Evaluating and Selecting Fundraising Software
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Sponsored by: A Service Of: Evaluating and Selecting Fundraising Software Cheryl J Weissman October 25, 2011
description
Choosing the right fundraising software for your organization can be a daunting task. This webinar will help you define your needs, ask the right questions of vendors and references, and define what you need to focus on in addition to software functionality.
Transcript of Evaluating and Selecting Fundraising Software
Sponsored by:A Service
Of:
Evaluating and Selecting Fundraising Software
Cheryl J Weissman
October 25, 2011
Sponsored by:A Service
Of:
Protecting and Preserving the
Institutional Memories of
Nonprofits Since 1993
www.cjwconsulting.com
(866) 598-0430
Sponsored by:A Service
Of:
Affordable collaborative data
management in the cloud.
Sponsored by:A Service
Of:
Today’s Speaker & Host
Cheryl J WeissmanPresident
CJW Consulting & Services, Inc.Assisting with chat questions:
April Hunt, Nonprofit Webinars
Evaluating and Selecting Fundraising Software
8331 Central AvenueMorton Grove, IL 60053
800/977-6377www.cjwconsulting.com
Presented by
Decide before you decide
Institutional Memory
Our work is about memory: We help organizations create,
maintain and use data as institutional memory.
Elie Wiesel said, “Forgetting means the end of civilization, the
end of culture, the end of generosity, the end of compassion, the
end of humanity.”
Nonprofits work to protect and preserve culture, compassion,
humanity. Nonprofits rely on generosity.
We cannot forget.
Think big picture first, then get to the details
Annual Goals – financial and otherwise
Fundraising revenue streams
Allocation of fundraised income
Decide what you need
Decide what you need
Think about your output
Solicitations
Board reports
Solicitor activity reports
Moves management tracking
Phonathon forms
Pledge reminders
Email contact
Your data entry choices, along with the capabilities of the software, will have a major impact on your ability to define groups or segments
Your ability to define groups or segments, along with the capabilities of the software, will have a major impact on your ability to output information
Decide how to do it
Decide how to find it
How do I know what’s out there?
Tech Soup
NTEN
Low cost fundraising software
Software comparison
Colleagues
Consultants
Vendors
Decide how to look at it
Colleagues
DO NOT ask a colleague what they are using and if they like it and buy a product based on that
Consultants
Many software companies have consultant agreements to encourage consultants to recommend their product
Vendors
Vendors will tell you who their competitors are
Prepare
Have list of things you must be able to do
Include details
Have a written list of questions
Upgrades
Training
Longevity
Support
Annual maintenance
Decide to be informed
Prepare
Have a written list of questions
Conversion
Timeframe
Number of users
References
Biggest competitor
Decide to be proactive
The Demo
Most vendors will offer a short demo highlighting the things they want you to see
Come armed with specific questions about features you know you need
Ask vendors to show you how you can do what you need with their solution
Decide to push the envelope
References
If local, see if you can visit and see the product in action
Ask about the down side to their product
Ask what else they considered and why they made the choice they did
Ask what they switched from and if they converted, ask about the conversion
Decide to learn more
The Proposal
Be sure that optional services/features/modules are clearly designated as options
Ask vendor to guarantee that there are no hidden costs
Ask for a separate document detailing ongoing costs/pricing structures
Decide to be aware
Decide to change
What do I need to consider about hardware?
Don’t consider it at all until your software selection is made
Always get more than you think you need
Build budget for ongoing upgrades
Decide to be prepared
What else do I need to think about?
Staff time needed
Who will be involved in conversion
Training
Where is the training
In what format is the training
Project timeline
Recreation of output
Costs (known and hidden)
Costs vary widely for products and services, so it’s not feasible to consider this question until the desired solution is found. Then, consider:
Conversion
Implementation
Training
Hardware
Time
Ongoing costs Support
Decide to be prepared
Internal documentation
Growing your reach Once you can do more than you could
yesterday, you’re going to want to be able to do more tomorrow Online contributions, registrations, etc.
Accepting credit cards and processing them immediately
Online prospect research
Integrating other products/services into your fundraising software
Decide to be proactive
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