Register for Product Donations
New here? If you'd like to participate, join us. If you're already a member, log in.
javascript disabled
Close this Window
New tech articles, discussions, offers. Weekly.
Get our latest product info. Bi-weekly.
The theme for this final week of TechSoup's GreenTech Initiative campaign, The Green Side of Cloud Computing, is all about using cloud databases - more specifically, constituent relationship management (CRM) databases.
My colleague Elliot Harmon has just written an informative article, CRM in the Cloud: Right for Your Organization?, that sheds light on this very important part of the nonprofit techscape.
CRM databases were originally designed as commercial sales tools that captured information about sales prospects and customers so that a customer service team could share the information as needed. Of course they are still widely used in the commercial world for that purpose.
Nonprofits now use them in a different way and call them constituent relationship management databases. There are basically two types:
1. Donor management CRMs that track grant prospects like our featured TechSoup product, BlackbaudNow with MatchFinder.
2. General CRMs that keep records of sundry support groups that a nonprofit or library may have, such as staff, volunteers, clients, partners, collaborators, vendors, contractors, and board members.
Cloud-based CRM databases are a mature, well-developed technology and ready for use by nonprofits. The environmental case for using them is the same as for other software as a service tools: they allow organizations to use less server hardware and lighter desktop computers because all the work can be done online.
Grant prospect CRM databases are generally used as-is, and there are several good ones to choose from, such as DonorPerfect Online, eTapestry, and Telosa.
The more general CRM online databases usually require the help of a database expert to help organizations assess their needs and customize the database. Examples of these include Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online for Nonprofits and Salesforce.com for nonprofits.
And finally, here's a bit more on our featured TechSoup product, BlackbaudNow with MatchFinder:
BlackbaudNow is a free online donor management CRM database that functions as a fundraising starter service for new or small organizations. It provides small organizations with a donation-ready website via its WebNow service, powered by PayPal. It has tools to manage donors and run email marketing campaigns as well.
The MatchFinder upgrade for BlackbaudNow is available from TechSoup for an admin fee of $30 for a five-year subscription. MatchFinder allows organizations to search Blackbaud's database of more than 24,000 companies in North America that match gifts from employees. Learn more about cloud computing for your nonprofit or library on TechSoup's cloud page.