CiviCRM Software

This is a free software program that can for the most part, make it do what you want it to do as long as you are experienced enough. If you have database experience with a limited budget, this would be a good route to go.

Pros

CiviCRM is an open sourced database, so there are no fees or contracts associated with it, which is nice. If you have previous database experience, it can be pretty intuitive on how to use for donor management. Although there is no customer service as it is open sourced, there are several forums that are helpful.

Cons

The open source can be a double edged sword. While it is nice that you can build yourself, unless you have a developer/script writer on hand things can get complicated and messy quick. The reporting is alright, but does not do anything extravagant (unless again you have a developer on hand that can help you write more canned reports). The import feature works okay, but often times still creates duplicates.

Pros

Cost - our volunteer based organization is always looking for cheap solutions to complex problems. This coupled with ease of use makes a great software tool for non-profits.

Cons

Mass imports are painful to execute and time consuming. Existing reports are easy to replicate but custom reports are almost impossible without a consultant.

Very functional so long as you don't need something new

Pros

Cost -- our volunteer run organization could afford it (we pay for hosting which includes administrator and user coaching)
Highly functional and generally very easy to use
Very flexible with extensions that are much more advanced than found in cost-comparable products -- membership, events, etc.
Very good API
Ability to fully get all data out of it

Cons

Import of large quantities of data using supplied import procedures is painful at best. That said, a person who understands the database can bypass the worst of it -- however, we could do this, and the closest competing product priced itself out of our reach by an excessive import fee.
While existing reports are easy to use, creating truly new ones is nearly impossible (need to create a new extension)
Sadly lacking documentation on creating extensions

Good program

Pros

Flexibility. It can do almost anything for non computer people, that flexibility can also be a disability

Cons

It can be complicated. It has such flexibility that it can be daunting . Consultants can help but are costly.

I really like to feel that CiviCRM is a successful free/open source software.

Pros

I like the fact the CiviCRM works nicely, have a lot of features I need and are integrated to my CMS.

Cons

Some translation to languages around still need, help everybody could help. Same to new payment methods to places different from Major markets.

Likes Best

CiviCRM is extremely versatile and customizable. We use it to produce letters to donors and large mailing lists for various functions. If you have a fair amount of technical web knowledge, you can integrate your database with other online software like MailChimp. It is also FREE!

Likes Least

CiviCRM is pretty clunky and not pleasing to the eye. While you can segment your database in almost any way with the search features, it's often nearly impossible to know which version of the search interface you should use: Advanced Search? Search Builder? Full-text Search???????

Recommendations

Search around. If you don't have good technical/web programming knowledge, use something else. I'm fortunate to have several guys who can work on the back end of this software, but would find it very frustrating to operate on my own. I still often find it frustrating.

Likes Best

Very active and helpful community around the CiviCRM. Lots of free intergrations.

Likes Least

I think it would have been very difficult to get the full value out of CiviCRM without Back Office Thinking to guide us. There is a lot of add ons and extensions that would be tricky to navigate for people coming to the product without expertise. It may be easier out of the box for more standard deployments but our needs were sufficiently different that we really did need a guide.

Recommendations

There is a lot to CiviCRM but the community is very helpful. Make sure you find a few people you can talk with about CiviCRM, there may already exist a solution for what you need but it isn't always clear where that solution is, having an expert can really help!

Likes Best

I work for a very small and relatively new non-profit organization and CiviCRM has been the perfect combination of intuitive/ user-friendly, as well as adaptive to our unique needs as we continue to define our direction, expand our scope, and grow to reach a larger audience. Civi has allowed us to track and maintain well-rounded profiles of our constituents, donors, participants, and volunteers -- many of whom fit into multiple of these categories. I have a lot left to learn about Civi and when I get stumped, I can almost always find the answer in the forums online or through our vendor.

Likes Least

I've had the most difficulty with CiviCRM integrating into our Mailchimp account and newsletter. Overall, it's worked quite well but there have been several glitches and several times where the solution or steps to take to fix a problem were not at all obvious (to me, at least!).

