What is aesthetically pleasing is not always functional or reliable. Anyone who has ever been duped into buying a recently cleaned-up used car has likely learned that lesson. It may appear shiny on the outside, and give off that clean, new car scent. It may even have an upgraded sound system, heated leather seats, and high-end rims, but when it comes to the vehicle’s most essential features: sa...

Is your municipality attempting to leverage an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software for your human resource (HR) department needs?  Too often ERP systems are foisted upon HR departments with the belief that the integrated HR modules will serve their needs. Instead, the result is the requirement to rely on a financial software system that creates disjointed employee data and leaves HR tea...

Pause from reading this blog and think about a typical day in the office. Count the number of desktop applications and Web-based software solutions you use daily. Your list will likely include your email client, enterprise resource planning software, CRM tool, government website content management system, a mass notification tool… you get the point.

If your municipality is attempting to leverage an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software for your human resource (HR) department needs, we know you’re frustrated. At its core, ERP software is intended as a financial system to track revenue, expenditures, and goods. With personnel being part of a businesses revenue equation, some private and public sector entities are attempting to use an E...

Technology unites us. It brings people together, encourages sharing, expands knowledge, and allows us to work better, smarter, and faster. It is not just in our personal lives that technology is having this unifying effect. Technology enables businesses to run more efficiently than ever before. It allows team members on opposite sides of a city to collaborate seamlessly, and it allows us to pro...

74 percent of social media marketers use visual assets in their social media marketing. Why? They know the impact that images have on informing and engaging visitors. They know that when people hear information, they're likely to remember only 10 percent of it three days later, but when a relevant image is paired with that same information, people retain 65 percent of the information three days...

Your community is changing, and your citizens’ needs are changing too. It should be no surprise then for us to tell you that your applicant pool is also changing, as are the strategies effective human resource managers will need to take to identify, recruit, and hire top talent in 2018. You should be continually evaluating your recruiting methods and determining which recruitment channels, mess...

As citizens, we all want to love where  we live. We want  our community to feel like home, to be a place that gives us a sense of pride, and the type of city, town, or village we want to work hard to protect and maintain. If you’re searching for new, unique ways to engage the residents of your community and promote the type of community love that all local governments hope to instill, you’re no...

The need to enable citizens to obtain local information and resources from a mobile device is not new. The latest data from the Pew Research Center tells us that 95 percent of Americans own a cell phone, and 77 percent own a smartphone—a 35 percent increase in only six years. Data also shows that not only are more Americans owning smartphones; they are using them to access services—including se...

Like any responsible municipality, you are conscientious of your budget. After all, your budget is composed of taxpayer dollars, and your taxpayers have entrusted their local government to make decisions for the betterment of the community that optimize available funds for the attainment of the highest quality products and services. Not only do you responsibly assess and allocate your budget, b...

CivicPlus®, the integrated technology platform for local government, has been recognized by Government Technology magazine as one of the top 100 companies in the United States helping to improve the public sector. The GovTech 100 list represents a compendium of 100 companies focused on and making a difference in state and local governments. 2018 marks the third consecutive year that CivicPlus h...

Raise your hand if you use LinkedIn as part of your recruitment strategy. Now, keep your hand in the air if you do anything else in LinkedIn other than posting job ads. I’m envisioning that your hand just went down, but don’t be discouraged. You’re not alone. At its core, LinkedIn is a social networking tool that aims to help passive and active job seekers to advance their careers, and help emp...

Beginning January 1, 2018, California employers may no longer ask job candidates, in writing or orally, for their current or previous salary information. In addition, employers must provide applicants, upon request, with a pay range for the open position for which the applicant has applied. The change comes in response to Assembly Bill No. 168, which was passed by the California state legislatu...

In the ever-growing realm of digital communication social media is all we hear about. However, in today's world of endless connectivity, the greatest opportunity to engage constituents on a rapid, low-cost and broad scale still lies in email communications. It is the responsibility of civic leaders to inform and educate members of their community. We look to our local governments in ti...

Think right now about your best employees. What are the characteristics that make him/her so exceptional? Most likely they demonstrate a dedicated work ethic, go above and beyond, take on more than is asked of them, and stress the details to ensure the highest quality results. Not only do these characteristics help to define the most valuable employees, they are characteristics that ca...

There are some myths and general misperceptions about senior adults and tech usage that we’d like to bust. Every demographic and population segment in your community is important, and you likely have citizen engagement strategies in place to target each a little differently. If you think, however, that Millennials are your only demographic of citizens looking you up on social media, or...

Your local government likely receives hundreds of requests every day across departments. Dog licenses, permits, access to transparency reports, facility reservations, and event sign-ups are just the tiniest fraction of the documents and requests your administration handles daily. We bet you even receive inquiries asking where to direct inquiries, right? We thought so.

CivicPlus®, the integrated technology platform for local government, has been committed to servicing the needs of local governments for the past 20 years. The importance that CivicPlus places on being a part of the solution to allow municipalities to operate efficiently goes beyond its corporate values, however. CivicPlus aims to hire individuals who feel the type of personal commitmen...

It’s officially election season. As a municipal website administrator, you know what that means: you can expect a huge spike in civic website traffic on November 7. FairVote estimates that 40 percent of the eligible population turns out to vote during a non-presidential election year. These voter turnout statistics translate to massive amounts of voter data that local governments will ...

CivicPlus®, the integrated technology platform for local government, has announced a strategic partnership with AudioEye, Inc. (OTCQB: AEYE) to provide enhanced ADA-related digital accessibility capabilities to its local government website design clients. AudioEye offers industry-leading software that enables public and private sector entities to make their content more consumable thro...

If your local government communication goals involve leveraging the latest tools and technology to keep up with current trends, then we have everything you need to start planning for 2018. The past decade has seen a significant paradigm shift in the ways that local governments communicate with citizens thanks to the proliferation of mobile technology and the widespread adoption of soci...

You already know that social media is an effective way to connect with digitally-minded citizens on a regular basis. You’re likely already using Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to keep citizens informed and share information on local events and opportunities, but you may be missing out on an opportunity to connect with individual residents and neighborhoods in even more engaging ways. ...

Want to know what citizens think of your local government website? Just ask. There are a variety of quantitative data gathering options available that can help you obtain valuable insights into the types of content your citizens desire from their civic website, as well as how your citizens feel about the overall design, functionality, and usability. Still, qualitative data can often be...

October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM), which means throughout October every public and private sector entity should spend time reengaging their website security strategy and ensuring they are aware of, and protected from, the latest cyber threats. For local governments, it’s important to remember in October, and all year long, that the Internet touches almost every...

CivicPlus has announced the formation of a strategic Client Advisory Board. The board is comprised of six of the nation’s leaders in public sector enterprise technology and civic engagement. The purpose of the board is to serve as a collaborative, strategic forum of industry partners to gather input and insights into the technology trends and emerging needs of public sector entities th...

Inc. magazine has included CivicPlus® in the 36th annual Inc. 5000, the most prestigious ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private companies. The list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economy’s most dynamic segment—its independent small and midsized businesses.