CharityEngine Erfahrungen

Power behind your reporting

Vorteile:

CharityEngine is a great CRM tool, for me the feature I use most often is query builder to create custom reports of specific parts and types of data. I love the functionality available in Query Builder, and since my organization has some pretty complex data structures, CE makes it really easy for me to get exactly the data I need at any given time.

Nachteile:

Sometimes when there are updates to the software, some functionalities are down temporarily, but their team always works swiftly to make sure everything is running smooth!

Highly-Customizable, Powerful & Accessible, Best Price

Kommentare: We use Charity Engine for on and offline monthly/quarterly/annual recurring donations and all online donation forms. We have a different CRM for sending email to our 250,000+subscribers and to host our actions to legislators and corporations. And another CRM for our direct mail constituents. Some at the organization argue that we should have one CRM to do all this--but I never expect that out of a company.
Charity Engine clearly specializes in online donations and recurring donations, including an advance fraud suite that prevents the fraudulent testing of credit cards on their system (and fees associated).
Monthly processing and all the management of credit card updating, both automatic and personal updates, are a breeze.
And Charity Engine has made it clear that the data is ALWAYS ours. (Other companies we have worked with said they have the right to withhold credit card information of recurring donors, if you ever try to move off their system.)

Vorteile:

You can do pretty much anything with either the front-end or back-end design of Charity Engine forms. This power and flexibility are exactly what our medium to large non-profit needs as we are testing and improving our online fundraising. The user interface is intuitive and user-friendly. I am not a developer and over the years I’ve learned how to navigate most things within the system, it is complex, but well organized. And if you are not technical or don’t have the time, Charity Engine will connect you with a developer. I appreciate how we have the capability to add code to our forms and templates. This has enabled us to better track conversions, ecommerce, Google Analytics, and Facebook website verification. The donation data is all there, you can query on anything and export it into excel to analyze. Note: We added custom hidden fields to help with tracking donations from third party sites and other CRMs. Sustainer charging is very simple within Charity Engine. The amount of work required once you have someone set up in it is minimal. The help files are actually helpful, and are clearly written to walk you through things you need to do.

Nachteile:

We cannot use the “standard donation form” to meet our fundraising needs. We have custom forms and once you make custom forms, if they break, Charity Engine support (often) can’t fix. You need to go to a developer. Good news is forms don’t break often. Not a system flaw—rather warning to the user, because the tool is so powerful and hands on, you do have the ability to do almost anything, including break the forms. More than once I have wanted to test something new, so I tinkered with the forms and broke something else. Always create copies of forms and test them out before changing in a live environment. Sometimes, the Charity Engine staff seem to have limited experience with, or solutions for, integrating CE with other platforms. For example, we spent months trying to get Google Tag Manager to work correctly on Charity Engine forms so we could run a functional Facebook Ad campaign. Another example, we had a comma issue with our forms that makes $1,000+ transactions register as $1 in Google Analytics. We had to work with independent contractors to resolve both of these issues, even though we imagine they are issues all Charity Engine clients must face. The system can be a little buggy, so you have to pay attention to things—especially patterns. Example: every now and then the amount a donor has entered into specific form changes on its own after they hit the submit button, but because it can’t be consistently reproduced, there’s nothing they can do about it.

Design seems tailored more to mass mailers than high dollar cultivators

Kommentare: I was brought in to the organization after they had spent 9 months trying to transition to Charity Engine. I found that the data transfer from our old system was not done correctly and it took a lot of time to get that sorted out. It isn't intuitive, and is over complicated. It is hard to find what you are looking for in the navigation.

Vorteile:

Query capability. Online forms. Payment processing.

Nachteile:

We can't use for generating acknowledgement letters because they won't format correctly. We didn't use initially for email communication, but they have improved that feature. It is very clunky to add or update individual records, requiring user to go in and out of many screens and remember to flag things, such as address is preferred, and remember to click a save button. Far too many steps. It doesn't help with grant management. Event management also is not good. It is difficult and time consuming to record activities (meetings, phone calls) that you have had with your donors, and then they are not exportable on reports.

A view from a non-profit Food Bank.

Kommentare: As the donor database manager, I spend each and every day within CharityEngine. Processing donations, tracking pledges, building forms, event management, reporting and more. The overall experience I have had with CharityEngine is hands down some of the best. Each and every feature within CharityEngine continues to inspire individual growth within myself as the opportunities are endless.

