http://www.fsf.org/news/nonprofit-fundraising-civicrmCiviCRM is being offered as a non-predatory license/lock-in free alternative to other CRM & SaaS CRM solutions. SaaS CRM... hmmmm OMG that's Salesforce.com they're potentially impacting the profits of! I'm canceling my FSF membership and truly believe Richard Stallman, or shall I just call him "Dick," majorly sucks himself. It's all fun and games until Salesforce gets hurt.
Nonprofits have historically relied heavily on proprietary or web-hosted "software as a service" fundraising software such as Blackbaud's Raiser's Edge or eTapestry. The nonprofit organizations using them are locked in, have little control over the functionality of the software, and are dependent on the whims of a single company. Nonprofits also face costly migration if they wish to switch to a different proprietary system, never achieving independence. These factors mean that tools intended to enhance organizations' effectiveness have actually ended up restricting their ability to accomplish their social missions.
CiviCRM, however, shares its software code so all organizations can see how it works, have the option of commissioning anyone to make customizations to it, and can host it on their own trusted servers. Since the code and the data format are freely available, using the system does not mean being locked into it. Because it runs on the free GNU/Linux operating system, it eliminates the need for another frequent nonprofit proprietary software dependency — Microsoft Windows.
Being able to work on CiviCRM gives a lot of non-direct benefits, like the very warm and fuzzy feelings of great satisfaction and fulfillment: knowing that one’s code was used to help the Katrina hurricane victims, that it helps organizations like Amnesty International or Front Line fight for human rights defenders, or that it helps organizations like the Wikimedia Foundation better organize their great work on Wikipedia and all their other projects."
Hurricane Katrina "victims"
Salesforce.com haters!
"I look forward to encouraging other nonprofit organizations to escape their current proprietary or 'software as a service' systems and give CiviCRM a try. As a nonprofit, the FSF manages over 40,000 contacts and 15,000 donation transactions per year, a book publishing operation, online store, and several advocacy campaign websites with associated mailing lists — all with free software. A general purpose donor and contact management system will be the final piece of the puzzle for charitable organizations looking to operate using only free software. We plan to publish a guide offering our experiences as a resource for other nonprofits concerned with the social implications of their technology."
Non-profits concerned with "Social implications"
Force.com foes!
