I would like to piggy-back on Steve Shimek's comments and add that Michelle
at ASAP is completely overwhelmed and not available for consulting work in
the East Bay (their office is less than an mile from mine, but ASAP has yet
to return a phone call in less than a week, and then only to tell me they're
too busy to help)... and that it has been EXTREMELY difficult to find
someone to do consulting work - i have even contacted an organization in
oregon in the hopes that someone might be making bay area trips.
i was a reluctant ebase user at first, but am now quite a fan (after a year
of training and experimentation in both ebase and fmp). however... the
inability to find support (and as someone pointed out, I am a fundraiser,
not a computer expert) will ultimately make the decision for this
organization.
the questions i have asked of the listserve have been too complicated for an
answer over the net (I was told to find a consultant...) and i am the only
person at my office who works with ebase at all. with my transition to
another job this summer, my boss will be evaluating the pros and cons of
maintaining ebase as the fundraisiing software and has already indicated
that she will be looking to a system with better support.
with time and computer savvy, ebase is definitely the best deal out there,
esp. for orgs with multiple informational databases who want to combine.
otherwise, as with any software, you're looking at what you need v. what you
get v. price
******************************
Shannon Lee-Rutherford
Development Associate
Public Health Institute
2001 Addison St./Berkeley, CA 94704-1103
PH: 510.644.8200 x33/Fax: 510.644.9319
[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ http://www.phi.org
We're changing the way people think about health...
******************************
-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Shimek [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Monday, April 09, 2001 10:31 AM
To: TechRocks Support
Subject: [support] Re: honest opinion about ebase?
Hi All:
Our organization is relatively new and extremely fast growing. We have
basically been inputting records into ebase but we haven't asked ebase to do
much else.
As a data input interface it seems to work just fine. A much bigger issue
for us is support. We would love to find someone to do a customization for
us -- and we'd be willing to pay for that service -- but we have not found
anyone in our area. So we feel rather alone and 'out there'. It's weird,
because we are only an hour from San Jose! I've posted three messages
asking for help and I received one very polite response from a person two
states away.
While some are huge fans of this support list, it intimidates me. A year
ago I was trying to modify a thank you letter and I was having the typical
(I know now) formatting problems. I posted a message and received a very
terse response that I should be on the newbies listserve and not on the
support listserve. (Since then they've been combined, I think).
And, there's the issue of documentation... it just isn't adequate, or task
oriented enough for me.
So for us, it comes down to support. If I can find someone to help
customize ebase, and if I can find someone to call when I have a task or
question -- I will stick with ebase. If I can not find help... soon... I'm
going to bail.
Steve Shimek, Executive Director
The Otter Project, Inc.
3098 Stewart Ct.
Marina, CA 93933
831/883-4159 ph/fx
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.otterproject.org
-----Original Message-----
From: Maria Pellerano [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Monday, April 09, 2001 8:28 AM
To: TechRocks Support
Subject: [support] Re: honest opinion about ebase?
Hi,
Our organization has used Ebase for the past two years. We hired one of the
Ebase consultants to do the customizing and importing of data at a very
reasonable price and have been VERY happy with the end result. I spent less
than $1000 on the purchasing a copy of Filemaker and hiring the consultant.
Before using Ebase we "test-drove" a proprietary system called Paradigm (a
little less expensive than Blackbaud). We are much happier with Ebase than
we were with Paradigm. We are able to customize Ebase for very little money
compared to the $2500 the Paradigm software vendors wanted to customize a
$7000 database. Not to mention the $2000 per year they wanted for support.
I wouldn't trade Ebase for any of these high end packages. Just so you
know, I have a 78 year old woman who hates most computer software (can never
remember how it works) but regularly inputs and updates data on Ebase
without any trouble.
I think the support list reflects the range of computer literacy that people
have in the non-profit world. Many big non-profits that can afford packages
such as Blackbaud can afford full-time computer staff. Well most
non-profits that use Ebase don't have that luxury. With a little patience
and help from the support list (and a training) most people can use Ebase
and use it well.
By the way, the support list is one of the greatest things about Ebase.
There aren't many software programs that give you help almost
instantaneously when you need it.
-- Maria
==================================================
Maria Pellerano, Associate Director
Environmental Research Foundation
Rachel's Environment & Health News
P.O. Box 5036, Annapolis, MD 21403-7036
Phone: (410) 263-1584; Fax: (410) 263-8944
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Web site: http://www.rachel.org/
==================================================
----- Original Message -----
From: "Beth Hynes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "TechRocks Support" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Monday, April 09, 2001 9:55 AM
Subject: [support] Re: honest opinion about ebase?
Well, part of the answer to your question is that the support list is for
airing problems and getting answers.
Ebase was created for organizations that needed good enough volunteer and
funding tracking but couldn't afford nor perhaps even need the big guns like
Blackbaud software. I've been working with ebase for nine months and it has
improved many more aspects of our operations than caused problems.
--
Beth Hynes
Parks & Trails Council of Minnesota
26 E Exchange St #100
Saint Paul MN 55101
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
651-281-0508
----------
>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>To: "TechRocks Support" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: [support] honest opinion about ebase?
>Date: Mon, Apr 9, 2001, 12:04 AM
>
> Hi folks,
> I'm just getting started with ebase. Reading this support list, there
seems
> to be an awful lot of problems using it. What is your opinion about this?
Do
> you think that ebase is worth pursuing, warts and all? How does it
compare
> with other software you have used? If you had it to do over, would you
still
> choose ebase?
>
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