Database for a charity

beckyw_2

I work for a charity and need a new database as the one that we currently have doesn't do what we want and costs loads to make changes to.

We need a database to manage all our contacts (about 2000) and send mailings/emails to. It also needs to manage our membership system (about 10 categories) and send out invoices. Only about a quarter of our contacts are actually members.

We need it to be fairly flexible so that we can create reports from it e.g. we want to hold an event in a specific area so we want to send a mailing to contacts in the locality.

Can anyone point me in the right direction? Is there an off the shelf product that we could buy? I have thought about doing something in access but it was starting to look very complicated and beyond my capability.

Thanks everyone

CIS

For 2000 contacts, microsoft access should be able to handle it , you can also create the required custom reports.

Savvy_Sue

When you find it, let us all know ...

Is your charity a member of NCVO? I ask because I recently attended a day on databases which was organised by them. Found it VERY scary in terms of the no. of projects which don't work out as they should! As you've found ... It was organised by Preponderate, and the page I've linked to gives some information on databases.

I've got one list set up on Excel which works reasonably well, and about half a dozen other lists set up as Word tables which also do what I need them to do. BUT many people are on several lists, so every time an address changes, I have to check ALL the lists. And when I want to send something to everyone (annually!) I have to make sure I remove people I've already sent to. But I do a fair bit of this with Mail-Merge: you can sort before you start so that you can 'untick' all the people whose postcode doesn't start with the 'right' combination, for example, although I know there are more complicated ways of doing it which are easier if you have lots of people to look at (I don't).

I'm going to bully my son into coming and sorting it out for me a bit over Easter: have decided that two Excel databases would be better than the mish-mash I have right now, and I know he'll be nit-picking enough to lay everything out perfectly consistently, so that when / if we combine the two lists I'll have a head start ...

The other thing for you might be to go on a course to learn how to use Access. I've heard it can be a bit unstable in a multi-user environment, and not good unless you're all using the same version of Access. But no direct experience. I used to use it in a past life, but someone else was doing all the clever stuff for me and I haven't managed to get my brain round it since!

Or have a look over on the Techie forum? I haven't been there with this kind of question yet ...

don9999

My first thought was.......I could put one together for you - seeing as it's for a charity.

However, I would have a few concerns......

• When do you want it for?
  (Am a bit tied up with a new job at the moment, so not sure how much time I could devite to it.)
• I (or someone) would need specific requirements of exactly what data is required to be stored, exactly the format of any reports, and exactly the type of actions (add/change/delete) that you would require
  (I've worked on projects where the specifications have changed throughout the project, as requirements change and things were forgotten. Without the exact specifications defined at the beginning it can end up with a sub-optimal design, and a hotch-potch of functionality)
• Support
  As in most bespoke systems, support is important (if not essential), yet I would be unable to provide it. I might be able to provide some user guidelines, and minimal training, but if your staff changes and/or there is a change in requirement, or format of a report, then I cannot commit to being able to provide these changes.

I'm still happy to advise that you get someone to design a bespoke system for you (it shouldn't be difficult in something like MS Access or similar). Indeed there is a web-site I used to subscribe to, whereby people offer to perform IT activities (such as development etc.) for free to charities. The charity benefits from getting free help, and the developer benefits by getting experience in an area which they want to improve their skills in.

However, I recommend you bear in mind the issues I mention above. Feel free to PM me, if you want to discuss further.

Cheers
Don

Savvy_Sue

Don speaks words of true wisdom there ... That's why I'm going for the interim solution of combining my Word tables into one place, while we think about EXACTLY what else we might find useful!

don9999

Although I mentioned a number of thngs to consider (and it's surely not an exhaustive list), I would still not want to frighten people from using a database. Although many solutions can be developed in a variety of applications (Word, Excel, Access etc.) each is best suited to dealing with certain requirements.


For example although Excel provides some Database facilities and you 'could' develop a basic database application with Excel, I would still recommend using Access - it will be a lot easier to operate, provide better functionality, etc. etc.

Likewise, you can use Excel to write letters, spell-check etc...., but obviously Word is the much more appropriate application to use.

Hence I would still recommend using something like Access for this charity's development environment. Best option would probably be for one of the charity's staff to learn Access and create the application. Access is a little harder than Excel and Word, but still not 'too' complex. However, even this solution leaves the problem of what happens if the developer leaves the organisation.

The best you can do is record as much documentation and user-instructions as you can.

Cheers,
Don

mike_the_haggler

beckyw wrote:

I work for a charity and need a new database as the one that we currently have doesn't do what we want and costs loads to make changes to.

We need a database to manage all our contacts (about 2000) and send mailings/emails to. It also needs to manage our membership system (about 10 categories) and send out invoices. Only about a quarter of our contacts are actually members.

We need it to be fairly flexible so that we can create reports from it e.g. we want to hold an event in a specific area so we want to send a mailing to contacts in the locality.

Can anyone point me in the right direction? Is there an off the shelf product that we could buy? I have thought about doing something in access but it was starting to look very complicated and beyond my capability.

Thanks everyone

Have you tried salesforce.com

they offer a free version for personal use, you can create email campaigns etc , create campaigns to call etc, you can even drop your own templates into it , such as invoices , and log when to call etc
and it`s all browser based....
I am currently using team edition at work, and find it ideal

Savvy_Sue

don9999 wrote:

Although I mentioned a number of thngs to consider (and it's surely not an exhaustive list), I would still not want to frighten people from using a database. Although many solutions can be developed in a variety of applications (Word, Excel, Access etc.) each is best suited to dealing with certain requirements.

I have to agree that when I had someone doing all the clever stuff in Access for me, I found it fan-diddly-tastic! Mind you, you wouldn't believe how inflexible the system I'd used before that was. Well, maybe don would, if he's been in IT long enough ...

don9999 wrote:

Hence I would still recommend using something like Access for this charity's development environment. Best option would probably be for one of the charity's staff to learn Access and create the application. Access is a little harder than Excel and Word, but still not 'too' complex.

Which is where the problem always starts - at least for me, if not Becky! I can EITHER go off and learn Access, OR get my current job done. And I might go off and learn Access, and then find it doesn't do what we want it to do, or not easily. And where do you go to learn these things and find it's pitched at the right level? I've been to too many 'beginner's' courses where I knew more than the trainer ... Ho hum. No, I'm just being negative here, I MUST after Easter head off to the local college and learn Access! Actually, I've just had a better idea, among our contacts we must know someone who knows enough about Access and could spare us half a day a week for a month to work WITH ME to set something up ... I'm getting enthused now ...

Becky, when I next unearth the pack I brought back from that database day, I will post some more useful links. But I usually access MSE at home, and that pack is at work, and I've been a bit hectic lately - well, I'm always a bit hectic but it's worse than usual right now! But there was a very useful tool we were given for working out WHAT you want your database to do. You do that on paper, THEN build the database, or get someone else to build it for you. I don't know if the tool is freely available, but at least I can put you in touch with the people who gave it to us!