Integrations and custom applications
Connecting the website to a system you already run, and building a small application when the workflow does not fit a public page.
Where it goes wrong
The request usually sounds small: "just pull the member record." Then the member record is in a system with its own login, its own idea of a lapsed member, and an API that times out during the busiest week. Staff fill the gap by retyping the same facts into two places.
What we do
- Read from or write to a CRM, an association management system, a donor database, or a mailing list manager.
- Single sign-on, so members log in once.
- Scheduled imports and exports when a live connection is more than the job needs.
- Small custom applications, such as a review queue for applications or a staff tool for event check-in.
How it runs
We start with the smallest connection that finishes the job: a nightly file, a single sign-on, a form that creates the right record. The scope names the system, who administers it, how we get test access, and what the site does when that system is down. If we cannot describe the time it saves before we start, we do not start.