New York, March 15, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MicroEdge, LLC, the leading provider of solutions to the giving community worldwide, today announced the general availability of Blueprint. This groundbreaking new solution will revolutionize the way philanthropic organizations manage their giving by allowing them to personalize nearly every aspect of their grantmaking system, including the user interface and workflow.
For nearly three decades, thousands of giving organizations around the world have relied upon MicroEdge's GIFTS family of software solutions to manage their grantmaking. GIFTS, GIFTS Alta and GIFTS Online are the most widely used grants management solutions on the market. Now MicroEdge has set the tone for the next generation of grantmaking solutions: those that allow organizations to tailor and mold their own system to mirror their unique needs, workflow and language, without having to invest in custom software development.
Blueprint, available now for GIFTS Alta and currently in development for GIFTS Online, was developed in response to a growing demand for a more personalized grantmaking experience. For many giving organizations, grant processes don't always precisely align with their grantmaking system. This can lead to pockets of inefficiency or drive individuals to complete some tasks outside the system. In other instances, organizations may rely on the generic terminology that is used within their system, but which doesn't exactly correspond to the organization's grantmaking language. Blueprint addresses these challenges and more by enabling organizations to achieve a high level of personalization and flexibility through a user-friendly, drag and drop interface for making system and workflow changes.
Blueprint allows giving organizations to make their grants management system work the way they want it to. Organizations can easily modify the user interface, applying their preferred terminology and placement of fields within the system - for example, by renaming, hiding, moving and/or grouping fields in the way that makes the most sense for them. This enables organizations to better support how they work, which shortens the learning curve and makes it more intuitive for all users to work in the system.
Personalized workflows enable data to flow through the system according to the same exact steps that define the organization's unique grant process. Those workflows also connect each user to their specific role within the organization by providing personalized views containing only the information that is relevant to them, making it easier for occasional users to work effectively in the system. Plus, each user has a personal task board that lets them see open tasks that have been assigned to them--the system then guides them step by step through each task and automatically routes them to the next once the previous one is complete. This creates immense efficiency gains and also allows for easier tracking of open and completed tasks across the organization.
MicroEdge recently completed a Blueprint beta test program and participants provided positive feedback about its power and flexibility. "We couldn't be more excited for Blueprint," said beta program participant Cheryl Dabat, Operations and Systems Manager for The Heinz Endowments. "It's going to let us customize our data fields to represent the language we use during our grants process, and this is something that will prove invaluable for our organization."
Coinciding with Blueprint, MicroEdge has also released GIFTS Alta 1.5. This key update proactively responds to a number of feature requests made by current GIFTS Alta clients. It also delivers complete compatibility certification with Windows 8, as well as improvements that will ensure a seamless transition for organizations that wish to enhance their GIFTS Alta system with Blueprint.
"Blueprint is the result of countless conversations we've had with our clients, as well as significant research we've done into the needs of the philanthropic community in general," said MicroEdge CEO, Preston McKenzie. "The degree of personalization provided in Blueprint was previously only available through high-cost, resource-intensive customization, but now we're empowering organizations to attain that same level of personalization with an out-of-the-box solution. This is a game-changing release for MicroEdge and we are very excited to bring this capability to our GIFTS clients.
Availability and Information
Blueprint is available now for GIFTS Alta and is currently in development for GIFTS Online. To learn more about Blueprint, complete this short form and a MicroEdge representative will contact you to provide you with all the information you require. Alternatively, visit www.microedge.com/uniquebydesign to register for a free informative webinar to see GIFTS Alta Blueprint in action.
About MicroEdge
Established in 1985, MicroEdge, LLC is the leading provider of
software and services to the giving community worldwide. MicroEdge
solutions deliver a powerful, integrated, and open framework for
efficient and effective charitable giving. The company is committed
to providing the best technology toolset for foundations,
corporations, government agencies, donors, advisors and financial
institutions. Together, these tools help organizations to work with
one another to raise, invest, manage and award charitable currency.
MicroEdge is headquartered in New York City with regional offices
throughout the U.S. and supports thousands of clients worldwide.
MicroEdge is part of the Vista Equity Partners portfolio of
software and technology-enabled companies. To learn more about
Vista Equity Partners, visit www.vistaequitypartners.com. To learn more about
MicroEdge, visit www.microedge.com.
Media Contact:
Kathy Krais
800.899.0890 ext. 3966
kkrais@microedge.com
MicroEdge is a trademark and/or service mark of MicroEdge, LLC. GIFTS, GIFTS Alta, GIFTS Alta Blueprint, and GIFTS Online are trademarks of MicroEdge, LLC. All other company names or marks mentioned herein are those of their respective owners.