MyFax Issue: Unable to Order

I was unable to order Myfax even though I qualify based on my category. Is there any other option?

George,

  You can certainly look into the discount option that Protus / My Fax has made available for nonprofits http://www.techsoup.org/stock/Category.asp?catalog_name=TechSoupMain&category_name=Protus&Page=1. You may also want to check into some other community discussions or articles such as Electronic Fax Alternatives For Your Nonprofit: http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/techplan/page10992.cfm

  Please let us know if you have any other questions.

Autumn

I was unable to order Myfax even though I qualify based on my category. Is there any other option?

I see other have the same problem.  I want to use MyFax because it is a great service. 

Hi Martin,

  When reviewing any program restrictions it is very important to remember which Organization Type and Subtype is listed on your account. It may be that your organization is eligible, but that the particular subtype chosen is not on the list of eligible organizations. For example, the subtype currently on your account is "Family Planning" and although many health care organization are eligible for the My Fax donation, organizations whose main focus is family planning are not eligible at this time.

The information below is included in the My Fax / Protus restrictions:

• Organizations that focus on the following types of activities are eligible to receive Protus donations:
  • Health services, including hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, blood banks, emergency services, aid to the handicapped, community health planning, mental health care, and group medical practice associations.

At this time, your website doesn't appear to have any information about your services so I am unable to review any additional programs that you may have but if you feel that Family Planning does not reflect your primary mission and activities, then you can consider editing your organization profile. You may find this forum post helpful when categorizing your organization: http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/forums/t/28287.aspx

If your organization is not eligible for My Fax donations, you can take advantage of their nonprofit discount which you can read about on the Protus Program Page.

Autumn

@autumn, I have the same problem as Martin.

My nonprofit is listed under "housing/other housing." Techsoup does not have an option for agencies providing shelter/transitional housing to homeless persons or families, so this is the closest thing which fits our organization's central activity.  It is my opinion that Techsoup should have a top-level type called "Housing and Homelessness" which includes sheltering and transitional housing, as well as the supportive services provided to those clients (substance abuse treatment, domestic violence services, mental health, etc.) Instead of allowing one type/subtype, at least allow us to select several subtypes.

We provide many wraparound services to homeless families. We have a Children's Services program serving homeless and recently homeless school-aged children. These children are certainly "low-achieving, economically disadvantaged students and those who are not succeeding with traditional methods," which are clearly stated in the requirements for the donation.

We also provide housing crisis intervention, utility shutoff and eviction prevention, housing relocation assistance for homeless and low-income individuals and families.

Finally, we are a United Way-funded organization.

Thus, I believe we are eligible for this donation in 3 different ways.

I can’t imagine that it is the intent of the TechSoup or the donor (MyFax, in this case) for agencies that are United Way-funded or otherwise eligible, to be denied the software because your database can’t link an agency to more than one category. I realize that it’s presumptuous of me to make that statement, but I can’t imagine any other reason why TechSoup would go directly against the clear intent of the software donor to make this software available to the agencies which provide the services listed.  As an agency which promotes technical innovation in the non-profit world, it is very disheartening to realize that TechSoup would allow its database design to dictate who can receive software.

How can I "appeal" this denial and also petition Techsoup to re-think its "typing" of agencies? When you have a system that only allows one type, and then also has types so loosely defined as to be based on the organization's funding rather than their activities, it is unfair to large agencies which provide many vital services and receive funding from different sources.

I would be grateful for any assistance that you can give in this matter. I really hope that this might be among the list of improvements for the future phases of your redesign.

Becky Domegan

SOS Community Services

Becky,

  I certainly understand your feelings about not having multiple subtype options. At this time, allowing multiple options would actually cause eligibility conflicts not only on a technical level, but in some cases on a program eligibility level as well. For example, if an organization has two subtypes, one might be eligible for Microsoft and the other might not. This makes things a bit difficult in terms of reporting the information to our partners as well as the system working with multiple pieces of data. Though this is not ideal, we do our best to work with organizations directly (by phone or email) to find the most appropriate type that reflects their activities as well as giving them the highest eligibility.

