Your are almost completely wrong. I bet you haven't even tried it.
If all you were doing was fundraising, eBase needs no modifications for most
people. All the people that modify it are people like me who try to run all
their database stuff on it, in particular tracking volunteers, advocacy,
etc.
The cost of FileMaker Pro is trivial compared to any of the commercial
fundraising packages.
You don't seem to understand just how computer literate the average
not-for-profit staff and volunteers are. If you look at this list you will
see many questions that are answered in the manuals. For some people it is
easier to ask than to look.
I would rather spend 1/2 hour doing productive work after submitting an
email to this list than spend the same 1/2 hour on hold for a 800-number
that gives me the greenest of trainees for the first pass. Try to get an
answer from any of the commercial packages at nights or on weekends! That is
when vounteers work.
One of the great things about volunteer organizations is that they are
trying new approaches to pressing problems. New approaches frequently call
for customized programs. With FileMaker you can prototype something new in
an afternoon, not spend weeks developing a proposal that you can submit to a
contractor to implement what they heard, not what you wanted.
I spent several weeks playing with demos of all the major commercial
products including visiting organizations that were using them. My budget
could have afforded even the high end ones if necessary. There were none
that met our needs as well as eBase and all would have required even more
extensive changes than the few simple ones that we have done to eBase.
Several of the ones I tried have now gone out of business - so much for
support. At the time we looked many were mired in a Win 3.1 or worse GUI
environment.
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2001 9:28 AM
To: TechRocks Support
Subject: [support] Re: honest opinion about ebase?
When I'm consulting with clients on developing fundraising programs, I
usually advise them to move away from creating their own software and
instead
consider an off the shelf package. Why - because they were paid to be
fundraisers not computer programmers, because within a very few years their
custom made system will be completely corrupted, lack any retrievable
documentation, and put them right back into the fundraising management hole
that they started out in.
Now, because I work with a lot of small and medium sized organizations, they
can't spring up front for a $3000 package such as Giftmaker Pro or Paradigm
(both of which I like a lot - I was wondering why the person who didn't like
paradigm didn't like it). So, I've been asking them to consider looking at
ebase because based on my very quick review, it seemed that the package was
at least useable and would meet basic needs.
Now that I'm on the listserve, I'm beginning to question my referrals. If
they have to buy Filemaker Pro and spend half their life customizing the
package, scrolling through archives from online support, and participating
on
this listserv to get help because the package just doesn't work, in my
opinion, they may be better off with their homegrown customized software and
devoting all the time they are spending trying to make ebase work well for
them raising money instead so that they can purchase an off the shelf system
that works and has 800 telesupport and strong product development. (or spend
the $600 for etapestry training). (By the way, I saw a fabulous prototype
from Campagne called Alchemy which finally does what computer software is
supposed to do - provide people with the tools to be fundraising managers,
not database slaves.
So ... am I right?
Gayle
**********************************************
Gayle L. Gifford, CFRE
General Partner
Cause & Effect, LLC
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