Databases

I work for a network, European Anti Poverty Network (EAPN)Ireland which has a database of about 2,500 members and contacts. Although the number is small, it needs to be organised in a lot of different ways. For example, if we run a local or regional event, we might want to mail everyone in that area, followed by a mailing to journalists in the area etc.. Atr other times, we might want to mail all paid up mebers, all natioanl journalists, mebers of parliament or of a particular committee etc. The old-fashioned spreadsheet databases allowed us to do this for mail-merge (slowly) before e-mail became so common. Now we want to be able to keep a single database which allows us to sort by several criteria (not just one, as in Outlook) and either send e-mails or print labels for that particular group, as required.
This must be one of the most common needs of mebership based groups but we simply cannot find a product to do it. Does anyone know one?
Robin Hanan

check out donor databases. Depending on your budget, there are a lot of solutions out there...Raisers' Edge (www.blackbaud.com) is one example. It's quite powerful, so depending on your needs, it might be overkill - but it's able to do a lot!
Jill

What are you using now? MS Excel? Sounds like your needs are pretty simple so why not use something like MS Access or Corel Paradox or (if you like free software) the database tools included with openoffice 1.1 (www.openoffice.org). These solutions would all require you to create the database yourself (or get a consultant to help you) but it sounds like what you are looking for is so simple that there's no point paying for an expensive proprietary system. It shouldn't take more than an hour or two of work to set up a simple database and import your data.

it sounds like your database needs are too complicated for Excel/Outlook, but I will guarantee that Riser's Edge is way too much software for you ($15,000+ US Dollars). Look for a simple donor database instead, there are plenty to choose from. Sage Group (Best Software) markets a great one called Paradigm that is less than $3000 US and will do everything you want, include printing receipts, acknowledgement letters, mailing labels, etc. They are a great investment. It can also track an unlimited number of attributed for each constituent. Plus, although I am Canadian and market the software to Canadian customers, Sage Group is based in the UK and is in fact the second largest developer of business software in the world. They probably have another package that is specific for UK customers.

Jim Slinn
SummitWest Consulting
1-866-647-3866

You can also take a look at www.campagne.com (GiftMaker Pro) and www.donorperfect.com (DonorPerfect). I was a long-time user of Donor Perfect and have been a DP trainer for the past few years. A lot of smaller orgs use them, they are much less expensive to buy and maintain than Raiser's Edge.

Matrix Development has supplied membership, political, student and now ESFL project management database software for non-profits.
www.matrixesfl.com or www.matrixdevelopment.com
The software uses Access or sql server.
Let me know if I can help.

Jim Spellman CEO
Matrix Development
608-437-4494

Robin,

TechSoup has a forum dedicated to discussions of donor databases, the Technology for Fundraising message board: http://www.techsoup.org/forums/index.cfm?fuseaction=list&forum=2022&cid=117

Robert