Giftworks

Hi Rick,

When you create a household in GiftWorks, you can choose the sex of each member, and then can choose their role in the household (including spouse or partner). The list of roles is also customizable, so you can add other roles, allowing you to identify the household members however makes the most sense for your organization. Hope that helps.

Thanks,
Chris Walker
Mission Research

Hi,

My organization is small and we've been looking for a donor management software program and GiftWorks looks like it is just what we need. HOWEVER, it is sold out on TechSoup Stock and the $299 regular price is a bit steep for us. Any news on when more copies will be available through TechSoup Stock?

Thanks!
Carmen J. Neely
Crucial Arts Productions, Inc.

I too am interested in when Giftworks will be available at TechSoup - or if at all.

Thanks

Dear Readers,

As per the Mission Research donation page we are still in negotiations with our partners over at Mission Research regarding converting this donation program from a donated-product offering to a discounted product offering.

At this time I'm afraid we don't have a date, or a price that Giftworks will be available at, though I highly recommend that interested people check the above page for updates and sign up for our Product Alert enewsletter for updated information regarding this donation program.

I hope this helps!
- Jodi-lee

I've used a varied of fundraising/donor software.

The NPO I currently work with purchased giftworks through TechSoup last year. While the President of our company loves it (she has limited technical skills), I found Giftworks to be an overpriced database tool with a poor graphic user interface and a lot of technical bugs. I have Giftworks software but I don't use it and I've removed it from my pc entirely. I use a MS Access database with an excel file for the same purpose.

There are other donor databases out there that are similar to Giftworks but more streamlined. My favorite program is Raiser's Edge by Blackbaud - but it is expensive.

If you are tech savvy and have less than 1000 donors, then I would just use an excel spreadsheet. Giftworks and most other donor databses will let you import from Excel should you decide to upgrade.

If you do decide to get Giftworks pay for the technical support - you'll need it.

Dear pandorarebecca,

My problem with using Excel as a donor database is that as soon as you get a second gift from the same donor you either have a duplicate record or you have to manually add the donations together. You can't easily track multiple addresses for a donor, relationships between donors, or soft credits (like when a corporate matching gift should provide recognition for an individual, or an individual gives through a family foundation or Donor Advised Fund). You also can't enforce any data integrity rules, like requiring only valid 2-digit state codes for U.S. addresses, or making sure one address is always identified as primary.

It's not impossible -- I had a client who used Excel to track over ten thousand donors. However, this "simple" approach became so complicated that only the Executive Director was allowed to touch the spreadsheet.

Excel is fine for tracking a few gifts, and can be a good supplemental tool for tracking prospects and proposals, but it's not a replacement for a relational donor database.

Robert

I'm from GiftWorks, and would love to learn about your experience with the program. If you're coming from Raiser's Edge, it's likely you'll have a different experience. But I'm surprised to hear your comment that it's expensive, especially if you're coming from Raiser's Edge. Any feedback will be helpful to serving our nonprofit customers.

Feel free to contact me at charlie at | missionresearch .com

I'm considering upgrading to GiftWorks from the eBase system we have been using for the past three years. Our list has grown to about 5,000 records, and we are beginning to target a more global audience for recording & touring, rather than just our local concert series. We really liked the GiftWorks demo, and the cost is actually in our price range, unlike the mega-systems like Raiser's Edge.

Yes, I too come from a Raiser's Edge background. I agree that it's wonderful software (when implemented correctly; otherwise it can be a nightmare). Aside from the financial burden of installing RE7, we simply don't have the human and technical resources to implement that level of a system. I realize I'm digging up an old post, but I fail to see how RE7 and GiftWorks can even be compared in the same category?

As to using a Excel as a donor database, it is far too limited (without superior spreadsheet "programming" skill) to serve even a small NPO's needs effectively, IMHO. eBase has served our small non-profit well, and now it is time for us to take the next step up. GiftWorks seems like a logical progression.

Now, about that discount for TechSoup users... :-)

Here are some candid comments about Giftworks that I observed and I am also responding to this thread and this post in particular:

"I found Giftworks to be an overpriced database tool with a poor graphic user interface and a lot of technical bugs. I have Giftworks software but I don't use it and I've removed it from my pc entirely. I use a MS Access database with an excel file for the same purpose.

There are other donor databases out there that are similar to Giftworks but more streamlined. My favorite program is Raiser's Edge by Blackbaud - but it is expensive.

If you are tech savvy and have less than 1000 donors, then I would just use an excel spreadsheet. Giftworks and most other donor databses will let you import from Excel should you decide to upgrade.

If you do decide to get Giftworks pay for the technical support - you'll need it."

I too found GiftWorks to be a bit clunky, especially with its GUI interface (or lack thereof), you can't maneuver between sections/windows without closing the window you are in or loosing what you are doing.

