Like many nonprofit donor/member databases, Organizers Database (ODB) is a desktop application. But increasingly, nonprofits are depending on online tools like Constant Contact, CiviCRM, Google Calendar, Yahoo Groups, and DemocracyInAction to manage constituent, donor, scheduling, and volunteer data. Some nonprofit functions now practically require an online presence.

Some groups have addressed the challenge of integrating offline and online systems by moving everything to the web. But this approach is unacceptable to many groups who want to keep their precious donor data in-house where it does not depend upon the viability or constant availability of a third party service.

Using ODB, software that was developed for small nonprofits by Organizers' Collaborative, we will demonstrate a few strategies and tricks to address this offline/online database challenge. The presentation will even show how some web 2.0 applications can be utilized while your data remains on the desktop. The workshop encourage participants to also share their strategies as well as suggestions for the developers of ODB to handle integration issues in the future.