The University of Toledo Foundation is converting to new donor management and accounting software that will streamline operations and make the organization more efficient.
The change to the Agilon One software from Ascend will affect the UT Foundation staff, business managers in the individual colleges who oversee donor funds, and the donors who are active with their endowment fund accounts, said Vern Snyder, vice president for institutional advancement.
The Foundation also has adopted new accounting software called Agresso, which is a comprehensive financial package.
“The new software will allow us to be a more efficient operation by increasing our reporting options and capabilities for electronic communications,” UT Foundation President Brenda Lee said.
Agilon One allows an increased flexibility that will enable those who work with the accounts the options to see only the balance or go into more detail and generate a variety of reports.
Over time, the Foundation will use more of the electronic communications options and reduce paper receipts and other printed and postage materials. The Foundation already has email addresses for about 95 percent of the nearly 10,000 active donors and is making an increased effort to get that to 100 percent.
More than 5,000 fundraisers around the world use the Agilon One system to manage information for more than 9 million donors and $1 billion in gifts each year. Agresso, part of UNIT4 Business Software, has 6,000 customers in 100 countries.
The system conversion will occur Tuesday, July 5, and training sessions will be scheduled for faculty, staff and other fund account representatives to learn the new systems.
“We are excited about these changes and understand we might have some bumps in the road as we go through the process,” Snyder said. “We appreciate everyone’s patience as we work to improve our services to donors, alumni and the entire University community.”