Vorteile:

The convenience, and ease of all fundraising streamlines comes within CharityEngine. From simple donation processing, to online forms, event registrations and individualize marketing tools, CharityEngine is the powerhouse software. CharityEngine continues to improve with each and every release bringing more and more improvements for continued growth in the fundraising segments. Managing our major gifts program through CharityEngine has allowed our gift officers to track opportunities, pledges and payments, reporting and all, in real-time.

Nachteile:

Although we integrated CharityEngine just shy of a little over two years ago, it seems like just yesterday! We continue to grow as an organization, and within that growth we continue to grow within CharityEngine. That being said, each and every day I continue to learn more and more that CharityEngine can do. Of course, we run into a hurdle here and there, but fortunately, we have a great support team behind us, and for that fact we really haven’t run into anything we find as a dislike.

Not just Donor Management

Kommentare: The system not only solves some of the most complex donor management system needs, but in some cases it's working for my association customers to manage membership needs as well. As for associations that have a donor arm, which is where we've done a lot of work, this system is easy to integrate as needed but is a real 360 degree view while also having top notch web forms, marketing automation and other critical items that are huge money and time savers for nonprofits

Vorteile:

For a multi-tenant system, I'm really surprised at the extensibility of the system. Without "customizing" everything, it's really flexible and configurable to meet a lot of different business rules that are unique to my customers. Their data model and ability to query and layer queries is really impressive compared to similar systems in the market.

Nachteile:

Hard to say, I think it may be somewhat difficult to set up if you aren't trained on it like my team is as an integration and implementation firm. We work with many similar systems in the market though and I'd say comparatively, it's easier to set up than most other member and donor management systems. I wish it had some additional functionality like the Association Management Systems (AMS) market has around testing, certification and things like that, we could have consolidated down to fewer systems in the stack for our customers who we implemented it for, but that's not what we bought it for. I'm super pleased with what's there.

Connect, Customize and Collaborate

Vorteile:

The tool is feature rich. I find new options that will improve our productivity just about every week. One of my favorite features is their robust import tool. They make is so easy to bring data into the system.

Nachteile:

Charity Engine offers a wide variety of features, but some have not been developed to the level of sophistication we need. The good news is they have an excellent process for submitting and reviewing enhancement requests and so far, all our requests have been submitted for future development.

An Easy, One-Stop Shop

Kommentare: Charity Engine has provided a one-stop shop CRM solution for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy for the past five years, providing a powerful tool to help grow the organization’s constituency. The one-stop shop aspect has been very helpful — everything is one place. Data collection, data management, campaign management, email distribution and so much more. We do not have to manage multiple vendors and contracts, we can track work and performance in one system, and we have one account manager ensuring our needs are met. We both appreciate and have enjoyed the support of the Charity Engine team and we know other organizations will too.

Vorteile:

We loved that it's a one-stop shop, reducing the need to manage multiple contracts or engage in various conversations with multiple vendors.

Nachteile:

The software could be more user-friendly, supplemented by robust customer support. Fortunately, Charity Engine is expanding its account management/customer support team(s) so improvements are ahead.

A True Partner

Kommentare: I've worked at start ups and with more mature fundraising programs and the level of transparency I had into our business, especially payment processing is unmatched. The experience with Charity Engine felt more like a partnership than a vendor / client relationship and I believe this contributed to our overall success.

Vorteile:

A monthly giving program can provide a stable source of income for an organization and Charity Engine software was integral to the implementation and ongoing success of our monthly giving program. Our strategy included moving off of our existing online fundraising platform and finding a better option for payment processing. Direct Response Television (DRTV) is a considerable investment and it was the primary acquisition method for our program. We wanted a solution that could charge recurring gifts (monthly, quarterly, annual) and process ACH and credit card donations across all channels and we didn't want to deal with file transfers. Charity Engine worked with us and the software accommodated all of our needs - the donation page integrated seamlessly with the website, we passed through our source code logic and the inbound contact centers could authorize and process transactions in real time (no batch processing) through Charity Engine's open API. What I like most about this experience with Charity Engine software - flexibility. Charity Engine felt like a solution with plenty of functionality I could use right out of the box but that also incorporated features designed specifically to meet my program's needs. Later, with a smaller organization, I found my favorite thing about Charity Engine software - other than the cost (per contact record fee structure) was the intuitive interface that made it easy for a few people to manage events and peer to peer marketing/fundraising.

Nachteile:

As a Charity Engine admin/user at the first organization, we identified a need for user manual/training resources. Also, entering offline donations (literally entering check information) was a pain point, however, offline donation entry is problematic for peer to peer fundraisers/organizations still today - I don't think any software has the perfect solution.

