Introduction

The purpose of this project is to apply the database concepts discussed in the course to a real problem. In the past, we have performed this type of service for organizations in the community. For example, we recently completed a project for the Volunteer Center of Story County and, before that, the Principal Financial Group. This semester, the organization that will be the focus of our project will be Majestic Airwaves, Inc. (MAW). This is a non-profit organization that exists for the purpose of transmitting commercial-free Christian radio to Ames and the surrounding area. The focus of the project is on developing a donor management system. This is an application that is, in this case, relatively straightforward in regards to it requirements and design; therefore, this type of application should be transferable to a number of types of non-profit organizations (i.e., if you object to completing the project for this particular organization, you may focus your efforts on building a general-purpose donor management system for a non-profit organization) and we will make the higher quality systems available to organizations such a the Volunteer Center. The advantage of working on a project for a real organization is that it offers us the opportunity to interact with organizational actors for the purpose of obtaining information about the project and its requirements.

Organizational Background

Majestic Airwaves, Inc. (MAW). is an Ames-based nonprofit corporation, that was formed under chapter 504A of the Iowa Code on the 2nd of March, 2000. In June, 2001, the FCC approved MAW's applications for assignment of the FM translator license K290AJ to broadcast from its current location north of Ames. On November 21, 2001, operation of the translator was initiated with the result that the origination station, KNWS, is broadcast to Ames and several other surrounding communities.

Because of problems with interference from other stations, it will be necessary to eventually move the current translator station to a more suitable location. This is a major undertaking and will require a specific capitol campaign to raise funds for this purpose. Because the organization will need to raise funds for a substantial timeframe and personnel involved in the project may change over time, a capitol project like this would best be handled with the support of a database that can be used to track donations, capitol projects, donors, and organizational members and their interactions with donors. It would be helpful to know, for example, when donor solicitations were made, but also when donors were sent letters, receipts, and similar correspondence.

This is a relatively straightforward problem, therefore it is likely that you should focus your efforts not only on designing a robust data model, but also consider the requirements associated with the user interface, reports, forms, and navigation components that would make the system useful and useable. In this case, the current users would be the Funding Director and the Financial Director, both of whom are relatively knowledgeable systems users (e.g., the Financial Director is in a Systems area at the Principal Financial Group). However, one cannot guarantee that these individuals would be in place in the future; therefore, it would be useful to consider ease of use in the design of any application.

Comments about the system requirements are available from both the Funding Director and the Financial Director.

Other guidelines for completing the project are also available.