Selecting Fundraising Software

Fundraising database software has gone from being a luxury to an everyday necessity for most development programs. However, unlike most other software genres, instead of facing few choices, purchasers are confronted with a multitude of options—at every price level—from comprehensive proprietary packages with sophisticated add-on modules to introductory-level shareware or freeware programs available on the Internet. As a result, one of the most common computer-related questions voiced by development officers is "How do we evaluate and choose a fundraising database program that best meets our needs?"

If you are in this situation, hopefully the following FAQ's will help you find an appropriate and cost-effective solution.

We know we need a database for recording, tracking, reporting, managing, and implementing our development program, but where do we begin?

Begin your search with a thorough analysis of your current development program. Map out all of the following on paper before you begin to look at different software packages:

Initiatives:

What are the specific elements for individual and/or institutional giving in your annual fundraising program plan? (e.g. direct mail, corporate & foundation grants, special events, planned giving, major gift program, etc.)

Computer equipment:

How many computers are there in your office, and with what chip, speed, RAM, and storage capacity? If you have a network, how many are on it and what is your network software? Do you plan to expand in the near future?

Budget:

How much can you spend?

Staffing:

What is your departmental structure? If you have fundraising software, who inputs data? How many currently use your database software and at what level of proficiency? Will additional users be added in the future?

Now, make a determination of where you will be in 3 to 5 years in each of those same areas. These two steps will help clarify the most basic features and performance priorities required of your future software.

What can we expect to pay?

In general, the basic purchase price for fundraising software falls into four price ranges (not including the cost for additional user licenses, data conversion, additional staff training, and annual technical support agreements), as follows:

• $1,500 and under (including shareware and freeware)

  Generally, the products at this level are usually very simple, basic programs designed for organizations running very modest development programs with limited budgets. In most cases they have very limited constituent management capabilities (coding, indexing, sorting, etc.) and come with pre-configured reports. Some may not support multiple-users on a network. They are usually designed to export data to a word-processing program (for mail merge) or spreadsheet (for analytical reports).

• $1,500 to $7,500

  These programs are a major step up from the level below. They are fully networkable, and they have all the features required for most development operations, including extensive constituent coding, activity tracking, and reporting capabilities. They include a broad array of pre-designed reports, as well as report generating capabilities, which eliminate the need to export your data to word-processing or spreadsheet programs.

• $7,500 to $15,000

  The programs at this level have all the elements 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 an assortment of equally comprehensive add-on modules (for an additional cost) to address specialized needs like membership, major/capital gift prospect, and special event management. Some packages at this level also work with specialized software used in other departments, such as accounting and finance, facility management, student/client records, and other non-fundraising program operations.

• $15,000 and up

  In general, once you reach the $15,000 to $20,000 base price range, you are getting into 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 and manipulate large 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.

How do we know what computer configuration will best meet our fundraising needs? Do we go IBM or Apple? Should we be networked?

Questions of this nature deserve a more comprehensive response than can be included here, but there are some basic considerations:

• For basic configuration and equipment, most development offices use desktop computers in a small network or as stand-alone computers. As a note, however, even a two computer office will derive benefit from utilizing a network, if for file and printer sharing alone. Also, editing documents is easier on a network (no need for floppies) though you will want to establish some common file naming procedures.
• For operating systems, for all intents and purposes, you face one of two choices— using PC compatible or Apple equipment, but you can have both systems working on a network. Most fundraising software currently on the market is designed for PC compatibles running a Windows operating system.
• As for equipment, you will want a computer that has processor with the fastest speed you can afford (but usually no less than 1 Ghz), the largest RAM you can afford (but no less than 128Mgbs and preferably 256Mgbs), and largest hard disk you can buy (20Gbs and larger is quite common these days for desktop computers; for servers, look for 40Gbs or larger). If you are on a network, you will want a server that has a minimum of 40Gbs hard disk space, preferably more since modern business software takes up a tremendous amount of space, let alone loading your existing work files and your new database.

