eTapestry overcome the differences in philosophy with regard to customer approach and technology?

Jay: We've all been pleasantly surprised in just how much alike our care and handling of customers are. There's a genuine interest in the success and happiness of every customer, whether they are big or small. As you approach customers, that size really comes into play. We don't handle a large national account in exactly the same manner as we would a small account with just a single user. The entire approach for making the implementation a success is quite different for those two different entities. I think we'll continue to approach that in the same way and keep getting the tips and ideas that we can pick up from other parts of the Blackbaud world of companies.

With regard to the technology, it will depend on how deep inside you want to drill. Most customers, especially those wonderful end users of either product, have no idea really what the back-end database is, nor do they really care. To them, the products lines are looking more and more alike as time moves on. They really function as web-browser user interfaces with numerous drill downs within that interface, so from the outside looking in—from an end-user perspective— those look very much the same. The key for all of our customers is that the integration points need to be easy to use and seamless.

Our next set of questions came from Robert Weiner, who runs a San Francisco-based consulting firm and serves as a moderator on TechSoup.

He asks: Doesn't eTapestry compete with the hosted version of Raiser's Edge?

Marc: There has been a very modest amount of competition between the two organizations—maybe a handful of times a quarter compared with hundreds and hundreds of new customers per quarter that Blackbaud and eTapestry sell to. When you see that little competition, it is because in many ways our customers know what they want to buy before they start looking.

Also, to Jay, what if any changes will eTapestry clients notice?

Jay: We have no plans for any different pricing policies that are any different than our past procedures. Perhaps the effect of being part of a well-known and respected company and larger company like Blackbaud will allow us to achieve even better economies of scale and work to the advantage of our customers as we march forward.

We see so many other advantages for the customers, too. The Blackbaud R&D processes are among the best—if not the best—in this entire sector. We hope that plays out for enhancements and changes and further integrations that our customers will be able to take advantage of.

And Marc, can you describe the impact the combined efforts of Blackbaud, eTapestry, and the Target companies will have on the nonprofit marketplace?

Marc: Being able to offer integration and a broader view of the constituents is going to be very valuable to our customers. These two organizations are the best at doing what they do. Target is the best at high-volume direct marketing constituent views, and eTapestry is the best at ondemand database views of the constituent. Bringing those two together will give our customers a seamless way of being able to support their constituencies and grow their fundraising over time.

The Baudcast features stories about Blackbaud products, services, customers, and the nonprofit industry. Join Blackbaud employees and customers as they share their knowledge in these free nonprofit and technology-focused podcasts. You can download the .mp3 file directly from www.blackbaud.com/baudcast, subscribe to the RSS feed, or even access them via the iTunes Music Store.

FOR INFORMATION

Blackbaud
2000 Daniel Island Dr.
Charleston, SC 29492
(800)443-9441
solutions@blackbaud.com
www.blackbaud.com

eTapestry
6107 West Airport Blvd.
Suite 120
Greenfield, IN 46140
(888)739-3827
info@etapestry.com
www.etapestry.com

This special edition of The Baudcast features Blackbaud president and CEO Marc Chardon and eTapestry president and CEO Jay Love answering questions regarding the eTapestry acquisition.

Download The Baudcast, Episode 6 (12 MB, 17 minutes)

Announcing eTapestry Podcasts!!

We know we're the best, but we are also the coolest! Each month, we will offer a new Podcast of information that you can download to iTunes to take with you while you are on the go!

The eTapestry Foundation is delighted to announce grants and in-kind services being awarded to the following groups for the second half of 2005.

• Noah's Ark Children's Village - Jeffersonville, IN
• Disability Ministries Associates - Souderton, PA
• Birmingham Aids Outreach - Birmingham, AL
• Placer Nature Center - Auburn, CA
• YouthBridge Family Community - St. Louis, MO
• Florence Crittenton Home and Services - Helena, MT
• Katrina Cleanup Hitters - New Palestine, IN

Noah's Ark Children's Village – Noah's Ark Children's Village in Jeffersonville, IN is an innovative foster care community. Their mission is to provide for the Spiritual, Emotional, Intellectual, and Physical needs of dependent children in a Christ-centered home environment. www.noahsarkinc.org

Disability Ministries Associates – Disability Ministry Associates, in Souderton, PA, assists individuals and families affected by disability to unleash their God-given potential and to empower the ministries that serve them. www.disabilityministry.org

Birmingham Aids Outreach - Birmingham Aids Outreach of Birmingham, AL, has 20 years of progressively growing skills and experience in the field of HIV/AIDS prevention education and essential services. These services include transportation assistance, payment for medications, counseling services, support groups, and prevention education. www.birminghamaidsoutreach.org

Placer Nature Center – The Placer Nature Center in Auburn, CA, offers educational programs for all ages which are designed to promote an understanding and awareness of the natural environment, cultivate scientific literacy and stimulate stewardship attitudes toward the earth. www.placernaturecenter.org

YouthBridge Family Community – YouthBridge Family Community provides the comfort of home and a community of support to families who travel to St. Louis to receive medical care for their children. www.youthbridge.org

Florence Crittenton Home and Services – Florence Crittenton Home and Services in Helena, Montana, is a private, non-profit agency that serves adolescent girls who are at-risk, pregnant, or parenting. Crittenton provides a safe, structured, 24-hour home environment where girls benefit from learning experiences, educational opportunities, and therapy. www.florencecrittenton.org

Katrina Cleanup Hitters – The Katrina Cleanup Hitters of New Palestine, IN, are helping rebuild a youth baseball league and facility that was decimated by hurricane Katrina. Their goal is to help return a sense of normalcy to the lives of children and families affected by the hurricane.

