Donor Perfect Review

I don't think we did a great job of tracking donor retention rates or lapsed donors before. Now with DP we are easily able to run the reports and be more proactive with those individuals.

Pros

I like that it is incredibly user friendly and easy to learn. It's incredibly helpful when volunteers are helping or new people come on board. I also love the ease of pulling reports. They have so many prebuilt reports to chose from by I can also quickly and easily create my own and even better I can edit it if I don't get it right the first time. I'm constantly learning new tricks and tools as I gain confidence with the system and as our needs change as an organization. We've had the system for a little over two years and last year I didn't know I could easily generate different data and charts for our Annual Report, learning that made life so much easier. I also have to rave about the support team because so often I feel like I am calling with a basic or dumb question but they are always nice, walk me through it and then send a follow up email with the instructions in case I forget. They are so kind and patient!

Cons

It's never that I don't like the system but more than I have to learn how to get it to do what I need. My brain thinks it should work one way but they have the system programmed to operate another. It's more just spending time in the system and learning all the different ways it works and can work for you.
One thing that drives me out is when it logs me out. If I've been out of the program for a little bit I can understand, it's frustrating but I do understand. What I don't understand is when I'll literally be in the middle of entering a gift or something and it will log me out, forcing me to start over. Not the worst thing in the world but still vexing at times. I also wish that the Company Name & the individuals Last Name didn't pull from the same data point so it was a little easier to run mail lists but I've found workarounds in excel once the report is pulled.

Awesome Support Staff

There are several features that are very useful to our organization but I would say that one of the most helpful is the ability to compare giving levels over a multi-year period. Another feature that we used for the first time last year was the Event Manager feature to track expenses, income, attendees and overall profit for our annual fundraising gala. That made reporting a breeze. In the past we tracked this information through a spreadsheet with quite complicated formulae. With DP Event Manager all we had do was plug in the information.

Pros

Our organization has been using DonorPerfect for about 15 years. It is generally user-friendly and serves our needs well. We converted from the desktop model to the online model about three years ago and had a very good experience with the conversion. We have the Premium level of support and the staff are always knowledgeable and have, without exception, been able to help me with any problem I have encountered.

Cons

One issue I have with this software is when I need to send a notification to a recipient for a donation made in memory/honor of them or a loved one. At the present time, there is not the ability to create an instant merge. The process to create the notification is cumbersome and the steps are not easy to remember for staff members.

Awesome donor software for Non-Profits with Fund Raising Help

There are additional modules that can be purchased to help a Development Director get the most out of the software, but there is also an ability to "design" a new report based on an existing report, which is a very quick and easy way to get out desired information. I love that you can query on any field within the database and that there are actually 4 fields you can use to track the gift details, GL Codes, Campaign Codes, Solicitation and Sub-Solicitation codes. Most programs only track 3 codes.

Pros

I like the way I can add fields "on the fly" and say where they should appear in a person's record. The ability to have multiple letters containing receipts is a plus for recording donations and turning around receipts quickly. On-line training and the help features make it simple to get help as you need it. The ability to add Calculated Fields is also a plus. I really like the way I can add fields into Batch 2.0 so that I can put in the fair market value to events like our golfing event. This way the receipt can show the total tax-deductible amount in addition to displaying the total amount a person has given. This way, when running a year end summary of giving the donor can see the total amount donated and the portion that is tax-deductible and only the total tax-deductible amount is displayed at the bottom of the report.

Cons

This is a relational software, not accounting software. We have just put policies in place within our organization on how to have it function with account tracking so we can easily reconcile donations with our accounting program. DonorPerfect does have some tracking ability when an amount is changed after posting, which is a nice feature.

Look no further than DonorPerfect!

Overall, I can't imagine another fundraising software being any better than DonorPerfect. The donor records management and reporting functions are very user-friendly and the logical manner by which they are organized and laid out on the website are big time-savers. DonorPerfect is a huge asset to our development team!

Pros

DonorPerfect is perfect for all my organization's software and database needs relating to fundraising. My absolute favorite thing about DonorPerfect is the excellent customer service I receive each and every time I reach out. I am sometimes asked to provide data that I'm not sure how to obtain in a time-effective manner. It literally takes a quick phone call or even an online chat session with a DonorPerfect rep for me to find a report that will work to get me the information I need. I am always amazed at how well the DonorPerfect customer service folks know the software, and the ease at which they are able to share its capabilities. I have never had to wait for a solution or an answer to my questions. That is so valuable for me, someone whose greatest challenge is not having enough hours in the day! One of the other pros at the top of my list is the user-friendly interface of DonorPerfect. If you have even a little computer knowledge and experience, DonorPerfect is very easy to use. Everything is laid out and organized in a logical manner, which saves the time and frustration of not being able to find a simple function.

