While software and databases may not seem all that important in the grand scheme of things in a campaign, they can actually make a huge difference and save your campaign money. If used correctly, they can make you campaign more efficient, make it easier to collaborate on items, and can cut down on the amount of duplication of information and efforts that routinely occur on campaigns.
Databases
Donor/volunteer databases make collecting, organizing, and using your information easier and faster. They can help you to track where information came from, make updates to contact records, search for volunteers with certain skills or areas of interest, and track who has donated and when.
When placed online, these databases become accessible anywhere you have internet access, using pre-configured log-in information. This allows you to share the same database with satellite offices, staff members when they're at other locations, and more. By sharing the same database online, you won't end up with multiple local databases all with different information stored inside.
Having it online means volunteers and supporters can easily add their own information to the database via forms on your web site. This means you can quickly grow your database and cut down the amount of data entry to be done at the same time.
Online databases also allow importing and exporting, which means you can have a local copy of your database and you can import any existing information you may have. Fields are fully customizable, which means your database is made for you - it's not a one size fits all solution.
Databases are secure and protected, with only authorized users having access. Permissions can be customized, allowing for different levels of access based on the guidelines set forth by your campaign or organization.
OpenSource Software
Every system from Forward Support runs on Freedom, which is OpenSource Software. Yes, the software we use is free, as in not forcing your campaign to spend its limited funds on licensing. More so, the software that we use to run your campaign is supported by volunteers all over the globe. Security enhancements are commonly made with in hour that they are discovered, and feature requests are implemented in a very democratic fashion.
- Richard M. Stallman
We offer a very large suite of easy to use software that your staff and volunteers can quickly learn.
In the same spirit of Freedom, we do not lock your campaign into using strictly OpenSource Software. Our systems are designed to work seamless with Apple and Microsoft operating systems.
Some of the most common OpenSource applications we offer, support and provide training on are:
- Firefox and Konqueror (web browsers)
- OpenOffice (word processor, spread sheet, power point like presentations and database access)
- GIMP and Inkscape (graphics editor)
- Audacity, Kino, Aviemux (audio and video editors)
- MySQL (database server)
For more information
For more information, please contact us or use our online pricing form to get a quote.