The eTapestry Foundation issued a $500 award to be used for purchasing educational resources that can be made available to families going through an international adoption including materials that will help them face the unique issues of bi-cultural families.

Services provided by the eTapestry Foundation, whether in the form of financial support, or software application use, are open to charitable organizations who are engaged in meeting physical, spiritual, educational, and/or mental needs of people. For more information on the eTapestry Foundation, or to submit a grant application, please visit the Foundation section of the website at www.etapestry.com.

eTapestry and GuideStar announce a new integration between the eTapestry database, and GuideStar.org's Grant Explorer tool.

Now, you can access Grant Explorer from within your eTapestry database with a simple click.

Grant Explorer is the most comprehensive source of on-line grant information available. Whether you're a grantmaker looking to analyze the funding of current and potential grant recipients or a grant seeker looking for potential sources of support, Grant Explorer can provide you with the tools you need to make the most informed decisions possible.

If you want to review historical grant activity, evaluate funding for similar organizations, or benchmark grant giving, Grant Explorer provides several ways for you to accomplish these tasks. Search for funders, grantees, or specific people in the philanthropic community using a wide variety of criteria.

Grant Explorer allows you to access information on more than 1.9 million grants made by more than 42,000 of the nation's largest foundations.

Subscriptions for Grant Explorer start at $495/year. To subscribe, contact your eTapestry Account Executive at 888-739-3827 or at info@etapestry.com.

St. Mary's Child Center

The eTapestry Foundation is delighted to announce its second grant to St. Mary’s Child Center, in Indianapolis, IN.

St. Mary's Child Center is a not-for-profit education center that is focused on helping young children who are at great risk for a wide range of social, emotional, economic and environmental problems and whose needs are not being adequately met by any other private or public service.

The goal of St. Mary's is to provide an opportunity for at-risk children to become successful, healthy and productive adults by fostering social, cognitive, physical, and emotional development. St. Mary's does this through two programs: the Diagnostic Clinic and Early Childhood Program.

The grant will provide breakfast and lunch for two children for an entire year. Most of the three to five year olds being served at St. Mary’s are poor and often arrive at school hungry. When children are not able to have their basic needs met and are hungry, all other areas of development are put at risk.

The provision of food also allows children to be nourished so that they can sing, dance, paint and play like other children. It allows children, who have been deprived of food at one time or another, to be sure that there is plenty of food for all (just one less thing to worry about).

To learn more about St. Mary's Child Center visit www.stmaryschildcenter.org

The eTapestry Foundation has been established to provide support for those organizations that represent the values held by eTapestry. As eTapestry serves the nonprofit community with high quality, leading edge technologies and committed service, the Foundation serves those charitable organizations that provide high quality, committed service to their constituents.

For more information on the eTapestry Foundation, or to download a grant application, please visit the Foundation section of our website.

January 2005 – The eTapestry Foundation made its inaugural foundation grant award to Bethany Christian Services, of Indianapolis.

The eTapestry Foundation has been established to provide support for those organizations that represent the values held by eTapestry. As eTapestry serves the nonprofit community with high quality, leading edge technologies and committed service, the Foundation serves those charitable organizations that provide high quality, committed service to their constituents.

For more than 55 years, Bethany Christian Services has been restoring, preserving, and building families through a comprehensive range of therapeutic and adoption services. With more than 70 offices nationwide and international ministries in more than a dozen foreign countries, Bethany touches the lives of more than 20,000 people each year.

Bethany is a not-for-profit, pro-life, Christian adoption and family services agency, supported through reimbursement for services and gifts received from individuals, churches, corporations, and foundations.

The Bethany Christian Services office of Indiana, serves families through pregnancy counseling, domestic and international adoption, family preservation services and birthmother support. In 2003, Bethany assisted 49 families with an international adoption.

Their stated mission: Bethany Christian Services manifests the love and compassion of Jesus Christ by protecting and enhancing the lives of children and families through quality social services.

The eTapestry Foundation issued a $500 award to be used for purchasing educational resources that can be made available to families going through an international adoption including materials that will help them face the unique issues of bi-cultural families.

Services provided by the eTapestry Foundation, whether in the form of financial support, or software application use, are open to charitable organizations who are engaged in meeting physical, spiritual, educational, and/or mental needs of people. For more information on the eTapestry Foundation, or to submit a grant application, please visit the Foundation section of the website at www.etapestry.com.