fundraising software vs generic crm systems for charities

Fundraising Software is Dead – Long Live Fundraising Software!

Ivan Wainewrightivan@itforcharities.co.uk

http://blog.itforcharities.co.uk @itforcharities

Agenda

A little bit of history and statistics Benefits comparison What does all that mean for charities

So is Fundraising Software dieing…?

‘Dedicated’

Fundraising Packages

Generic ‘CRM’ Solutions

How did we get where we are…

1981 1985 1988 1990 1999 2003 2005 2008

WWW

MS Windows CommonGround

Blackbaud MS CRM

DonorFlex Salesforce

Westwood Forster CiviCRM

Charisma Touchstone Ch/Point

2012

Dedicated Fundraising Packages

Benefits Written specifically for

fundraising operations Experience of other

fundraisers and charity staff

Supplier knowledge/ Support

Speed of implementation Future-proofing…

Downsides Over-complex? Lack of

flexibility? Companies can go bust

or get taken over! Proprietary Solutions

(Enhancement requests) Lower R&D budgets Technology?

Generic CRM Systems

Benefits You may get the best of both

worlds… plus “templated” charity options & apps

Software license costs Flexibility of using different

support companies/ suppliers Often very customisable &

have third party apps Often good for organisation-

wide databases Technology… High levels of development &

a far wider customer base (inc. commercial clients)

Downsides No default fundraising

functionality… templated versions are just a starting point

Cost NOT just the software Need more staff time (?) &

project management (-> risk?)

Suppliers’ (re-sellers) fundraising knowledge?

Fewer charity users (currently)

How will cost change?How will resource requirements

change?

Will we (should we?) be buying “Fundraising software” in the

future?

Will “Fundraising software” die?

NoHowever…

So what do I think will happen…

Thank You

Ivan Wainewright

ivan@itforcharities.co.uk

http://blog.itforcharities.co.uk

@itforcharities