It isn't as streamlined between Qbooks and Qbook's Address books as I would have liked it to be, the email templates are very weak although on the plus side it does give you many fields to work with which is a plus over Qbooks.

The email template editor is very weak for designing new templates! Some key issues in this area are no vertical rulers, no grids for lining up logos, text etc. The editor doesn't provide multiple levels for designing something in another program as an image, bringing it back in then overlaying the fields. You can bring in an image but it is cumbersome to say the least if you want to design a nice professional looking template for mailing receipts, thank you's letters, etc. that will line up with business envelopes, etc. It is critical to be able to align the the template with business (windowed) envelopes, etc when designing templates. Quickbooks has a far better design editor even though it is a bit clunky as well. However, QBKS editor is doable.

The address book is very clunky compared to other programs especially with the import features. It isn't as streamlined as I have found in other programs. You have to spend way too much time to get it to even come close to working correctly. I spent much time on this as well and then I picked up QBKS Contact Manager and that program's import and export ability puts GiftWorks to shame as I was able to accomplish import/export multiple times within 5 minutes!

Not having an address book that can't import/export real smoothly makes this difficult in interfacing with external HTML email programs on a frequent basis. In fact it would be a great strength if they had a seamless interface with a web based email program like Constant Contact or icontact, etc.

This brings me to another topic, an HTML program that is seamless or integrated with Giftworks, it isn't there! Their own marketing dept. uses icontact which seems to be a decent web-based email program but they don't have their own software integrated with it! (I can't vouch for icontacts contact management capabilities as I haven't tried that yet; however Constant Contact's ability in this area is pretty good!)

On the positive side, Giftworks is close to having many nice features but still seems far away. I do like it's relational database and relational address book features. Tech support is expensive and that seems to be where they want to make their money. Okay, so be it, however we wouldn't need tech support if it had a better GUI and better interfacing capabilities.

So, I too agree with poster (pandorarebecca), that there are likely other more efficient or cost effective alternatives at getting your job done especially for smaller organizations that are getting started however I am not sure about using Excel/Access as that seems to be a time killer and may be reinventing the wheel; however there are likely other alternatives available. They mention Excel, MS Access, or programs like Raiser's edge, etc. I am not sure about those alternatives and I admit there are certainly trade offs no matter which route you take and each organization has to look at what suits them best at the time.

We for now will be using Quickbook's full blown nonprofit version which does almost as much as the present Giftworks can do in reporting, etc; QBKs has added on many reports that seem to be sufficient and useful as far as tracking finances, funding, etc. QBooks biggest drawback is its lack of tracking Year-End Totals automatically on the receipts/thankyou's and this is one of the major reasons we looked to Giftworks in the first place.

For now, we will be using QBKs Contact manager which interfaces nicely with QBKS and also for importing and exporting to Constant Contact (HTML web based program). That way we will gain the ability for keeping contacts in a web based program and exporting to the Contact Manager for offline use. We will live with putting in YTD totals manually in the receipts in QBKS. At any rate, QBKS does allow you to find these totals through reports and other means which can be pasted fairly easily into letters, etc. then printed out for mailing.

This leads me to make a comment about another area, GiftWorks is also weak in doing HTML mailings. Integration with a web based contact manger and HTML program is very convenient for anyone in your organization to keep address books updated from any location and the ability to send mailings from any location, etc. However, if this feature is ever added they will likely charge a pretty penny for it just like Donor Perfect and eTapestry (add ons come at a hefty price)!

Maybe future versions of Giftworks will have a better GUI, better interface with QBKS, better and more seamless interface with their address book and other programs (such as an HTML mailing program, etc) which perhaps would be integrated with a web based HTML program for mailing.

So, due to the clunkiness of Giftworks and due to the fact we were duplicating efforts too much with programs we already have we decided not to use Giftworks any longer.

Well, hopefully this will help anyone that is questioning whether to take the plunge or not and perhaps save you hours of evaluation time! If you think you would like GiftWorks, be sure to download the trial and give yourself plenty of testing time before purchasing it!

Good luck to the brave with Giftworks!

Sincerely,

A fellow nonprofit organization

I have reviewed GiftWorks for several nonprofit projects and generally disagree with the problems surfaced here with the software, and some of the comparisons presented.

I have found that when compared to projects of generally the same scope (ebase, Metrix, eTapestry, DonorPerfect online to name a few), that GiftWorks has one of the better refined user interface of all the tools. I find that it is very easy for my clients to learn the tool through experimentation and that the presentation of information and quick access to querying/segmentation is extremely usable.

