Darrell KSR
10-19-2016, 02:33 PM
Scenario: the athletic boosters board wants to recognize certain contributors/donors by displaying a plaque at the school.
The problem is that:
a) The donors will be changing, hopefully adding new donors.
b) It's a "20/20" plan--seeking to have individuals pledge $20 per month for 20 months. Some will pay the $400 donation up front, but others will have it billed monthly to their credit card.
c) Some of the individuals will, either intentionally or inadvertenly, stop paying. [If/when they do, they'd like their name to come off the list].
I was told last night that it cost about $5 per name to engrave a single plate, which is ridiculously expensive. Probably have 150 names or so currently that "might" go on it, and some may drop off, etc. It doesn't need to be a $750+ plaque.
So I suggested a digital plaque instead--something that could be hung on a wall, and updated monthly.
My low-tech thought is to do this:
1) Purchase a digital photo frame that automatically rotates photos
2) Make a Microsoft Word type document. Or Publisher, or whatever. The document would contain an alphabetical list of donors, possibly by category.
3) Make a PDF or JPG of each page and put it on an SD card. Install in photo album, and boom--you have a rotating list, digital plaque of names.
The beauty of this is that you'd have plenty of space for other things--maybe some photos of what the boosters are doing with the money--a page devoted to "Thanks to new Donors for November"--a thank you page for corporate donations--etc.
All of which could be kept on a Microsoft Word document, easily editable, and with two SD cards, changed out at a moment's notice without any interruption.
Does this make sense? I told them last night I was low-tech, but thought something like that might work. Any other suggestions?
Any specific product? It doesn't have to be super-cheap; in fact, a nice, large display would be great. I don't know about electricity; but I guess it would be located near an outlet. If not, are there any that use very minimal battery power, where a battery could be charged up and it last for a long time, hopefully days or weeks? Or a solar powered battery type option?
Is there an easier/better process than what I described? Should there be a tablet, rather than a photo frame? I'm thinking the lower tech, the better, if it makes it simple. Heck, could even take a photo of the pages to display if that would be better.
But if there is an ability to have a "marquee" scrolling kind of thing on it, it would be great, too.
Help! Suggestions, specific product possibilities, etc. are appreciated.
The problem is that:
a) The donors will be changing, hopefully adding new donors.
b) It's a "20/20" plan--seeking to have individuals pledge $20 per month for 20 months. Some will pay the $400 donation up front, but others will have it billed monthly to their credit card.
c) Some of the individuals will, either intentionally or inadvertenly, stop paying. [If/when they do, they'd like their name to come off the list].
I was told last night that it cost about $5 per name to engrave a single plate, which is ridiculously expensive. Probably have 150 names or so currently that "might" go on it, and some may drop off, etc. It doesn't need to be a $750+ plaque.
So I suggested a digital plaque instead--something that could be hung on a wall, and updated monthly.
My low-tech thought is to do this:
1) Purchase a digital photo frame that automatically rotates photos
2) Make a Microsoft Word type document. Or Publisher, or whatever. The document would contain an alphabetical list of donors, possibly by category.
3) Make a PDF or JPG of each page and put it on an SD card. Install in photo album, and boom--you have a rotating list, digital plaque of names.
The beauty of this is that you'd have plenty of space for other things--maybe some photos of what the boosters are doing with the money--a page devoted to "Thanks to new Donors for November"--a thank you page for corporate donations--etc.
All of which could be kept on a Microsoft Word document, easily editable, and with two SD cards, changed out at a moment's notice without any interruption.
Does this make sense? I told them last night I was low-tech, but thought something like that might work. Any other suggestions?
Any specific product? It doesn't have to be super-cheap; in fact, a nice, large display would be great. I don't know about electricity; but I guess it would be located near an outlet. If not, are there any that use very minimal battery power, where a battery could be charged up and it last for a long time, hopefully days or weeks? Or a solar powered battery type option?
Is there an easier/better process than what I described? Should there be a tablet, rather than a photo frame? I'm thinking the lower tech, the better, if it makes it simple. Heck, could even take a photo of the pages to display if that would be better.
But if there is an ability to have a "marquee" scrolling kind of thing on it, it would be great, too.
Help! Suggestions, specific product possibilities, etc. are appreciated.