What are CharityTracker users saying about the software?

Fundraising Fudamental

An Awesome Resource Network

CharityTracker is a shared database of client assistance, its a way to communitycate with other assistance agencies, its a way to set client goals and work on them together to track and schieev shared outcomes. Its also the tool to use to track outcomes for a Getting Ahead in a just gettin' by world program, with it's own module customized to match the assessment and turn out progress reports, stability scores and Return on Investment.

Pros

Navigation of the software is as easy as navagating a common webpage. History of modifications eliminates the chance that another agency might update (and loose) an address or phone number that you need. The Alert system is very helpful for quickly communicationg to other agencies.

Cons

That every agency in the whole community isnt using it!

CT Occasional user

We extract monthly information from CT to keep track of the number of clients we are seeing on a monthly basis and to share with board members and other community members. I have someone else pulling that information for me and would like to see more options for creating reports that are easy to read.

Pros

I like the fact that the software is very easy to use and understand. We currently use two versions of the software to keep track of our own information but also link into other available resources in the community. Customization of the software for our own needs is also a great advantage of using CT.

Cons

As an administrator of our own version of Charity Tracker, it can be a bit confusing trying to navigate the different programs to find the information I am looking for. This may be a matter of more training to work with the program more effectively.

Charging for what other organizations offer better for free

Pros

Nothing. This product shouldn't exist. They are sucking the life out of charities.

Cons

They review limited charities that are solely listed based on their random choice, and charge a fee

CharityTracker is a must for any organization that needs client management.

I really appreciate above anything else, the excellent customer service that we receive. If I have an issue or question, it's answered immediately by a team that is located in the United States, who is very pleasant and helpful!

Pros

Because CharityTracker is an online platform, it was the perfect fit for our business model. The ease of use, and ability to allow our remote staff to work from anywhere was our first priority for we were remote prior to the pandemic. Also, when their "pro" features were launched, that made it even better. The pro version includes a text feature that allows us to communicate with all of our clients with just a push of a button. We simply type the message that we need to send, or reminders, etc.. and send it out. For our clients who have landlines, the message will be read to them. lt's really amazing.

Cons

In the future, I'd love to see a cleaner layout and maybe just a little bit more intuitive, but this doesn't take away from how great it is.

Lack of training was the challenge we faced and are still dealing with nine months later.

Ability to run reports, for individual agencies or for the entire CoC has been vital. NOTE: As far as the questions about our industry. We are an agency who serve both the vulnerable and homeless in our community and we serve as the lead agency for homelessness for the county. You industry list does not have a social services category.

Pros

Ability to view and cancel gives new users confidence to 'look' through the system. For folks that only have to input new and/or update data, the users feel confident because the software is not written in 'computerese'. Although I cannot get all the reports that I want as an administrator, the system has a large a variety of reporting options.

Cons

The lack of auto-population affords more opportunities for mistakes/keystroke errors. There are nuances to every software and because we did not have adequate training there has been too much 'learning on the job' when we are dealing with reports and data that impact grant requirements. There is verbiage that is confusing and used in different ways i.e. 'Show Assessments' in Projects versus 'Assessments' and Services/Assistance/Categories (with all three overlapping/conflicting when using). There are categories that have to be reflected under and agency's services which are (either one or both) used when you want to request or input an Assistance.

Great System!

We are finding that we can easily identify when people are giving us false or conflicting information. During searches or intake, we can see where someone is already in another household.

Pros

You can search and find what you're looking for easily.

Cons

I don't think I have any complaints. It's much better than Client Track.

Perfect Nonprofit Collaboration Platform

I really loved it. It took a bit of training and documenting, and was especially challenging to get other agencies to see the value in this type of collaboration. But I think it was a vital step forward for making local emergency financial assistance agencies, which always have limited funds compared to need, able to utilize their funds wisely. My favorite thing was that Simon Solutions gave such personalized service and worked with us on cost effective customizations that enabled us to track funding sources effectively and to keep that information private to our staff.

Pros

Our community's emergency assistance providers needed a way to work collaboratively when people had a disconnection bill larger than any one of us could pay. CharityTracker enabled us to see what other orgs were contributing, so that we were able to make sure that the full amount past due and reconnect fees were covered, ensuring that our collective funds would actually reconnect someone's services. Charity Tracker allowed this and helped us track other types of assistance that were provided. It also was able to be customized to meet our needs. I have moved from that role, but was excited to see that my new organization is also going to use the same citywide system to track assistance provided to people after a disaster.

