DS ezine - March 2008

Welcome to the March edition of the enewsletter for the IRIS Donor Strategy community. Read about our new HQ, the annual conference, our spring hosting offer and the impact of the recent Gift Aid budget news.

Content

Latest news: new Head Quarters, annual conference confirmed, v4 update

Account Management: benefits of remotely hosting your system and spring promo

Training: open course update and a new trainer joins

Support: Gift Aid budget news and your system configuration

Insider: meet the team, IT survey success, chance to win camcorder   

Latest news

New HQ: our new address is IRIS Donor Strategy, The Distillery, The Old Brewery, Lodway, Pill, Bristol BS20 ODH. This newly renovated space will be a hub of innovation, with training and conference facilities. View contact info, launch news and an animation of the build project here...        

Annual conference: Tuesday 20th May 2008. Hear from guest speakers, such as Howard Lake (TBC). There will be sessions for charities and education organisation, as well as breakouts on Gift Aid, data health, major donors, v4 and Web Connect. The venue is our new HQ in Bristol. Full agenda and registration info to follow next week. Please contact louise.eagle@iris.co.uk if you have any queries.   

v4 update: roll out of v4 is continuing at a steady pace. As every organisation has IRIS Donor Strategy set up for their particular needs, we are keen to deliver each upgrade in a supportive and constructive way. The Account Management Team continues to contact clients 4-6 weeks in advance of upgrading to start the structured upgrade process. Read more...

Account management

Spring hosting offer: three months free, with a free migration for existing clients. Enhance security; better for ongoing maintenance and updates; save money. Find out what hosting means, more benefits and the costs here...   

Training

A third trainer, Beverley Davidson, has joined the team. Read more...

Support

Gift Aid: In light of the Budget announcement that the current Gift Aid rate would remain until 2011, it is now evident that clients will still need to ensure their system configuration is updated from the 6th April to claim 25p in £1.00 rather than 28p. The Government has set up a top-up fund to ensure they meet their promise. Find out more...

Insider

Meet the team: we are proud to stand out for our people-focused approach. This edition we hear from our new Office Manager, Sher Fielding. See Sher’s video profile here...

More survey success: A major IT survey has been released which, again, shows that IRIS Donor Strategy stand out as a popular supplier. The results of the annual ‘Software Satisfaction Survey’ appear in the Feb edition of Professional Fundraising Magazine. Read more...  

Win a camcorder: spend five minutes filling in our 2008 general market research survey to be entered into our prize draw. Please note the Voluntary Sector IT Survey and our annual client survey are also coming soon. Click here to fill in market research...