Top Ten Low-Cost Donor Management Systems
The first comprehensive study of 33 donor management systems was released today by the annual Nonprofit Technology Conference – with comparative ratings for the top 10, detailed analysis of the top 12 and useful summaries of the rest. “Low-cost” means under $4,250 for the first year.
Funded by the Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN), the two-part report is just the research that nonprofits desperately need, especially in this economy, to sort through and compare features of multiple software and web-hosted customer relationship management (CRM) options for fundraising management, including tools to streamline events, online giving and volunteers. Be sure to download both parts. The report gives recommendations about how to choose depending on an organization’s specific needs.
The CRM fundamentals and scenarios offered in the report — and some of the products — can also be used by small businesses building their brands and customers.
The NTEN study with the nonprofit Idealware first found out what nonprofits are looking for and then connected with the technology firms to get insider information that the typical customer can’t find so easily or thoroughly in a web search. Increasingly, they found that nonprofits are opting for hosted systems so that they don’t have to buy, install and manage software systems on their own servers. You can hear an interview with the executive director of Idealware on the Chronicle of Philanthropy conference notebook.
Although the NTEN conference in San Francisco sold out early, you can follow it live through Tuesday.