Cons

It is really compliant, ensuring that all permissions are captured and respecting the privacy of the people served. Because of that, it was a little less flexible that our own personal system, where data sharing requirements were not necessary.

Best System !

As administrator of Charity Tracker we have had a great response from our area agencies about this program. We use it on a daily basis! Simon Solutions is quick to respond to any concerns or issues that we have. They are willing to look at suggestions.

Pros

User friendly! Customer service is awesome-quick response. Multiple users is a must for our area. We don't have to worry about back up or maintenance.

Cons

Some applications do not apply to us - may not ever use some of those features.

Great for social workers

We use this software daily and for several ways such as case management and client demographic reporting

Pros

I like that others agencies I work closely with can be in my agency network and that I can keep notes and assistance private or share with others

Cons

Once a user is created with an email address, another account with that email address cannot be created.

A Product that Does What it Says!

Pros

Before using Charity Tracker, our agency used a simple database to track our funding and client information. Coordination with some other agencies was not possible. Now we can work with another non-profit and know that we are able to be better stewards of our charitable funding. Having accurate, timely information makes all the difference. Charity Tracker is easy to use, and the search capability and variety of reports available really help us analyze our data.

Cons

We required a weekly report that was not available within the current software. Fortunately, the development team at Charity Tracker created this customized report for us.

CharityTracker Review for Non Profits

Our organization has had a great overall experience with it over the years.

Pros

I love how easy it is to use and customize for what our organization needs.

Cons

No- I think we get what we need out of the software.

Stay connected with Charity Tracker !

Pros

I like that this software keeps me connected with other non-profit organizations. When an organization posts, I am immediately notified, and vice versa. When I have information or a family who needs immediate help, Charity Tracker is where I go to first! It is an invaluable resource and tool!

Cons

I have experienced a difficult time posting a flyer that is 2 sided - my operational knowledge level may not be up to par - but that may something that should be looked at in a future update of the software.

Gets the job done :)

We are easily able to track the last time guests came in as well as what addresses they are coming from, which is the most important thing for us. It works for what we need it for which is why we continue to use it :)

Pros

It is overall simple to use and organizes the information in a way that makes sense when you need to go back to it.

Cons

It feels a bit dated, but I can't say in what ways it needs to be updated either.

Excellent Choice

Highly recommend. I stepped into managing the effectiveness of using Charity Tracker to support our grant data. The support team, training and ease of customizing the software to fit our needs has been exceptional.

Pros

Charity Tracker ease of customization, and customer service/training support

Cons

Prior to implementing the barcode system, be sure to understand how it relates to categories, tracking & reporting.

I like this software

Great

Pros

A great asset for me as I also operate non profit organization. This software enables me to track my events off my mobile access and helps my team coordinate easily with our clients.

Cons

A little more mobile flexibility to avoid resting page on the mobile.

Fluid Sharing of Information

I have used to program to coordinate services for individuals with multiple other agencies in the community. This software prevents having to make multiple phone calls and receiving negative responses. I can post a need for a client and those interested and able to help contact me. It streamlines providing services in a way I haven't experienced with other programs.

Pros

I love how easy it is to communicate with other human service agencies in the area, sharing information and making it simple to coordinate services for individuals.

Cons

There isn't anything I dislike about this software. It's incredible easy to use and I have no concerns about security.

Charity Tracker For a Network of Providers

We are attempting to address a multiple issues by implementing Charity Tracker: 1. Provide a useful tool for our non-profit, government and faith-based partners to track the assistance they are providing in our county. 2. Providing them a simple way to report on the assistance they are providing in our county. 3. Connect organizations to each other, across a network, to better serve clients with varying needs in a more holistic way. Organizations can make direct, electronic referrals to each other across the network for assistance they are not able to provide. 4. We are asking all organizations using the system to input program-level detail to ensure that the referrals that are made are "qualified leads". 5. Offering organizations a way to better goal-set and track outcomes with their clients, with multiple organizations having the ability to assist/participate in the goal-setting and outcome tracking. 6. We are seeking to understand gaps in assistance as well as reduce duplication of service. 7. We are streamlining the intake process by setting a minimum level of information that organizations must record during intake, which will also ensure that all organizations assisting a client have the information they need in order to do so. 8. We will utilize the collective data to bring more dollars into our county to help support the organizations in our county that are providing assistance.

Pros

What I like most about the software is that is easy to use, user-friendly for a variety of skill levels and intuitive. Also that the system is web-based, because that means I have access virtually anywhere.

