I thought it might be useful to compile a list of all of the commercial donor databases I’m aware of. This list came from my head, my bookmarks, and lists compiled by NTEN and Idealware for their donor management software surveys (and I’m not certain all of these are actually donor databases). Campus Management Corp.

Back in September, Peter Campbell kicked off a discussion about project management in this space. Among project management-related tools, Basecamp has the buzz. All that said, it is a mistake to consider Basecamp a project management system. You can't create Gantt charts or other formal project management diagrams.

It just seems that too many databases are too complex to use. How many years have we had to develop simple databases, that just work? Yet only a fraction of these groups manage to get it out of their systems in a way that does not induce fits of anger at the idiocy of the routines required to get it done.

In general, although I am sometimes asked, I tend to avoid assisting clients with choosing a donor database package. As a 10,000 footer, NTEN’s new Donor Management System Survey is of keen interest. There is, of necessity, a lot of overlap betwen CRM systems and Donor Management Systems. and MPower at 0.4%.

Most database tools have features that do not work well, that I just wish they would have not included at all. Our food has too much sugar and refined flour, our economy has too much credit, and our databases have too many features - all of which can lead to serious systemic problems. Only offers one login for managing the system.

The good folks at Aspiration have been working to put my list of donor databases into a wiki. Along the way the identified some that seem to have disappeared and weren't on my earlier list of defunct donor databases. Here are the new entries: Association Management System from Micro Solutions. Tags: Donor Databases

For the past four years or so, at two different organizations, I've been evaluating Microsoft's Sharepoint 2007 as a Portal/Intranet/Business Process Management solution. If you get the way it uses lists and views to organize and display data, it can be a very powerful tool for managing and collaborating on all sorts of content.

The main challenge for a technology manager is communication, particularly with those who are uninterested and/or threatened by technological terms. But IT will have a better read on how sound a database structure is for querying and reporting, or what will integrate successfully with other key systems. That's for the users to decide.

The flip side to my list of donor databases would be a list of systems that no longer exist. Campaign Manager. Tags: Donor Databases Fundraising Advancement Services This probably isn’t as useful a list, but it’s short so here goes: SYSTEM. VENDOR. Alchemy. Campagne Associates. CampaignSoft. CompassCRM. Devolio.

Our pals over at Idealware have just released a pretty comprehensive report comparing some open source content managment giants — WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and Plone. This report also includes our new directory of the consultants and firms who help nonprofit create websites and implement these Content Management Systems.