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Sustain

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Sustain 2026: Benefits, Features & Pricing

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On this page
  • Overview
  • Pricing and Plans
  • Features
  • User Reviews

Overview

Sustain
Sustain
3.6
(20)

Pricing

Starting at $50.00 per month

About Sustain

Sustain is a robust Fundraising Management Software program that began early development in January of 2004 and was released December of 2007. Much of Sustains’ design came from feedback and needs of end users, and not the design of technicians.

Sustain offers a whole new outlook on fundraising management software. Designed with the user in mind, Sustain allows for a professional transition into properly managing your nonprofit organization. From entering donations and pledges, to simple mail marketing, to distinctive reports, Sustain guides the user from start to finish seamlessly.

School Fundraising, Membership Associations, Child Services and Healthcare became the building blocks of the core design and feature set of Sustain. Today we thrive on the good nature of our customers and we continue to build for the future. Listening to what our customers’ needs are allows our product to be built around you and your organization.

Sustain Screenshots

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Sustain Pricing and Plans

Starting price: $50.00 per month
Free Trial
Free Version

Basic

$50.00

per user, per month

No plan information available

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    Sustain Features

    • Popular features found in Donation Management
      Campaign Management
      Contact Management
      Email Marketing
      Event Management
      Gift Matching Management
      Grant Management
      Mobile Giving
      Online Giving
      Payment Processing
      Pledge Management
      Receipt Management
      Volunteer Management
    • More features of Sustain
      Alumni Management
      Auction Management
      Contribution Tracking
      CRM
      Donation Tracking
      Donor Management
      Email Templates
      Fundraising Management
      Membership Management
      Recurring Giving

    Sustain User Reviews

    Overall Rating

    3.6

    Ratings Breakdown

    5

    20%

    4

    45%

    3

    20%

    2

    10%

    1

    5%

    Secondary Ratings

    Ease of Use

    3.5

    Value for money

    3.9

    Customer support

    4.0

    Functionality

    3.5

    Have you used Sustain and would like to share your experience with others?

    KL

    Kimberly L.

    Education Management

    51-200 employees

    Used daily for more than 2 years

    Review source

    Reviewed November 2018

    Love Sustain

    5

    Great Service when I call.

    Ratings Breakdown

    5
    Ease of use
    5
    Value for money
    5
    Customer support
    5
    Functionality
    icon
    Pros:
    I love the report system for the donations. I like how I can transfer to other programs in order to save to my files and also email them to others. I also like that it lets me know when there is an address close to another one in case it's the same address.
    Cons:
    I am not a fan of the latest update to plug in donations. I have to go to another part under the person to put it in and before it would go straight to it to enter.

    Read More

    PS

    Patti S.

    Education Management

    Used daily for more than 2 years

    Review source

    Reviewed March 2017

    Great Customer Service Experience

    4

    In terms of Alumni Relations the software is geared more toward fundrasing, but with the great level of customer support I have received, it does the job.

    Ratings Breakdown

    4
    Ease of use
    4
    Value for money
    5
    Customer support
    3
    Functionality
    icon
    Pros:
    Ease of use
    Cons:
    Very geared to fundrasing and less geared toward Alumni Relations. Fundrasing is possible because of Alunmni so the software should be more robust for keeping track of alumni.

    Read More

    JS

    Jay S.

    Verified reviewer

    Education Management

    51-200 employees

    Used daily for less than 12 months

    Review source

    Reviewed May 2019

    Very Small Company, Very Poor Implementation

    2

    Again the software itself wasn't that bad, it was the implementation/migration from our previous system that was terrible and the reason we were not successful with Sustain. They set an expectation that we could just send them the SQL database from our previous system and they were experienced enough with that system to take it from there, that they had done this before. That's not at all what happened, the data got only half migrated and it was on me the customer to fill in the holes (though we paid them for implementation services). They had very little in terms of documentation, they had a migration template but didn't give it to me, I had to find it. Very disorganized and immature company, very little documentation, cannot be trusted to move all the data over you need to be successful. Also we had to ask for a new trainer, the first one we got was extremely defensive and gruff, can't believe he's in a customer-facing role, simply does not have the temperament for it.

    Ratings Breakdown

    2
    Ease of use
    2
    Value for money
    1
    Customer support
    2
    Functionality
    icon
    Pros:
    The software itself isn't that bad. Since Sustain is a very small company with only a handful of employees, it was sort of nice to be able to talk to the guy who developed the software, you get to hear why they made the choices they made directly from the horse's mouth.
    Cons:
    #1 it's not truly web-based, you remote into a Windows server to run essentially a customized Access database. The software was a bit rigid, particularly in reporting. You can't just create your own reports, you only get what Sustain has decided to put in there. None of the canned reports really fit what our team needed and we had to pull the plug on Sustain before they could customize what we needed.

    Read More

    LS

    Leslie S.

    Non-Profit Organization Management

    11-50 employees

    Used weekly for more than 2 years

    Review source

    Reviewed February 2017

    Donation management

    4

    Overall the software provides me with the information I need. Because it is so multi-faceted, attending training is mandatory. Even after my initial training I find myself clicking around to intuitively get, for instance, the report I need. It would behoove new users to make a list of all the ways you plan or foresee using the product and choose the level of training necessary. And take copious notes because you'll need them for tasks that you do only periodically. I'm certain I'm not using it to its fullest capabilities.

