Don Suhrada, vice president of fundraising at consulting firm Ter Molen Watkins & Brandt
Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2025 9:05 am
"Most nonprofits won't need all the bells and whistles of a full-featured database, and they shouldn't overpay for an industry standard. Many cloud systems available today provide options that can scale to an organization's needs and can be much more cost-effective."
Jason Halussim, Co-Founder and CEO of Brilliant Directories :
"The most important thing is to take your time. The reasons why every organization wants to use membership software are unique, and each membership software available on the market today includes slightly different features and offerings that may or may not fit your organization's needs.
The first thing to do is to note the current way your organization manages membership, the bottlenecks and pain points you would like to eliminate, and then potential wish list items that would improve your current membership management.
It is also important to note that you may not find the perfect solution that includes features for all of your wish list items. Compromises may be necessary to help you move forward with your membership software choice, but that is okay. Your wish list items may change after working with the new software because as you become more efficient with the membership software, your needs and wish list items may also change.
So do your homework, find a solution that checks off why do vietnamese use zalo the most items on your list, and be realistic, knowing that some compromises may be required.”
Jessica Bernstein, Marketing Manager at MobileCause:
Membership Software Expert Advice
“The most important advice we could give to a nonprofit looking to purchase fundraising and communications software is to consider your organization’s goals and budget. The greatest return on investment will come from fully integrated, mobile- friendly software . Mobile donation forms and landing pages increase ROI by making it easy and quick for donors to give from anywhere at any time. It may surprise you to know that 84% of the top 100 nonprofits do not have mobile-friendly websites or donation pages [as of February 2014, in a study of 151 charities, including 100 from the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s Philanthropy 400 report ]. All of these important factors create a dynamic user and donor experience that has been shown to double revenue. Mobile fundraising software is an investment in your business that will pay off handsomely."
John Killeen, President and CEO of MemberMax:
“In addition to checking the features that meet the organization’s requirements, make sure the services provided by the vendor will ensure a successful implementation. With robust relational databases, vendor guidance on database setup, data migration, website branding, integration, and training is essential. Does the vendor provide programming assistance for the migration or does it only provide some standard spreadsheet formats? To preserve history and ensure a quality migration, a custom-coded import is almost always required. Many organizations take the “bargain” route and end up with an unsatisfactory result. A professional implementation process costs more but produces the best results.”
John Biedermann, Vice President of DonorPerfect:
“Our advice is to buy a system that you won’t outgrow. The software should scale in features and price based on your needs, so as you grow, it grows with you. You won’t have to buy, implement, and learn new software every few years. It’s also important to work with a reputable company that won’t take your money and run. Make sure they’re in good financial shape, aren’t looking to make a few bucks and sell, have lots of happy customers with proven ROI, and show that they continue to invest in improving their products and services.”
Jason Halussim, Co-Founder and CEO of Brilliant Directories :
"The most important thing is to take your time. The reasons why every organization wants to use membership software are unique, and each membership software available on the market today includes slightly different features and offerings that may or may not fit your organization's needs.
The first thing to do is to note the current way your organization manages membership, the bottlenecks and pain points you would like to eliminate, and then potential wish list items that would improve your current membership management.
It is also important to note that you may not find the perfect solution that includes features for all of your wish list items. Compromises may be necessary to help you move forward with your membership software choice, but that is okay. Your wish list items may change after working with the new software because as you become more efficient with the membership software, your needs and wish list items may also change.
So do your homework, find a solution that checks off why do vietnamese use zalo the most items on your list, and be realistic, knowing that some compromises may be required.”
Jessica Bernstein, Marketing Manager at MobileCause:
Membership Software Expert Advice
“The most important advice we could give to a nonprofit looking to purchase fundraising and communications software is to consider your organization’s goals and budget. The greatest return on investment will come from fully integrated, mobile- friendly software . Mobile donation forms and landing pages increase ROI by making it easy and quick for donors to give from anywhere at any time. It may surprise you to know that 84% of the top 100 nonprofits do not have mobile-friendly websites or donation pages [as of February 2014, in a study of 151 charities, including 100 from the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s Philanthropy 400 report ]. All of these important factors create a dynamic user and donor experience that has been shown to double revenue. Mobile fundraising software is an investment in your business that will pay off handsomely."
John Killeen, President and CEO of MemberMax:
“In addition to checking the features that meet the organization’s requirements, make sure the services provided by the vendor will ensure a successful implementation. With robust relational databases, vendor guidance on database setup, data migration, website branding, integration, and training is essential. Does the vendor provide programming assistance for the migration or does it only provide some standard spreadsheet formats? To preserve history and ensure a quality migration, a custom-coded import is almost always required. Many organizations take the “bargain” route and end up with an unsatisfactory result. A professional implementation process costs more but produces the best results.”
John Biedermann, Vice President of DonorPerfect:
“Our advice is to buy a system that you won’t outgrow. The software should scale in features and price based on your needs, so as you grow, it grows with you. You won’t have to buy, implement, and learn new software every few years. It’s also important to work with a reputable company that won’t take your money and run. Make sure they’re in good financial shape, aren’t looking to make a few bucks and sell, have lots of happy customers with proven ROI, and show that they continue to invest in improving their products and services.”