Data Warehouse Capabilities and SQL Integration

Kommentare: Charity Engine has expanded its one-stop shop CRM solution by also providing Data Warehouse capabilities and SQL integration. This DBaaS (Database-as-a-Service) offering has been instrumental in our Data Analytics Strategy. Easily generating a visual diagram of the database schema allowed new Developers to quickly come to speed at ATC by further understanding the underlying data construct. Developers could leverage their pre-existing SQL skills rather than learn different data extraction and querying tools. Additional efficiency was gained when interrogating data by allowing for infinite ways to join tables, filter data, and extract meaningful insights rather than be limited by rigid pre-established querying structures. The added benefit of Charity Engine’s hosted database service is that their team handles the infrastructure, storage, data replication, and backup automation, ensuring that the organization’s data is secure and accessible which is a priority for any organization.

Vorteile:

The expansion of the native CRM solution with Data Warehousing capabilities and SQL Integration.

Nachteile:

Proprietary report writing and querying tool native in the product. This limitation was overcome by the release of the new data warehouse that allows for querying via SQL Server Management Studio (which is a well known industry standard).

Wish We Still Had Our Old, Out-dated CRM Tool

Kommentare: Dismal. Frustrating. Disappointing. And we just came through a global pandemic with the heaviest donation period in our history with a sloppy, non-user friendly tool that doesn't provide the depth of data we need and were told we could anticipate. And now we are headed toward year-end fundraising season with a tool that doesn't allow segmentation of our donor data. We are -- or WERE -- a high performing fundraising team before we got Charity Engine. It's a joke.

Vorteile:

It's got a nice dashboard. But, four months in, we still don't know to navigate the tool, pull reports or find information easily, even when using CE every day.

Nachteile:

The product was grossly over-sold by the sales team. We had an old, outdated CRM that we had out-grown, but I would take it back in a heartbeat because it did so many things that Charity Engine does not do. We were so excited to have a new database, but this CRM is really not a fit for our needs at all. Absolutely NO training available. We are still in "sandbox" mode after four months very poor, slow, unresponsive customer support, not intuitive or user-friendly. Lots of mistakes pulling in new donor data. Wish I had something good to say, but I don't.

Over-promised and still waiting on the delivery

Kommentare: As a user, the system is not as user friendly as other databases, requiring a few hoops to jump through before finding the solution or answer you were looking for. It has the ability to be a robust tool, but not sure it will deliver on the promises made. I am making this review as an individual and not on behalf of my organization.

Vorteile:

Disclaimer: I am making this review as an individual user and not on behalf of my organization. It looks prettier than our old system. That's about as far as I can go at this point. We are three months in and still trying to work with the CE team to resolve issues and set-up some of the features.

Nachteile:

Features were promised, as well as a seamless integration. We asked if there would be interruption for our partners when migrating their donation pages, we were told "no not at all". Teams were missing, fields were mis-coding creating more manual work. Front-line fundraiser dashboards are proving to be cumbersome and still awaiting the final creation. Still haven't figured out a solution for non-monetary gifts such as volunteer hours, gift cards, in-kinds, or poundage.

Mission Partner

Kommentare: Excellent. We have looked at other fundraising and donor management platforms. While some have cleaner dashboards, no one can match the functionality that Charity Engine has to offer.

Vorteile:

Charity Engine took our fundraising to the next level by magnitudes of scale. It professionalized our messaging and operation, enabling us to attract new supporters, excite current donors, and direct attention to key initiatives at a critical time.

Nachteile:

The customer service provided by Charity Engine staff is exceptional. They are responsive and professional every time I ask them for help. The self-help tutorials are good, but for a very small and lean nonprofit, we just didn't have the time to learn the platform as well as we could have, so we relied on Charity Engine staff and they walked us through it every step of the way. They understood our requirements and worked with us to achieve those goals.

Needs to be more nimble and adaptic and intuitive

Vorteile:

The layout of records is good and analytics on campaigns is informative.

Nachteile:

Queries are not intuitive and overly complicated. The way data is broken down into silos makes if very difficult to do anything more than the most simple queries easily without jumping through multiple hoops. Tracking of changes to records is not captured as to who made changes and when which can be a problem. I would like to be able to customize my dashboard to see items of importance to me quickly.

Full time daily user

Kommentare: I am able to keep really good track of the donors I am responsible for, so CharityEngine is a very effective tool for me. It is the primary tool I use on a daily basis, and I am regularly finding ways to produce data and reports from queries that are replacing our old spreadsheet tracking methods.