Is GiftWorks expensive? At $299 a license, it depends on your needs. Tools such as eTapestry price by the # of records and additional modules, and require ongoing payments, which can quickly raise the cost from free to over $3000/yr and up. Tools such as ebase and Metrix are "free", but you may need to purchase FileMaker/Access per user, and invest rather heavily in staff support or external consultant support time to sucessfully implement and maintain it. Nonprofits should be very careful to plan for their needs. Taking this into account, in many cases I find GiftWorks among the more affordable options of its class.

As for the various features indicated as deficient in this thread, I would definitely recommend that nonprofits simply test drive each of these using the demo and support from GiftWorks. In many cases, one persons "bug" is another persons "feature", so spend some time using the software demo and all features you require to experience what works for you and what may not. Use trial software every time it is available prior to purchasing any database solution.

Regarding Raisers Edge, Quickbooks and Access as an alternative to GiftWorks, I strongly caution nonprofits against a side-by-side comparison of these four. Raisers Edge is a world apart from GiftWorks, a very comprehensive fundraising platform with numerous additional modules and features, and a very high price point. It requires dedicated in-house staff support to manage the system effectively for an organization. Access is not a finished solution, it requires users to build their own application. With Access or any custom solution, carefully weigh the extra engineering costs you will pay for a finished application against other pre-built options that exist to understand the trade-offs.

- Eric

I am surprised to see some of the recent comments about GiftWorks' shortcomings. I am a development consultant and although I am not a database expert, I am often in the position to recommend a donor database to my small and mid-size nonprofit clients.
I see a number of development professionals with a database of under 5,000 donors and my recommendation is always GiftWorks. It is user friendly and its features just seem to make sense for the typical development program.
The price can't be beat -- technical people are friendly and responsive.
My clients who use GiftWorks get up and running quickly and are able to implement all of the features.
Try it yourself and see what you think!

Hi:
Just a note about my experience helping small to mid-size non-profits with Quickbooks & Giftworks.

The upgrade that was released in April for Giftworks delivered many improvements on the interface.

The software, when properly implemented, delivers many benefits. Excel and Access can be great tools, but in an organization with all or most work being done by volunteers, it is important to establish a process that can be handed over when roles and responsibilities change. The maintenance of an Access Database and Excel Worksheets may be easy for a systems savvy individual, but Giftworks is easy to teach, and can be maintained and modified more easily.

If you haven't looked at Giftworks since the April upgrade, I suggest that you take another look.

Hi.. I'm a GW user and have been for almost a year now. I've run trhought many other "NPO" data bases and found that sure while some of them are great they are also out of the price range most Non-profits can afford. Those that are FREE are so clunkey and non forgiving that they are more of a hassle to use.
It has taken us over a year to get up and running with GW but that is on the fault of what we are coming from, an older DOS 3.0 data base that doesn't import. Durring that year I've had the chance to play with various parts of GW and found it easy to use and fill most of my needs. My board is delighted to finally see some results other than just a mailing list. Now I can show them growth and many other things. There are other data base programs that beat the pants off of Gift works but ... PRICE. I would have loved to have Donor Prerfect put in thier turn key operation but at a cost of almost 3k ? Hey my NPO is luckey to buy a ream of paper sometimes....

Hey I for one haven't had any problems with GW, and feel that you are bashing a group of dedicated people that try and make this product as user simple as they can. Heck my 12 year old nephew has done much of the data entry into the base. And wehn I have asked for help from GW they are some of the best folks to work with. And they speak english !

Again I use this, I am very happy with the cost as well as the product. My name is Don Kelly and I approve this message.

DK

Just to follow up, I had a delightful conversation with a GiftWorks rep yesterday after downloading the demo. She was very helpful & answered all of my questions. She also let me know of an introductory online class (free) which I'll be attending this afternoon, as well as giving me information on an import class.

My question for GiftWorks users: did you do the import yourself? hire a consultant? pay GW to do it? some combination? What was your experience with the process? I'm upgrading from eBasePro2.1. Nothing too complicated, but more than just a flat file.

I am a bit mystified by pandorarebecca's comments. I have used GiftWorks for nearly 2 years and have been completely happy with the products and services offerred by MissionResearch. I know of two non-profits in this market that have dropped Raiser's Edge to sign on with GiftWorks and have been very happy they made the switch. The software is very easy to use and has saved myself and my employer countless hours of time and tens of thousands of dollars by reducing costs associated with fundraising. I would like to see the products that pandorarebecca is writing about that are more affordable and better than GiftWorks, because they sure weren't around when I came across GiftWorks. I can't imagine using anything else to manage our fundraising efforts. I am in the midst of a multi-million dollar building campaign, something my employer has never done before and I have no reservations with using GiftWorks as the platform to manage and organize our efforts. In my opinion, you will be hard pressed to find any other product at a competitive price that equals the ease of use and customization provided by MissionResearch's products.