Project Connect ... Technology Solutions for Ohio Nonprofits

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*Please route to the appropriate persons ...* TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS FOR OHIO NONPROFITS
JULY 2007	The Electronic Newsletter of Project Connect	330-315-1335 800-780-8299 connect@infolineinc.org www.PCLiveHelp.org
In this issue:	NEWS FOR NONPROFITS TRAINING NEWS TECHNICAL SUPPORT NEWS
Customizing QuickBooks Grantwriting for Technology New Laptops for Project Connect Training See the Laptops at Our Open House Register for Upcoming Classes How online training works PC Tip Answers for sale!! Are you getting the best deals for your technology dollar? How can Project Connect help you?	QuickBooks Consulting - where you need it, when you need it! QuickBooks is one of the most popular software packages used for nonprofit accounting. It's robust, flexible, easy-to-use, and best of all, affordable. But, if you don't know how to make the most of it, or even where to get started, it can still be a frustrating experience. Project Connect is here to help! We offer assistance on several levels to suit your needs. If you're already set up with QuickBooks, and just want to know how to get more out of the software, sign up for our QuickBooks classes. Select the venue that is most convenient for you: classroom or online. Cost: $60/person per session. Each session lasts 3 hours, and we cover the following topics: QuickBooks 1: Setting Up Your System According to our surveys, QuickBooks is used by more non-profits than any other accounting package. This class will cover setting up the QuickBooks system … including preferences, customers, accounts, etc. Even if you currently use QuickBooks, this class might be helpful in understanding your system. QuickBooks 2: Statements & Reports This class will focus on entering and processing invoices, payments, deposits, etc. This will also cover printing simple financial reports which you can share with your board and funders. QuickBooks 3: Donors & Grants After you've got the basics down, it's time to customize it for your organization's needs. This course is good for people who have been using QB for some time, or those who have completed courses 1 and 2 and are ready for more. We will also look at donor management and advanced grant tracking. If you're already set up and have the basics down pat, a personalized session might be for you. Spend an hour or two with Amy going over particular transactions or reports, or techniques for improved efficiency. Cost: $75/hour. If you're just getting started, and are pretty comfortable with your current accounting structure, you can try the courses, or make an appointment with Amy for one-on-one assistance with setting up your company file and processing income and expenses. Cost: $75/hour. A basic setup strategy and implementation assistance typically takes 5-10 hours, divided into whatever length and frequency you prefer. If the whole thing is just too scary, we can set everything up and train your staff. We'll also provide you with a custom manual, tailored to your organization's accounting structure and business model. Initial consultation is free, and we'll give you a service proposal outlining the cost based on the information gathered in that meeting. Don't put it off any longer - if you're using QuickBooks, or want to start, we can help you make the most of it! Call us to set up a free initial assessment! 330-315-1335 js@infolineinc.org RETURN TO THE TOP Grantwriting for Technology Wednesday, August 1 • 9:00 AM - Noon Info Line Training Center • 703 S Main St #211, Akron (click here for directions) Presented by Steve Rossa, PointClickLearn $50 per person Are you looking for ways to fund more technology for your organization? Take advantage of the many grants and donations available from businesses, foundations, and the government. You will leave this workshop with enough information to locate funding opportunities and begin writing a grant by yourself. This workshop explains the research process and basic principles of grant proposal writing and fundraising campaigns. You will see how easy grant writing can be after locating the right supporter of your cause. We will discuss both mini-grants and large requests involving a group project within your organization. Participants will develop an outline of a potential project in need of funding. Bring an idea for a potential project to be used in a discussion activity. Topics to be covered include: Types of grants How to find foundations and grants Fundraising sources Popular websites Basic elements of a grant Preparing an outline Budgets Application process Grant examples The instructor, Steve Rossa, raised over $25,000 in cash and computer equipment donations for a school district through grants and a fundraising campaign. 