CiviCRM Community Forums (archive)

We have many different sites and systems that are independent, but we do have powerhouse servers (BSD), more storage than we could ever need, and are currently running Apache, mysql, & php for much of what we do.  Our staff can set up a MySQL database for this information without any problems.  I ran across Civi while researching how to manage this database.

I work for a non-profit which currently has a database of approximately 300,000 to 500,000 donor records in 3 different categories.  We are looking to migrating to a donor management software solution/database which will allow us to more effictively manage these records.  For instance now the 3 categories are not interactive.  If a donor gives one type of donation we have no way of knowing they gave another type in the past (i.e.  vehicle, money, clothing, etc.).  Most donor software we've reviewed do not allow this flexibility and are geared towards cash only.

Right now our areas of difficulites focus on:
 - Web-access (mandatory - all employees are remote)
 - Different types of donations managed
 - Reporting capabilities

We have looked into the common ones such as eTapestry, IMIS, Blackbaud, etc. but not only is cost a serious issue, a great deal of customization would have to be done for all in order to meet our needs.  It simply does not make sense to spend $100K-$300K on a program that doesn't work for us and will be limited in.  We currently use a great deal of open source programs because of things such as this - it has allowed us to adapt as we grow at minimal cost (leaving $$$ to go to those who need it).

From what I've seen of Civi it just may work for us.  Before I went any further in implementation or such I wanted to get the opinions from you, the experts to what you thought.  Do you think this would work for us?  What are some limitations you know of that might affect us?

I appreciate any comments/suggestions.  From what I've seen so far the amount of time, effort, and energy put into this program and its documentation is mind-boggling.  This truly is a wonderful resource!

You can add any kind of donation types in administer civiCRM and control some options for each type (ie, tax-deductible or not, accounting code).  It looks like they all show up under the contributions tab, but this isn't something I have experience with.

It's been a few years since I used Raiser's Edge.  When I did, our installation relied on Crystal Reports and it was also not the ideal solution from a usability standpoint.