TO: YWCA Leaders
FROM: YWCA USA Communications
DATE: January 25, 2017
SUBJECT: Blackbaud Sphere
Dear YWCA Leaders,
As many of you know, our website provider, Blackbaud is no longer investing in research and development enhancements to Sphere. Sphere is the platform used by YWCA USA and over 100 local associations for the past decade for website content management and database solution. Blackbaud has informed us that they will be announcing the discontinuation of Sphere in the first quarter of this year.
There will be no interruption to the Sphere service because we have successfully re-negotiated our contract with Blackbaud. We are now working on completing our market research to find an affordable, easy-to-use, and robust platform for our network. Additionally, we will be creating a transition plan and providing implementation support to a new platform once the provider has been selected.
In order to find the best solution, we are asking those of you who did not complete the survey sent in early September 2016 to please take the time to do so. Your input is critical to finding a solution that meets our diverse collective requirements. Please complete this brief survey about your website needs by February 10, 2017.
By the end of April, we will have completed market research and will use that data, paired with your feedback, to select our next website provider. Following a final decision, we anticipate that implementation will take 12-18 months. We will continue to keep you posted on the official announcement from Blackbaud on Sphere, survey results, the outcome of our market research, and next steps.
Sincerely,
YWCA USA Communications
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