[grc] donor databases - questions and resources

[Paul Hertz]

I have some questions for the list about donor databases, and some links
that all of you may find useful.

At KHOI we're trying to settle on which product to use for our donor
database. We've previously used Giftworks, but its pricing model change has
made it unaffordable for us (and it looks like there are many interesting
and cheaper options out there). We do our accounting in Quickbooks, but
that's not adequate for keeping track of donations, premiums, membership
levels, generating letters, entering data from pledge drives and
fundraising events efficiently, recording prospective donors etc. in the
way that we'd like to.

*What are you using? I'm particularly interested in knowing why (other than
cost) you decided to use what you do. If you switched from another product,
what (other than cost) led you to switch? Are there features you wished
your product had?*

My research has turned up some really nice resources online for answering
these questions, but they don't really address many issues specific to
radio.

FYI, here are the most useful resources I've found. I hope you will find
these useful too!

https://www.g2crowd.com (this is the best reviews site I've found, just
because of how detailed the reviews are)
http://www.techsoup.org/support/articles-and-how-tos/choose-the-right-donor-management-software-through-techsoup
(a
nice comparison of products available at discounted prices through TechSoup)
http://www.idealware.org/sites/idealware.org/files/2013Idealware_DMGuide_MARCH102014.pdf
(this
is very comprehensive (160 pages!), and it's given me many things to think
about, but it's from 2013)

And there's a free webinar about these things this Thursday, March 17 at
1:00 Eastern: Expert Advice on Choosing a Donor Management System
<http://org.salsalabs.com/o/957/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=85361>
.

Paul Hertz
KHOI volunteer