Release Notes - Sumac 4.7.8 - January 31, 2024

Release Notes - Sumac 4.7.8 - January 31, 2024

What’s new

Our Vision For 2024

Continuing with our recent rebranding to Societ, we're excited to share a glimpse into our 2024 Product Vision, which will provide you with an even better product that helps you “Do More Good”!

To achieve this, we will be focused on three primary goals:


Rapid Modernization

We're currently developing core components to create a browser-based solution tailored to our customers' needs, with the goal of advancing Sumac for a better user experience. Building on last year's Case Management Portal, our next steps include adding more Portals and refining existing ones to improve operational efficiency and support the diverse needs of nonprofits.



Impactful Updates

We're actively refining our product to align with our customers' unique needs. Expect upcoming Sumac updates influenced by user feedback, focusing on enhancing various aspects of our software including its appearance, donations management, permissions, new user workflows, dashboard functionality, reporting features, communications, and file management.



We encourage you to keep providing your valuable feedback as we continue to evolve our solution, ensuring it meets the changing needs and preferences of our customers.

Beautiful Customer Experience

We are committed to offering the best-looking and most intuitive CRM for nonprofits in the market. Our recent focus has been on modernizing key, high-traffic areas such as Contact Records, Templates and Receipting, and Suspected Duplicate Review, aiming for a sleek and user-friendly overhaul.



With these goals in mind, we’ve started the year strong with the following significant updates!

Updated Contact Summary Tab

In this release, we've revamped the Contact Summary Tab to enhance its functionality and aesthetics, making it easier for users to swiftly access comprehensive contact information across various areas of a contact record on a single screen!


This update brings several benefits:
  • Efficiency: Access comprehensive contact information quickly.

  • User-Friendly: Navigate different areas of a contact record with ease.

  • Enhanced Experience: Enjoy a more visually appealing and useful interface for your needs.

Now, let's delve into more details regarding this updated feature:

Introducing User-Centric Contact Summary Cards

In this update, we're excited to introduce our new user-centric Contact Summary Cards within the Summary tab. This feature allows you to quickly access important information about a contact, presented in different sections.


Our cards cover the following areas:
  • Contact Card: Easily find names, phone numbers, and email addresses.

  • Donation Card: See total lifetime donations, last donation date, and donation summary.

  • Preferred Address Card: Access address information effortlessly.

  • Recent Communications Card: Stay up-to-date with recent interactions.

  • Notes Card: Share important notes for other users reviewing the contact.

  • Membership Card: Explore a contact's membership history (this card will not be shown by default, for instructions on adding this card to your Sumac, see the next section).

  • Volunteer Card: Get a glimpse of volunteer information and hours (this card will not be shown by default, for instructions on adding this card to your Sumac, see the next section).

Note: We are committed to enhancing your experience with Contact Summary Cards. Have specific cards you'd like to see added? Share your ideas with us at product@societ.com!

Personalizing Your Summary Tab With Selectable Cards

Since user preferences vary, you can customize your Contact Summary Tab by selecting the cards you find most useful.

To do this, simply click the gear icon in the top-right corner.



And click and drag which card that you would like added or removed from your Summary Tab.

If you have questions or require further assistance, please contact our support team at 877.399.4645 x 1 or email us at support@sumac.com

Revamped Suspected Duplicates Interface

We've transformed the Suspected Duplicates window to provide you with a clearer and more user-friendly experience. The revamped layout simplifies navigation, enabling you to understand necessary actions or clicks without referring to instructions or help articles.

Benefits of the Updated Interface:
  • Streamlined Workflow: Quick and intuitive access to essential features, reducing the time spent on managing duplicates.

  • Enhanced Clarity: Improved visibility and organization of information, making it easier to identify and resolve duplicates accurately.