Cons

What I like least about this software is that it can take upwards of 15 minutes or more to pull a CSV file report. Also, while I like the variety of reports available, the amount of options/combinations can make it confusing to know which information to pull and how to pull it.

Very dependable. Help is always available for the program in a timely and professional manner.

Pros

It is easy to get input for programs that is specific for the need of our organization. The programs as administrator are easy to edit. As administrator I can edit funding sources, I can make any necessary changes by just clicking a save change button. Like the reports sub-tab where I can go and run all the reports that pertains to this agency. I can customize agency reports. Running the reports could not be easier. I can filter the reports, I can choose the fields for the agency reports. I can easily get data for demographics reports. When using search it is not complicated. It will list all possible duplicate cases if any exists. If it is a duplicate case you can merge those cases, which is an excellent tool.

Cons

I would like to be able to go back into the relationship tab and make corrections as to if it is a dependent or living together without having to go all the way back to the beginning and edit the relative out and input again. I need this feature because I have volunteers that will not always input this data. I am not sure if it's my fault or the input of area we serve as the crisis. I have not been able to change that. For instance pantries- We have 5 pantries I would like for a heading to be for each pantry with the sub heading name of pantries. I don't know how to do that. I would like for the listing of our assistance program to be revised. I am not sure if I can do it, I have not call nor asked for help with this issue. I believe rearranging things that will best give us a more accurate count. I am not sure how to get a count from the sub heading of agencies, that is confusing to me. Again I have not spoken with anyone lately about it.

Charity Tracker makes networking with other organizations quick and easy.

The collaboration with other agencies assists clients better. Donor and funders like to see that partnerships happen because of this program.

Pros

Charity Tracker is easy to use, regardless of your computer skills. Someone who has very little knowledge of computers and data entry can easily be trained on this software. This is very handy as a non-profit, because many times an unpaid team member is using the system, and they are not always well trained. Charity Tracker makes tracking of services for clients very easy as well. It is great to see what services the client has already received in the community. This helps to better assist the clients overall, and makes connecting them with services much more efficient. Also, Charity Tracker's tech support is fabulous. Anytime I have a question, or need help running a report, I call their help desk. Within minutes, I am in contact with a technician, and they stay on the phone until my issue/need is addressed. The value for the amount you pay can't be found with most software.

Cons

Although Charity Tracker can run reports, the reports are not as sophisticated as I would like to see them be. We use the data collected by Charity Tracker to assist in grant writing, and there are times that I can not manipulate the data in the manner needed to get exactly what I need. Also, the data is only as good as the quality that is entered. I would like to see a feature that tells you when data is missing in a client's file. For example, if entering a new client, if you miss the DOB box, I would like to see a box pop up that says "You forgot the DOB for this client. Would like you to enter it or ignore it?" I know that sometimes it's not possible to enter ALL the information, so an ignore button would be nice. If this popped up every time you enter that client's file, it would be annoying enough that you would enter it to not have to have the box pop up anymore!

I have found Charity Tracker to be easy to learn, very transferable and an invaluable tool.

We were a start up non-profit and the benefits are staggering. Affordable case management, easy to administrate and wonderful customer service. I have also benefited and appreciate the webinars provided. This software has helped link our faith based community. Get's us beyond denominational lines. We only have 5 paid staff. The rest is volunteer (company Size)

Pros

We are a faith based non-profit that with partners that extend county wide. Charity Tracker offers a framework to track assistance given among many churches, community agencies etc. Excellent case management tool as well as being able to track stats for reporting purposes, grants, etc. We have many ministries under The Hope Center umbrella and this offers us the opportunity for the right hand to know what the left hand is doing. It is simple to utilized even if the individual user is not computer literate. We utilize the alerts often and also use the caution, chronic, danger specifications that help us stay on track with so many different volunteers that may be serving the same guest.

Cons

With the number of volunteers that benefit from access to Charity Tracker, the cost of bases. Also, because of the amount of users on our network, we do end up with a lot of duplicates that go undetected. Would their be a way for a more pronounced alert to be developed that would even prevent a user from going forward until they used the search tab? Also, it is sometimes difficult to know what fields to select( or not) when running reports. I've learned most by trial and error and it seems like it is clunky. Perhaps it's just me and my inexperience but I wish the reports were more user friendly and as easy as the case management arm of Charity Tracker.

