Flyby of TntConnect

This blog post is my best attempt at a 3-minute overview of TntConnect. In this post, I am going to give an overview of the four major functions of a partnership development software.

There are four or five partnership development (PD) tools out there, and their shared goal is the same: to help you connect with your partners so you can be fully-funded for ministry. All of the PD software tools have four key functions:

1. Manage contact information,
2. View and respond to giving,
3. Enter tasks and log history, and
4. View analysis & reports

Contact Information

My core verse that I use is Proverbs 27:23-27, which starts out by saying, “Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds.” For those of us who are supported missionaries, our flocks and herds—that which produces the resources which enable us to ministry—are our ministry partners that God has entrusted to us. So we really need to get to know them better and know about what they’re doing and what they’re thinking and what they’re feeling.

In terms of contact information, TNT has more than 120 different fields you can use, and another 70 that it creates itself from those. In my experience there may be 50 fields an average user might use, but I cannot imagine anyone using all 50 for every single contact. (Practically speaking, I know a lot more about some of my partners than others.)

Getting to that data: TNT has powerful “lookups” and “filters” so that you can find contacts based on any of the information in these fields.

TntConnect’s Lookup feature can filter on effectively every data field in the entire database, and even layer filters (such as narrowing down the list with successive filters).

Here’s another post on how Data Lovers enjoy using TntConnect.

Managing Gifts

In terms of managing gifts, you get to know your flocks and herds by tracking what they’re doing with their giving. TNT has a partnership development Tab (the “TNT Tab”) that allows you to track their financial commitment and view each contact’s giving history. There is also a Contribution Report that gives you a financial summary of what your partners are doing.

You can view the giving for each partner individually, or all partners using the Contribution Report.

Managing Tasks & History

In terms of managing tasks and history, TNT makes it possible for you to log activities that you do with your partners. You can enter info from any appointment, challenge, newsletter, email, call, thank you, etc. But it also has a POWERFUL, amazingly powerful history engine. With TNT you can instantly view any item from your history… even if you have thousands of entries.

You can log a specific task you completed with a contact, or a group of contacts (such as sending your monthly newsletter).

The History View shows all of your completed tasks. A variety of filters help you see certain types only, selected time frames, or even search for a single item.

Analysis & Reporting

TntConnect has an Analysis View with lots of charts and graphs, as well as a handful of helpful reports, in addition to specific data stored on any individual contact.

The Analysis View offers a series of charts to help you see your partnership team visually.

TntConnect calculates a number of items for each partner so you can see their annual and lifetime partnership.

Tip: See that nifty “Contact Details” box above? Find it by selecting Ctrl+D or Contact|View Details. It stays visible as you move from contact to contact. OR you can display it all the time by toggling the chart on the TNT tab by pressing the little arrow next to the word “Individual”:

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