Existing users, 
I do not rob people. There are free and cheap fundraising aplications. Help yourself to them. FUNDimensions' customers pay more than that, but less than many competing products, because they perceive a worthwhile benefit to my application, not to be found in lesser programs. You can say they are wrong, you can pick something else for yourself-but its slanderous to say I am robbing anyone. I am happy to be in a free market, and the free market tests my value proposition every single day.
If you will look at competing products-some of which cost $3000-15,000, I think you'd have to admit that FUNDimensions is a hell of a great value. Its 10 years of serious effort on my part, and still under improvement. Its got fabulous documentation, a web site with rich content, and is backed up by fast, personal service directly from the developer. It is mission-critical quality in a true cross-platform product that dozens of users hammer on all day, every day. I have invested many tens of thousands of dollars in it, and will continue to offer this excellent product and service, whether posters on Version Tracker appreciate it or not.
FUNDimension is really _underpriced_. I challenge anyone who researches similar products to explain otherwise. FUNDimensions has no peer on Version Tracker. Its a mistake to compare it to the Version Tracker universe. It should be compared to other, similar products, and those are not listed here on VT.
The poster here complains that his nonprofit was always begging for money. Perhaps better software tools would change that. FUNDimensions makes fundraisers more efficient, but it is also designed to guide less-experienced fundraisers in peforming their fundraising according to "best practices". Most of my customers would be happy to vouch for improved fundraising results.
If you are considering a fundraising software purchase, why not let me show you the benefits of FUNDimensions, talk to some of my customers, then decide for yourself if its worth the price?
Version:
Rob the poor? No.
Feedback Type: Commentary
Contributed by: Frank_Martin Thursday, November 13 2003 @ 01:06 AM PST
Product Platform: MacOS,MacOSX
Used Product For: Over One Year
Recommend Product: YES
Comments
Rob the poor? No - just not market savy. - ptlpc
I was already to jump in a defend the pricing structure and then I saw that the $1,900 was for a single user. I use Raiser's Edge by BlackBaud and it is the MOST expensive fundraising/CRM system out there - yours is second. 5 client seats of FUNDimention would run me $9,800. Ouch.I love the fact that there is an alternative out there. However BlackBaud is a HUGE company with over 1000 employees and you're competing with them head-to-head. Good luck with that. Lower your pricing by 50% and your product will fly off the shelf.
Secondly, even though you are a niche player - get a designer to help you with your website, you should be able to afford it.
Monday, April 25 2005 @ 09:31 AM PDT
Rob the poor? No - just not market savy. - Frank_Martin
Thank you for your comments. I don't understand the comparison to Raiser's Edge. Raiser's Edge single-user is about $8,000, or more if you get additional modules. My understanding is that most organizations spend $10,000-15,000 on it, with initial training. There is also an annual maintenance contract to deal with, and expensive training if your staff turns over. Whether that price allows multiple users or not, I don't know, but certainly for fundraisiers that only need a single user, or 2 or 3 users, FUNDimensions is much less expensive. Plus, Raiser's Edge doesn't run on Macintosh, single-user or otherwise.There are many other high-end fundraising programs out there, so FUNDimensions is not "second" either. Look at Donor2, for example. Most of the high-end programs don't even post prices on their web site.
At the single-user level, I am competing with programs that cost $2000-$3000, not with Raiser's Edge. It is true that the Client-Server edition of FUNDimensions sometimes costs more than these programs, but FUNDimensions uses a true client-server architecture, as opposed to the file-sharing architecture of competitors. This yields much better performance, especially with more than 4 or 5 users. And again, none of the competitors run on Macintosh.
It does cost me something to offer a true cross-platform solution, instead of developing only for Windows, as my competitors have almost exclusively done. While I am sure that cutting the price in half would, indeed, cause product to "fly off the shelf" as you say, there are other considerations. I think I'd really make very little profit at that price, and I'd work very, very hard for it. You'll just have to take my word for that, as this forum isn't the place to go into a lot of detail about my business model.
I am sorry the web site didn't meet your expectations. I've had mostly good comments about it, so until the complaint level rises some, I will skip the designer for now. But if there are specific shortcomings you want to address, I'd welcome that. I am interested in making targeted improvements, and I do hava copy of Dreamweaver...
Tuesday, May 17 2005 @ 09:50 PM PDT
Rob the poor? No - just not market savy. - ptlpc
Ok, I'll bite. What other "$2000-$3000" solutions are you competing with if not BlackBaud? Also, why would a growing non-profit get involved with a software solution that is "more expensive" (as you add seats) than the industry leader? Why get locked into this.Wednesday, August 24 2005 @ 05:13 PM PDT
Rob the poor? No. - Frank_Martin
Additionally, FUNDimenions comes with a 30 day money back guarantee, 30 days of free phone support, free email support for the current version, a printed user manual, and free upgrades for a year. I have an optional data conversion servvice for complex importing requirements, or you can import donor records yourself.So you can try the program with a minimum of risk.
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Saturday, November 15 2003 @ 02:41 PM PST