Money saved, and a whole lot of hassle and time saved!

They provide great customer service; regardless of whether you are a small or large nonprofit. Their software is very well organized and user-friendly. Their documentation and training are excellent and again, very user-focused.

Mail merging to Microsoft Word is not flawless. Sometimes we get errors, and many times spaces that follow mail merged values are deleted, which has caused problems in our donor letters. Sumac can't find a solution, so I plan to mail merge only to tab delimited text files in the future, and use the Microsoft Word built in mail merging, which works better anyway.

We are a non-profit ministry and needed software that tracks donors/donations, accommodates product sales, tracks memberships and renewal dates, and handles event tracking. It is VERY CHALLENGING to find non-profit software for a mid sized organization that handles all of these functions. Sumac does all of this in addition to being a very affordable solution. Also, we needed rather extensive custom programming to handle some of our more specialized batch processing functions. Sumac did the custom programming for us. I think one of the most compelling reasons to use Sumac is their customer service and support. I have done business with a large number of software companies during my career and few if any have been as responsive to customer needs as Sumac.

If support is paramount, Sumac is a great choice. Sumac covers a broad scope of functions, including donations, memberships, sales and events. The software is very easy to use. Built in import functions are very user friendly and very complete. Transferring data into Sumac from another system is not difficult and the error checking before import is very good. Contact history is strong and allows drill downs into all the underlying documents. Contact records allow the addition of extra user-defined tabs and fields which is a great asset.

Inventory tracking functionality could be more robust. Mail merges currently allow links between contacts and one other view, such as donations, memberships, etc. It would be helpful if more than one additional view would be supported. Reports could be improved, but this problem is easily resolved with a good report writer that links with an ODBC driver.

We started using Sumac for organizing our data a couple of years ago. Before that we were swimming in excel sheets and having multiple users access the same information was problematic. We use Sumac for ticketing, memberships and donations. I like that we have one system that organizes these three aspects, as there is (as one would hope) quite a bit of overlap between those three actions. It is also useful for organizing mailing lists (either hard copy or email) and analyzing data. But most importantly for us, it's an affordable option. There are CRMs out there that are more robust but for a small non-profit we wouldn't be able to afford them. Sumac is a really cost-effective option to suit our needs.

Sumac has a lot of software updates. These updates don't fundamentally change the look or experience of using it, but the updates often require us restarting our server. The other aspect is, though they are working on this, is that the web integration is not as customizable as one might like. It's difficult to change the look or flow of it to go with our branding. Finally - there are just a lot of pop-ups for any application while using it (do you want to record this, do you want to save this, etc.) which seem unnecessary.

The best benefit is being able to maintain all information in one database. Many donor management systems do not allow for volunteers and clients. Also, I believe this software is flexible with many features, yet you can still use it with other software systems like Constant Contact, etc.

You are able to add categories and information you need for your organization. You are able to personalize the database. In addition, the reporting helps you to save time managing and sharing information with your nonprofit board and constituents.

The only con is you have to take the time to learn how to use it. Sumac has the ability to have so much information that you need to know how to utilize that information for you. Luckily, the Sumac tech team is always available to help you and they have great tutorial videos for all aspects.

That we were able to combine both our client management system and donor system into one where before it was two different softwares. Also the reporting in sumac is so much more advanced

That you can not upload actual scanned documents only a link to where the document is stored. This is disappointing as we now must continue to store hard copy files when we were hoping to eliminate them.

It is very basic and easy to use. The support is great. It is also on the cloud. Reporting is great for most functions.

We were never able to integrate our ticketing and donations so have to import everything from other systems. We were not able to batch import so it is very time-consuming. Same is true of our marketing email.

Universal usefulness for nonprofit work, customized fields and data tracking, unified database across multiple departments within the whole organization, relatively simple-to-use interface, fantastic and responsive customer service and training, and so much more!

The ability to customize the software for every need we have, from volunteer records, student progress tracking, donor management, and everything in between!

