PowerBase

What's PowerBase?

PTP has created a database platform, PowerBase, specifically for groups engaged in community organizing. It was developed in collaboration with key organizing groups, so PowerBase tracks what organizers want to track. Groups can access it in the office and on the road. PowerBase will make it easy to share information both within organizations and with organizational partners and allies – everyone will be using the same system.

New Features

Here are some of the new features we’ve been working on for PowerBase:

• Synchronization with Salsa Labs/Democracy in Action
• An engagement ladder - so groups can accurately track member involvement
• Custom searches and reports for fundraising
• Full integration of the new Civi-Campaign module
• Custom reports that allow organizations to track their internal use of PowerBase – they'll find out if they're PowerUsers!

If you want to stay in the loop about PowerBase, we’ll be posting regularly to PTP’s blog to give you updates on this development.  You can also sign up to our PowerBase Updates mailing list so you’ll get the news delivered to your inbox.

PTP is offering PowerBase training and office hours for current users of PowerBase. 

Why PowerBase?

The simple reality is that there has not been a good, uniform, sophisticated database for community organizers. The result is the situation we’re in now:

• groups have to live with databases – usually more than one – that have been customized, cobbled together, and entirely inadequate to their needs

• nearly every organization uses a database unique to them, so there’s no easy way to exchange information, or receive technical support

• commercial solutions are expensive and target the ‘nonprofit’ model – community organizers have very different needs

As more groups are tracking increasingly complex information, building memberships of hundreds to tens of thousands of people, engaging in voter participation efforts, and inputting data in multiple languages, the organizing community urgently needs a well-designed, well-supported, uniform database system.

Check out the PowerBase site for information and updates on the project.