OFFICE
DATABASES |
ORGANIZERS DATABASE |
COMMUNITY
DATABASE |
EBASE V.2 |
DONOR PERFECT LAN |
| OVERVIEW |
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| Cost
(money and time) |
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|
| learning curve - the most important cost
factor!! |
very low |
middle of road |
steep |
steep |
| minimum training time for users |
1 hour |
2-3 hours |
1 day |
1 day |
| minimum training time for administrators |
2 hours |
4 hours |
2-4 days |
2-4 days |
| operating system |
windows |
windows |
win or mac |
windows |
| software (for single computer) |
MS Access |
MS Access |
None* |
proprietary |
| cost (for 501c3 organization, via
www.discountech.org) |
Free w/Access |
$500 w/Access |
Free (runtime) |
$2,995 |
| software (for local area network) |
MS Access |
MS Access |
Filemaker |
proprietary |
| cost (for 501c3 organization, via
www.discountech.org) |
Free w/Access |
$500 w/Access |
$800 + $130 per computer |
$4495 for 2, more $500/ea |
| setup & configuration time (excludes
data conversion) |
1-2 hours* |
1-2 hours* |
8-24 hours* |
they do it for you |
| updates / improved versions |
free & automated |
free w/$60/hr help |
free & automated |
y (w/support fee) |
| to add new features on your own, you need: |
VB & SQL developer |
MS Access developer |
Ebase
developer |
Buy a module (if available)*** |
| * A simple, non-modifiable version can run
with no other software, but for more power, Filemaker is required ($130) |
| ** Project Alchemy can do this for you at
the rate of $60/hour. We can also do the data conversion (ask for a quote). |
| *** Some improvements can be made without a
new module - like customizing the forms and reports. Learn this through a
training. |
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| Free
Support & Training Options |
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| on-screen help menu |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y (searchable) |
| help menu can be customized by your
organization |
- |
Y (super-fast) |
Y (complex) |
- |
| email list support |
Y (free) |
Y (free) |
Y (free) |
- |
| phone support |
- |
- |
- |
Y (w/support fee)* |
| * Donor Perfect support fee is $695/year
every year for single user, plus $50 for each additional concurrent user
licensed. |
| We strongly
recommend never letting this support fee lapse - it entitles you to free
upgrades and renewing after a lapse is costly. |
|
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| Fee-Based
Support & Training Options |
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|
| phone training |
Y (sliding scale) |
- |
- |
Y ($95/hour) |
| basic training (PA - in office, DP -
webinar) |
$60/hour (PA) |
$60/hour (PA) |
$60/hour (PA) |
$240/4 hours |
| mini-webinars (1.5 hours for specific
topics) |
- |
- |
- |
Y ($75/1.5 hours) |
| regional classes |
- |
- |
- |
Y ($300/class) |
| scheduled support: in-office help, support,
and training |
$50/hour (PA) |
$50/hour |
$50/hour (PA) |
Y ($800+ travel) |
|
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| Contact Management |
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| people and organizations |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
| families (mail families & track gifts
w/o duplicates) |
- |
Y |
Y |
n *** |
| track the relationships between them |
Y (limited)* |
Y (unlimited)** |
Y (unlimited)** |
Y (unlimited) |
| * Each group can have 2 contact people and
1 parent organization. No relationships between people. New features planned. |
| ** Unlimited relationships of any type
between people, and with groups. Ex: parent, partner, staff, board member,
volunteer |
| *** Tracked through unlimited salutations
& soft credits |
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| Organizing Information |
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|
|
| this information is mostly tracked using: |
checkboxes |
menus |
whole new form |
codes |
| issues |
Y (32 max) |
Y (unlimited) |
Y (unlimited) |
Y (codes) |
| constituencies |
Y (32 max) |
Y (unlimited) |
Y (unlimited) |
- |
| activities |
Y (32 max) |
Y (unlimited) |
Y (unlimited) |
Y (unlimited) |
| role plaYed in your org (ie
committee/campaign member) |
Y (32 max)* |
Y (unlimited) |
Y (unlimited) |
Y (flag codes) |
| senate, congress & house district, and
ward, precinct |
Y |
- |
Y (user-def fields) |
- |
| registered voter |
Y |
Y |
Y |
- |
| party affiliation |
Y |
Y |
Y |
- |
| comments |
Y (one) |
Y (unlimited) |
Y (unlimited) |
Y (use notebook) |
| log of events attended and volunteered at |
- |
Y (unlimited) |
Y (unlimited) |
Y |
| * ODB has added feature of tracking not
just yes/no for each role, but the level of involvement (1, 2 or 3). |
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| Giving
History |
for people only |
for all records |
for all records |
for all records |
