Joined on 05-25-2005
TechSoup Member
As I mentioned in my previous posting, givengain has done *wonders* for our organisation. For about Us$50.- a month (depending on country), plus a 5% charge on new donations acquired since joining givengain, you have the most comprehensive integration of functions for non-profits in any one place. Their software integrates contact lists (which can be stratified in endless permutations) with impressive transaction and fundraising capabilities. We've never looked back since joining up with them. Our back office has been automated and my hands are free to do "real" work without worrying (too much)where the money is going to come from.
Joined on 01-21-2004
TechSoup Member
"Basic Funder" is a FREE donor and/or funder tracking software that is rather simple to use, good for say up to 2000 records, and loads up on-line within 10 minutes. Ditto their instruction book. Very decent for mailing address management and printing too. You literally can be posting data on it within one hour, today, but I do not know if they can do data transfers, so may be better for start ups. Google them.
Joined on 12-12-2003
TechSoup Member
I'm a big believer in the Fundraiser Family...www.fundraiser-software.com.
We currently use Basic ($89!) but are upgrading to Select.
Joined on 03-24-2005
TechSoup Member
Our organization purchased Quickbooks for non-profit and I can say Intuit does a very good job and it is very affordable. QB Non-profit will give you good report on your donors gift activities, compare their donations by year, etc. You can analyze report and export to excel to create your chart. You also can merge them to documents for thank you letters or any other fundraising letters you want to send to donors. If you are a small to mid-size non-profit, QB Non-profit does the job well. One software for everybody: accounting and donor/fundraising tracking.
Good job Intuit-QB!
Joined on 08-09-2005
TechSoup Member
Hi! I'm the CEO of Mission Research, and after speaking with TechSoup I just wanted to give some updated info about Mission Research GiftWorks (mentioned in the article) and the upcoming release of GiftWorks 2006 (version 2.0). I first want to point out that price does not necessarily indicate features or lack thereof; plenty of sub-$1500 products have a wide range of features, including GiftWorks.
GiftWorks is fundraising and donor relationship management software for $299 and was first released last summer. Since then, we've added a lot of new features in what will be called GiftWorks 2006 and will be released next Wednesday Aug 17th to existing customers.
New features include mass emailing, Quickbooks integration, web-based services, Memorials and Honoraria, custom relationships, more custom fields, and more SmartLists fields (SmartList is a query, but we try not to use technical language in GW). The most distinctive thing about GW is its interface--that's what our customers say (judge for yourself--every company claims "easy-to-use" software so the term has become meaningless).
Thanks for letting me post. I hope to see some of you at NTEN! http://www.missionresearch.com
Joined on 09-24-2004
TechSoup Member
I opened your self-guided tour but the images are too obscured to be usable.
Joined on 09-24-2004
TechSoup Member
Has anyone heard of or tried GrantWave, introduced in October 2004? I came across it today and it looks interesting but pricey.
http://www.mindcoast.com
I agree with many users, the software has to be affordable, easy to use, and easy to modify. That's why I like Access, Quick Books, and File Maker. You do need someone to help with setup and modifications, but the price and flexiblity pays off in the long run compared to the overbuilt packages that are designed for major organizations.
John,
1) Which self-guided tour are you referring to?
2) I urge caution when considering a do-it-yourself approach to donor databases. If your needs are very simple, you may be able to use FileMaker or Access. But in my experience, fundraisers' needs can change quickly and donor database projects often spiral out of control. I received email just five minutes ago from a fundraiser mired in such a project. I wish this was a rare occurrence, but it's not. I wrote an article for NTEN on this subject, called
Why Building Your Own Database Should Be Your Last Resort.
Robert
Joined on 09-24-2004
TechSoup Member
Robert,
I suspect your question is rhetorical, but go to the link provided by Charlie Crystle - http://www.missionresearch.com - and select the link for "Take a self-guided tour." The link opens a pdf document with blurry images and does not allow you to "review the software at your pace." as advertised. I see that a trial download is available and I plan to look at that.
There has been a lot of new nonprofit software offerings in the past two years which I am glad to see. Your forum helps inform users and allows providers to communicate to users about their products. Software is still software and users will benefit when they seek help from trained professionals and database developers to select and configure the product.
However, Robert, I question if it is appropriate for you as moderator (and software consultant) to caution me from taking a "do-it-yourself" approach. I didn't indicate my level of incompetence in my question, but your response suggests that since I must be ignorant I should consider the services that you offer. That's a conflict that I haven't seen in a forum before.
John
Joined on 08-09-2005
TechSoup Member
John & Robert,
The self-guided tour of GiftWorks is designed to be printed and used in conjunction with the GiftWorks 30-day free trial, available at http://www.missionresearch.com/downloads.html.
Live online tours are given online on a regular basis; you can sign up here:
http://www.missionresearch.com/onlinetour.html
We know the images are blurry in that pdf--the choice was between a small file for download with blurry representations of what you see on the screen in your trial, or a very large file wth better images. Looking at it now it seems we should offer the choice of the two options. Thanks for pointing this out.
The GiftWorks 30-day free trial is less than 15 MB to download, which is the best option for evaluating the software.
John,
My question wasn't rhetorical -- I haven't tested every link posted by every participant.
I apologize if you came away with the impression that I was demeaning you by recommending against the do-it-yourself approach. What I said was that "I urge caution." In twenty years in this field, I've seen many failed homegrown donor database projects and very few successful ones. That's partly because I get called when there's a problem, but I don't think that's the only reason. And I certainly wasn't implying that you need to use my services, whether you buy or build. In fact, I've provided lots of free advice and articles to allow community members to make their own decisions.
I wish you success whichever route you take.
Robert
Joined on 04-29-2002
TechSoup Member
(Responding to Shawn Ayotte's post of 26 Apr 2005)
Shawn,
Interesting, I'm surveying the field a bit and was coming to the same conclusion -- namely that an Apache/PHP/*SQL solution might be just the ticket to meeting our particular needs, avoiding lock-in, and, while not necessarily saving $, indulging my penchant for big, independent projects.
So how is it going? I'd be curious to learn about the trials and tribulations of such a project. eBase dangled the open source prospect in front of us a couple years ago, but they've determined that LAMP isn't a good platform (not sure why).
At least one person has started a
rudimentary requirements list.
-Gabe
---------------
Gabe Ormsby
Internet & Data Systems Manager
Friends of the Mississippi River
Saint Paul, Minnesota
People might be interested in CiviCRM, the first LAMP-based, free and open source eCRM solution designed specifically for the needs of nonprofits.
You can try a demo and/or download the software at http://www.openngo.org/
David Geilhufe
Social Source Foundation
dgeilhufe (AT socialsourcefoundation (DOT org
Joined on 08-24-2005
TechSoup Member
I am so glad I saw your post. We just purchased GiftWorks from Mission Research and we absolutely love it!! For $299 per user it does exactly what we need with a fantastic interface that takes about 10 minutes to figure out, and 10 minutes 30 seconds to customize. We're thrilled with it. Great customer service, too. Check it out!