Software Applications

Overview

Planned Giving Manager, or PGM, is a Windows application licensed from PG Calc, used by specific individuals in DEVO, AAFO, and ADMS. Here is the publisher's description:

More than 25 years ago, PG Calc introduced Planned Giving Manager (PGM), a calculation and proposal software package that instantly became a leader in the planned giving software arena. Today, many updates later, PGM and its streamlined counterpart, Gift Annuity Manager (GAM), remain the calculations and proposals software of choice for the majority of planned giving programs around the country....
Our planned giving software enhances your productivity by giving you the capability to calculate, explain, compare, promote, and document planned gifts, and to work more effectively with you donors and their advisors.

Product Details

Planned Giving Manager is usually called PGM, or it may be referred to by its publisher's name, PG Calc.
The current version, shared on the APPS drive, is 7.5a, as of May 2018
Here is the publisher's marketing page.
Here is a link to the support page; the knowledgebase is available without having to login.
The same publisher produces a Windows application called GiftWrap, used by some of the same people but licensed separately.
The extra "CGA Manual" is covered under the PGM license for all users.

System Requirements

PGM was developed using very old Windows technologies (circa Windows 95), so it should run on any Windows computer on campus.

Licensing Information

Licensing Restrictions

Carleton purchased two licenses for PGM, and obtained a verbal agreement that this could be interpreted as two concurrent licenses. However, this is not metered in any way; the users made a verbal agreement with the publisher that they would "make sure not more than two people are using PGM at once". A limited number of people have been given the necessary full rights to the application directory, where the database is shared. These rights are currently controlled by the AD group called PGMUsers_gs. PGM users also have the right to the "CGA Manual" (Charitable Gift Annuities: The Complete Resource Manual).

In December, it was confirmed with Dave Wolfe of pgcalc.com that our license permits the use of PGM from the Citrix environment, if that is technically possible (which it currently is not).

Usage Restrictions

Because the users have asked to share their database and narrative files, the application can only be used by the authorized individuals (see previous paragraph) from an administrative (wired) IP address and a current mapping to APPS (W:).

Home Use

Because of the shared database, this is not appropriate for personal computers.

Lab and Classroom Availability

This application is not for use in labs or classrooms.

Citrix Availability

We have had a request (from a Mac user) to make PGM available in the Citrix environment. In December 2015, SNissen investigated this and could not make it work (because of the mapped W: drive).

Installation Instructions

College Owned Equipment

Because of the shared database, this application and its data are completely stored on APPS, and no installation is needed. However, most users will want a shortcut off their Programs menu:

If not logged in as a member of the PGMUsers_gs group, login to the computer using the ITS account, which has rights as a local Windows Administrator-equivalent.
Make sure you have drive W: mapped. (The usual MapNetworkDrives.bat script will do this.)
On Windows 7, choose the Start logo, then right-click All Programs and choose Open. (This will be user-specific.)
A Windows Explorer window will open with the Start Menu folder selected. Open the Programs folder in this Start Menu folder.
If it does not already exist, make a new folder here titled "PG Calc", and open it.
From within the PG Calc folder, create a new shortcut with these properties:
1. Location: enter or browse to W:\Windows\PGM\pgmw32.exe
2. For the name, enter PGM
Test the shortcut by running it; the ITS account used to have rights, as a member of the PGMUsers_gs AD group.
To make the Help button to work in PGM, login to the /wiki/spaces/TAR/pages/26444181 (go/kbox) and run the library item, "PGM Help".
From within the PG Calc folder, create a new shortcut with these properties:
1. Location: enter or browse to "W:\Windows\PGM\CGA Manual\CGA Manual.pdf"
2. For the name, enter CGA Manual.
From within the PG Calc folder, create a new shortcut with these properties:
1. Location: enter or browse to "W:\Windows\PGM\CGA Manual\Prototype Documents" (the folder, no one file within the directory)
2. For the name, enter Prototype Documents

New: Version 6.6 finally switched from old style Windows .HLP help to the new style .CHM help. There is in the /wiki/spaces/TAR/pages/26444181 a new item with the name "PGM Help", visible to all users.

/wiki/spaces/itskb/pages/26133189 to protected information for ITS instructions

Who To Call

The users are the only ones who know how to use this software; the current contact is Nichole Wrolstad. Sande Nissen in ITS has performed the network-based installation and all the upgrades.

Questions, Tips and Tricks

Technical Troubleshooting

If a user is not in the group which has the necessary rights to this application directory, the problem may manifest in different ways:

when creating the shortcut, the user cannot see this W:\Windows\PGM directory or the PGMW32.exe file;
when launching the program, the user is prompted for a license code;
when using the program, changes to settings are not saved.

If this user needs to run PGM, create a WebHelpDesk ticket with their username for Les LaCroix to add to the PGMUsers_gs AD group.

If the KBOX user portal item "PGM Help" doesn't make help available inside PGM, try this manual fix: copy the file pgmw32.chm from W:\Windows\PGM to C:\windows\help. (Remember, to run PGM at all, you have to have APPS mapped to W:, which MapNetworkDrives.bat does for all users.)

Miscellaneous Information

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