CiviCRM Community Forums (archive)

Hi--

I'm looking into database software for a very small non-profit.  We are currently using Kintera but are unhappy with it and want to migrate our data elsewhere.

Previous research suggested that we should use Joomla! and CiviCRM, but I have a couple of questions about that:

  1.  Is it better to use Joomla! and CiviCRM together, or Drupal with CiviCRM?  We'll want to integrate a shopping cart module, and there seems to be a decent one with Drupal that meshes with civiCRM (called ubercart), and the top module for Joomla! seems to be Virtuecart, but I can't seem to discern whether or not Joomla!'s module will integrate well with civiCRM...?

2.  For a small non-profit with not a lot of experience on the technical side of things, how difficult of a program would you say civiCRM is to get up and running for the organization?  Do we need to hire an IT person to get the whole thing working, and if so, any idea what that cost would be for us and how long we can expect the set-up to be?

I'm totally new to this, and trying to ascertain whether civiCRM is the right option, or something like constantcontact or iContact. We need something that will send out email blasts, compatible with a shoppingcart, will work with Joomla!/Drupal, will work with affiliate software, and import our current contact info with notes and such. Thoughts?  They'd be MUCH appreciated.

THANKS!!

If tight integration with the shopping cart is a requirement, then Pete is right -- Drupal probably is better. I think Drupal has a steeper learning curve with understanding the software structure and terminology, but Joomla can't currently offer tight integration between Civi and VirtueMart. They can coexist and run fine, but the records aren't connected, so you end up duplicating things like contact address details.