25 years This fundraising initiative was a project for a high school Computer Applications class utilizing Internet research and Microsoft Word in a direct mail campaign. Steve has over 25 years experience in the information technology industry. He conducts grant writing workshops for the Mayfield Adult Education program and as an Education Consultant for Point Click Learn (www.pclearn.org). PCL assists organizations with technology and software integration. Click here to register: http://www.infolineinc.org/connect/registerpcl.htm RETURN TO THE TOP Project Connect Training Now Features State-of-the-Art Laptops We are determined to bring you the best training possible!! Thanks to the generosity of the GAR Foundation (www.garfdn.org), Project Connect has equipped its training room with Dell Latitude laptops. And courtesy of www.skinit.com, we have added customized protective coverings to ensure durability. These laptops will be used in our training lab and in our "traveling classroom" when we go on-site to nonprofits to provide hands-on training. Call me if you are interested in details. See the New Laptops at Info Line's Open House! 703 S Main St (click here for directions) Tuesday, July 17 • 2:30 - 5:00 pm Handel's Ice Cream will be served! RSVP by July 11 ... 330-762-9670 To commemorate the re-location of both Info Line and the Center for Nonprofit Excellence, both organizations are hosting an open house on July 17 from 2:30 - 5:30 pm. This would be a great opportunity to see our new building, check out our training lab, find out how both organizations support the nonprofit community, and ask questions of me and the staff. Please stop by for a little ice cream and some fun!! RETURN TO THE TOP TRAINING NEWS Register for Upcoming Classes ... Simulcast training ... select the venue that will work best for you: classroom or online!! Microsoft PowerPoint 2003/2007 Microsoft Excel 2003/2007 QuickBooks FrontPage 2003 Quickies: SurveyMonkey & Improved Producitivty Classes are held simultaneously in our Training Lab at 703 South Main Street #211, Akron OH and online at http://projectconnect.webex.com Click here to register for Training Lab classes Click here to register for Online classes Microsoft PowerPoint 1: Slideshow Basics 07/17/07 ... 9:00 AM - Noon Learn how to set your options, use toolbars, use the different view options, use templates, set up a master slide, individualize slides, insert graphics, and more! After this course, you will be able to create a basic yet professional presentation with graphics. Prerequisite: Skills covered in Introduction to Computers 1 & 2. Microsoft PowerPoint 2: Animation & Graphics 07/18/07 ... 9:00 AM - Noon - NEW DATE! Learn the more complex tools of PowerPoint, including the impressive animation settings. Prerequisite: Skills covered in PowerPoint 1. Microsoft Excel 1: Spreadsheet & Chart Basics 07/24/07 ... 9:00 AM - Noon Learn how to set your options, use toolbars, navigate through a spreadsheet, fill down and across, AutoSum, and more. After this course, you will be able to create a basic spreadsheet from scratch, write basic sum and average formulas, and create simple charts from your data. Prerequisite: Skills covered in Introduction to Computers 1 & 2. Microsoft Excel 2: Formulas 07/31/07 ... 9:00 AM - Noon Learn how to enter and edit formulas-such as right and left, date and time, lookup, and IF statements. Also covers essential spreadsheet tools: grouping, naming, freeze/unfreeze panes, and references to other worksheets. Prerequisite: Skills covered in Microsoft Excel 1. Microsoft Excel 3: Advanced Tools 08/07/07 ... 9:00 AM - Noon Learn essential spreadsheet tools: grouping, naming, freeze/unfreeze panes, and references to other worksheets. Prerequisite: Skills covered in Microsoft Excel 2. QuickBooks 1: Setting Up Your System 07/26/07 ... 9:00 AM - Noon According to our surveys, QuickBooks is used by more non-profits than any other accounting package. This class will cover setting up the QuickBooks system … including preferences, customers, accounts, etc. Even if you currently use QuickBooks, this class might be helpful in understanding your system. QuickBooks 2: Statements & Reports 08/02/07 ... 9:00 AM - Noon This class will focus on entering and processing invoices, payments, deposits, etc. This will also cover printing simple financial reports which you can share with your board and funders. QuickBooks 3: Donors & Grants 07/19/07 or 08/09/07... 9:00 AM - Noon - NEW DATE! After you've got the basics down, it's time to customize it for your organization's needs. This course is good for people who have been using QB for some time, or those who have completed courses 1 and 2 and are ready for more. We will also look at donor management and advanced grant tracking. Microsoft FrontPage 1: Themes & Shared Borders 07/24/07 ... 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM We will cover the basics of FrontPage, the most popular website authoring software in the world! The focus will be on understanding how FrontPage works, designing themes, and using shared borders. After this course, you will be able to develop a simple but useful format for your organization's website. Prerequisite: Skills covered in Introduction to Computers 1 & 2. Microsoft FrontPage 2: Formatting Your Web Pages 07/31/07 ... 