  Organization types and subtypes should reflect the primary mission and activities. Though our list is a bit more condensed, we are using the same categories as the IRS and NCCS and have the broader range of codes mapped to our list. As you may have noticed, right now we are in the midst of a long and thorough project to upgrade our website and our back-end systems and once these upgrades are completed, we will be able to think about changes such as allowing multiple subtypes - but that is still some time away. Like all of our customers, we too are a nonprofit and need to prioritize our time and resources and our current focus is security, ease of use and optimal functionality or our existing systems. For more information, please see our blog post.

  Now to discuss your particular issue! My Fax is a new partner and is a small program. Based on the activities you mentioned, I am confident that we can find a new category that will not only expand your eligibility to include My Fax, but keep your existing eligibility. I will contact you be email directly with more information before the day is out.

Thank you for your feedback and suggestions.

Autumn

Autumn, I can't thank you enough for your thorough and concise answer, and I look forward to hearing from you! My email is beckyd@soscs.org.

thanks again!

Becky

Hi Autumn -

I followed up with some research on your comment that TechSoup uses NCCS classifications.

Sadly, I found exactly what I was looking for - the classifications are very complete and several of them encompass what we do, yet for some reason are not listed on TechSoup's very abridged list of types.

this is copied from the list at http://nccsdataweb.urban.org/kbfiles/324/NTEE%20Two%20Page_2005.DOC

L HOUSING & SHELTER  (note that Techsoup chose to omit "shelter" from this heading altogether)
L01 Alliances & Advocacy
L02 Management & Technical Assistance
L03 Professional Societies & Associations
L05 Research Institutes & Public Policy Analysis
L11 Single Organization Support
L12 Fund Raising & Fund Distribution
L19 Support NEC
L20 Housing Development, Construction &  Management
L21 Low-Income & Subsidized Rental Housing
L22 Senior Citizens’ Housing & Retirement Communities
L24 Independent Housing for People with Disabilities
L25 Housing Rehabilitation
L30 Housing Search Assistance
L40 Temporary Housing
L41 Homeless Shelters
L50 Homeowners & Tenants Associations
L80 Housing Support
L81 Home Improvement & Repairs
L82 Housing Expense Reduction Support
L99 Housing & Shelter NEC

We also fit neatly under "Human Services," in several sub-categories.  Techsoup doesn't seem to have included this category at all.

P HUMAN SERVICES
P01 Alliances & Advocacy
P02 Management & Technical Assistance
P03 Professional Societies & Associations
P05 Research Institutes & Public Policy Analysis
P11 Single Organization Support
P12 Fund Raising & Fund Distribution
P19 Support NEC
P20 Human Services
P21 American Red Cross
P22 Urban League
P24 Salvation Army
P26 Volunteers of America
P27 Young Men’s or Women’s Associations
P28 Neighborhood Centers
P29 Thrift Shops
P30 Children & Youth Services
P31 Adoption
P32 Foster Care
P33 Child Day Care
P40 Family Services
P42 Single Parent Agencies
P43 Family Violence Shelters
P44 In-Home Assistance
P45 Family Services for Adolescent Parents
P46 Family Counseling
P47 Pregnancy Centers
P50 Personal Social Services
P51 Financial Counseling
P52 Transportation Assistance
P58 Gift Distribution
P60 Emergency Assistance
P61 Travelers’ Aid
P62 Victims’ Services
P70 Residential Care & Adult Day Programs
P71 Adult Day Care
P73 Group Homes
P74 Hospices
P75 Supportive Housing for Older Adults
P80 Centers to Support the Independence of Specific Populations
P81 Senior Centers
P82 Developmentally Disabled Centers
P84 Ethnic & Immigrant Centers
P85 Homeless Centers
P86 Blind & Visually Impaired Centers
P87 Deaf & Hearing Impaired Centers
P88 LGBT Centers
P99 Human Services NEC
 

Hi Becky,

  We do have some of these, more commonly used codes. But as I mentioned in my previous post, we have a category tree that helps us boil it down to what we DO have. This information is helpful and I will take these into considering for your account :)

Autumn