CiviCRM

My organization needed to find a CRM that could fit all of our needs and we found it in Civi. We needed something that allowed us to set up online contribution pages, event registration pages and personal fundraising pages and Civi delivered. It integrated seemlessly with our database to make the transition that much easier. Are there some drawbacks? Sure. They have yet to create the perfect CRM but Civi has so much going for it that it was great for what we needed. The search and reporting features aren't as sophisticated as some other CRMs but what was more important to us was the customizable data storage and there Civi delivered. The other drawback was that Civi is non-profit driven which means their technical support is pretty much nonexistent. That leaves it up to the user to find solutions to any problems or questions that might arise. The online community has offered us everything we needed through some great forums. You could also hire a consultant if you wanted to go that route or even build your own community to discuss various issues and solutions you might have come up with. Civi actually encourages all forms of customer problem solving and I think I know why. Their updates are fantastic. Every new release has improved the software tremendously. This makes life with Civi that much easier. If you're looking for a solid CRM and you're willing to put in some time when it comes to troubleshooting any issues that arise then Civi CRM is the one for you.

 Open Source software comes with inherent challenges. Although CiviCRM is pretty much ready go to out of the box it's no exception to these issues. Civi answers this with an open and helpful online community of forums as well as being easily reachable by email and at conferences. Organizations choosing to use CiviCRM should invest in someone who can program and customize the software instead of 'going it alone'. This minimal investment in Civi pays off in the long run by allowing you to get the most out of what Civi has to offer as well as an expert to train your users. Once you find a programmer retain them for the upgrades (which when they come out are fantastic improvements over the previous versions) and any troubleshooting issues that might arise. 

With the help of CivicCRM, my nonprofit has turned from a ragtag group of volunteers into an organization over 4,000 members strong. The interface is very user-friendly and lets all of my personnel keep track of memberships, sending out bulk e-mails, registering and ticketing events, managing volunteers' hours, and organizing and processing payments that have been made online. Like many nonprofits, we started out with no IT department, which was especially daunting before we started using CivicCRM. As a result, getting familiar with the software was challenging at first without any sort of in-depth background in using computers. Having had this experience, I highly recommend that any nonprofit keeping all of their information in Filemaker or Microsoft Excel contact a specialist to ensure that this process is as quick and painless as possible. Overall, CivicCRM, after a little configuration, is a great management software for any nonprofit looking for better ways to maintain records of all of their day-to-day operations.

CiviCRM met our goals perfectly at my non-profit organization. As a non-profit, one of the big things I look for when I'm reviewing new software is the ability to get set up easily, without having to deal with shelling out more money for additional features, or to have to pay extra to talk to someone from the software company. In this day and age, with so many choices, there really is no need for it. CiviCRM is different because it's open source and well supported with a great community behind it. I didn't have any headaches dealing with a sale person at the other end of the phone. Not only that, but most of the people in the community use the software; so they know what sorts of issues I'll be facing. The documentation is well done and the software itself is easy to use. I also like that there's users who get together throughout the nation to help each other out, giving me yet another resource for this software. The people who attend are also other non-profits who use the service, which lets me really connect and problem solve. There's no selling or gimmicks, just helpful people and good software.

I think CiviCRM is a well thought out tool. It has much slicker features than other CRMs I’ve tried. It’s a good open source solution for any social project and for all nonprofits. I think CiviCRM could be just a bit too complex for some people working in nonprofits, if they are not much good at event management, lack good communication skills or don’t know enough about fundraising. It’s not a simple tool to use and does not offer a lot of support for guiding people through all the features. While it does not have quite as many features as Raiser’s Edge, CiviCRM is a little simpler. CiviCRM has all back-office features needed for a nonprofit to function. It provides me with full customer connectivity and since I started using this software I’ve been able to do things that otherwise would not have been possible.

CIVICRM app is a great tool that caters to non-profits & other organizations. The contact management program is great because I can combine all of my lists of subscribers, donors, volunteers, and grantors into one database. Also I can quickly create event pages and registration forms to send to my donors.