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Articles
FUNDRAISING SOFTWARE
Sampling of Software Products
Complied by Duff Batchelder, Consultant, Management Solutions for Nonprofit Organizations. Mr. Batchelder is a Contributing Partner in the Development Directions program.
Development Directions does not endorse any individual, consultant, company, supplier, service, or vendor. We have compiled this list only as a service to clients and friends who wish to select on their own who might best meet their software requirements. Fees are negotiated solely between the agency and the software supplier and Development Directions receives no compensation in return for referrals.
Please note that these prices are estimates for the base software product for three to five users (depending on the manufacturer) as of May 2005. These prices do not include costs for any add-on modules, data conversion, annual technical support, product upgrades, and additional training beyond that which is provided under the base cost.
Lower Price Range -- under $1,000, including freeware
With the exception of Giftmaker Pro / Limited Edition (which is the full program but will only manage up to 1,500 records), products at this level are usually very basic programs designed for organizations conducting modest development programs with limited budgets. In most cases they have very limited constituent management capabilities (e.g., coding, indexing, sorting) and most come with pre-configured reporting templates. Some may not support multiple-users on a network. Most are designed to export data to a word-processing program (for mail merge) or spreadsheet (for analytical reports). Some products at this level are:
- eBASE (www.ebase.org). Free via download from the net for the single user. eBASE is a product of Filemaker Pro, an off-the-shelf data base. Very easy to use and modify, and comprehensive enough for most development programs. The basic version is for the single user. The multi-user version requires the additional purchase of Filemaker Pro and Filemaker Server software.
- eTAPESTRY (www.etapestry.com). eTapestry is one of the leaders in the world of on-line or Application Service Providers (ASP). It is a comprehensive fundraising database product that can handle all features of a development program. Free for organizations managing up to 500 records. Fees go up as the number of records increase. The pricing schedule can be found on line, including costs for add-on features and services.
- FUNDRAISER BASIC (www.fundraiser-software.com). Fundraiser Basic costs $89. The company has been around for some time and serves a broad range of not-for-profits. Fundraiser Basic may be just too basic for some agencies’ needs, but worth a look.
- EXCEED BASIC (www.telosa.com). This is pricier than Fundraiser Basic but provides a more capacity. Exceed’s big brother, Premier, has been around for some time and is trusted software in the sector. The scaled-down version has a good reputation, but overall costs are not exactly inexpensive after adding in fees for annual maintenance and tech support.
- GIFTMAKER PRO / Limited Records (www.campagne.com). Giftmaker Pro Limited Records is a comprehensive fundraising database with all essential features necessary to manage almost any development program. The difference with this lower price version is that the user can only manage up to 1,500 records, after which you must upgrade to the Unlimited Records version.
- MEADOWBASE (www.meadowbase.com). Free via download from the met. Similar to eBase, Meadowbase is built on a FileMaker platform which is very easy to use. The features are a bit more modest than either eBase or Fundraiser Jr., but ease of use makes it appealing to some agencies.
Mid Price Range - $1,000 To $4,999
These programs are a major step up from the previous level. They are fully networkable and have all the features required for most development operations, including extensive constituent coding, activity tracking, and reporting capabilities. Most have add-on modules (at additional cost of course) to manage such special fundraising activities such as membership, major/capital gift prospect, and special event management. They include a broad array of pre-designed reporting templates as well as report-generating capabilities. This feature eliminates the need to export data to word-processing or spreadsheet program. Some of the programs have software interfaces with such computer functions as accounting.
Upper Price Range -- $5,000 to $10,000
The programs at this level possess all of the elements described above, but they tend to include a broader array of data recording and data management capabilities, as well as more comprehensive recording and tracking for specialized development operations. Most of the programs in this range offer a wide assortment of equally comprehensive add-on modules (at additional cost) to address specialized needs. Most of the packages at this level also work with specialized software used in such other departments as accounting and finance, facility management, student/client records, and other non-fundraising program operations.
Upper-Upper Level Price Range -- $10,000 and up
Once beyond a base price of $10,000, you are in the area of customized, proprietary systems developed for large institutional or organizational settings. These systems are designed to work with large networks – including those with multiple sites – and are created to manage huge amounts of constituents and data. In many cases, these systems are designed to integrate directly with other specialized software used at the agency or institution. Once add-on modules are included, several of the products in the previous category would easily fall into this level of fundraising software.
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