Carbonite Offers Non-Profits Three Tips to Prepare for Giving Season

BOSTON, Oct. 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- With the holidays fast approaching, it's time for non-profit organizations to gear up for the season of giving. As fundraising efforts increase, so does the amount of crucial business data that non-profits need to manage. Knowing how to maintain clear records and how to protect this data is vital, but can seem daunting when budgets and employee time are stretched thin. Carbonite, Inc. (NASDAQ: CARB), a leading provider of online backup solutions for consumers and small- and medium-sized businesses, is encouraging non-profit organizations to securely back up their valuable data and records as the giving season begins. 

Carbonite's recommendations are based on a recently-conducted survey* that indicates many non-profits are placing their mission-critical data at risk by not implementing a comprehensive data backup plan.  Despite the importance of protecting valuable data like donor lists and fundraising records, nearly one-third of non-profits stated they did not know how much data their organizations needed to backup. Additionally, 36% admitted that they had not backed up their data in the last week.  The fact that only 23% of non-profits surveyed used IT consultants or a trusted third-party to help evaluate new software and technology suggests that they also need and want solutions that are easy to understand, implement and maintain.

In order to ensure that critical donor list, fundraising records and other operational data is optimally protected, it is recommended that non-profit organizations incorporate three best-practice approaches:

1. Perform continual backups, not periodic. Data mishaps rarely occur with a warning, so it is important to make sure the organization's backup is always current.
2. Ensure that all data is backed up.  As many non-profits are not sure how much data they need to back up, it is critical that they use a backup solution that has the capacity and capability to keep all—and not just a portion—of their data protected.
3. Choose a solution that is easy to set up and maintain.  Given that many non-profits manage their software and technology decisions themselves, it is important their data backup solution is easy to set up and—perhaps more importantly—easy to maintain.  While simple solutions such as flash drives or external hide drives may be relatively easy to set up, they require ongoing supervision and can also distract from other priorities.  More automated solutions, such as an online backup system, can automatically maintain a complete and continual backup of all a non-profit's data; with online backup, an organization's focus, time and energy can remain on its cause.

"As non-profits prepare for the giving season, it is especially important that they take the steps necessary to protect the donor information and records that are so critical to their success," said Peter Lamson, senior vice president and general manager of small business for Carbonite.  "With affordable online backup solutions like Carbonite Business, non-profits can easily, safely store their valuable, and often irreplaceable, data."

Non-profit organizations can rely on Carbonite Business as an affordable option for their IT plans and stringent budgets. Carbonite Business backs up an unlimited number of computers for a predictable, flat fee with 250GB of storage included and Carbonite Business Premier backs up an unlimited number of computers and servers with 500GB of storage included. Nonprofits can easily add supplemental storage packs as their backup needs grow.

To best serve non-profit organizations, Carbonite Business is available for non-profits with special pricing; for further information, organizations can call 1-877-334-7621 or email [email protected].

*Carbonite Small Business Data Backup Usage Study, July 2011.

About Carbonite
Carbonite, Inc. (NASDAQ: CARB), is a leading provider of online backup solutions for consumers and small and medium sized businesses. More than 1.1 million subscribers in over 100 countries rely on Carbonite to provide easy-to-use, affordable, unlimited and secure online backup solutions with anytime, anywhere data access. Carbonite's online backup solution runs on both the Windows and Mac platforms. The company has backed up more than 100 billion files, restored more than 7 billion files and currently backs up more than 200 million files each day. For more information, please visit www.carbonite.com, twitter.com/carbonite, or facebook.com/CarboniteOnlineBackup.

Media Contact
Erin Delaney
Carbonite
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Megan Soule
Airfoil PR for Carbonite
248-304-1428
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SOURCE Carbonite, Inc.