Cons

I can honestly say I have not had any negative experiences with DonorPerfect. There are tiny things such as the scope of searching records that I might like to see changed, but at the end of the day, they're not really consequential. (Example: If an individual record is entered as John H. Smith, but I search for that record with the terms "John Smith", the record I'm looking for may not pop up. Broadening the search to "Smith" however, would allow me to find the record.)

Perfect for small organizations with few staff and minimal amount of active donors.

I have set up a number of non-profits with Donor Perfect. It is a great program for non-profits, particularly those with minimal funds, small staff, and new fundraisers. I have worked with organizations that fit every part of the spectrum. My current organization benefits from the data that I am able to retrieve about individuals, gifts, history... There are so many advantages to building relationships but also the ability to have data and notes that is easily retrieved and instrumental in the smooth transition of development staff attrition.

Pros

The cost is the most attractive part of Donor Perfect. For small organizations needing a database to get prospects and current donor information in one place for importing and exporting, this program is ideal. Having something inexpensive and yet widely used in our community of nonprofits, had definite advantages. There are many features of large software organizations that makes it a great deal and the add-ons are reasonable once your organization is able to take the next step.

Cons

Troubleshooting seems to be a challenge at times. Some areas you can "hover" over and figure out what the feature is or data that is expected to go in or how to use it - but it is not always clear. Unfortunately, nonprofit database information is not unique and from one software to the next, there is a learning curve for where you put what.

Great support and training and a few glitches.

Overall, this system has worked very well and I look forward to learning more about how I can better use its functions and capabilities. I can't comment much on the financial side of things because I mostly enter data and run spreadsheets for mail merging for mailings.

Pros

Customer Support and Training has been the most awesome feature of using DonorPerfect for me. I have learned a lot from the webinars available and whenever I call support for a certain problem, the staff are always very knowledgeable, professional and patient.

Cons

DonorPerfect has some features that I find cumbersome or just don't work well. (or maybe it's user ignorance!) The system is set up to have a "man and wife record" but if you have a man and a wife that have different roles (flags) and different cell phone numbers etc... you have to lump the info together in the record. You can make two separate records, but then when doing mailings, you will get duplicate mailings to one household. We also have the same problem with having an organization record, for e.g. ABC Corp. with Bob Smith as contact and then an individual record for Bob Smith. This is because sometimes ABC Corp donates and sometimes Bob Smith will donate as an individual by playing golf or running a 5K or contributing personally to the Annual Appeal. But again we don't want two mailings to go to Bob Smith. I also have a problem when receipting donations that after I generate the receipts and go back to where you update the batch, "All transactions" button has been defaulted to, even though I have chosen "user transactions". If I don't remember to go check that, I end up updating all the transactions instead of just my own. I also have wondered about making the filter building less cumbersome by having a way to build filters using more than two variables at a time. For a complicated filter you have to do several compound filters to get what you want.

A Robust System for the full-time nonprofit

Donor Perfect is on par with some of the top CRM programs for the nonprofit at a price point that is affordable. The training modules online are great resources and their support is top notch. I have implemented DP from the bottom up and the process was seamless and helped us create a great cultivation program. This is a system that requires maintenance and good input practices. I would place this at the advanced/intermediate level and recommend it for a NPO with a full-time development staff. If you are looking for a robust, trustworthy and scalable system this is it but be prepared to dig in deep to the training modules and in the end your fundraising programs will benefit.

Pros

Donor Perfect is one of the mainstays in nonprofit donor/constituent management and there is a reason for their longevity. This is a robust system that is more complex than some of the newer entries into the market that tout cloud, ease of use and a free website builder. I have always thought that the gimmicky add ons is kind of like a realtor staging a home and putting potted plants on warped areas of the floor so you can't see them. With Donor Perfect, no frills just serious computing and data mining power. Standing out is their quest to stay relevant and they are continuously updating their software with the latest proven trends in the CRM space and have done a wonderful job with their updates. You can manage the full life cycle of a donor using this one system, create web forms for online donation gathering, mobile fundraising capabilities and full integration with QBO and other financial programs.Their support is outstanding and very responsive and they also offer free one and one training as part of the support package. I actually had a staff workshop day for training and they had a trainer come on a web conference and she trained our staff. It was amazing.

Cons

The system is a true CRM style system and there is a learning curve so be prepared to get the training you need to be able to train staff. It is worth the investment and will benefit your revenue goals to use the system fully. One area that always was a point of initial frustration was report generation. It took me a while to fully grasp the reporting.