Those are some very basic responses... but each office, program, and organization is unique. Given the complexity of this situation, for a more specific recommendations on systems, equipment, and configurations, contact a local computer consultant that has experience working with nonprofit organizations. You can find a consultant in your area through TechSoup's Technical Assistance Provider resource list resource list.

What are some of the questions I should ask a software sales representative? What should I look for in the product?

Before looking at software, an organization must first be clear about its overall current and future operations. Having that information in hand, some of the basic questions to ask are:

• How does the software's features meet your specific program management needs?
• How does it conform to your program structure (does it work the way you work?) or does it force you to conform to its structure?
• Does the manufacturer help configure or otherwise set-up the software to reflect how your program operates?
• How does it look on the screen? Do the screens appear overly busy or complex? Is it easy on your eyes? Can you adjust for color, shading, contrast, etc.?
• How many user-defined options can you use to tag or otherwise "code" a constituent?
• How are gifts/grants, pledges, and pledge payments recorded?
• How are "soft credits" handled?
• How does the software handle importing of new records and/or data elements (say, phone numbers or zip+4 codes) from other sources? In what formats?
• How does it handle exporting data? In what formats?
• How are individual program revenues tracked and reported?
• How are appeals and solicitation programs managed?
• How are grant proposals tracked and reported?
• How does the report generator work?
• How does the mail merge work?
• How do you search the database using multiple criteria?
• How do you index or otherwise segment a group of constituents?
• How are special events managed and reported?
• How long has the company been in business?
• How many installations have they made in similar type/size organizations?
• Do they have any installations locally you can call or visit?
• What would be the total cost for your installation (adding software purchase price including costs for all necessary user-licenses, data conversion, annual technical support, and initial staff training)?
• What are their options for additional staff training?
• How does their technical support work? What is the average telephone wait time? Can you get help via e-mail or fax?

How should you handle staff training?

Most sophisticated fundraising database programs will require a fair amount of staff training in order to be used properly and effectively. In most cases, paying for additional (more intensive) staff training--either on or off-site--is advisable after the initial free training. There will be an additional cost for this step, but in most cases it is well worth the expense. Why have a high powered program if you do not, or worse, cannot use it effectively?

Identify at least two people in your organization to learn the program. In many organizations, only one staff member is the primary user. However, having a second person who has a basic, even rudimentary, understanding is helpful (even critical) when the primary user is absent.

What about references?

For any product that you find interesting, ask the sales representative for at least 3 references you can contact by phone. Be sure to ask for clients that are similar to the type and size of your organization and development program. Call all the clients. Your conversation need not be more than a quick five-minute chat, but you will get some interesting information. Some sample questions you might ask are:

• How long have you had the program?
• What are its strengths?
• What are its weaknesses?
• Would you buy it again?
• Does it do everything you need it to do?
• Did you look at other programs?
• How was the staff training?
• How did the data conversion go?
• How is the technical support?

Once you think you've made your final selection, make a site visit to another organization that has the software up and running — even if you have to do a bit of traveling. Make the visit without the sales representative present. Interview the staff members who are actually doing the data entry, coding, indexing, sorting and queries, mail merges, report generation, etc. Remember, the time and expense you spend on a site visit is nothing compared to what you will spend on a software product in the combined cost of the purchase price, data conversation, staff training, and annual support.

For the short run, should I maintain my old and my new systems?

Absolutely. Plan on a six-month trial and error period for your new system. Don't expect (or promote the expectation) that you'll be up and running right away. Consider managing duplicate systems for a short period (say, 3 to 6 months... some organizations run duplicate systems for up to for a year!). In the initial months, plan on your staff needing to call the manufacturer's technical support line everyday (and often several times a day). However, the more you use tech support, the faster you learn the program.