Vorteile:

I appreciate that I can easily track things I have done, or need to do, with regard to a specific People record. I use the "Activities" module for every donor change (or review) I make. I also very much appreciate being able to write complex queries and then schedule them to send me reports as frequently as I want them.

Nachteile:

There are a few things that could be streamlined, such as when it is time to change the entry in the "Solicitor/Account Manager" field. However, the customer support team takes our concerns and our suggestions seriously, and I have been impressed by the proactive response to recommendations from users.

It’s a great tool for managing donors/customers

Kommentare: It allows for direct emailing to donor/customer with specific notes on the file. A complete record of transactions etc. You can set up regular recurring payments. The reporting is great.

Vorteile:

Searching for donors and making changes is easy and intuitive

Nachteile:

It can take some time to load searches. I haven’t been able to get much of a response from customer service on an issue.

Great Partners

Vorteile:

I have implemented CE at two non-profits. And utilized CE as our on-line partner for fundraising with great results. The ease of use, affordability and support services are the keys to this products growth. They are always adjusting the platform and implementing new discoveries - when they discover something that works for one fundraising client they share those across the platform. The growth and strength of this platform over the past 8+ year has been amazing.

Nachteile:

None to report, whenever there is an issue they have amazing response time and great customer support

Great comprehensive solution!

Vorteile:

- Flexibility and ease of use - Robust functionality that facilitates/addresses all of our fundraising, marketing and donor management needs. - very responsive customer support

Nachteile:

No complaints. This is a great, very cost effective solution.

CharityEngine Review

Kommentare: I have seen improvements over the past 2 years but more can be done.
I never had big issues, the CE team is always there to support when needed. Support is great.
Overall we have been able to get things done in a timely manner.

Vorteile:

I mostly use the online donation, surveys, and emails. All seems fine but definitely needs lots of improvements. Overall the product works.

Nachteile:

UI is slow, does not give you prompt response, UX needs rethinking.

Four months in, very little function for our teams

Vorteile:

The promise of the functionality of this software is great. Most reporting used by our team is straight to email, so it is nice to be able to start your day by seeing donor lists to email before you login to the secure site.

Nachteile:

Customer service and product use training: This product was not set to launch for our team, although it seems to have provided great improvements for gift processing. The vendor provided poor training and set-up options for the front-line fundraising team. Four months in, and the most basic functionality that I would have expected on day one (how to view my list of donors in my portfolio) is still not available. I have been through other CRM conversions with much better preparation for the user team to be prepared on Day 1 to use for every function of their job, and that's not what the vendor here is good at doing.

Dashboard of all the necessary, easily use, user friendly, speedy, and efficiency.

Vorteile:

I see better features than I was new with Charity Engine when it was first started at least 2 years ago. Many ways to find contact using email, address, first or last name, address work great. Cut the time of search and avoid duplicate records. Once the record is created, it's easier to create the payment and make it paid. The address is entered, auto address brings up to match the valid address from postal service is a nice one.

Nachteile:

There are a few that I have to hit the 'Back' button which I do not see a feature that I want. Wish there is a feature to help me go forward. Credit card payment on the dashboard is not reliable.

Charity Engine has been one of our best investments

Kommentare: My overall experience has been exceptional. The implementation, support, and onboarding teams of Charity Engine truly go above and beyond to ensure customer satisfaction.

Vorteile:

The ease of use and implementation was important to us, and the continued support is the best I have ever worked with.

Nachteile:

I honestly can not think of a single con to this product.

a-z

Vorteile:

It does what I need it to do, simple and effective for what we need. We got rid of a lot of other bandages and use CE for everything.

Nachteile:

Everything great, no cons IMHO for what we use it for

Good product, could use some growth

Vorteile:

The look, and multiple tab usage, I like that you don't have to open a new software to look at multiple things

Nachteile:

user interface, building reports are not easy, training has been almost non existent.

New partnership with Charity Engine

Kommentare: We just partnered with CharityEngine. I asked them to do something with a very short time line and they were wonderful- delivered on time and wonderful to work with. Great product.

Vorteile:

Great team, easy-to-use, looks great for donors

Nachteile:

Nothing at this time- so far Charity Engine has delivered as promised.

Charity Engine recommended

Kommentare: easy to learn the system and utilize.

Vorteile:

Activity Organizational tools and lifetime trends of giving for individuals

Nachteile:

Customizing reports can be cumbersome at times