| this database works best for groups with: |
lots small gifts |
major gifts too |
the whole range |
the whole range |
| date and amount of gift |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
| program or fund (i.e. gen support,
designated, etc) |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y ("ledger") |
| general ledger & accounting codes and
reports |
|
|
|
Y |
| stimulus, or source (i.e. dues, event,
letter, etc) |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
| solicitor (person that recruited the gift) |
- |
Y |
Y |
Y |
| fiscal year (since sometimes gift year is
different) |
- |
Y |
Y |
- |
| gift note (brief note just about the gift) |
- |
Y |
Y |
Y |
| date thank-you was sent |
- |
Y |
Y |
Y (number) |
| pledges and pledge payments |
- |
Y |
Y |
Y |
| pledge payment due date reminders |
- |
Y (must schedule) |
Y |
Y |
| pledge dilinquency & cash flow
projection reports |
- |
- |
- |
Y |
| member join, expire & renew tracking |
Y |
- |
Y |
Y (separate area) |
| in-kind gifts (i.e. office equip, auction
items, etc) |
- |
Y |
Y |
Y |
| matched gifts (recognize donors w/company
matches) |
- |
Y |
Y |
Y (soft credit) |
| via foundation (recognize people
w/donor-advised funds) |
- |
Y |
Y |
Y (soft credit) |
| split gifts (one check for 2 or more
purposes) |
- |
- |
- |
Y |
| memorial & honorarium gifts |
- |
- |
- |
Y |
| planned gifts (bequests) |
- |
- |
- |
Y (separate area) |
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| Fundraising
Management |
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| gift overview window (gift totals, max
gift, etc) |
Y |
- |
Y |
Y |
| funder strategy per FY (ask amt, budget
amt, notes) |
- |
Y |
Y (must create) |
Y (not per year) |
| funder scope, interests, types of support,
due dates |
- |
Y |
Y (must create) |
Y (use notebook) |
|
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| Activity
Tracking / Project Management |
|
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|
| first database view shows pending to-do
items |
- |
Y |
Y |
n (opt. pop-up) |
| track activities & events |
- |
Y |
Y |
Y |
| program/project, cost, # attendees, note |
- |
y |
- |
- |
| to-do items (due date, status, staff
assignment, notes) |
- |
Y |
Y |
- |
| list volunteers and sponsors/allies
helping out |
- |
Y |
- |
- |
| list attendees |
- |
Y |
- |
Y |
| track actions taken by/with people, orgs,
and families |
- |
|
Y |
Y |
| to-do items (due date, status, staff
assignment, notes) |
- |
Y |
Y |
Y |
| completed to-do items become historical
profile data |
- |
Y |
Y |
Y |
| (ie fundraising asks, phone
conversations, etc) |
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| Printing |
|
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| difficulty / skill / time in performing
task |
foolproof |
easy |
VERY involved |
foolproof |
| detailed overview of one or more records |
Y |
Y (several types) |
Y (must create) |
Y (several types) |
| mailing labels |
Y |
Y |
Y (must create) |
Y |
| envelopes |
Y |
- |
- |
Y |
| thank-you letters |
Y (per entry) |
Y (as a group) |
Y (must create) |
Y (as entered) |
| tax receipts |
Y |
Y (must create) |
Y (must create) |
Y |
| donation slips with membership exp dates |
Y |
Y (must create) |
Y (must create) |
Y |
| phone lists |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
| email lists |
Y (to clipboard) |
Y (to datasheet) |
Y (direct email) |
Y |
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| Reports |
|
|
|
|
| generating reports |
requires export |
fast & easy |
requires export |
fast & easy |
| gift reports (show successes) |
- |
Y |
Y (future, 2.1) |
Y (many types) |
| funder profiles (major donor &
foundation planning) |
- |
Y |
Y (future, 2.1) |
Y (many types) |
| fundraising goal & strategy reports
(planning & budgeting) |
- |
Y |
Y (future, 2.1) |
Y (many types) |
| action reports (to-do lists for staff) |
- |
Y |
- |
Y |
| project/event reports (show successes) |
- |
Y |
- |
Y |
| volunteer hours & assignments |
|
|
|
Y |
| create new reports as needed |
Y |
Y |
Y (via excel) |
n (80 existing) |
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| Integration
with Other Tools |
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| Quickbooks, Peachtree, & other
accounting software |
- |
- |
- |
Y (export/import) |
| Native email client (built into the
database) |
- |
- |
Y (supports html) |
- |
| MS Outlook and other email clients |
Y (clipboard) |
Y (cb or merge) |
Y (export/import) |
Y (native text) |
| MS Word and Excel |
Y |
Y (native) |
Y (export/import) |
? don't know |
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| Finding
Records and Selecting Record-Sets |
|
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|
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| list view with search to find records |
Y |
Y |
Y |
? don't know |
| lists that can easily be sorted and/or
filtered |
- |