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM This is the nitty-gritty of developing a website: the pages themselves. We will cover importing and formatting text, using graphics, hyperlinks, bookmarks, and tables. With the skills in this course, you will be able to create different types of pages using the format developed in Microsoft FrontPage 1. Prerequisite: Skills covered in Microsoft FrontPage 1. Microsoft FrontPage 3: Cool Tools 08/07/07 ... 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM Now we explore the cool tools of FrontPage: forms, marquees, hover buttons, searches, etc. We will also discuss ways to make each attendee's website better and easier to use. Prerequisite: Skills covered in Microsoft FrontPage 1 & 2. Quickies Series We're bringing back an old favorite: Quickies!! Unlike the regular half-day sessions, these one-to two-hour Quickies are down-and-dirty, learn-the-ropes-then-get-out-of-here-and-do-it-yourself courses. Collecting Data the Easy Way: Taming the Survey Monkey! 07/25/07 ... 10:00 AM - Noon Get important feedback from your clients, funders, community members, etc. Survey Monkey helps you gather and evaluate information about your programs, services, website, whatever! Top Ten Tools to Improve Productivity 07/25/07 ... 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM Shortcuts, shortcuts, shortcuts!!! Two hours of your time will save you days of tedious labor! Click here to register for Training Lab classes Click here to register for Online classes RETURN TO THE TOP TECHNICAL SUPPORT NEWS Ryan's PC Tip: Customizing your Internet Explorer toolbars So you’ve just upgraded to IE7, and nothing is where it should be? Relax, you can spend a couple of minutes and restore your browsing equilibrium. Version 6 users, there are tips for you here, too! Adding/Removing toolbars Just right click anywhere in the toolbar area and a little popup menu appears. Checkmarks indicate bars which are currently turned on. Just click on an item to turn it on or off. Note to Google toolbar users: sometimes the Google bar appears as a blank selection with a checkmark next to it. The Google toolbar is what’s called a Browser Helper Object (BHO), which functions in conjunction with your browser to enhance your browsing experience. Some BHOs, like Google, are good. Others are bad, and contain spyware. If you see a toolbar in the list such as CoolWebSearch or FastSearch, these are bad and should be turned off. Often times, your spyware remover cannot remove these BHOs if they are turned on. Back to customizing… If you’ve upgraded to Version 7, and the lack of menu disconcerts you, select Classic Menu from the toolbar list, and your old friends File, Edit, View, etc. will return. Locking the Toolbars If you don’t see these little bars or dots at the left edge of your toolbar, that means your toolbars are locked. You can’t move them around when they are locked, so if you want to put your menu bar on top, you’ll need to unlock them first. Once again, right click in the toolbar area, and click Lock the Toolbars to turn off locking. Drag and drop the toolbars to your satisfaction, then lock them again to prevent moving them around accidentally. Customizing the Toolbar Right click again (you’re a pro at this now, right?) and select Customize Command Bar. You’ll get a host of other options, like icon sizes and whether or not to display text with your icons. You can also add and remove buttons from here with Add or Remove Commands. Remember, your computer should work for you, not against you. So customize your IE toolbar and browse with style! RETURN TO THE TOP Answers for sale!! You and your staff have more important things to do than fight with your technology! Instead of spending hours of frustration trying to do it yourself, let us help you! Project Connect offers Live Help for staff of all Ohio nonprofits! If you are having problems with a Microsoft Office or Adobe product, simply go to www.pclivehelp.org and complete the form. Follow the directions, and then we'll be able to see your computer from our office. We can then walk you through the problem. Cost is $15 per increment of 10 minutes. RETURN TO THE TOP Are you getting the best deals for your technology dollar? Don't buy anything technology-related until you've visited these three websites first!! They offer significant discounts for nonprofits with Microsoft, Dell, CDW, Adobe, and more! www.techsoup.org/stock/ www.giftsinkind.org www.techfoundation.org RETURN TO THE TOP How can Project Connect help you? As always, we are interested in hearing from you to learn how we can best meet your technology and connectivity needs. Give us a call at 330-315-1335 or e-mail us at connect@infolineinc.org. Enjoy!

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