Keeping you and your colleagues on schedule can be tricky if some of your organization’s work involves being on-site and meeting with donors. Add to that the annual fundraising gala or organizing staff for a booth at a fair and scheduling can become a nightmare. Thanks to ever growing wi-fi networks and smartphones, though, keeping staff aware of scheduling need not be so scary. We’d like to share two applications over the next week that are real lifesavers when it comes to keeping things on track around our office. Today let’s tackle Tungle.
Tungle is a straight-up online calendaring and scheduling app that allows users to post availability, suggest meeting times, and confirm times and places with anyone with an internet or wireless-phone connection. Clients can be invited to respond to specific scheduling requests or given access to a whole calendar. When a date and time have been set, the profile’s owner can send email confirmations to all on the invitation list with a single click.
Already use Google Calendar, iCal, Facebook, Outlook, or even Lotus Notes? Tungle can tap into those accounts to give you greater control over scheduling. The one fly in this ointment is the fact that one must download and configure an app to offer synching with the iPhone via iCal, though Blackberry users have a free app available to them that makes the process seamless (Tungle was developed in partnership with Research In Motion, and an iPhone app is in-the-works). We especially like the fact that once a colleague has access to the calendar, she or he can post blocks of availability. Therefore, you need not waste time with those early rounds of emails with subjects like “Is everyone free Monday afternoon?” only to receive ten different replies.
To post a meeting proposal, click ‘Schedule a meeting’ and fill in the requisite Subject, Time, Proposed Meeting Place, and Duration. You can then add as many emails as necessary to get the word out. Those emails are saved within Tungle to speed up the process next time. Recipients then gain access to your account to block out times they can meet. They see only your availability and they fill whatever block is mutually convenient within that availability.
Your Tungle profile can be customized with your organization’s colors and logo, to keep a consistent visual presence of your nonprofit to the larger world. Moreover, you can download an elegant graphical link to include in your email signature inviting recipients to ‘Tungle Me’ when they need to meet with you.
And you get all this scheduling goodness for free!
If you want your calendaring to take on the duties of task management and keeping time sheets for accounting, please check out our post next week. Until then, do you have a particular app or software package you’d like to see reviewed? Please contact us!