Everyone has a different take on the subject – because every organization is unique.  So how do you decide what’s right for your organization?  Before you begin your search, here are a few questions to consider.  When answering them, try to project where your organization will be a year from now.

1. What are the primary tasks the software will be used for? This sounds like an easy question, but it’s really the key to the whole project.  You need to know if your organization is looking for a way to manage a mail list or a way to analyze your donors’ giving patterns.  The more details you have about your organization’s needs, the more defined your search will be.
2. Where will the software be used? At an office, at someone’s home, or a combination of the two.
3. How many people will be using the software concurrently? Remember that it isn’t the total number of people who will need to use the program, but the number of people who will be using it at the same time that makes a difference in the cost of many software packages.
4. What’s your budget? Consider the initial cost, support packages, ongoing training, required updates, monthly and/or annual support contracts, etc.

Once you’ve answered the above questions, you’re ready to look for a software package.  Using software search engines such as Capterra or TechSoup can really help you identify software that meets your needs.  Once you’re ready to contact software vendors for more information, here are some questions that will help narrow your search even further.

1. Will the software grow with my organization? The answer is generally, yes.  But you want to dig a little deeper here.  Ask about the cost of adding a concurrent user.  Also, ask if there is a limit to the number of donor records.   Since many nonprofit organizations begin with a laptop, then add a PC, then grow to a server with a couple of PC’s and laptops attached, you want to make sure that the software you purchase grows with you without nickel and diming you to death.  Don’t let them charge you for your success!
2. How secure is my organization’s confidential information? With most software, if you have a User ID and Password, you have access to everything within the application.  Make sure that your sensitive information (not just financial records, but also notes about interactions with donors) is protected from prying eyes, or inadvertent change or deletion.
3. How much technical support does the software require? If your nonprofit organization is small- to medium-sized, you probably won’t have an IT person on staff.  Whatever software you decide on needs to be easy to learn, easy to use, and easy to maintain.  Customer Service support should be available and affordable.
4. How flexible is the program? Every organization has unique requirements.  You want to make sure that whatever software package you get can adapt to your organization’s needs.  Make sure that the software vendor offers assistance with modeling your data to fit within their program’s framework.

Now that you’ve narrowed your search even further, take a look at the details and functionality of each program.  Although each nonprofit organization has a unique way of providing services to the community, there are some common tasks each need to perform.  Here’s a list of the most basic requirements.

1. Dynamic Lists. The ability to create dynamic mail and email lists without duplication is absolutely essential.
2. Thank-you Letters. Automatically generating thank-you letters for donations and/or receipts for event ticket purchases or class registration helps maintain goodwill with your donors.
3. Donor Preferences. Honoring donor preferences such as how a name is listed, or a ‘do not call’ and/or ‘do not send mail’ request lets your donors know that you care about them.
4. Transactions. Tracking all types of transactions such as cash donations, purchases, planned giving, in-kind gifts and services gives you a complete view of how the community supports your organization.
5. Reports. Of course, you should be able to get lists of donor contact information and event attendance, but the ability to generate executive reports such as LYBUNT (Last Year But Unfortunately Not This), SYBUNT (Some Years But Unfortunately Not This) and Comparison Reports (who purchased a ticket for last year’s event, but not this year’s event) gives you an insight into donor giving patterns and helps your organization make decisions for future events and campaigns.
6. Easy, Intuitive Data Entry. There will always be questions that come up, so make sure that a built-in help book comes with the software.
7. Easy, Intuitive Data Retrieval. You have to be able to slice and dice your information in ways that are meaningful to you.  All programs have reporting capabilities.  But many of them are so complicated that you need a programmer to figure them out.  Make sure that whatever software you purchase matches the capabilities of those who will be using it.
8. Global Updates. If your organization decides to change the Subscriber Category from ‘Gold’ to ‘Premium’, you don’t want to have to change each record one by one.  You should be able to make the change once and have it update all appropriate records automatically.
9. Unlimited Notes. You want to make sure that you can document every interaction your organization, or a representative of your organization, has with a donor or a potential donor.
10. Event Management. An event can be a single fundraiser, or it can be an ongoing project.  Your organization will want to know how many tickets are sold and whether or not the event’s financial goal has been met.

Some additional features to consider are:

1. Pledge Management. Tracking and generating pledge reminders is a great feature to have.  It also gives you the ability to forecast income.
2. Audit Tracking. Keeping track of every change that’s made to a donor record is a valuable way to understand the relationship the donor has developed with your organization.  It also provides transparency and accountability.
3. Calendar. Building donor relationships means always looking forward to the next contact.

Now that you’ve decided that Patron Software’s Donor Management and Fundraising Software is just what you need, let me tell you about our other packages…  Patron Software Products.

But, someone on the board knows someone somewhere who can get you software that does the exact same thing and it costs nothing.  The board decides there’s no reason to spend money on a program when there’s software available for free.   You’re disappointed, but it’s hard to argue the point when you work for a  nonprofit organization.

So, you download and install the free software and now you’re ready to enter data.  As you look at the screens, you have lots of questions.  The data fields available aren’t the same as what you need to record, and it’s not clear whether information stored in this data field will affect that report.  You decide to call the Help Desk.

After being on hold for 10 minutes, you finally get connected to someone in Customer Service.  However, you’re told that Customer Service for the free version of software you’re using is only available Mondays and Wednesdays from 11:00 AM through 3:00 PM EST.  Since it’s Thursday morning, you decide to go it alone.  You spend hours reading the Help file, but it seldom actually helps.  You glance at the clock and are shocked to see how much time has gone by.   And, you’re still trying to figure out how this software works.

You sigh, log off the free software, and open the same old spreadsheet you’ve been using for years.  Back to square one.

Call me old-fashioned, but when it comes to protecting my data, I prefer to be in control.

I know that there are a lot of arguments in favor of web-based Donor Management and Fundraising software.  Let’s take a close look at three of the top selling points and see if they hold up to scrutiny.

# 1 – You can access your data from anywhere in the world as long as you have an Internet connection.

That’s true.  But, what if you don’t have an Internet connection and you need information right now?  And, how about response time?  Entering and retrieving information can be painfully slow.  You are completely dependent on the availability and speed of your Internet connection.

# 2 – You don’t have to purchase expensive hardware.

Maybe.  You don’t need to buy a server or create a network in your office, but you still have to have computers in order to connect to the Internet.

# 3 – Your records are automatically backed up and maintained.

They probably are.  But are you 100% sure?  You don’t know where your data is being stored.  It might be in a secure data warehouse, or it might be in someone’s garage.

How does installed software stack up against these selling points?

# 1 – With options like GoToMyPC, Virtual Private Networks, Remote Desktop Services, and Virtual Network Computing, available, even installed software can be accessed and managed from the Internet.  Many of these services are free or available at a reduced cost to nonprofit organizations.

# 2 – Even if your Donor Management and Fundraising software is web-based, you probably still need to have installed programs like MS Office and QuickBooks to run your organization.

# 3 -At Patron Software, we advocate backing up your data and storing it off-site.  There are many free online backup services such as IDrive that are secure and easy-to-use.  But, there’s nothing like having a CD backup in your fire-proof safe.  A combination of local and off-site backups can assure you that your data is safe and protected.

What we haven’t discussed is cost.  With web-based applications, the cost goes up as your organization grows.  Adding a new user, or that one donor record that puts you into the next price category, can put a dent in your budget.

At Patron Software, you can have unlimited concurrent users and unlimited donor records for the same prices.

We don’t charge you for being successful – we support your success.