Is there some place I can go for help with the so called databases (look like CRMs to me) that I would guess 90% of nonprofits use. I am referring specifically to Razor's Edge and Donor Perfect. I am working with some not-for-profit groups and they use the above very expensive (both to install and to support) products. Just want an off-site forum (something affordable) to ask/answer questions related to these products. thanx

I work for a company called TowerCare. Our only product is a donor database product called DonorPro. Please check it out on our web page or give us a call at 1-866-935-8281. We also have weekly webinars you can sign up for on our website that go through the basics of our database. We would love to see how/if DonorPro could work for your organization.

Nonprofit Software | Donor Database for Fundraising | Donation Management
Twitter: donorpro

First, full disclosure: My name is Mike Sernoff and I work for SofterWare, the company that provides DonorPerfect. I've been with the company for 16 years and am currently the Vice President in charge of Client Services.

As you may be aware, we do offer a variety of resources on our website, www.donorperfect.com, including a Document Library and a User Forum. Access to these resources, which are found in the Client area of the site, does require a support contract with us. Although we feel that our software, which is a CRM product as you noted, and our services represent an outstanding value to all of our clients (and we certainly cost far less than the other product you mentioned, Raiser's Edge, as well as a number of other products on the market), I can certainly understand that some non-profits are closely monitoring their expenses, especially due to current economic conditions. Please note that we offer several different levels of support and some are designed to be affordable for even the smallest non-profits; while we have many large, established non-profits as clients, we also have hundreds of clients that track less than 1000 constituents in their database.

Although clearly I found you here, as did my colleague from DonorPro, another good independent forum that focuses solely on technology issues for non-profits is TechSoup. NTEN is another good resource for non-profit technology issues. That being said, please feel free to contact me directly if you have some specific issues about DonorPerfect that you would like some guidance on. Although I haven't personally worked in our support department in a number of years, I may be able to point you in the right direction.

Sincerely,

Mike Sernoff
Vice President, Client Services
msernoff@softerware.com
www.donorperfect.com

Follow us on Twitter: @donorperfect

Its not too difficult to put together a custom solution. If you are worried about cost or effort, take a look at the product and company I represent, we have free copies for Non-Profits.