DPO Has Made Tracking and Contacting Donors Much Easier

PAALS is a small non-profit (around 200K in annual revenue and less than five employees). We have found DPO to be a very large help in managing our charity by allowing us to track all of our pertinenent information in one place that is accessible anywhere. The information in DPO used to be on several dozen spreadsheets or in QuickBooks. Duplication of data was everywhere (particularly email addresses) and no one really knew which was correct. Simply eliminating all the duplicates and multiple lists has saved us quite a bit of time and money. I have used Softerware's telephone, email and online chat support. In all cases the support personnel were knowledgeable and helped resolve my problem or answer my questions -- usually in minutes I would highly recommend DPO for any non-profit that wants to grow their donor base and/or who wants to get their data organized.

Pros

DPO is in the "cloud" which means PAALS volunteers and staff can work with it wherever they using just a web browser. Also, the DP mobile app makes it very easy to access donor information wherever you are.

DPO has almost unlimited flexibility to add new fields and configure screen design. PAALS is using DPO not only to track Donor information, but also to track information about the dogs we have in training, about our clients who have or are waiting on a service dog and about our hundred plus volunteers. And the custom report writer allows us to create reports for almost any purpose we need.

The optional WebLink Pro module has allowed us to create web pages quickly and easily to process event registrations and single or recurring donations. These are easily integrated into our existing website. The donation and donor information is automatically integrated into DPO saving much repetitive data entry.

DPO also has automated interfaces to Quickbooks and Constant Contact.

Cons

The event management module as currently implemented is somewhat cumbersome and is not integrated with WebLink. However, Softerware has posted that the next update will address some of these issues.

Softerware does not have an alliance with PayPal. Thus we are unable to include an option to for donors to contribute via PayPal on our Weblink forms. So we have to maintain a separate set of forms on our website for people who want to use PayPal.

The DP mobile application does not use the customized screens that are shown in DPO. It currently has a generic interface which makes information appear in different place/order than what a user sees online. Also, DP Mobile does not hide fields which have been marked hidden in the online version. Thus DP mobile, while useful, is much less usable than it could be.

Birmingham Boys Choir Recommends Donor Perfect Online!

I would wholeheartedly recommend DPO to any organization requiring donor management software. After spending hours generating reports for the development folks from an Excel spreadsheet with 1500 donors, I have truly enjoyed learning how to generate different reports with DPO....in a fraction of the time it had taken previously. We have had many tributes given recently, and it is with such ease that tributes may be added, a gift linked to that tribute, and a notification generated for the person to be contacted. When corporations purchase sponsorships for our annual gala, I can link the corporate sponsor to the person within our non-profit organization who secured the sponsorship-no more guesswork! I am sure there are features I have yet to discover and utilize to their fullest extent, but we are most pleased with DPO. Pricing is competitive, one does not have to be a computer genius in order to use the system, and all the help one needs is readily available.

Pros

From my very first conversation with the regional account manager to which I was assigned through the decision to purchase DPO, my experience has been an extremely positive one. I had spent a great deal of time researching donor management systems and had narrowed the field down to three: DonorPerfect, E-Tapestry, and GiftWorks. GiftWorks did not have the functionality that we required, so I eliminated it early on. After working with both E-Tapestry and Donor Perfect on a free trial basis, I found the "intuitiveness" of DPO to be the selling point for me. In addition, I know this will sound silly to many, but the fact that there is so much color in the DPO system was a huge plus in favor of this product. Since I spend a great deal of time using the system, ANY color other than black, white and grey helps my eyes, and seems to make data entry a more positive experience. Both our immediate and future needs will be easily met by DPO, and customer support is superb.

Cons

If anything could be changed, I would prefer that DPO have their own payment processing system. Currently, DPO's payment processing is done through Mercury Payment Systems. While we have not encountered any difficulty using a separate entity for payment processing (we've had a similar system in the past), our webmaster would prefer DonorPerfect to process online payments as opposed to going through another entity such as Mercury Payment Processing.

A non-profit must have!

The record keeping features of Donor Perfect allow me to look at who is giving and when and whom I may need to reach out to that have not donated in a while. It allows me to look at trends and time frames more people are apt to give and see what programs need more targeting for reaching out to people to give to. Increase funding is possible if I know who my target audience is and which program is lacking in funding.

Pros

Donor Perfect is the "PERFECT" tool for keeping records of all donors and gifts as well as contact information. The ability to keep track of contacts made to each donor along with the promptings are a sure way to keep on top of making the necessary follow up a breeze.

