4WARD CRM: What to Expect after Go-Live

Accessing 4WARD

4WARD CRM users have been notified via email with instructions for accessing the new system. You must complete training before accessing 4WARD.

Accessing ABE

As a reminder, ABE transitioned to “read only” mode as of September 5. Users can still access ABE, with static data, similar to how you have always used it. Please note:

• We encourage you to move your work quickly into the news system. However, ABE will continue to be available for reference until at least October 13.
• No new information should be added to ABE (anything added will not be saved)
• Any reports that campus users access via ABE will remain available and will include data collected through September 5.

New Fund Creation and Changes

Since September 27th, we have been working to enter new funds into the new systems.  Please continue to hold any fund change requests and submit them after October 13th.

Receiving and Receipting Gifts

Gift Services has begun to work through a backlog of gift and pledge information for entry into the 4WARD system. While they have begun processing gifts, dues, and pledges as of September 27, we want you to be aware that the process of tax receipting will not begin until late October.  In the interim period:

• For gifts made online, donors will receive automated messages that explain our delay in tax receipting.
• WFAA has not centrally issued a statement to donors about the delay of tax receipts, but we have providing talking points as a resource for development staff.

Viewing and Acknowledging Gifts

The Donor Acknowledgment Report (DAR) will continue to be available and will reflect any gifts entered through September 5. On 11/3/23, the DAR will be updated with 4WARD data. It will be available from the same location on the Advancement Hub, with most fields available (tentatively 77 of the current 87 output fields). An updated guide and recorded training will be available later this year. Regular DAR training for WFAA and campus partners will resume in early 2024.

During the timeframe that DAR contains static data (9/5 – 11/3/23) major gifts of $25,000+ will be manually accessible by select development staff at WFAA and some gifts will be acknowledged as appropriate. Please connect with your WFAA liaison with any questions.

Pledge Reminders

There may be a delay in reminders that would typically be sent in October. Reminders for pledges made through the Badger Engagement Center (formerly known as Badger Call) may be delayed by up to two weeks.

List Requests

Please continue to use the Request Lists/Reports on the Advancement Hub for report requests, but please be mindful of limiting nonbusiness-critical requests. Please know that WFAA’s SLA (Service Level Agreement) will be increased from 10 business days to 20 business days to accommodate balancing ad-hoc reports, building new self-service reports, learning the new system, and adjusting preexisting necessary work. Not all reports requested will be filled in the 20 business days. Some requests may be placed on a backlog and prioritized by the WFAA leadership team. Once prioritized, they will be assigned a delivery date and communicated as needed.

Marketing/Annual Giving Campaigns

Annual giving campaigns were preplanned, and we do not expect mailing delays. Campus partners were asked to create fall solicitations prior to cutover. See more details here.

Campus reporting from annual giving and DXOs will be paused until reports are rebuilt (timing TBD).

Annotated Guest Lists

Reports with lists of general information and giving information tied to all attendees of events are not among the identified reports that will be available at go-live. There are a couple options that can be done on your own:

1. PRIOR TO CUTOVER: Depending on your ABE access, you can pull or request the annotated guest list based on your invitation list (using their ABE IDs rather than a specific event ID) prior to our cutover period. This could be a long list with manual work as you will have to compare your registrant to this invitation-based list, but it does give you the information about all potential attendees, and you can highlight/track them as they come in through your registration system. This option would probably work best if your invitation list is shorter, and you are comfortable maintaining the list/highlighting your registrants on a regular basis, so when you need the report, the information has already been collected.
2. AFTER CUTOVER: You can wait until closer to your event date and pull the annotated guest list (again using ABE IDs rather than a specific event ID) after our cutover period. This limits the annotated guest list you are pulling, but you will need to manually look up each registrant’s ABE ID to be able to pull the list. This option would probably work best if your invitation list is very long, and you expect only a small fraction to register. You will then have to spend time pulling together the ABE IDs close to your event date, but you will not need to maintain a separate list during registration flow.

If you run into issues while executing the steps above, submit a help ticket with the subject line “Annotated guest list assistance,” and someone will assist you as soon as possible.

Registration Services

Alternative tools for registration may be necessary to manage on your own during cutover (and potentially beyond). Please contact us with a help desk ticket to request a detailed list of options and information around which one may be best for you can be found.

There will be delays in the registration teams’ response time for edits to registrants as we will be taking an active role in onboarding the new tool, training staff, and moving event data into the new system for reporting continuity. Our typical 2-business day turnaround will be extended.

Adding event information into 4WARD after go-live:

• To upload attendance information to 4WARD to track engagement data and for future invitations/reporting:
  • Submit a help ticket with an excel file of the folks you want tagged. Please be sure to:
    • Provide the event date, time, name, and general details.
    • Clearly mark each registrant in the list as attended, no-show, etc.
    • Provide ABE IDs for all registrants within the list.
      • If your list is more than 300 registrants, there is a matching process that CDP can run to search for ABE IDs to help reduce the amount of manual work you need to do. Please note: This process may be delayed due to CDP’s heavy involvement in 4WARD transition. The steps to run this process are complicated and take manual work, so we reserve the process for lists of more than 300 records only.
      • If your list is fewer than 300 registrants, we ask that you manually look up and add the ABE IDs to the list prior to submitting your help ticket.
• After your event, you may have event revenue to add to 4WARD. Please review the WFAA Gift and Fund Management Policies to understand how to deposit revenue at WFAA and what information must be provided.

Feel free to contact Kelsey Dodson with questions, suggestions, or concerns related to the above registration services.