New Database for our organization

We are the Catholic Daughters of the Americas National HQ in NYC. We currently use a database for our billing, order processing, membership, addresses,etc by using FUND E-Z for Windows multi user verision 5.23 1999 edition. This is slowing us down and would like suggestions for a new database software program for us to transfer all our records into. Any suggestions?

Hi, Mary,

I believe your are looking for donor management software. As you are probably aware, there are many many options out there. One place to start is with the donor database vendor listings here.

Before you decide on anything, it is good if you do a thorough listing of everything that you'd like to do with the software. From your first post, it sounds like you have already got a very good idea of what you want to be able to do. A good list will help you stay on track as you evaluate your options.

Best wishes,

Hi Mary,

This type of question is hard to answer.  It will really depend on your specific needs.  For instance:

• How many constituent records are in the database?
• How many people would use the system?
• Would they all be in the same location?
• What desktop and server operating systems do you use (e.g., Mac OS X, WinXp, Vista, Linux, etc.)?
• Which database management system(s) can you support?
• Are there other technology standards that the new system must comply with?
• How much IT support do you have?
• How tech-savvy are your staff?
• What kinds of billing do you do?
• What kinds of orders do you process?
• What is your membership structure?
• What kinds of fundraising do you do?
• Do you have other sources of earned income that the database should manage (events, merchandise sales, subscriptions, etc.)?
• Are there other constituents that should be in the same database?
• What is your annual volume for the types of transactions you process (memberships, gifts, sales, etc.)?
• Are there specific types of reports that you need to be sure the system can generate?
• Have you standardized on a specific reporting tool?
• What other systems will the new database need to send data to or integrate with?
• Do you have a budget for the purchase?
• Do you have a preference between an installed system or a system that the vendor would host (an online system)?

The answers to these questions will help get you in the ballpark for potential vendors. 

Robert

You'll also want to look at membership software, since I believe that is the functions you need.

I have some familiarity with Catholic Daughters (my mother has been a member for 60 years) and with Fund EZ and I'm thinking that Fund EZ may be a little bit of a stretch to support your needs. I'm also concerned that since you are running such an old version you may not have any support. If that database crashes, do you have a way to recover the data from it?

You aren't too far from the Knights of Columbus headquarters; I'd ask them what they use. Other membership orgranizations with dues billings, etc., might be good to check with as well. People who do the same kind of work you do would be the best sources of new information.

As someone who writes custom databases, I believe that is often the best way to go, but I can't recommend that to someone who doesn't have in-house staff to provide support. But you may find another organiztion that has a custom package that you could use as well.