Cons

When I am in the middle of making follow up calls to donors, I would like the screen to not time out so quickly from one search to the next. If I am on the phone thanking a donor and looking at the information on the screen at the same time, it usually times out on me and i have to log in all over again. Not efficient.

Robust donor management!

Overall, DonorPerfect has helped our organization re-vamp the processes and structures around our donor management.

Pros

I love how customizable and robust the screens and reporting are in DonorPerfect. With Screen Designer, I am able to create the exact data entry screens that work best for our organization. We decide what information we want to capture, how to capture it, and how to report on it. SmartAnalytics and Easy Reports are just what I need to pull the data exactly how my board and CEO want to see it - PLUS, it is easy enough to use for a non-IT person to understand.

Cons

My least favorite feature is the event management add-on. Unfortunately, it is not ideal for our use to facilitate an 800-person gala with a raffle, silent auction, live auction, ticket sales, and very specific and irregular seating arrangements and payments. However, I was able to import our gala data from another software pretty easily with the import feature.

Extensive Reporting Options

Again, the reporting is wonderful. It has allowed me to give our board and other staff members a clear picture of funds raised, where those funds are coming from and what they are supporting.

Pros

I do need to clarify that I have only been using DP since January of this year and the only training I have done has been online or self-taught. That being said, I have been very happy with the extent of reporting that is available. Once you figure out how to accurately record your data in DP, learning the reporting system is fairly self-explanatory. If you can't figure it out - customer support is always very responsive and happy to help!

Cons

The recommended way to enter couples is with one record. The way DP is set-up, this is the best practice to use. Having had experience with other systems, the best way to enter couples is to give each individual a record and then link them so giving, contacts, etc. are shared between the two donors. From what I have seen so far, the linking of records in DP isn't set-up to do this. This is unfortunate, because it makes separating donors, setting flags for each individual or pulling information as an individuals versus a couple not possible.

DonorPerfect for the Smaller Non-Profit

I highly, highly recommend, DonorPerfect, and am currently attempting to have my present employer switch to it from a far less intuitive donor database. I honestly cannot sing the praises of DonorPerfect enough. It is a donor database designed by fundraisers, who continuously accept input from other fundraisers.

Pros

There is so much to love about DonorPerfect. After 10 years in professional fundraising, working with everything from the most-known donor database to numerous smaller ones, DonorPerfect really is perfect. It's extremely intuitive, and extremely customisable. During my training, I was actually jumping ahead of my trainer, and ended up not using a full two hours of the training DonorPerfect provides. Furthermore, I was able to quickly and easily train others on how to use the database.

Cons

There was one quirk around using Tab, where it would skip a field near the top of the main Constituent page, then jump back up to it. I never did figure out how to work around that issue.

DonorPerfect is a intuitive way to track donations

DP is an easy way for our non-profit to track all of our donors giving and we can pull reports based off this information. We can see who hasn't given in a while and reach out to them with a special mailing.

Pros

We have been using DonorPerfect for many years to track our donor’s giving. The cloud interface allows updates to the software overnight and when you get back to work the next morning there are new and improved features. The amount of information you can pull for reports is incredible. Anything you enter into DP can be pulled in some report. There is a DonorPerfect Community where you can go to ask other users questions and get helpful tips and tricks for running reports, using DP Mobile, and much more.

Cons

DonorPerfect could improve their search engine within the software. Sometimes when looking up an existing donor, the software will say they do not exist in the database, but they do and if another user doesn't know that then a duplicate donor account will be made on accident. When a tribute/memorial gift is made online and the donor lists the recipient's name differently than how it appears in DP, DonorPerfect will create a whole new tribute instead of allowing the user to select the already existing tribute. When this occurs, you end up with multiple tributes for the same person, the only difference is maybe one shows the middle name and the other does not.

Great for Non-profits!

Pros

Customer support is always available and quick. They are knowledgeable and always make sure they are providing the correct information. The software is great for tracking donors and and their information. Not just demographics and donations, but more personal information so that when contacting a donor you can recall tid-bits of information and have more meaningful conversations. The capabilities of the software is unending. I'm constantly learning new functions of the software. I also really like the community knowledge-base and the fact that DonorPerfect pays such close attention to the needs of their clients.

Cons

There are so many different ways to pull reports and that is actually fantastic. The downside is figuring out how to pull a report with the information you need. Even after taking webinars and contacting support, I still feel there are some changes that could be made to make it more user friendly.

Great product, not so great communication

We like the software but have not been pleased with the company communication, particularly surrounding features an billing issues.

