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[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] [RIDERS-TALK] Non-profit Data Standards [was funder-built online "databa
 Thought you folks might want in on this <ed dodds/> -----Original Message----- From: Andrew Gianni [mailto:andrew@n...] Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2003 9:28 AM To: riders-talk@n... >Consolidation is happening in every other sector -- non-profits know that if >they can make it difficult to merge they can hold on to their jobs a little >longer. I'm personally very anti-consolidation for most situations with nonprofits. I think there's a lot of value in the trust and relationship building that happens with local organizations and centralization of nonprofits would be the corporatization of nonprofit sector. I also think that it's unlikely that we are likely to come up with any standard like those Ed lists, but rather a meta-standard that provides a means for relatively low-cost (which is key) bridges to be built. One vision I have is a customizable open-source database console that acts as a front end to any number of database systems. Modules could be built that would allow the console to interface with any number of other databases including offline ones (like ebase, paradigm, quickbooks etc.) Building such a system and having it adopted would allow those developing new online databases a de facto standard to build an interface or module for. I know this is kind of pie in the sky but I'm just tossing out ideas. Andrew --- Andrew Gianni - Sole Proprietor New Kenmore Online Communications Technology Planning and Implementation web: http://www.newkenmore.com phone: 413.367.9719 mobile: 413.575.2046 fax: 413.254.4004 post: PO Box 207, Montague, MA 01351 email: andrew@n... aim: andrewsgianni yahoo: asgianni msn: andrewgianni0175 icq: 75849277 -----Original Message----- From: Ed Dodds [mailto:dodds@e...] Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2003 8:49 AM To: andrew@n...; riders-talk@n... Subject: RE: [RIDERS-TALK] Non-profit Data Standards [was funder-built online "databases"] Andrew: Part of the problem is that while the fed government/states/NGA,org are atleast looking a standards like GXA, and financial services have mark ups for derivatives, financial services, and reporting/interchange, non-profits (who from the donor's perspective are about 1) services and 2) finances) are slow to adopt standards or maps which allow for transparency to a degree which will allow an orgs budget to be compared to another similar org at the line item level. Nascent standards of which I am aware (if there are more please let me know): 1) Universal chart of accounts 2) EDIN/independentsector.org/NCCC "E-990s" 3) www.nten.org/other Non-profit Data Standards Initiative 4) http://www.mip.com/xbrl/ DRAFT: Prototype Financial Reporting for Not-for-Profit Organizations XBRL Taxonomy Intuit has developed qbxml which will allow xml import/export out of QuickBooks and xbrl will be included in a Microsoft Excel Add-in in the fall (if there production schedule holds). What I AM SCREAMING to the non-profit sector is "regulate yourselves" or somebody else less favorable to your goals will (McKinsey & Co., etc.). A second aside is that non-profits ought to start lobbying congress re: tax code for volunteers to be able to write the value of their volunteer time off of their fed income taxes at the rate a fed employee would be paid to complete the same task ? this will put the onus on the ?Compassionate Conservative? crew to ?put up or shut up.? If non-profits really desire volunteers and not just more paid positions this would be one way to prove it. Ed Dodds -----Original Message----- From: Andrew Gianni [mailto:andrew@n...] Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2003 6:46 PM To: riders-talk@n... Subject: [RIDERS-TALK] funder-built online "databases" I?ve been seeing a disturbing trend over the past year that I?d like to share and request comments on. I?m seeing more funders -- particularly in the social services realm -- developing online databases for their grantees that allow them to track some class of information related to their funding while reporting to the funder. A number of agencies I?ve been working with are running into situations where they now have three or more of these systems to deal with. The reason I put ?databases? in quotes in the subject line is because in most cases these are primarily reporting tools and secondarily internal data management and reporting tools for the organizations and often the organizations don?t understand how to use any of the reporting functionality. On some level I think there are some potential benefits to this system, and if the application was well built and a given organization only had to deal with one (and the funder offered training?!?!) it could be great. It?s the multiple data sources that concern me. I?m sure there could be some way to make these databases talk to each other or to a central application that an organization could use (some form of XML?) that would not breach confidentiality between the data sources. Has anyone else dealt with this situation and found ways to make these types of databases communicate? Does anyone know of an online database/reporting tool like this that has some kind of XML like interface? I think this is only going to become a bigger problem as time progresses. Andrew --- Andrew Gianni - Sole Proprietor New Kenmore Online Communications Technology Planning and Implementation web: http://www.newkenmore.com phone: 413.367.9719 mobile: 413.575.2046 fax: 413.254.4004 post: PO Box 207, Montague, MA 01351 email: andrew@n... aim: andrewsgianni yahoo: asgianni msn: andrewgianni0175 icq: 75849277 _________________________________________________________________ Nonprofit and Nongovernmental Technology Assistance Providers (Circuit Riders) - General Discussion You received this message as a subscriber on the list: riders-talk@n... To be removed from the list, send any message to: riders-talk-unsubscribe@n... For all list information and functions, including changing your subscription mode and options, visit the Web page: http://npogroups.org/lists/info/riders-talk 
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