Program Terminology & DASH Glossary

Program Terminology

The glossary below includes terminology related to the configuration of ascend, as well as management of DASH. Some terms may be familiar, but defining them explicitly is a helpful practice to implementing a new system.

For a full view of the DASH Glossary of Terms, please click here.

• ascend (DASH): Kindsight’s (formerly UC Innovation) advancement-specific CRM product, built on Salesforce. Salesforce product companies are called ISVs (Independent Software Vendors). MHC has elected to name their instance of ascend DASH. Supports the day-to-day development activities and will be the system of record for alum and parent data.

• DASH Portal: A single location for MHC alums and volunteers to maintain their contact information, see their giving history, view the alum directory, register for events and access other engagement applications such as GiveCampus VMS for development and Alum Association volunteers, Slate Portal for admission volunteers, The Gates and Handshake.

• Backlog: A list of user stories, short, simple descriptions of a feature or requirement from the user's perspective, that are not needed for the initial launch (e.g., “nice-to-have” configuration). The Core Team will continue to review the backlog following go-live to determine future enhancements.

• Blackthorn Events: An events management application that integrates with Salesforce for Mount Holyoke staff to manage in-person and virtual events directly within DASH.

• Change Network: Group of MHC staff or volunteer representatives across the College who serve as their unit’s point of contact for the project (e.g., sharing project information with their team(s), answering questions or directing colleagues to resources, sharing feedback with the Change Management Leadership Team).

• Configuration: The adjustment of Salesforce’s out-of-the-box (OOB) settings, features and workflows to meet MHC’s business needs.

• CRM Analytics (CRMA): CRM Analytics is a reporting and analytics platform to which MHC will be transitioning as part of this project. CRMA will replace College Relations and Alum Association’s use of Tableau and the College’s data warehouse.

• Customization: Changing Salesforce’s out-of-the-box (OOB) components or adding new components to DASH to meet MHC’s needs. Customization often requires a developer to write code as the OOB configuration option(s) does not meet the need. 

• Data Conversion: The movement of legacy data from Colleague and Less Annoying CRM to DASH. 

• Environment / Org (also called a Salesforce Org): Distinct spaces within the Salesforce Platform where you can build, test and deploy applications.

• Focused Reality Sessions: Focused Reality Sessions are the first round of testing where SMEs try to do their current job within DASH. Focused Reality Sessions will be completed as part of each sprint and focus on determining what work needs to be done in the Institutional Specific Configuration sprint.

• GiveCampus Giving Pages are online fundraising pages used to facilitate online giving, These forms will replace the functionality currently in iModules.

• GiveCampus VMS: A software platform designed to support the management of development and Alum Association volunteers. Admission volunteers will use a separate portal in Slate for their work.

• Go Live: Go Live marks the official transition from Colleague, iModules and the Volunteer Hub to DASH. 

• Institutional Specific Configuration: A period where Kindsight will configure specific functionality needed for MHC to complete business processes.

• Integrations: Integrations are the mechanism through which platforms connect to share data directly with one another. For example, certain data from systems including, but not limited to, Colleague to ascend or ascend to The Gates.

• Marketing Cloud is a marketing communications tool with functionality for segmented lists. Marketing Cloud will be replacing existing email platforms such as iModules and Mailchimp. Marketing Cloud communications will feed automatically to a constituent record with ascend, simplifying constituent communication records.

• Object: Salesforce is a relational database made up of groups of data in tables, or objects. ascend contains several custom objects, including Address and Relationships. There are other iterations such as a Related Object and a Junction Object that connect tables of data to one another. 

• Production Environment (“Prod”): MHC’s live Salesforce environment within ascend. The production environment is where you will operate at go live. 

• Project Plan: Detailed plan outlining the project activities, accountable parties and related dates. Mount Holyoke’s project plan is housed in Smartsheet.

• RAIDQ Log: A project management document used to track project Risks, Actions, Issues, Decisions and Questions. The RAIDQ Log will primarily be used by the Core Team. 

• Related Object: A two-way association between two Salesforce objects, so that when your users view records, they can also see related data.

• Roadshows: Roadshows offer an opportunity to learn about the transition from Colleague to ascend, understand what is changing and why, and preview anticipated tasks and processes in the new system.

• Salesforce: A cloud-based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform. ascend is built on the Salesforce platform.

• Sandbox: A copy of MHC’s Salesforce environment that can be used for a variety of purposes, such as development or testing. Because sandboxes are replicas of your production environment, changes do not impact your live system.

• Slate Admission Portal: A software platform designed to support the management of Admission volunteers. Is not a part of the DASH implementation and is owned wholly by the Admission team.

• Sprint: A period of project time (ranges from 2-6 weeks) focused on designing and configuring ascend. MHC will have eight sprints: Bio Demo 1. Bio Demo 2, Prospect Management, Gift Referential, Pledge, Gift, Institutional Specific Configuration, and Reporting. 

• Subject Matter Expert (SME): SMEs are stakeholders with specific and/or targeted expertise. SMEs may participate in various aspects of the project by lending their experience or knowledge to the decision-making process.