2018 HomeKeeper Recap and 2019 Roadmap

Since 2011, HomeKeeper is proud to have helped people like you manage your homeownership and housing counseling programs more efficiently, and report on your impacts with ease.

Through the years, we’ve remained committed to our core belief that better data begets brighter insights, smarter decisions and bigger impacts.And we’ve also learned that better systems means better service, stronger stewardship and of course, happier staff.

2018 was a year of growth for HomeKeeper. We are excited to share accomplishments, lessons learned, and where we are going next.

HomeKeeper Community

Our HomeKeeper community continues to expand. We welcomed 20 new organizations in 2018. This included 12 homeownership users, and 8 housing counseling users. Currently, we have a total of 90 participating organizations.
Multiple participating organizations continue to provide valuable examples of the power of using HomeKeeper to track your programs in Salesforce, including impact reporting, housing counseling activity, and cultivating partnerships between housing counseling and homeownership programs.

Product Development

HomeKeeper became Lightning Ready in 2018, with the release of our latest version. This allows user organizations to choose to use HomeKeeper in either the Classic or Lightning user interface of Salesforce. Participating organizations in either user interface can benefit from upgrading to the latest version to access new features.
Our latest release of HomeKeeper included 17 features that were suggested by our users.

The HomeKeeper National Data Hub

In 2018, the Research Department at Grounded Solutions Network conducted a study based on the data in the HomeKeeper National Data Hub. The National Data Hub study takes a multipronged approach to examine and compare the sector performance.
Have you seen your data in a Social Impact dashboard? Fifty-three organizations have contributed data to the HomeKeeper National Data Hub. Are you a HomeKeeper Hub contributor? If so, we’ve continued to maintain and update your interactive Social Impact Report, which benchmarks your data against your peers. We also regularly update the Public Dashboard so anyone can view aggregate data.

Support and Training

We’ve helped you build your HomeKeeper skills. Have you joined us on one of our webinars lately? We’ve hosted 31 this year, including our monthly New User Q&A and Office Hours and trainings on reporting for beginners or advanced users, Lightning users, and Habitat cohorts. Couldn’t attend? Access the recordings in our Support Forum.
You asked. We answered. You submitted 22% more tickets in 2018 than in 2017. We did our best to help you get the information or support you needed.
In-person training: We offered hands-on training and skill building opportunities at the 2018 Grounded Solutions conference. We continue to explore how we can offer training.

Other 2018 Highlights

Our staff earned new Salesforce Certifications. This means we can provide accurate, relevant advice to our participating organizations, and keep HomeKeeper up to date and flexible, based on what’s possible in Salesforce
We visited 8 organizations in person, and conducted more than 15 in-person 1-1 sessions at conferences.
Check out 2018 HomeKeeper by the Numbers.

2019 Roadmap

In 2019, you can expect continued support from us. In particular, we will be:

Assisting you and connecting you with your peers to ensure you are supported and your program is successful. We will continue with office hours, webinars and email ticketing support, as detailed in our 2019 Training and Support Schedule. Remember, you can always contact us at Support@MyHomeKeeper.org, or sign into our Support Forum to log a ticket.
Providing hands-on training. For the first time, HomeKeeper Basics and Beyond will be offered as a Grounded Solutions E-Learning event.
Releasing more HomeKeeper features. We will release a new version of HomeKeeper which will include new features including to track custom demographic data that accurately reflects your community. This is part of the Grounded Solution Network commitment to promote racial equity in our work.
Growing our membership. We hope to add at least 15 new members in 2019, and will continue to target high capacity Habitat for Humanity affiliates and City inclusionary housing programs. Who do you know that might be able to benefit from HomeKeeper?
Expanding our research capacity. In collaboration with Vince Wang, the Research Manager at Grounded Solutions, we are allocating resources to improve our Social Impact metrics. In 2019, the National Data Hub study will be published by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy – watch the Grounded Solutions website for updates.

Thank you for your continued support as a HomeKeeper user. Without your participation, dedication and commitment, the HomeKeeper program would not be possible! -Tiffany, Cheryl and Valerie

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