Conduct several practice runs using the standard features you will use regularly over the course of the year, such as creating and producing a mail merge, planning and conducting a special event, exporting data, and running reports on giving. Invent scenarios and then practice the procedures required to meet the need. It's much easier to learn a software program when you're not under pressure to perform.

Is there anything special I need to know about data conversions?

When an organization purchases new database software, the first step toward using the program is getting your old data into the software. In most cases, the manufacturer will do this for a fee. Be sure to get all the essential information from your software manufacturer before you have them do the conversion, including price, turn-around time, ease of input, how much follow-up help you will get, etc.

Ask other users of your new software how they converted their data. You might find other users had contracted with a local computer database consultant who has experience converting data for your new software and who can provide this service at a lower cost than the manufacturer. Finally, ask the manufacturer if they have affiliate relationships with any local computer consultants, as these people can often offer more timely on-site help with conversions and other issues.

I understand that fundraising database software needs to be "configured" to reflect how we conduct our fundraising program. How does this work?

All fundraising database software needs to be configured to reflect how your organization records and identifies constituents, labels gifts, reports information, and tracks progress, etc. The more comprehensive your program is, the more planning and set-up time you will need.

As mentioned right at the start of the FAQ, it is strongly recommended that you spend a healthy amount of time mapping out on paper your entire program before you even look at new software. Map out your individual and/or institutional giving programs from initial planning to year-end annual report. This process will help you choose software that fits your specific needs and will greatly reduce the amount of set-up time.

If you have not used a fundraising database before, a questions you need to ask is: Who are your major constituencies?

There are as many ways to identify records for fundraising as there are nonprofit organizations. However, the basic rule is keep your list of main constituencies as simple as possible. Most organizations should have no more than 6 or 7 main groups. You can have more ways to identify a constituent, but these labels should be located in a separate field in the database. For example...

If you are a school, your main constituency groups might look like the following: Alumni, Current Parents, Past Parents, Board of Directors, Foundations, Corporations, Government, and Friends. Individuals (or institutions) in any one of these categories might also have other ways they need to be identified — i.e. as a major gift prospect, a golf-outing participant, a class agent, a hall of fame dinner sponsor, a faculty member, a vendor, a board member prospect, a capital gift prospect, etc. All supplementary information should be maintained in a field separate from the main constituency field. Also, that field should be capable of holding multiple listings for each record.

The smaller the number of main constituency groups, the easier and faster you can input, organize, segment, track, and report information.

In addition to giving each record a main audience or constituency code, in most cases you will need to assign names or codes for other fields including prefix, title, suffix, salutation, gift labels, solicitations or appeals, special events, annual unrestricted/restricted funds, and endowment/scholarship/capital funds.

What about the idea of creating my own fundraising database in off-the-shelf database programs like Access, Filemaker Pro, Paradox, or Approach?

The general rule of thumb for creating your own fundraising database is... don't. Unless you have a full-time MIS department (not just one staff member) that you can rely on for timely assistance, it is probably not a good idea to develop your own system. There are many reasons for this including all the time and salary expense it would take to study your program, map out the database layout, build the required files, create field structures, design the screens, convert and load data, build stock reports, and debug the database. Why go through all this trial-and-error headache and expense when there are database products that will give you what you need now and provide room for future growth?

Having said this, if you have extremely limited financial resources (and even then, keep in mind there may be an appropriate freeware and shareware products available) or if you are determined to develop your own database, here are some pointers:

• Hire a database consultant who has experience creating fundraising-related databases. Be sure to ask for and call her or his references.
• Keep the number of fields to a minimum.
• Be sure there is a seamless interface between the database software and both your word-processor and spreadsheet software.
• Think about ease of use. While the software's tech support people will know how their product should perform, they will not know how your particular database was designed or what a particular button is supposed to do.
• Think short term. Once you get up and running you will probably want to track and use information in increasingly sophisticated ways. If so, you won't appreciate spending the time and money for your consultant to keep returning to build these features into your system.
• Be sure to build in password protection.