Author Topic: Fit for Trade Association - CiviCRM approximates which established AMS? (Read 1162 times)

ewh · April 27, 2009, 07:22:35 am

I'm scoping out new Assocation Management Software (AMS) for my trade association: $2M budget, 20 staff, 6000 corporate members and prospects comprised of about 20,000 past and present individuals.
- Does anyone have a reaction as to CiviCRM being a good fit for us?
- More generically, is there a "good fit" profile, e.g., is CiviCRM better for smaller membership clubs and civic orgs (with individuals as their members, vs. corporate memberships), or can medium-to-larger trade associations benefit too? The name "civiCRM" implies a fit for smaller groups, IMHO.
- I've scoped out various traditional AMS vendors (those that promote themselves via ASAE's buyer's guide). Does anyone know how CiviCRM compares with established AMS vendors, assuming CiviCRM is configured appropriately? Is it more like a $500/month unlimited seats deal, or could it compete with more expensive and more expansive AMS products?

Thanks for any tid-bits!

ewh410@gmail.com

lcdweb · April 27, 2009, 08:08:52 pm

CiviCRM can be a great fit for trade associations. I work with several professional and trade associations who are currently using CiviCRM.

In terms of size/scope, yes -- Civi can definitely handle that volume of records. The largest I personally am working with runs about 11,000+ records, but I'm aware of other organizations with significantly more records.

The membership tools are fairly flexible, allowing you to record memberships to either organization-type or individual-type contact records. And memberships can be inherited based on relationship definitions. For example, an organization may be the primary member, but all employees (defined via relationships) can inherit the membership and thus be included in broadcast emails, event promotion mailings, etc.

Because CiviCRM is open source, the way you assess the cost will be a little different. There are no software or license costs, but it does take work to implement the software, configure/customize it to your needs, and handle data transition, etc.

I've worked with several other AMS products in the association marketplace and can provide some comment offline on how Civi compares.

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Author Topic: Fit for Trade Association - CiviCRM approximates which established AMS? (Read 1162 times)

ewh

Fit for Trade Association - CiviCRM approximates which established AMS?

lcdweb

Re: Fit for Trade Association - CiviCRM approximates which established AMS?