Welcome to your digital demo experience.

View the Slate for Advancement Executive Summary

View the Slate for Advancement White Paper

View our Technical Details documentation

Configuration options

Slate can be licensed and implemented for admissions and advancement in one of two manners: (1) together within a single, shared database, or (2) as separate, standalone databases. There is no "right" or "wrong" path, but there are some key differences.

Shared Database

Slate provides granular permission controls and can restrict who can process gifts separately from who can process decisions, for example. Population permissions can restrict which users can access which records. For example, advancement staff might be able to access all constituents while admissions staff might be able to access only prospect applicants, applicants, and limited information about alumni.

On a constituent record, a comprehensive timeline would be able to show the admissions interactions, enrolled student interactions, and alumni/advancement interactions. Reports could look at the entire funnel from prospective applicant through to donor. Communications could target all constituents of the university for major announcements. Under this model, Slate becomes an enterprise system that has the capability to manage centrally this entire lifecycle. As an enterprise system, there would need to be centralized support and administration at the university.

While there could be divergent business processes and data fields, there should be some degree of process and data alignment. For example, rules and automations should take into consideration the existence of all of these cohorts. Fields, tabs, and populations would need to be permissioned, and there would need to be a structure to organize the queries, forms, events, and communications of the different offices using Slate.

The key to this approach is that there be some degree of coordination, at a high database level, between the offices using this Slate database. Institutions for which this would be an effective option should also desire the value in whole lifecycle visibility and reporting.

There would be a single domain name, so the existing domain name would need to be renamed to something more generic like, where the admissions alias could redirect on to the new shared alias. There would also need to be unified branding, but this would likely be as simple as removing the current highlighting of "Admissions" in the navigation for certain types of generic pages. Support of Slate would be provided in a centralized manner to the institution, but support would still include all of the nuance that is specific to admissions, advancement, or elsewhere in the funnel.

Separate Databases

These would be wholly separate databases with wholly separate implementations and support structures. There could be a centralized support unit at the university, but this would not be a process requirement. Where there is a desire to share data, there could be data integrations between the two databases, but as two separate databases, there would need to be a data integration wherever there is a desire to query, report, or communicate for a combined audience.

Summary

Ultimately, the decision to operate in shared or separate databases is motivated more by human and organizational factors than technical ones. If a university has a capacity to adopt Slate as an enterprise system and a desire to look at this whole lifecycle of a constituent, the possibilities are incredibly powerful. If, however, a university does not have this capacity or desire, there could be challenges to operating in a single database that are solved by implementing and operating out of separate databases.

View our Illinois Wesleyan University case study

View our Stevenson School case study

Slate Design

The clean, functional design of Slate ensures that users do not need technical expertise to maximize its powerful capabilities. The intuitive interface and straightforward systems simplify training needs.

Fundamentals of Slate

Slate institutions embark on their onboarding with Fundamentals of Slate, a comprehensive overview of the entire system. Developed by a team of specialized, highly experienced Technolutions staff, Fundamentals of Slate consists of a self-paced, online course and supporting live segments. The online course provides you with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to configure Slate. The live segments offer opportunities to engage with Technolutions staff, to build your network, and to forge connections with other Slate organizations. After training, your team receives priority access to our staff for any number of follow-up community conversations, on-demand access to a suite of online training videos, and comprehensive written documentation. Your comprehensive Slate license includes three complimentary Fundamentals of Slate registrations and there are no additional implementation fees.

Client Success Team

All client organizations have a Client Success Team as the primary point of contact within Technolutions. Working closely with your team throughout the implementation process, our Client Success Team members are Slate generalists who understand the entire system and how each module is interconnected. Many of our staff have had previous experience in enrollment management, advancement, and student success roles on campuses across the United States. Our staff also brings a mixed background of expertise in technology, marketing, finance, and management, with the skills necessary to ensure successful onboarding.

Community-Based Support

In the Slate Community Forums, users can ask questions, share best practices, and solicit answers for best practices and advice from the broader Slate community. Slate is in a constant state of evolution with continuous enhancements to Slate published throughout the year. Our feedback portal allows for bidirectional communication about Slate features and functionality. The development roadmap is shared transparently with all Slate users who can quickly and easily provide feedback about all aspects of the Slate user experience.

Access our Getting Started guide in the Knowledge Base. This series of articles provides a general roadmap on how to assemble your core team and start the implementation process.

All licenses to Slate are comprehensive and include access to all features, functionality, service, support, design, and development, without limitation or restriction. There are no per-user fees or restrictions, and there are no separate implementation fees. All data migrations and integrations are included as part of the annual subscription. Only four types of costs fall outside of the annual license: 1) Any credit card processing fees charged by third parties; 2) Nominal communication fees charged by third parties, such as telephony, printing, postage, and text messaging; 3) The registration cost for attending optional events and training such as the Slate Innovation Festival; 4) Travel expenses for events

Rate tiers are based upon their active full-time undergraduate enrollment (FTE), which we have found to be the greatest predictor of the active and contributing alumni base. The license tiers for a separate database for advancement are as follows, with the corresponding annual fees:

< 2,500 — $50,000

2,500-7,500 — $75,000

7,500-15,000 — $100,000

15,000-30,000 — $125,000

30,000-45,000 — $150,000

45,000-60,000 — $175,000