Mobilising the Civi Community

I first started coding with CiviCRM about three months ago.

I'd left my previous job to start working, for the first time, as the only Software Developer at a small London-based charity. Future First is an education charity that aims to help state schools mobilise their former students. This can involve (but isn't limited to) getting alumni to e-mentor current students, do presentations in school assemblies, meet students at open days, or provide donations, in much the same way that private schools have been doing for centuries. The results so far have been spectacular, having started in 2009 in London, Future First is now operating in schools throughout England and are soon to start in Wales. This isn't mentioning the pilot project in Kenya!

But big ambitions need a big database, which brings us to CiviCRM.

Every year, CiviCRM hosts sprints where developers group together to help solve common problems and prepare the next big release. CiviCRM picked a calm, quiet spot in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales, and threw open the doors to its own alumni. Caches giving you grief? Take a walk to clear your head. Stuck on a template that won't work properly? Go and look at some sheep! It sounds silly but the environment and laser-like focus here does wonders for your productivity.

The main benefit to a new CiviCRM developer like myself though, is the community. The people on the sprint are driven to produce the best, and they are willing to bend over backwards to help anyone, no matter how basic the questions must seem to them. So far three experienced developers have helped me with an extension that I'm writing (soon to be released to the community - watch this space!), and I've managed to get involved in a visualisation project that will be a massive benefit to Future First (and, probably, your organisation too). I can't think of a better way to learn CiviCRM. Can you?