    Ratings Breakdown

    3
    Ease of use
    4
    Value for money
    4
    Customer support
    3
    Functionality
    icon
    Pros:
    It's relational. Can record a number of characteristics about each record.
    Cons:
    Unable to generate letters with exactly the write salutation and return address name.

    Read More

    LH

    Lorna H.

    Education Management

    51-200 employees

    Used daily for more than 2 years

    Review source

    Reviewed March 2017

    Very Intuitive

    5

    From the first day Sustain was installed I have found the software easy to use. And the rarity I have encountered a question, great customer service!

    Ratings Breakdown

    5
    Ease of use
    5
    Value for money
    5
    Customer support
    5
    Functionality
    icon
    Pros:
    Very intuitive.
    Cons:
    No user manual.

    Read More

    MM

    Marybeth M.

    Education Management

    51-200 employees

    Used weekly for less than 2 years

    Review source

    Reviewed February 2017

    Disappointed

    3

    We purchased Sustain through Rediker because we were told that it would interact with FinACS. While I am still under the impression that there can be communication, we can't figure out how. Communication only goes one way, and that is a concern because we would be transferring accounting information from Development to Accounting. Not comfortable. Additionally, there seems to only be one person who can help us understand Sustain, and he is not good at customer service. Every conversation I have had with him has been uncomfortable at best. I am bright and pick up software easily and still always leave my calls with him feeling stupid, and yet doing everything in my power to not call back, just figure it out on my own. I am sure Sustain has more capabilities than I know, but I feel like I need to take an Access class in order to really utilize the program. The price we paid for the product and the service is outrageous in my opinion and we are almost 2 years in and just barely scraping by with our information. Certainly, I can't find the reports I need and customizing just seems overwhelming. If I had this decision to make over again, I would not choose Sustain. Unfortunately since we've already invested so much, changing just isn't an option at this point. We were brought in by Rediker, but your relationship with them is tenuous at best. Their customer service, which is fantastic, can't help me with your product. And no one REALLY understands how the programs are supposed to integrate. I would carefully consider that fact when cross selling.

    Ratings Breakdown

    2
    Ease of use
    1
    Value for money
    2
    Customer support
    2
    Functionality
    icon
    Pros:
    not sure
    Cons:
    ease of access to information

    Read More

    Ian's profile

    Ian F.

    Verified reviewer

    Education Management

    11-50 employees

    Used daily for less than 6 months

    Review source

    Reviewed October 2018

    Affordable with some bells...

    3

    They're professional, know their stuff, and very helpful!

    Ratings Breakdown

    4
    Ease of use
    4
    Value for money
    4
    Customer support
    4
    Functionality
    icon
    Pros:
    The price of this is something that just about any organization or development professional should consider. While the bells & whistles don't hold a candle to Raiser's Edge, or some of the other "cadillac" versions of donor software, you're not paying an exorbitant sum, either. For a more modest office, this is great.
    Cons:
    Reports, reports, reports. Every donor software's issue will come down to reports– how easy it is to find the information you've so meticulously entered. While Sustain has some excellent qualities, like all budget donor software, you lose out on the report customization & dashboard (at a glance).

    Read More

    SD

    Sandy D.

    Non-Profit Organization Management

    51-200 employees

    Used daily for more than 2 years

    Review source

    Reviewed February 2017

    Wish my predecessor had never purchased this system.

    2

    We use the software as a comprehensive donor tracking tool. We have come to learn no other school uses it to the degree we do and it is very evident. There are constant issues with the system and upgrades. Not a fan at all.

    Ratings Breakdown

    2
    Ease of use
    2
    Value for money
    2
    Customer support
    2
    Functionality

    Read More

    CW

    Cindy W.

    Education Management

    51-200 employees

    Used weekly for more than 2 years

    Review source

    Reviewed February 2017

    Most unreliable software

    1

    Seacrest has had more issues with Sustain and although we call for customer support, it typically falls short. We have been told multiple times the problem is on "our end" or with Finalsite or Admin+. We have learned to work around to solve issues on our own. Reporting functions are almost non-existent and when they do work the report is, more times than not, incorrect. Edited information is often reverted back to previous information. General ease of is not user-friendly. The dashboard appears to be from 1970. We are budgeting for replacement software.

    Ratings Breakdown

    1
    Ease of use
    1
    Value for money
    1
    Customer support
    2
    Functionality
    icon
    Pros:
    nothing
    Cons:
    everything, especially reliability and reporting

    Read More

    je

    jonnie lyn e.

    Education Management

    11-50 employees

    Used weekly for more than 2 years

    Review source

    Reviewed February 2017

    sustain experience

    3

    it has been a fairly positive experience. it would be helpful to have free, regular, short web based training sessions on specific topics (similar to what rediker does for their software) more documentation, with samples of best practices some parts are a little clunky and difficult to navigate. perhaps info when hovering (i.e., "use xx for xxx")

    Ratings Breakdown

    3
    Ease of use
    4
    Value for money
    3
    Customer support
    3
    Functionality
    icon
    Pros:
    integration to school MIS system
    Cons:
    lack of documentation, perhaps too many options. if the software is truly for schools then it might not need to be quite as robust

    Read More

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