Y |
Y (filtered only) |
? don't know |
| lists views for quickly entering data (like
missing email) |
- |
Y |
- |
? don't know |
| simple way to create record sets (queries) |
Y (foolproof) |
Y (super-easy) |
Y (easy) |
? don't know |
| "flags" enable hand-picked &
super-complex record sets |
- |
Y |
Y (via "items") |
? don't know |
| for super-complex record sets, you need to
know: |
SQL |
SQL (or flags) |
Filemaker Finds |
? don't know |
|
|
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| Data
Entry and Ease of Use |
|
|
|
|
| switchboard displays all options |
y |
y |
y |
? don't know |
| fast data entry |
y (fastest) |
y |
y |
? don't know |
| staff code tracks who entered what |
- |
y |
y (best w/dupes) |
? don't know |
| suggests fixes & duplicates (data
integrity checking) |
y |
- |
- |
? don't know |
| bad addresses are clearly visible when
record is selected |
y |
- |
y (future, 2.1) |
? don't know |
| 1-click to "clone" a record,
saving data-entry time |
y |
- |
- |
- |
| 1-click to google, mapquest, or white-page
a contact |
y |
- |
- |
- |
| 1-click to find city or zip code for a
contact |
y |
- |
- |
- |
| 1-click to copy name and/or postal address
to clipboard |
y |
- |
- |
- |
| 1-click to copy found set's email addresses
to clipboard |
y |
- |
- |
- |
| 1-click to export basic contact info for a
found set |
y |
- |
- |
- |
|
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| Utilities |
|
|
|
|
| import wizard |
y (simple lists) |
- |
y (robust) |
? don't know |
| automatic monthly backup utility |
y |
- |
|
? don't know |
| simple zip code lookup database
pre-installed |
y |
- |
- |
? don't know |
| small enough to save to floppy or email
(w/o data) |
y |
y (when zipped) |
|
- |
| quickly record bugs and feature requests |
y (thru email) |
y (thru wish list) |
y (thru email) |
y (thru website) |
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| Summaries |
|
| Organizer's Database |
|
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| Probably the right choice
if: |
|
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| * You need walking lists for
door-knocking campaigns (although you will need to create walking list
reports) |
|
| * You use membership dues as a primary
way of raising funds and building involvement |
|
|
| * You do not need to track lots of detail
for action items for major donors, foundations, etc. (or you can track it
elsewhere). |
| * You do not generally receive donations
or dues payments from organizations. |
|
|
| * You do not have a lot of critical
special needs which are not currently accomodated in ODB... there are other
databases |
| that are more flexible in terms of
being adapted toward special needs. |
|
|
|
| * You expect to have volunteers entering
data a lot of the time, AND do not have time to closely train and monitor
them. |
| Potential gotcha's: |
|
|
|
|
| * Must pick only one: address expired,
address incomplete, address good, no fund requests, no xtra fund requests, no
newsletter. |
| * Individual records can only be one
type: donor or prospective, funder, journalist, constituent, vendor. |
|
| * Unlike Community DB, drop-down menus
can't be easily modified by users. Plan for some help from a developer to
change them. |
| This type of customization is likely to
get lost in the mix after an update. |
|
|
|
| * Some minor bugs may be encountered -
report them and wait for the next update (in general) |
|
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| Community Database |
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| Probably the right choice
if: |
|
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| * You have lots of couples and families
making gifts as a unit - and you're okay with the extra complexity of family
records. |
| * You wish to keep track of rich
histories of involvement in your organization. |
|
|
| * You are putting lots of emphasis on
cultivating major donors and foundations. |
|
|
| * You have more than 32 options that you
need to track for actions, issues, etc. |
|
|
| * You want to use the same database for
project management around events, activities, and cultivation |
|
| * You want to easily create hand-picked
lists whenever needed |
|
|
|
| * You want to have several different
types of reports right from the beginning |
|
|
| * You are willing to do a little extra
work to import new lists, send thank you letters, etc. - through training or
scheduled support. |
| * You are willing to spend 1/2 to 1 hour
training all new data entry volunteers. |
|
|
| Potential gotcha's: |
|
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|
|
| * There isn't an organization that is
heavily devoted to continual improvement, as opposed to Organizer's Database
and Ebase. |
| All current progress, and future
development, results from one-on-one projects with Project Alchemy client
organizations. |
