Patent Application
20150350441
The present application relates generally to data processing systems and, in one specific example, to techniques for improved management of charity calling programs.
“Charity call” programs generally involve telephonically calling prior and prospective donors of a charitable and/or non-profit organization in order to solicit charitable contributions and donations for various causes associated with the organization.
Some embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which:
Example methods and systems for improved management of charity calling programs are described. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of example embodiments. It will be evident, however, to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details.
According to various example embodiments, a charity call management system is configured to provide for improved management of charity calling programs. For example, conventional charity calling programs involve a group of callers telephonically calling prior and prospective donors of a charitable organization, in order to solicit charitable contributions and donations for various causes associated with the organization. Typically, an administrator of the program receives a “donor call list” from the organization that lists the donors to be called and their contact information. The administrator may take a photocopy of the donor call list and provide one copy to each caller. The administrator may then manually assign each caller to contact various donors in the donor call list. When a caller is able to successfully call a donor, they may mark the appropriate column in their copy of the donor call list, or they may write notes indicating that the donor could not be reached, etc. However, often there is a drawback in that each copy of the donor call list given to each caller must be returned to the administrator who must manually incorporate the information from each donor call list into a master donor call list. Moreover, in many countries, privacy requirements force the administrator to manually confirm that each of the donor call lists are returned and that they are all accounted for. Moreover, another drawback is that some donors are never called. For example, if each caller is pre-assigned to a set of donors, such as caller 1 being pre-assigned to donors #1-20, and caller 2 being pre-assigned to donors #21-40, then by the end of the charity call program, some of the donors have not been contacted if the volunteer pre-assigned to that donor has not had time to call them. Further, another drawback is that some donors are called more than once. For example, if caller 1 starts calling donor #1 and works their way down through the list of donors, while caller 2 starts calling donor #50 and works their way in reverse up through the list of donors, then caller 1 and caller 2 may meet and call the same donor(s), depending on how efficient they are.
Accordingly, a charity call management system described herein provides a user interface (such as a web-based user interface that may be accessed on a web browser via the internet, or a mobile-application user interface that may be accessed on a mobile device) that enables an administrator to easily and efficiently manage a charity call program. For example, a donor call list may be received from a charitable organization, where the donor call list identifies donors to be called (e.g., donors that have previously donated to the charitable organization), their contact information, and any miscellaneous information about the donor (e.g., specific causes of the charitable organization that they have been involved with). The system may then generate an electronic donor call list that includes the aforementioned information. For example, the electronic donor call list may correspond to a series of electronic records in a database, data table, or similar data structure, where each record corresponds to a particular donor and includes various fields of data associated with each donor, such as name, contact information, specific causes of the charitable organization that they have been involved with (e.g., indicating that they have previously donated to that cause, or that they may donate to that cause, etc.), a current status of the calls to the donor in the current charity call program (e.g., assigned to a volunteer caller, not assigned to a volunteer caller, call completed successfully, donor could not be contacted, etc.), and a notes field for storing miscellaneous notes.
Accordingly, any user that is interested in being a volunteer caller in a charity calling program may access a user interface associated with the system (e.g., by accessing a mobile application associated with the system on their mobile device, or by accessing a webpage URL (Uniform Resource Locator) associated with the system). The system may then automatically select a donor in the donor list and assign it to the volunteer caller. For example, in some embodiments, the system may generate a queue of donors based on the electronic donor call list, where the queue may include information identifying whether each donor in the queue has been assigned to any volunteer caller as of the present time. For example, the queue may correspond to a database, data structure, or data table including plurality of records associated with a plurality of donors, where each record includes a field indicating whether the corresponding donor is currently assigned to a volunteer caller or not. The system may then select the first donor in the queue not marked as being assigned to any volunteer caller, and assign that donor to the current volunteer caller requesting to participate in the program, and then change the queue information and/or electronic donor call list to indicate that that donor is currently assigned to the volunteer caller. Thus, when a subsequent volunteer caller logs in, the system will identify the next donor in the queue that is not marked as being assigned to any volunteer caller, and then assign that next donor to the subsequent volunteer caller, and mark that next donor as being assigned to the subsequent volunteer caller, and so on. In this way, each donor is assigned to a single volunteer caller, and there are no duplicate calls to a single donor. Put another way, the system ensures that each donor in the queue for a particular charity is specifically assigned to a separate caller, to ensure that two or more callers do not get the same donor to call. The system accomplishes this by marking each donor in the queue to indicate whether they are currently assigned to a caller or not.
