i worked at a commercial, for profit business that switched to/grew into SalesForce and made the switch, while i was volunteering/staffing a non-profit bike shop. i don't know if they still offer this, but they used to essentially give away their software for free to registered 501c3 non-profits after a minimum of hoop jumping. (my memory is that it's very easy if you just submit a few forms, but it's been a while.)
i was an almost-admin at the for profit job, and i tried to implement SF into the non-profit shop after having used it and seen it work there. in both instances, my experience told me that you DEFINITELY need someone who knows Salesforce, or who is not intimidated by database coding, or at least will be willing to struggle through figuring it out. and even then, once you do have one person advocating for its use, getting the team to buy into it and begin using it (versus a google spreadsheet, paper form, or whatever they're used to) is difficult at best. it's highly robust and has a ton of features and add ones and different ways to set things up in a way that could be less than perfect for a community bike shop. (for example, you have to assign people to different roles such as client, vendor, sales team member. is a volunteer a customer? a vendor? a sales team member? it's pretty easy to goof that up at the outset if you don't think through all the permutations...)
again, it's been a while, but i know it also allows for email newsletters and such.
i do still feel like it would have been a great solution for us but couldn't get anyone else to buy into it as heavily as i was, so it just kind of faltered.
i do have a copy of Salesforce for Dummies i'd be happy to part with for the cost of shipping if anyone wants it.
josh.
On Mon, Aug 31, 2015 at 3:47 PM, Randi Park rsolomonpark@gmail.com wrote:
Happy, Joyous and Freewheeling had a demo of EveryAction a while back, but we aren't established enough to either need something this sophisticated, or justify the expense. I was very impressed with the level of integration between modules, the way ride participants could set up their own donation pages, and the way the contacts database will show you the number of FB friends your contacts have. The rep. I dealt with was willing to cut a very reasonable deal for the first year because we are a start-up. I talked to Nathan Moore NMoore@everyaction.com , but I'm not certain he is still there. Worth checking out.
On Mon, Aug 31, 2015 at 2:26 PM, sheldon mains sheldon@spokesconnect.org wrote:
More details:
Thanks for all the great responses so far. I’ll provide a few more details about our requirements;
Cloud based. Not custom designed by one individual. The organization does NOT have an in-house techie (in my mind, this rules out Civic CRM and Drupal but feel free to argue about that). Needs to include pretty complete customer relationship management tool
HERE ARE THE RESULTS SO FAR:
NationBuilder is still in the running but it does not track volunteer hours. Unclear if it has good/flexible reporting for client outcomes. (If we use it, we’d probably use a combination of that with Volgistics) Very good at tracking members/donors
Volgistics is great for volunteers but doesn’t seem to do a good job on the other things (again, feel free to argue with me on that)
PowerBase—(Progressive Technology Project’s implementation of CivicCRM for advocacy) is still in the running but it does not track volunteer hours. Unclear if it has good/flexible reporting for client outcomes. (If we use it, we’d probably use a combination of that with Volgistics)
ClientTrack — appears to be great at client tracking and reporting. Not so good at Donor and volunteer management. Is not a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) database.
Community Bike Shop DB--Good at volunteers and members. No events/class management. No customer relationship management. (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) FreeHub---Good at volunteers and members. No events/class management. No customer relationship management. (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong)
SalesForce: Very high implementation costs— over $10,000 to do it right. I've talked to organizations that tried to do it on their own with volunteers-- unless the volunteer knows and has worked with SalesForce, there seems to be a high failure rate. Very customizable (hence the high start-up cost). Anyone know a community bike center that is using it?
TheDataBank--So far, most complete option— but ongoing price could be an issue
Still collecting information on these and other options.
ANYONE USING ANY OF THESE: Would like your comments:
PowerBase EveryAction Frontstream Online (was Giftworks) ResultsPlus Little Green Machine theDataBank Salsa CitySoft Community Enterprise .............. Sheldon Mains SPOKES Bike Walk Connect program of Cycles for Change www.SpokesConnect.org www.fb.com/SpokesConnect Minneapolis, MN 612/618-7149 Three ways to donate to SPOKES:
- Volunteer. 2. Donate repairable used bikes. 3. Financial donations
always welcome. Check www.SpokesConnect.org for details.
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