Why CiviCRM?
Donald Lobo, Dave Greenberg, and Michael Mach, initiated the idea for CiviCRM in 2004. The three founders had a lot of experience with non-profits. Roped in to brainstorm CiviStorm, colleagues Zack Rosen and Neil Drumm convinced the founders to use Drupal as a fundamental cornerstone for the new platform. With Drupal functionality in place to drive the platform, CiviCRM was able to focus on developing the characteristic features needed by non-profits.
Since its release in 2005, CiviCRM has become the leading open source CRM for both NPOs and NFPOs, but its adoption has been most significant in the NPO category.
CiviCRM is community driven sustained through contributions. A key measure of CiviCRM’ssuccess is the social good that it generates and the meaningful difference it makes in the world.
Is Civicrm Right for My Organization?
Usually, Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs) provide goods and services to the public for different religious, environmental, educational, humanitarian, or scientific causes, for example, a local children’s charity or an international campaign to raise awareness about a disease. Not For Profit Organizations (NFPOs) usually serve a group of members with a common interest, for example a homeowners’ association, social club, or specific interest group.
Protecting Sensitive Data at Low Cost
CiviCRM allows non-profits to create sophisticated management systems at a lower cost than using a proprietary application. Importantly, the non-profit retains full control of all its data, including funding, member and care worker details, and other sensitive information.
How NFPs Can Customize CiviCRM According to Their Needs
Different types of non-profits have particular requirements. For example, some non-profits are staffed entirely by volunteers while others employ hundreds of workers based in different countries, necessitating a sophisticated payroll system.
Non-profits may customize CiviCRM according to their needs:
- Event management – manage attendance at fund raisers or organize awareness campaigns
- Contributions management – process donations, send automated acknowledgements and reporting on funding
- Membership management – configure membership levels and manage subscription payments
- Contact management – store contact data in one place accessible by all integrations in the CiviCRM ecosystem
- Email marketing – manage bulk emailing and newsletters
- Reporting – evaluate the organization’s impact and view funding details
- Accounting integration – maintain a traditional accounting system, linked to practical reports about which donors made contributions and in response to which campaign
- Case management – create workflows for timelines, activities and responsibilities
- Advocacy campaigns – track a campaign’s progress and details about related events, mailings and contributions
- Peer-to-peer fundraisers – empowers donors to raise funds on behalf of the organization
- Configuration – enable core components and add free extensions
- Human resources – CiviHR allows organizations to manage staff and payroll
100 percent Canadian hosting
FullHost offers three hosting options: shared hosting, dedicated servers and Managed Virtual Private Servers (VPS). Which option you choose will depend on your budget, resource requirements, and future expansion plans. Whether you are an NGO selling donated goods to raise funds or an Amazon wannabe, FullHost has a plan to optimize CiviCRM for your needs.