| This is our short-term response to
requirements that neither Ebase nor Organizer's Database are able to meet at
this time. |
| Please be aware that the only path
toward improvements and new features is through Project Alchemy fee-based
services or |
| through hands-on help from an Access
developer. |
|
|
|
|
| * Designed to be very flexible, the only
menu option that cannot be easily modified is organization type. Plan for a
few hours |
| of development time to add new
organization types. |
|
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|
|
| * Some minor bugs may be encountered -
report them and expect to pay hourly fees to fix them (in general) |
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|
| DonorPerfect |
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|
|
| Probably the right choice
if: |
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| * The organization has very sophisticated
fundraising needs - robust pledge tracking, planned giving, alumni and
corporate matches.. |
| * The organization has little staff
turnover - training is expensive. |
|
|
|
| * The organization can afford to commit to
the cost of the product and the annual support fee (starting at $700/year) |
| * The organization has a traditional
service provider model - there is little, if any, crossover between donors
and people served, and |
| and there is good reason for a
separate database to manage the services, track clients and program
statistics, etc. |
| Potential gotcha's: |
|
|
|
|
| * Organizations with budgets that can rise
and fall significantly from year to year may have difficulty retaining a
commitment to an |
| annual support plan, and renewing after
a lapse can be costly. |
|
|
|
| * Organizations with classic community
organizing models will often work to build and engage a base of supporters
that are, and |
| should be, engaged in both fundraising
and program work (education, advocacy, research, campaigns, etc). |
| * Organizations with special needs will be
limited by proprietary products like DonorPerfect. By "proprietary"
we mean that they are |
| closed and cannot be modified as needed
by any qualified database developer. Rather, all future improvements must
come through |
| product upgrades or new module
purchases, and so they have limited flexibility. DonorPerfect does offer
customized development |
| at a rate of $95/hour, if a new feature
or a new report is required. |
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| Ebase |
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| Project Alchemy
is not recommending Ebase v.2.03 without careful planning, help from a
consultant including a database scheduled |
| support
contract, and a solid commitment by the organization to devote a minimum of
12 hours per week for a database admin |
| who can start
out with 3 full days of training, and a 4 hour training for all additional
users. |
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| THE
NITTY-GRITTY DETAILS |
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| Individual
/ People Records |
|
|
|
|
| source code (where you found them) |
y (optional) |
(note entry) |
|
|
| title |
y (optional) |
y |
|
|
| first name, middle initial, last name |
y |
|
|
y (unlimited sal's) |
| suffix |
y (optional) |
|
|
|
| address |
y (street #, name) |
y (combined) |
|
y (unlimited) |
| country field (for international work) |
y (optional) |
- |
y |
|
| phone |
y (3) |
y (3 w/primary) |
|
|
| email |
y (1) |
|
|
|
| "do not" checkboxes (email,
phone) |
y |
y |
|
|
| contact preference |
- |
y |
|
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|
|
|
|
|
| Organization
/ Group Records |
|
|
|
|
| organization type |
y (fixed list)* |
y (fixed list)** |
|
|
| organization's acronym |
y |
- |
|
|
| address |
y (1) |
y (1) |
y (unlimited) |
|
| phone |
y (1) |
y (3 w/primary) |
y (unlimited) |
|
| fax |
y (1, optional) |
y (1) |
y (unlimited) |
|
| email |
y (1) |
y (2) |
y (unlimited) |
|
| web |
y (1) |
y (1) |
y (unlimited) |
|
| profile information |
y (limited)*** |
y (unlimited) |
y (unlimited) |
|
| roles the group plays in your organization |
y**** |
y (unlimited) |
y (unlimited) |
|
| * Advocacy & Public Education, Elected
Official/Campaign, Foundation, Grassroots, Info Clearinghouse, Legal, Media. |
| ** Business, Foundation, Media, Nonprofit,
Religious, Vendor, Other. |
|
|
|
| *** Field for area served. Also note the
action/constituency/issue tracking features described below. |
|
| *** Two types of roles only: supporter and
endorser. Space for 1 gift and 1 gift date only. |
|
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| Author: |
|
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|
|
| Samantha Moscheck, Project
Alchemy |
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| www.projectalchemy.org |
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|
2801 21st Av S, Ste 132E 