Eye on FDO

Final Days to Upgrade

Today, a short message. So short, in fact, it could be a Twitter tweet.

Thursday is the final day to upgrade your subscription to Professional and receive a free copy of the 2008 edition of Philanthropy Annual.

Calling All Dog Owners!

When we rolled out FDO's fresh new look in 2007, one of the first aspects of the new site design that subscribers commented on was its dog-centric motif. People love dogs, and this theme really struck a chord with many of our users. Well, the dogs aren't going away any time soon, and now we want to add some new dogs to the pack—yours! I'm pleased to announce our Foundation Directory Online Grantseeker's Best Friend Photo Contest. Here's how it works:

1. E-mail one photo of your dog to dogphotos@foundationcenter.org and include your name, your organization's name, and your dog's name
2. We'll post all photos online and at the conclusion of the submission period FDO users will vote for their favorites
3. The winner (the owner, not the dog) will receive a free, one-month extension of their current Foundation Directory Online subscription

This friendly competition is one of the ways we'll be celebrating the ten-year anniversary of Foundation Directory Online in 2009.

May the best pooch win!

Eye on FDO: One Year Later

Today marks the one-year anniversary of Eye on FDO. Whether this is your first visit to the blog, or you've been a regular since day one, my hope is that Eye on FDO is meeting the objective it was charged with when it was launched one year ago today: to keep you current on everything subscribers need to know.

As I mentioned in my very first blog post, feedback is extremely important to us. So we designed Eye on FDO to serve not only as a platform for communication between myself and the FDO community, but also as a forum for two-way communication. Then, as now, I encourage you to post comments to my blog entries and make suggestions for improving Foundation Directory Online.

Speaking of milestones, earlier this year I blogged about the fact that 2009 is the ten-year anniversary of FDO itself. Read my next post for details about one of the ways we'll be celebrating.

Economic Crisis Information

Wondering how the current economic crisis is affecting your current prospects and past donors? FDO's grantmaker profiles now include "forecasts" to this effect, when available, within a new Economic Crisis Information section. This data has been compiled from the public announcements made by grantmakers about how they plan to respond to the recession. The Economic Crisis Information section can be found near the top of a grantmaker profile, below the At A Glance section.

Free Professional Trial for Platinum Subscribers

Starting today, FDO Platinum subscribers can test-drive Professional for an extended period of time, free! To activate your no-obligation trial, look for the special link near the top of the FDO Home Screen. Once activated, you can switch back to Platinum at any time. This special access won't last long, so don't delay!

To officially upgrade your subscription during the free trial, or after, click the Upgrade Subscription link on the left side of the FDO Home Screen or call our Customer Service Department at (800) 424-9836. And if you upgrade your subscription by April 30, we'll send you a free copy of the new 2008 edition of the Foundation Center's Philanthropy Annual. This offer applies not only to Platinum subscribers, but to all other sub-Professional subscribers as well.

Keep Current to Keep Current

As you know, Eye on FDO was designed to keep you current on everything FDO. But fulfilling this mission means that you need to keep current on Eye on FDO itself. Ironic, isn't it?

Happily, keeping tabs on Eye on FDO is now easier than ever. Want to receive my latest posts via e-mail? Now you can. Subscribe to this blog's feed by entering your e-mail address in the box at the top of the left-hand margin. We've also made it easy to subscribe with your favorite feed reader, such as Google Reader or FeedDemon. Just click the "Subscribe in a reader" link, also in the left-hand margin. Finally, you'll notice that the headline of my most recent blog entry now appears on the left side of the FDO Home Screen in the blue Eye on FDO box. Click on the headline to go directly to the latest post.

Come See Us

Want to learn more about fundraising, proposal writing, and everything else you need to know about to get a grant? The Foundation Center offers a wide range of training courses for grantseekers at each of our five library/learning centers in New York, Washington, Atlanta, Cleveland, and San Francisco as well as selected other locations across the country. All courses are led by expert instructors who will teach your nonprofit to survive—and even thrive—in tough economic times.

Of special interest to Foundation Directory Online subscribers is our day-and-a-half Foundation Funding Research course. First, we'll teach you to chart your organization's funding needs. Next, you'll enjoy hands-on, interactive training in our computer lab to develop a targeted list of prospects using top-tier FDO Professional. And if you're a current annual or bi-annual FDO Platinum or Professional subscriber, we'll slash the course fee by $100!

Want more? We also offer ten other essential grantseeker training courses:

• Foundation Fundraising
• Proposal Budgeting Workshop
• Proposal Writing Seminar
• Developing a Fundraising Plan
• Cultivating Grantmaker Relationships
• Building a Fundraising Board
• Earned Income
• Securing Corporate Partnerships
• Outcome Thinking and Management
• Grantseeker Training Institute

All of our courses are approved for CFRE International continuing education points. Please visit the Classroom Training Courses section of our web site for full details and registration information.

Archived Webinars

We've posted a recording of a new version of our "Unique Benefits of FDO Professional" webinar to the Archived Webinars section of the FDO Home Screen. This update includes a section on our recently introduced FDO Alerts feature. Be sure to set aside some time (60 minutes, to be exact) to find out how Professional can help you get more of the grants you need now!

New Search Fields for All Subscribers!

Are you ready for this year's first round of new enhancements? Well, here's the scoop: now you can search for grantmakers, companies, and grants by congressional district and grants by grantmaker state! In all, this increases the number of search fields in FDO from 49 to 53. Whether you're a grantseeker looking for funding prospects, a grantmaker looking for funding partners, or a researcher studying the field, we think this added flexibility will help inform your work in new ways.

Contacting Us

Have a question? We have answers. And we'll even put you in touch with an actual, live human being! Here's a friendly reminder about how to contact us:

• For billing questions or questions about your subscription, e-mail customerservice@foundationcenter.org or call (800) 424-9836
• For all other questions about Foundation Directory Online, including questions about search strategies, e-mail fdonline@foundationcenter.org or call (800) 424-9836
• For general questions about foundations, philanthropy, and fundraising research, please see the Foundation Center's Online Librarian page.

In addition, you can communicate with us (and your fellow subscribers) by posting comments to Eye on FDO blog entries and posting messages on our FDO Talk message board. We look forward to hearing from you!