Looking for reporting of contributions that roll with the calendar date?  In other words a column named This Year means 2013 when the calendar is 2013 and 2014 when the new year rolls in.  This video will show you how to do this.

A new feature has been added to the import of CSV files. Before you can import the file, you must complete the Pre-Import Check.  More information about this check can be found here.

 Go ahead and give em' a spin.  

Click the CC button within your email:

Click the New button:

After a moment or two a familiar search panel appears for you to search to add more recipients. Be sure to use the Include checkboxes to turn OFF:

Can you believe it?  It's only taken 4 months for the counties to report their results to the SOS.  There is still one county that has not reported.  Email Tom at tschunk@trailblz.com if you need to know who that is (he loves email, so feel free to email him early and often <g>).  

A new version has just been released.

 

Events

We are still working on the Event system to tighten the bolts on it. These were added today:

  - Duplicate event feature.

  - Deletion of order lines, including tickets

  - Search panel on Product list

Odd/Even criteria has been added to the address search list.  Useful if you want to pull ONLY those addresses on a particular side of the street. 

Most of these were direct requests from you.

Misc

- Trail Blazer's YouTube channel can be opened from with the Trail Blazer Help Menu.

- Add Max Household Member count to Create Household dialog. Allows user to decide how big the households may be before separating into single households.

Financial

- Allowing deposits of contributions, receipts, etc. from committees other than primary committee.

- VA Reporting - Schedule E was over reporting loan information. Corrected.

- Renamed in menu what was a Transferer List from 'Transfers In' to 'Transferers'.

- Enhancements to the Lender/Loan area.

FEC  

- The FEC reporting code will now include a contribution where the absolute value of an individual contribution amount exceeds the itemization threshold.  This assures that in a reattribution situation, both contribution records are included in the report if the reattribution amount is greater than the itemization threshold.

- Added a 'force itemization' checkbox to the voter contribution data entry panel.

I realize this is probaby known to you and it's still 12 months away.  For some of you it deserves some attention.

On April 08, 2014 Microsoft will no longer provide any support for Windows XP. Of course your machines will continue to operate just fine...  as long as you never need anything more than what you have now... and nothing breaks.

Windows XP was released in August of 2001 and has had a great life. 

What if I don't want to upgrade?

I know, change is hard.  Especially when what you have is working just fine.  Well, it will continue to work just fine... until it doesn't.  Then you will likely be forced into an upgrade that is not on your schedule.

My advice?

Be pro-active.  KNOW that you will be unsupported after 4/8/2014.  Consider setting money aside each month to pay for any upgrades you may need in 2014. Set your expectations.

Good News for Trail Blazer customers.

Trail Blazer recently required a .Net software upgrade of all of our customers.  We are good for several years.  If Trail Blazer is currently running on your PC, it will continue to do so into the foreseeable future.

...you may notice that attributes are now counted in your lists: 

Our state database for Oklahoma has been refreshed with data as of 1/24/2013.  Look for Voter Update pricing on this page if you are interested in having your database refreshed.  Contact support@trailblz.com for more information.

You may have received this email today from the FEC:

Dear Treasurer,

As part of its continuing effort to improve customer service while saving taxpayers money, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) is pleased to announce that the Reports Analysis Division (RAD) will begin sending Non-Filer Notifications via e-mail in February 2013.  Non-Filer Notifications are sent when a required Report of Receipts and Disbursements (Forms 3, 3X, 3P), or a Report of Contributions Bundled by Lobbyists/Registrants and Lobbyist/Registrant PACs (Form 3L) has not been received at the FEC.  

Once the e-mail process begins, you will no longer receive paper Non-Filer Notifications through the mail, so please ensure that the e-mail address listed on your committee.s Statement of Organization (FEC Form 1) is current and correct. (Please provide no more than two (2) e-mail addresses for your committee.) To update your e-mail address, please file an amended Form 1.

If you would prefer to continue to receive Non-Filer Notifications on paper, please file a miscellaneous document (Form 99 for electronic filers), to indicate this preference.  

FEC changes: 

We have eliminated the Ending Cash input box when creating a new FEC report.  The FEC used to warn us when the number input was different from the number computed.  Unbeknownst to us, it has removed that check and could thus cause imbalances in your reporting.

Events:

The event system has been enhanced to allow creation of 'orders' from the desktop.  Previously, that could only happen through the web site.  It's brand new as of this morning and has not yet been documented.  Stay tuned.

Importing Contributions:

Donor/Voter table User Fields are now supported during a contribution import.

Patrick's fingers are worn to the first knuckle but the new Event Management system has been released.  It's still being enhanced, but you many of the tools are available for you to use right now.  The video below will show what the new system looks like as well as teach you how to configure your Event to utilized the new features.

In case you missed it, it's a New Year.

If you are a nonprofit or PAC customer, it's time to update your default Cycles/Elections in Trail Blazer.  It will speed up your contribution and expenditure data entry.

Trail Blazer is releasing a new Event Registration system.  Today's release is getting various parts of the program upgraded to accommodate the new system.  You can preview and experiment with the new pages here.  Feel free to enter information as you please.  When you get to the credit card page, just enter fake credit card info.  The page will accept anything.

We added a few items to the search panel for Events.  Until today the only searchable field was the Event Name.

Or is that tomorrow?  I can never remember.

We upgraded our SQL server last night.  In so doing it broke Trail Blazer.  We had to put out an emergency release to fix the owie.  As this release was unexpected, I do not have materials ready to discuss the changes we've been working on.  Stay tuned.  This will put us into hyperdrive to get something out soon.  However, if you happen to notice something changed and need more information, feel free to call in.

I had a very productive meeting yesterday with a long time customer.  They had questions about cleaning up their existing data, best practices, and how to fully utilize the existing features of Trail Blazer. The meeting is something I encourage you to do with us.  We can do it over the phone or if you are in the Minneapolis area, come on in.

We started with database hygiene (Their phrase. I can't take credit).  We talked about splitting their couples records into individual records.  We talked about householding their data.  We talked about how to find and remove their duplicates.

Best practices can be different for each customer.  Should I use an attribute or user field?  Generally, there is not a single correct answer.  

If you have been a customer for a long time, you may not be aware of all the enhancements added to Trail Blazer.  In their case they were aware of mass emailing and online donations, but were not using them.  We discussed a plan to move them towards using those features. 

So, like going to your mechanic for a tune-up, it's a good idea to check in with us once in a while and see what you may be missing.  You can't beat the price.  It's free!

If you regularly send eblasts using Trail Blazer, it's a good idea to have a group of people review those emails PRIOR to sending to the larger list.  They can be anyone you have give access to use your database (users).  This article will show you HOW to enable a user to receive test emails.

Feeling a little empty now that the election battles are over (for most)?

Let's fill that emptiness by thinking ahead to the next election.  In Trail Blazer you need to set your default election cycle to the next election.  

This article (http://www.trailblz.com/kb/?action=view&kb=110&cat=1) will get you there.

It is even possible for you not to know that?

Trail Blazer wishes its political customers the best of luck today.

For everyone else, do we need to say it?  Vote!