Pros

The interface is easy to use and intuitive. The reporting features are robust. Added options allow you to take online contributions with automatic download, which is very useful.

Cons

There's little we dislike. We have noticed that the communication from the company is lacking. For example, plans, pricing and features change without any communication. We paid for a year of the separate auction software just two months prior to renewal of our plan, only to find out that our plan now included the auction software. The company refused to credit us the 10 months. We will look at other options as a result. Had we known plans and service options had changed, we'd have waited. They just don't communicate.

Excellent Donor Management for Mid-Size Nonprofits

DonorPerfect has served my mid-size nonprofit for many years. It is a great way to track volunteers, members, and donors of all sizes. You can track donations, visits, and personal information for each vendor. There is also a lot of customization options for specific requirements your nonprofit might need. Overall, we've been very happy with the flexibility and functionality of DonorPerfect for our donor management needs.

Pros

DonorPerfect offers a lot of flexibility for mid-size nonprofits. It is a strong donor system that can be specialized for specific needs a non-profit might be facing. Also, our organization has used DonorPerfect for many years, so we've been able to grow with it, and have historic data that allows us to understand long-term donor trends.

Cons

Reports are fairly complicated and require some training to use well. Fortunately, customer service is very responsive in helping staff figure out new report requirements.

Best Value for the Money

It is an effective system for managing our donor data base. It is crucial for our mailings and reporting. I need to dedicate more time to maximizing the potential of what we can accomplish with DonorPerfect.

Pros

I have been with at my current job for almost 11 years and have used DonorPerfect the entire time. I have looked into other options at my boss' request, but have not been able to justify a change - I could never see how the other options brought enough added value for the additional cost. DonorPerfect is very reasonably priced for all the options that are available - and there are a lot. I am comfortable with the security of my data and customer service has been very responsive any time that I have reached out.

Cons

For me, the processes sometimes feel complicated. But this is more on me than DonorPerfect. I am a one woman shop and it's hard to find the time to dedicate to really exploring all that this platform has to offer. I feel like I have only scratched the surface regarding the possibilities.

All in one solution - love it!

The software is excellent, but almost more than that, the customer service is Platinum-level. I have been supported in every way imaginable throughout the installation, through their excellent Knowledgebase, and when we're really stuck on something (which doesn't happen often), we've paid for the top level of support, which is amazing. Worth every penny for this small nonprofit.

Pros

I love that DP integrates with Constant Contact and with QuickBooks. I particularly like the ease of use - anyone I've ever hired can sit down, and with minimal direction, can be entering data and pulling reports within a short period of time. The reporting features are very strong. We use the WebLinkPro option - I highly recommend taking advantage of this functionality.

Cons

I do wish the event module was more built out. I can't pull a lot of reports out of it directly, so I've figured out workarounds. All in all, though, it's still a very helpful feature.

Highly Recommended for Taking Your Organization's Fundraising to the Next Level

I highly recommend Donor Perfect Online. It was exactly what we needed. I am an advanced user, so I think I found it easier to implement than others might find, but once you get your staff trained on, it is an extremely powerful constituent management tool. Tracking a large group of people can be difficult if you are relying on a couple of spreadsheets, an access database, and Constant Contact. With DPO, this all gets wrapped into one powerful, flexible, and customizable system.

Pros

Donor Perfect Online was a great solution to address some issues we were dealing with this time last year. Our base of donors has been growing for the past five years and the software we had been using was becoming more and more difficult to handle our needs.

Here are some of the top selling points:
*Integration of Event management
*Integration with Quickbooks
*Totally customizable on many levels, including mail merge, tracking codes, and reports
*Integration with Constant Contact
*Web donation pages
*Credit card processing
*Smart Actions (automatic prompts by email, popups and the like to remember to make calls)
*Contact record keeping
*Grant management
*Powerful receipt-creation (including email w/PDFs)
*Knowledgebase/online community & forum
*Ipad app

Cons

Fairly steep learning curve. It's a powerful system, so learning the ins and outs of exporting lists and developing MS Word templates can be daunting (we posted some in the KB for others to use). Fortunately we have full support, so answers to questions are usually just a phone call away.

Also, I could have used a bit more support as we were creating online templates for various web pages (Network for Good created one for us for $200). On the subject of NFG, we decided not to let our subscription lapse and completely switch over to DPO's weblink system because NFG just came out with a new system that recognizes the user platform and adjusts the layout (ie for smartphones and tablets). It would be nice to see a more robust platform, but we created some very useful pages for selling tickets to our events that will work great and save the cost of adding more pages over at NFG.