After a donor is assigned to a volunteer caller, the system may display a user interface that includes the donor's name, contact information (e.g., phone number), and talking points customized for the donor (e.g., if the donor has previously donated to hurricane relief in Indonesia, then talking points describing about how donations have helped that cause may be displayed). The user interface may include a notes section to allow the caller to enter various notes (e.g., “donor could not be reached”, “donor said not to call them anymore”, “donor said to call them back in a month”, “donor said they are changing their number to XYZ”, “donor said they are interested in these causes . . . ”, and so on). Any notes entered by the volunteer caller are then automatically incorporated into the electronic donor call list maintained by the system (e.g., incorporated into the appropriate field in the record associated with that donor). The user interface may also allow the caller to update the contact information of the donor. For example, a “change phone number” or “change address” button may be displayed next to the donor's phone number or address, respectively, and if the volunteer caller selects this button, they can enter the donor's new phone number or address. Any updated contact information may then be automatically incorporated into the electronic donor call list maintained by the system (e.g., in the appropriate field in the record associated with that donor). The user interface may include a button labelled such as “Call Complete” that, when selected, automatically updates the electronic donor call list to indicate that the call to the donor was completed successfully. The user interface may include a button labelled such as “Donor could not be reached” that, when selected, automatically updates the electronic donor call list to indicate that the donor could not be reached successfully. At the end of the charity call program, the updated electronic donor call list (indicating all the donors that have and have not been successfully reached and updating contact information) may be transmitted to the charitable organization.
In some embodiments, the system may handle multiple charity call programs associated with multiple charitable organizations. For example, when a volunteer caller accesses the system, the system may display a user interface allowing the volunteer caller to select a charitable organization (e.g., the Salvation Army®) from a number of options, or to search for charitable organizations associated with particular causes (e.g., the volunteer caller can type “clean drinking water in Africa” and select an organization from the matching results). The charity call management system may then access the appropriate electronic donor call list associated with the selected charitable organization.
In some embodiments, each particular charitable organization (e.g., the Salvation Army®) may be associated with multiple causes (e.g., clean drinking water in Africa, hurricane relief in Indonesia, etc.). For each particular cause associated with a charitable organization, the system may generate an appropriate queue identifying donors associated with the particular cause, in order to assign volunteer callers to these donors. For example, the system may access the electronic donor call list associated with that charitable organization that describes the causes each donor to that organization is associated with (e.g., indicating whether they have previously donated to that cause, or whether they may donate to that cause, etc.). The system may then generate a filtered queue that includes only the donors to that organization that are associated with a particular cause. In some embodiments, after a volunteer caller selects a charitable organization to conduct calls on behalf of, the system may display various causes associated with that charitable organization, and if the volunteer caller selects a particular cause, the charity call management system may access or generate the queue of donors associated with that particular cause (as described above) and assign the first donor in that queue to the volunteer caller.
As shown in
Once registered, a member may invite other members, or be invited by other members, to connect via the social network service. A “connection” may require a bilateral agreement by the members, such that both members acknowledge the establishment of the connection. Similarly, with some embodiments, a member may elect to “follow” another member. In contrast to establishing a connection, the concept of “following” another member typically is a unilateral operation, and at least with some embodiments, does not require acknowledgement or approval by the member that is being followed. When one member follows another, the member who is following may receive status updates or other messages published by the member being followed, or relating to various activities undertaken by the member being followed. Similarly, when a member follows an organization, the member becomes eligible to receive messages or status updates published on behalf of the organization. For instance, messages or status updates published on behalf of an organization that a member is following will appear in the member's personalized data feed or content stream. In any case, the various associations and relationships that the members establish with other members, or with other entities and objects, are stored and maintained within the social graph, shown in
The social network service may provide a broad range of other applications and services that allow members the opportunity to share and receive information, often customized to the interests of the member. For example, with some embodiments, the social network service may include a photo sharing application that allows members to upload and share photos with other members. With some embodiments, members may be able to self-organize into groups, or interest groups, organized around a subject matter or topic of interest. With some embodiments, the social network service may host various job listings providing details of job openings with various organizations.