Wonderful, amazing, beneficial, easy to work with

Being in a Rural community - resources are often hard to find and locate. Often times in case management we run into a benefit that is not offered by any source in the community. Charity Tracker allows for communication to the community to ask for help on a case by case basis. Charity Tracker opens the lines of communication between community partners, increasing knowledge and awareness of what each community partner offers in the way of assistance. Charity tracker can be used to track individual assistance or total assistance given on a community level - offering a chance for funding opportunities, such as grant writing. Charity Tracker allows community leaders to see what services are being used the most, what services are least likely to be used and what services are still needing to be added. I can not stress enough how much this program means to our community! I was watched our community use this program from the beginning and I have watched it grow. Our United Way pays for this program in our community and it is money well spent. I support this funding effort and hope it is something we continue to achieve each year!

Pros

Charity Tracker is valued asset to any community willing to put forth the effort into making the program work in their community. As a case manager for 10 years - Charity Tracker has been a part of our community for the past 4 or 5 years, paid for through our local United Way office and it is money well spent! I was fortunate to be on board when Charity Tracker was implemented in our community and still fortunate to this day to work in the same community. Charity Tracker makes it easy to get information to community members or even get information from the community. Charity Tracker allows for key community members to collaborate about new ideas. Along with new ideas - Charity Tracker allows for all community partners to track and follow assistance given. This information on an agency level or community level is valuable information allowing for discussion topics to open up about funding or bringing in other resources into our community. With Charity Tracker we are able to see what we do well as a community and where we need to improve - what needs are being met and what needs still need to be met.

Cons

Limited to service areas - all communities should have this program - would be helpful to be tied in with other Charity Tracker communities across the state.

Being Good Stewards with CharityTracker

I was once asked to help with a married couple's back rent. They owed more than $500 and were scheduled for eviction. That was a big amount of money for our small charitable organization. A quick glance at CharityTracker revealed the couple frequently asked area agencies to pay their rent, but more importantly, they had been counseled numerous times on their excessive use of cable TV pay channels. They were defiant in their refusal to disconnect because they wanted access to all the premium channels. I rarely turn down a request for assistance, but I did for that one. Without CharityTracker, I wouldn't have known they were routinely taking advantage of other people's generosity.

Pros

CharityTracker is an excellent way for charitable organizations within a community to share information. It allows those of us trusted with donation dollars to be good stewards of other people's money. Most everyone seeking assistance is honest and forthright, but CharityTracker gives local agencies the opportunity to work as a team in stopping those who try to abuse the system.

Cons

If I could change one thing about CharityTracker it would be to only list money, material goods (clothing, food, etc.) or services with a dollar value under the heading of Assistance. Oftentimes, I'll see an applicant with a VERY LARGE number of Assists only to find out that a great many of those Assists were for prayer or spiritual tracts. Don't get me wrong -- prayer is very important and greatly needed, but I don't think it should be added to the number of times a person receives Assistance. It makes that applicant appear to be a frequent flyer, so to speak -- seeking too much help. If our goal is to make sure no one is abusing the system by duplicating funding efforts, why track prayer? Prayer is free and unending and always available in abundance. Donation dollars are what we should protect against abuse.

Charity Tracker is very straight forward, easy to use, and fairly thorough.

We use it as our primary case management tool. It is also a major component in our reporting activities.

Pros

I like how easy it is to use. We utilize a lot of volunteers at our organization, many of which are with us one day a week or even a month. The straight forward nature of the software helps to ensure these volunteers have little difficulty using the software even if they have not accessed it recently. I also like that it is a shared case management software so members of our organization can not only see assistance and notes entered by our organization but other local organizations as well.

Cons

I wish there were more layers and higher capabilities related to the report pulling functions. I do most of the reporting for our organization and very often I have to pull multiple reports, export them to excel, merge them into one document, and edit them to get the report I need. More detailed and higher level reporting options would make this task less cumbersome. I also wish it was HIPPA compliant. We provide some medical services at our organization and because Charity Tracker is not appropriate for health related information we are required to do double entry. Also very often if a medical clients is accessing outreach services or vice versa you do not get the full history since some information is in Charity Tracker and some is in our medical software.

Love CharityTracker

CharityTracker has been wonderful to work with. They have great customer service and have always responded quickly.

Pros

We have used CharityTracker for several years. I love that we are able to share information about how we have helped people in our community as well as see how other organizations have helped too. The alerts and notes are great tools. I can't imagine running a ministry that assists approximately 40 families per week without CharityTracker.

Cons

Nothing. We love CharityTracker and would recommend it to any organization or church that is doing benevolent ministries in their community.