Data Management

What Each Nonprofit Executive Should Know About (Database) Software and Demand from their Vendors

Here’s a glimpse of our philosophy about NonProfitDB© or any other piece of software, for that matter, that may be of help to nonprofits evaluating new software. The current economic climate augments the position and I’m sure that you’ll soon start to see a lot more offerings as the one I’m describing below.

First of all, tools are, or should be, free — meaning that no one should pay simply for the tool licenses, extra hardware and software licensing. Taking this concept further, we started offering NonProfitDB© with free infrastructure (each such system has an email, web, and database server behind) as well.   Next comes the free install and initial set-up, of all the components. You should compare that to the waste, in our minds at least, generated by the time-consuming client-server installs and ask about these costs at the evaluation stage.  Almost any software nowadays, and definitely the fundraising/database varieties for nonprofits, should have free access over the Internet with just a browser (meaning definetely no installation on each client computer).   (If you already have an Internet connection there’s no marginal cost for accessing your software online).  Finally, don’t forget to demand free software upgrades done inconspicuously for the end-users.

Secondly, we recognize that any software product, including NonProfitDB©, is:
1. just a tool. As such it has a learning curve and, furthermore, to really take advantage of its full potential your organization will need training. 

2. Each software system (even the “free” and open-source ones) has a Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) that cannot be neglected from the evaluation analysis (nor underestimated).  Maintenance of the technology of a system (hardware infrastructure, and software running it) claims up to 60% of the TCO in some unlucky cases (the number is an industry standard).  We offer free maintenance of the NonProfitDB© system, the infrastructure behind, and the software (e.g. MS SQL Server database).  (Disclaimer: maintenance of technology is different than supporting people who use a system.  In any case, we view the latter as training.)

3. Your organization’s needs are unique and always evolving. No software company builds software with your organization in mind alone so changing how a tool operates is where I believe the real value-adding opportunities lie for your nonprofit. Most vendors would not change their products for you and if some do, they will do it a high premium — usually at around $125 to 250, and more, an hour, and hence out of reach for the majority of nonprofit organizations. One of the most important consideration, in our minds, for software selection then becomes this cost of change of existing software and that’s the reason we provide predictable and relatively low-cost hourly consulting fees for our value-adding services (e.g. Training, Code Customizations and Changes, Consulting for business process improvements, etc.) alone.  We work for you by changing the NonProfitDB© system according to your current and future needs. 

In conclusion, the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) has to take into consideration all the variables and associated costs above with a long-term perspective in mind (at least one year, even better three).  By eliminating all the major costs comprising the TCO, and delivering only value-adding services, we’re hoping that nonprofits can benefit the most from the capabilities of our NonProfitDB© system and the ingenuity of the people behind it.

© 2009 Online Resources for Small Businesses and Nonprofits.