As members interact with the various applications, services and content made available via the social network service, the members' behavior (e.g., content viewed, links or member-interest buttons selected, etc.) may be monitored and information concerning the member's activities and behavior may be stored, for example, as indicated in
With some embodiments, the social network system 20 includes what is generally referred to herein as a charity call management system 200. The charity call management system 200 is described in more detail below in conjunction with
Although not shown, with some embodiments, the social network system 20 provides an application programming interface (API) module via which third-party applications can access various services and data provided by the social network service. For example, using an API, a third-party application may provide a user interface and logic that enables an authorized representative of an organization to publish messages from a third-party application to a content-hosting platform of the social network service that facilitates presentation of activity or content streams maintained and presented by the social network service. Such third-party applications may be browser-based applications, or may be operating system-specific. In particular, some third-party applications may reside and execute on one or more mobile devices (e.g., phones, or tablet computing devices) having a mobile operating system.
Turning now to
In operation 302 in
In operation 305 in
While various embodiments herein refer to “charitable organizations”, it is understood that the techniques described herein are applicable to any type of organization, including charitable organizations, non-profit organizations, non-governmental organizations, government organizations, for-profit businesses, private enterprises, clubs, and so on.
Various embodiments herein are applicable to any type of activity involving assigning communication tasks (e.g., telephone calls, email communications) to users, including for-profit activities, sales calls, telemarketer calls, etc.
Certain embodiments are described herein as including logic or a number of components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules may constitute either software modules (e.g., code embodied (1) on a non-transitory machine-readable medium or (2) in a transmission signal) or hardware-implemented modules. A hardware-implemented module is a tangible unit capable of performing certain operations and may be configured or arranged in a certain manner. In example embodiments, one or more computer systems (e.g., a standalone, client or server computer system) or one or more processors may be configured by software (e.g., an application or application portion) as a hardware-implemented module that operates to perform certain operations as described herein.
In various embodiments, a hardware-implemented module may be implemented mechanically or electronically. For example, a hardware-implemented module may comprise dedicated circuitry or logic that is permanently configured (e.g., as a special-purpose processor, such as a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) to perform certain operations. A hardware-implemented module may also comprise programmable logic or circuitry (e.g., as encompassed within a general-purpose processor or other programmable processor) that is temporarily configured by software to perform certain operations. It will be appreciated that the decision to implement a hardware-implemented module mechanically, in dedicated and permanently configured circuitry, or in temporarily configured circuitry (e.g., configured by software) may be driven by cost and time considerations.
Accordingly, the term “hardware-implemented module” should be understood to encompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physically constructed, permanently configured (e.g., hardwired) or temporarily or transitorily configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a certain manner and/or to perform certain operations described herein. Considering embodiments in which hardware-implemented modules are temporarily configured (e.g., programmed), each of the hardware-implemented modules need not be configured or instantiated at any one instance in time. For example, where the hardware-implemented modules comprise a general-purpose processor configured using software, the general-purpose processor may be configured as respective different hardware-implemented modules at different times. Software may accordingly configure a processor, for example, to constitute a particular hardware-implemented module at one instance of time and to constitute a different hardware-implemented module at a different instance of time.
Hardware-implemented modules can provide information to, and receive information from, other hardware-implemented modules. Accordingly, the described hardware-implemented modules may be regarded as being communicatively coupled. Where multiple of such hardware-implemented modules exist contemporaneously, communications may be achieved through signal transmission (e.g., over appropriate circuits and buses) that connect the hardware-implemented modules. In embodiments in which multiple hardware-implemented modules are configured or instantiated at different times, communications between such hardware-implemented modules may be achieved, for example, through the storage and retrieval of information in memory structures to which the multiple hardware-implemented modules have access. For example, one hardware-implemented module may perform an operation, and store the output of that operation in a memory device to which it is communicatively coupled. A further hardware-implemented module may then, at a later time, access the memory device to retrieve and process the stored output. Hardware-implemented modules may also initiate communications with input or output devices, and can operate on a resource (e.g., a collection of information).
The various operations of example methods described herein may be performed, at least partially, by one or more processors that are temporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured to perform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanently configured, such processors may constitute processor-implemented modules that operate to perform one or more operations or functions. The modules referred to herein may, in some example embodiments, comprise processor-implemented modules.
Similarly, the methods described herein may be at least partially processor-implemented. For example, at least some of the operations of a method may be performed by one or processors or processor-implemented modules. The performance of certain of the operations may be distributed among the one or more processors, not only residing within a single machine, but deployed across a number of machines. In some example embodiments, the processor or processors may be located in a single location (e.g., within a home environment, an office environment or as a server farm), while in other embodiments the processors may be distributed across a number of locations.
