Data Sense

Tools For Selecting A Donor Database

categories: Database Management

Selecting a database is a major decision. You are going to live with your choice for a long time and you are going to expend precious resources. When you purchase a car, you research the different makes and models to find out which will best meet your needs. Then you try to craft the best deal that you can. Doesn’t it make sense to do the same thing when selecting a database? 

Before you go shopping, though, you need to narrow the field.  Look to your strategic plan. Where is your organization going in the next few years?  Do you hold a number of events? Are you planning to expand your annual fund and develop a major gifts program? Do you have a membership component? Will you need to track campaign solicitations?  Make a list and discuss it with others in your organization. You might also talk with other nonprofits at a similar stage of growth.

Check out IdealWare at http://www.idealware.org/.  The organization behind the website is a nonprofit, which “provides candid Consumer-Reports-style reviews and articles about software of interest to nonprofits.”  You will find all kinds of helpful articles, but if you are a small nonprofit with a very limited budget you must check out A Consumers Guide to Low Cost Donor Management Systems. (http://www.idealware.org/low_cost_donor/consumers_low_cost_donor_mgmt.pdf) The authors reviewed 33 systems costing less than $4,200 in the first year, and came up with a top ten list. A matrix very clearly shows the strengths and weaknesses of each of those ten systems. A companion publication, Detailed Reviews of Low Cost Donor Management Systems, (http://www.idealware.org/low_cost_donor/details_low_cost_donor_management.pdf) provides a more in-depth look at the top ten and a few additional systems.

Another great source for guidance in the area of nonprofit technology is TechSoup. (http://www.techsoup.org/index.cfm) Click on the “Learning Center” and then look to the left where you will find topics, including “databases.” The articles on selecting a database are a couple of years old but might be helpful in conjunction with the material cited above.

This is a blog, not a full-blown article so I’ll haul up my pen at this point. But I do want to remind you of one more thing that could save you money.  Many vendors offer a fee to consultant partners whose clients purchase their product. This is because the vendor has expended less marketing and promotion dollars. Since most vendors do this, it doesn’t really benefit the consultant to recommend one product over another. Nonetheless, the consultants I’ve talked with do not keep that fee but ask the vendor to apply it toward discounting the cost of the product. Ask your consultant. If you are not working with a consultant, see if you can negotiate with the vendor to get the same discount.

In an upcoming blog we will look at database screening products. Check back!

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