There is a slight learning curve for anyone not already familiar with manipulating reports from raw data, but the training, customer service, and tutorial videos are extremely helpful in building those skills for full software functionality.

Flexible and good value. It provides just the right structure yet flexible enough to customize for emerging needs.

Could use more ease of use features. WOuld love to have documents stored on individuals so that all users can access.

Nothing special.

Fairly easy to customise, fairly intuitive, once gets into it. Search Builder is nice, once understood.

Cluttered. For example, Having all gifts in the same group as any other notes and points of donor contact is rather frustrating due to the cluttered nature. Likewise the Contacts page- much prefer single Search field, then a full list which is searched. And I have no idea if there's an easy way to see direct mail statistics (i.e., % of responses, average raised based on responses, etc.). That's a feature I've become very accustomed to and am missing greatly. Not a bad donor database; but honestly? It's not DonorPerfect.

There's a wide variety of add-ons you can choose and our custom module works great. The website integration is seamless and saves us a lot of time. The pricing is reasonable and customer service is great.

The web forms (for website integration) are not as customizable as I thought they would be; you can't change certain fields or add much intro text. Full usability requires intermediate HTML skills, which is currently an issue for us so we're still using an email app as well.

An easy way to manage our membership and donations programs.

I like the Membership and Donation platforms. Compared to our previous system it is very easy to update records, put in payments, and track donations with certain campaigns. Its also easy to run numbers for my director and give detailed stats.

There is not much to dislike but probably the search functions on the Contacts page. It would be great to have a search bar to search last name, organization name, province, etc...

After struggling for several years with an expensive database that was not intuitive and did not meet our needs, our organization looked into several others to replace it including Sumac which was recommended to us by another not-for-profit. We scheduled a demo with a Sumac Guru for our entire team and we were all captivated by the ease of use and functionality it offered almost everything on our wish list (and much more). We then decided to purchase Sumac and have not regretted our decision. While there were a few hiccups with our data migration, overall we have been very impressed. It is very user-friendly, fast, and has features that we are still discovering a year after we started using it. The Sumac team is amazing and has been very responsive, accommodating and helpful when we have needed assistance in using the tool and putting through change requests when we have suggestions and identified areas for improvement.

The website integration is great and easy to use. It has saved us a lot of time and money. It is great that users are able to sign in with their login

I wish you were able to build your own reports. It can be difficult to pull the information I need in a timely manner

We've totally changed the way we keep client files, plus we've imported a few years' worth of donation records and we can see history and run reports in a way we weren't able to before.

The support we get when we have issues is wonderful. The support team is very quick to reply to requests.

I'm not sure, maybe that I can't generate reports from our custom data points. We track a number of things about clients and we have no way to retrieve that.

Tracking donors, their gifts, and receipting.

SUMAC is a great value. I've used several other CRM products over the years and I believe its the best product for the price on the market. The customer service is top-notch. Their reps are effective, cordial, and timely in solving any issues.

Reporting seems difficult. When I've needed certain reports, I've had to call in the tech team to walk me through the process. More reporting templates that all non profits need would be helpful.

We are a group of non-profit volunteer organizations based out of Quebec who were looking for a robust software to manage over 20 independent organizations.(others potentially to follow) Sumac Platinum stepped up to the plate and found a solution that works for us and leaves our previous inadequate system as a distant memory. Sumac listened intently to our needs and has developed a bilingual solution with the ability to track our statistical data and the option to manage all of our programs, services, events and more. Problem issues were identified and resolved during development and solutions found to satisfy our requirements and stay within the software constraints. The scope of this project resulted in a longer development stage than anticipated but as our project was not an out of the box solutions this was understandable. For the most part, customer support surpassed my expectations as interpretation of conversations are often problematic. They were able to transition from laymen conversation to their own internal speak and back again for relatively smooth communications. Tracking of problem issues and designation of responsibilities for specific issues was not always clear. I would suggest a ticketing system to resolve this for the future.

It is very user friendly and customizable. It is easy to add additional users and input information. Additionally, it is very cost effective for small not for profit.