The one or more processors may also operate to support performance of the relevant operations in a “cloud computing” environment or as a “software as a service” (SaaS). For example, at least some of the operations may be performed by a group of computers (as examples of machines including processors), these operations being accessible via a network (e.g., the Internet) and via one or more appropriate interfaces (e.g., Application Program Interfaces (APIs).)
Example embodiments may be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or in computer hardware, firmware, software, or in combinations of them. Example embodiments may be implemented using a computer program product, e.g., a computer program tangibly embodied in an information carrier, e.g., in a machine-readable medium for execution by, or to control the operation of, data processing apparatus, e.g., a programmable processor, a computer, or multiple computers.
A computer program can be written in any form of programming language, including compiled or interpreted languages, and it can be deployed in any form, including as a stand-alone program or as a module, subroutine, or other unit suitable for use in a computing environment. A computer program can be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiple computers at one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by a communication network.
In example embodiments, operations may be performed by one or more programmable processors executing a computer program to perform functions by operating on input data and generating output. Method operations can also be performed by, and apparatus of example embodiments may be implemented as, special purpose logic circuitry, e.g., a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC).
The computing system can include clients and servers. A client and server are generally remote from each other and typically interact through a communication network. The relationship of client and server arises by virtue of computer programs running on the respective computers and having a client-server relationship to each other. In embodiments deploying a programmable computing system, it will be appreciated that that both hardware and software architectures require consideration. Specifically, it will be appreciated that the choice of whether to implement certain functionality in permanently configured hardware (e.g., an ASIC), in temporarily configured hardware (e.g., a combination of software and a programmable processor), or a combination of permanently and temporarily configured hardware may be a design choice. Below are set out hardware (e.g., machine) and software architectures that may be deployed, in various example embodiments.
The example computer system 1600 includes a processor 1602 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU) or both), a main memory 1604 and a static memory 1606, which communicate with each other via a bus 1608. The computer system 1600 may further include a video display unit 1610 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a cathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer system 1600 also includes an alphanumeric input device 1612 (e.g., a keyboard or a touch-sensitive display screen), a user interface (UI) navigation device 1614 (e.g., a mouse), a disk drive unit 1616, a signal generation device 1618 (e.g., a speaker) and a network interface device 1620.
The disk drive unit 1616 includes a machine-readable medium 1622 on which is stored one or more sets of instructions and data structures (e.g., software) 1624 embodying or utilized by any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. The instructions 1624 may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 1604 and/or within the processor 1602 during execution thereof by the computer system 1600, the main memory 1604 and the processor 1602 also constituting machine-readable media.
While the machine-readable medium 1622 is shown in an example embodiment to be a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” may include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one or more instructions or data structures. The term “machine-readable medium” shall also be taken to include any tangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying instructions for execution by the machine and that cause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies of the present invention, or that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying data structures utilized by or associated with such instructions. The term “machine-readable medium” shall accordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, and optical and magnetic media. Specific examples of machine-readable media include non-volatile memory, including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, e.g., Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), and flash memory devices; magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM) and Digital Versatile Disc Read-Only Memory (DVD-ROM) disks.
The instructions 1624 may further be transmitted or received over a communications network 1626 using a transmission medium. The instructions 1624 may be transmitted using the network interface device 1620 and any one of a number of well-known transfer protocols (e.g., HTTP). Examples of communication networks include a local area network (“LAN”), a wide area network (“WAN”), the Internet, mobile telephone networks, Plain Old Telephone (POTS) networks, and wireless data networks (e.g., WiFi, LTE, and WiMAX networks). The term “transmission medium” shall be taken to include any intangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying instructions for execution by the machine, and includes digital or analog communications signals or other intangible media to facilitate communication of such software.
Although an embodiment has been described with reference to specific example embodiments, it will be evident that various modifications and changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. The accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, show by way of illustration, and not of limitation, specific embodiments in which the subject matter may be practiced. The embodiments illustrated are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the teachings disclosed herein. Other embodiments may be utilized and derived therefrom, such that structural and logical substitutions and changes may be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure. This Detailed Description, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of various embodiments is defined only by the appended claims, along with the full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.
Such embodiments of the inventive subject matter may be referred to herein, individually and/or collectively, by the term “invention” merely for convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope of this application to any single invention or inventive concept if more than one is in fact disclosed. Thus, although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it should be appreciated that any arrangement calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to cover any and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments. Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments not specifically described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description.
