CiviCRM Community Forums (archive)

My nonprofit doesn't currently use a CRM or even much of a database - our contacts (volunteer list) are stored in our Gmail contact list, and all of our donor (donation) information is stored in our Quickbooks program.

I haven't installed CiviCRM yet, but I like what I see. We host through Joomla, so that shoudn't be an issue. I also understand that initial set up will require a substantial amount of formatting done by someone with computer skills  - I will be doing this.

After the initial set up, is there large amount of programming required? Does CiviCRM communicate with Quickbooks, or would we have to manually upload files periodically?

I love that CiviCRM has mail, event, grant ect... Are we able to have volunteers sign up for an event without signing into CiviCRM as a user?

Are we able to directly link to a CiviEvent from our website?

I know these are a number of questions, and from multiple areas of expertise. I appreciate all help.

Thank you,
Dave Meyers

  I also understand that initial set up will require a substantial amount of formatting done by someone with computer skills  - I will be doing this. 

I don't think so. In many cases, you can use CiviCRM right out of the box. The Contact import sometimes is a bit tricky but if you have just names and emails, it should be very easy.