The data merging process can be a bit complex depending on what function you are trying to perform. The feature could needs to be simplified.

User Friendly

The system was easy to setup - very user friendly. Easy to change as requirements change. The custom support is very friendly and helpful. Training is a huge bonus.

Reports. I would like to create and save custom reports. The built in reports do not allow different optionss

Sumac fits our needs: it s cost-effective, easy-to-use, flexible and improves Crow's Theatre's organizational capacity.

I can attest that improved efficiency in our data management and communications in the last five years is directly associated to Sumac. Most notably, it has assisted our strategies to more fully integrate audience development and private sector fundraising campaigns. When I recommend Sumac to colleagues at other not-for-profit organizations, the first thing I endorse is their terrific customer service which seems in tune and crafted perfectly for organizations with limited overhead and resources. Sumac support staff are responsive, approachable, knowledgeable, caring and willing to adjust programs so that they work for our organization, rather than our organization working around their system.

Nothing specific.

As a non-for-profit artist-run centre, we use Sumac primarily for ticket sales, memberships and donations. It's an extremely powerful tool for data management, and has been essential to tracking our membership, customers and donors. As a new user, I found that while the software wasn't always immediately easy to use, I found their customer service to be incredible, and always very friendly. Not only do they have great orientation videos, they have excellent customer service on the phone (very patient, friendly, and efficient). Since we had a changeover in our staff, they were able to give us a online training session to answer all our questions about functionality, and they gave us some great tips. While we continue to refine how we use Sumac to best suit our organization, I feel more and more confident the more I use it. To have memberships, donations, and general communications all streamlined in one program makes life a lot easier, which makes a big difference in smaller organizations like ours.

Software comes with loads of features including contact management, accounting, event management, and donor management.

Too difficult to access contacts, there didn't seem to be an easy way to find a group - say donors who gave once. I could always find what I was looking for eventually, but it always took longer than it should.

It's a good product overall. You can customize it to do what you need it to do. It takes awhile to get set up and going, but once everyone in your organization has been trained you should be clear sailing.

PCI Compliance isn't included which means each nonprofit is responsible for keeping up with PCI Compliance. This has been a nightmare for one organization I work with.

HPCO had been using a third party to manage our direct mail campaign and tax receipting. Switching to Sumac has significantly reduced our preparation time for direct mail and reduced the time between receipt of a donation and the mailing of the thank you letter with tax receipt. We also use Sumac to manage membership renewals, communications to members, and manage all of our other contacts. Sumac is very user friendly and intuitive. Sumac is also easy to maintain and does not require database management training or technical support staff. The data conversion process from our old system to Sumac was smooth. The Sumac team was highly responsive to our needs and very adept in converting our data quickly. HPCO selected Sumac as a solutions partner and endorsed Sumac to our membership because we feel it is the best product to meet the range of needs of our diverse membership.

I learned about Sumac through my graduate course work. To my knowledge, it is the only CRM that offers a free version with everything a startup nonprofit needs. I have been able to easily manage my contacts and donations with the database. The mail merge feature and group emailing capabilities are a huge time saver. I look forward to Ballet Vero Beach growing with Sumac and expanding our capabilities as our needs change. As an aside, I recently had a problem with my database when an update was installed on the Sumac software. I called customer service and actually spoke with Peter Turk (one of the developers of the software!), Peter spent nearly five hours working with me to make sure my database (of only 40 contacts) was intact and functioning. Where else can you get customer service like that on a free service?

I've been using Sumac for 3 years now. The customer service is amazing and the team is extremely responsive to customer requests both for help and new features. The system is reasonably intuitive and robust. The only thing that keeps me from giving it 5 stars across the board is it is still occasionally awkward to pull donor lists for mailings that don't have both individual members of a household as well as the household itself. I have recommended Sumac to several other administrators in the not for profit industry. You cannot beat it for bang for buck. Having compared it to larger systems (like RE), I would gladly stick with Sumac for usability, robustness and customer service.