Software

RE: A Few Good Databases for Membership Organizations

sbower — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 15:21:00 GMT

I didn't see a product called IRM Association listed in this article? How does it compare with "sophisticated" products reviewed?

RE: A Few Good Databases for Membership Organizations

donc — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 11:18:00 GMT

Excellent news Rich - other orgs/businesses could certainly learn a lot from your 'Truth in Advertising Statement'... I will be sure to give this release of ODB a run!

Cheers, Don

RE: A Few Good Databases for Membership Organizations

oc — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 02:56:00 GMT

I have some good news on the membership management front, which is that as of today, a mature 1.0 release of the open source Organizers Database (ODB) is available for free download at: http://organizersdb.org

This software (for groups with budgets under $2 million) was released as a 1.0 "release candidate" in 2/2006 and since that time it has been field tested by 150 organizations.

As we are a nonprofit project funded by foundations and individual donors, we are committed to providing full disclosure of what ODB can and cannot do. see our Truth in Advertising statement:
http://organizersdb.org/download/tia

The software is currently Windows only, it installs in 20 seconds, and it provides some features that previously were only provided by proprietary vendors.

For example, the software automatically keeps track of date entered, date updated, date joined, expiration date, giving amount -- and it will print donation slips customized to the donor's giving level. You can set up hundreds of "tracking codes" for each donor/member/volunteer. You can set it up to automatically generate thank you letters based on a donation category, and payments can have three levels of categories. The software can differentiate between non-gift payments and donations. It automatically keeps track of whether an address is valid, expired, or incomplete and prompts the user when this needs to be changed. It can handle a second email address and you can integrate it with online email list software. Renewal letter queries can be saved (as simple text files) for easy retrieval and use by novice staff. Basic reporting is included, and can be extended using an Access or Open Office addon.

As of 1/1/07 you can now obtain expanded support for ODB, costing as little as $325 a year for groups with budgets under $50K. The code is very concise and it is often possible to have us add a feature for ODB for $1-2K -- less than the license cost of many closed source options.

However, a startup group with a budget of $500 a year can also use ODB; out of the box the software's more sophisticated features (like pledge tracking) are hidden from view, so that the software will be intuitive to novices.

Here is a full list of features in ODB 1.0.1:
http://organizersdb.org/files/odbfeatures.pdf

-rich cowan, for the ODB Project

RE: A Few Good Databases for Membership Organizations

rsmith12345 — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 11:38:00 GMT

The American Chemical Society selected Avectra in July, 2006. We have over 2000 staff. They successfully deployed our first live system in 3 months. Our main netFORUM system goes live June, 2007. We are very satisfied.

RE: A Few Good Databases for Membership Organizations

jjordan445566 — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 12:18:00 GMT

I don't agree with Ms. Greasley at all. Avectra has provided us (American Gas Association) excellent service. We have been working with Avectra for 8 years. First we ran their ABLAZE platform and then migrated to netFORUM. netFORUM is a 100% web based system and has a very powerful toolkit. netFORUM has been on the market now for 4 years. I believe that Avectra is dropping support for ABLAZE in Feb, 2007. They gave all clients 3-4 years notice. Customers should have upgraded by now.

RE: A Few Good Databases for Membership Organizations

cgreasley — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 01:40:00 GMT

We integrated Avectra 5 years ago and I would not put them in this category. Because of the poor software and poorer service, we are in the market for a new AMS and this time around we are thinking of OPTIONS. Ask yourself - What would happen if you did not get the service or customized applications you thought you would after "go-live"? Do you want to be at the mercy of your provider or would you prefer the option to bid these customized modules out to a community of value added resellers. Don't make the same mistake we did - opt for options.

RE: A Few Good Databases for Membership Organizations

lillibw — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 15:46:00 GMT

I received my MA in arts administration and am now looking for work in Development. I would like training in Raiser's Edge to add as a transferable skill.

Do you know of any place which offers free or low-cost training in Raiser's Edge?

RE: A Few Good Databases for Membership Organizations

volvan — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 22:43:00 GMT

Great article,

We are actually in the midst of purchasing new membership management software, and your recommendations have put us in touch with some great vendors.

Thanks!

Chad Penner
Volunteer Vancouver

RE: A Few Good Databases for Membership Organizations

jumpstartinternational — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 21:27:00 GMT

For a good intranet solution that includes databases and management is office please foundation the address is opfoundation.org. This foundation is spearhead by best IT minds in California but offers a intranet tool that is web-based that includes all the bells and whistles such as CRM, database, contacts, task list, calendar - check it out!

Dr. Howard
JumpStart International Corp

RE: A Few Good Databases for Membership Organizations

arcilresourcedev — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 13:03:00 GMT

yes. you can put demo data and leave it. you are free to experiment with it as you please. it's a 'blank page / sandbox' site. sorry for not clarifying.

RE: A Few Good Databases for Membership Organizations

Jesse — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 19:08:00 GMT

"I highly recommend the vtiger crm solution."

That demo site doesn't have any dummy data. Seems hard to get an idea of how it operates. Do they want users to put data in there and leave it? Maybe better info at http://www.vtiger.com/ and their link to sourceforge for downloads?

RE: A Few Good Databases for Membership Organizations

arcilresourcedev — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 18:26:00 GMT

you may want to look at an oscommerce solution:
http://www.oscommerce.com/solutions/oscommerce

or, zencart
http://www.zen-cart.com/modules/freecontent/index.php?id=1

Both are free, open source solutions which you, or someone you know, can modify to suit your needs.

RE: A Few Good Databases for Membership Organizations

pearlining — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 16:42:00 GMT

We're a small nonproft that uses eTapestry. While it successfuly brought us out of Access, we are rapidly growing out of it. We are bringing eCommerce onto the site, which they provide and we've been using, but there are little things like $75 maitenence fees for tweaks to confirmation emails and the like that are driving me nuts. Also, for our product pages with shipping, we had to custom our shipping numbers, as eTapestry is not built to be hooked up with USPS or UPS, but they do desire to do so.

I am looking for a database management system that can accomidate our website users, which is its own database that was custom built. We also custom built our content management system. We would like a boutique eventually, and eTapestry will not allow for the kind of functions we want with it. Not affordably, anyway. If anyone knows of a database that can work WITH our website database (combine our 7500 account database with new registered user database on the website), and be integrated, let me know.

RE: A Few Good Databases for Membership Organizations

arcilresourcedev — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 20:51:00 GMT

I highly recommend the vtiger crm solution. You won't have to worry about licenses and modify it any way you like. You can try it out here:
http://remotedev.org/vtiger2/index.php

username: "myguest"
password: "myguest"

RE: A Few Good Databases for Membership Organizations

cmasak — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 19:06:00 GMT

Interesting article, though in some cases larger organizations have developed their own, customized programs. For example, the American Lung Association is implementing MRS DataTrack, a system that incorporates an infinitely detailed donor database, content management, e-commerce, data manipulation tools, direct mail processing and reporting functions. Additionally, MRS could be (but isn't currently) adapted to take on e-advocacy funtions.