Recommendations

I would definitely make independent lists of what your organization is seeking to do, attempt to anticipate the directions you may go in in the future, and identify crucial functions that you'd like a database to be able to perform. Speaking to someone very familiar with CiviCRM was very helpful to me as I researched and evaluated options, as online descriptions are often too general to effectively address the particular needs of a particular group.

Likes Best

CiviCRM is free and open source, meaning the development is driven by a community dedicated to it's success. The community is fairly responsive and keeps an active release cycle as well as an extension community which build meaningful extensions to functionality.

Likes Least

Specializing in political clients, CiviCRM is not the most documented to reach these markets. However, I am working with others to expand this as I have personally tested several competing products and found CiviCRM to be the most versatile in this space.

Recommendations

If your organization interacts with a number of people in support of it's mission, with complex and differing roles, CiviCRM may be the optimum solution for your needs.

Likes Best

The depth and breadth of functionality is staggering, and the community provides extensions that enrich the product even more. The software is highly configurable and can be adapted to almost any nonprofit organization's needs. And if a feature is not there, you can always add it as the full source code is available.

Likes Least

Setup and administration is quite technical, documentation is extensive but could still be improved. Users will feel lost at first due to the richness of the software, but with a little hand holding will get the gist of it and start exploring.

Recommendations

Do not install and configure this on your own unless you have a very strong technical background. Rely on a volunteer with such skills, or hire a consultant to help you through the initial setup and to train you on using the product.

Likes Best

- Very broad feature set
- Open source: makes us independent from a single provider
- large community: Several professional service providers, and many voluntary helpers made us solve any problem quickly

Likes Least

- learning curve: Due to the broad features and complexity we needed quite some time to fully understand the capabilities

Recommendations

- Take help from a professional service provider, or, take time and try it out.
- Make use of resources (books, stackexchange, etc.)
- The user interface is easy to work with
- Administrating is easy, in respect to the enormous features.

Likes Best

The software is free, libre and open source. it is customizable and extensible and works seamlessly with the most popular content management systems. It has public support forums, chat rooms and issue tracker.

Likes Least

The software is free and open, you need to have the expertise (or pay someone) to install and customize it for you.

Recommendations

Before extending the code, ensure that the product does not do the same thing using different terms or keywords.

Likes Best

CiviCRM includes everything you'd expect from a robust, comprehensive non-profit CRM solution: mailings, memberships, contributions, pledges, volunteer management, contact groups, activity tracking, events, and more. Its extensible, open-source nature means its always evolving and can be adapted to your needs.

Likes Least

Like most CRMs, it does draw upon server resources--and since it must be integrated with your site, that means it's drawing upon the same resources as your CMS-based website. I wouldn't want to use it on budget shared hosting, which is unfortunately the kind of hosting most small non-profits have.

Recommendations

Consider your needs, the time and/or funds you can invest to hire a developer to customize and/or maintain it, and the server resources you have.

Likes Best

CiviCRM is open source. There is no cost in getting started if you have the expertise yourself. There is also an excellent Eco-system of vendors that install, upgrade, migrate, extend and support CiviCRM.

Likes Least

Because the product is open source is lacking some of the features that other CRMs have. That said there is a large library of extensions and material on the Internet to help you make CiviCRM do everything you want it to.

Recommendations

When evaluating CRM software there are many choices. I recommend listing key features down the first column of a spreadsheet and the CRMs you are reviewing in the subsequent columns. This will give you a visual of what tools best meet your needs. you should always look at the product before make a selection.

Likes Best

Fairly easy and straightforward. Haven't had many problems once I got to know it.

Likes Least

I have had some trouble using the scheduled mailings feature. Once the mailing didn't go out at all.

Recommendations

It works. I would recommend it. It is fairly simple amd straightforward to use.

Likes Best

Best price, and meets a lot of needs out of the gate.

Likes Least

Lacks some advanced features, like advanced mailing list activities.

Recommendations

Good user training is important. Consider it when desigining your processes and workflows.