  • Reduced Learning Curve: User-friendly design minimizes the need for training, allowing both new and experienced users to adapt quickly.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the enhancements we’ve added:

Enhanced Suspected Duplicate Matches Interface

We've upgraded the interface for viewing suspected duplicate matches, ensuring greater clarity in distinguishing between the contact being compared and its potential duplicates. 

This enhancement makes it easier for users to decide which matches should be reviewed and merged, and which ones to ignore. Additionally, we've streamlined the navigation by focusing on the two primary actions: 'Review and Merge' and 'Ignore'.



Refined Contact Review and Merge Interface

The interface for reviewing contact details in comparison has been enhanced for a more intuitive experience. 

It now prominently displays what the new merged record will look like, providing clear visualization of the outcome. By default, the view is set to highlight only the differing fields among the contacts under comparison, streamlining the decision-making process. 

From this screen, you can choose to either Merge or Ignore the suspected duplicate matches.


Furthermore, you have the flexibility to exclude specific contacts from the merge or ignore action by simply clicking the 'x' next to their names, tailoring your review to your precise requirements.



Are you impressed with the new changes? We'd love to hear your thoughts! Please share any feedback or suggestions at product@societ.com

Streamlined Address Updates For Related Contacts

Updating address information for contacts with linked relationships just got simpler! Keeping addresses up-to-date is vital for accurate record-keeping and effective communication, especially when dealing with contacts that have multiple connected relationships.


In this new setup, you'll find convenient checkboxes in the column header for quick selection of multiple contacts. There are also individual checkboxes for each related contact's address, providing the flexibility to selectively update as needed.

This improvement allows for quick, one-click updates or just a few clicks for more targeted changes, making it much more efficient to keep your contact data up to date.

Unified Search Builder Experience Across Sumac

In a recent release, we added some enhancements to Search Builder in the Contact list. To ensure a consistent experience with this new Search Builder functionality across different sections of Sumac, we've updated the Search Builder interface in the Campaigns area to include these same enhancements. 

This update streamlines your ability to effectively select contacts for your campaign outreach using Search Builder, regardless of where you access it in Sumac.


New Donor Retention Rate Dashlet

Introducing a valuable new feature to your growing selection of dashlet options – a dashlet designed for easy visualization of your year-over-year donor retention rate!




Monitoring donor retention is vital as it signifies sustained engagement and support from your donors. It's a key indicator of the effectiveness of your donor relationship strategies and fundraising efforts. Keeping track of this metric is essential for understanding donor loyalty, which in turn guides you in targeting your outreach and engagement initiatives.

To incorporate this new dashlet into your dashboard, click on the gear icon at the top right of your dashboard, then click and drag the “Donor YOY Retention Rate” dashlet to the Dashlet Group of your choice.


Update 'Other' Option For Checkbox Lists

We've enhanced our checkbox lists to improve how you gather and analyze data. Now, our Case, Custom, and Form records can include an 'Other' option in a checkbox list, allowing for more comprehensive and flexible data collection.


This update enables the inclusion of responses that may not be pre-listed in your options, allowing you to quickly adapt to the myriad of responses you may need to capture. Additionally, it supports coherent and effective reporting, accommodating a wider range of data without compromising on clarity or ease of use.

New Payment ‘Processing Fee Amount’ Column To Display Fees Covered By Donors

To enhance reporting capabilities and improve our customers' access to vital information, we've added a 'Payment Processing Fee' field in Sumac. This field is specifically designed to capture the fees covered by the donor.


To display this new column in your Donations or Payments area, click on the columns icon, then drag 'Processing Fee Amount' into your desired fields.

Furthermore, this field is accessible when exporting donation and payment records, and is also available as a mail merge code for use in your templates.

We would love to hear your feedback about the changes made in this release.  Please let us know at product@societ.com










    Our products got an upgrade!



    Some screenshots and help videos have been made using older versions of our products. Though your version's colours and themes may appear different than what you see here, the instructions, links and advice in this article are still accurate and useful!


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