Neon CRM

We're a small environmental nonprofit with limited staff (4 FTE) and limited budget. We started using Neon about three years ago and it has proved a very capable, affordable solution. We use it to manage our membership files, mailing lists, credit card donations, event registration and our Birdathon (social fundraising like a walkathon). It was a HUGE improvement over our clunky old Access membership database. It also allows us to do all these things with one program, rather than separate programs for fundraising, event registration etc.

I also like that it is a cloud-based program, so if I am away from the office but need to look up a donor's email address or print out the attendance list for an event, I can do it from anywhere.

Of course there are downsides and occasional things that are a little clunky. Because it does so many things, there are instances where it won't manage a function as well as a program that is dedicated to that sole function. For instance, we would probably have more features in a social fundraising program that was ONLY social fundraising. BUT we don't have the budget or staff to manage multiple software programs and vendors plus multiple programs wouldn't be integrated like Neon is.

Our level of customer support from Neon allows us to submit help requests via email and get an email response. This took a little getting used to (there were times at the start where I just wanted to call up and get an immediate answer on the phone!). But the responses are usually very quick -- within an hour or two -- and on target. Once I got used to it, the email support system has worked fine for us.

I would definitely recommend Neon for other small or midsize nonprofits.

Overall, Neon CRM has greatly improved our ability to track and steward donors. Our fundraising endeavors have greatly benefited as have our events. And automating many of the processes like acknowledgments has freed up more time to work on further improvements. It's been a huge improvement over the excel spreadsheets we were using previously.

I inherited this platform. While I've spent time to try and learn how to make it work best for my organization, there are still bugs that make the user experience less than optimal. If it weren't such a hassle to try and implement a new CRM solution, I'd consider switching.

I've been mostly happy with the product. My disappointment, thankfully, have been very minor, and I can happily recommend this for anyone needing the advancved options that i did.

Above all, Neon CRM is part of our institutional memory efforts. Previously, we had one employee who kept all notes in his brain, on cocktail napkins, and in Arts People ticketing. I've seen other CRM interfaces, and Neon looks the best, works the best, and does its best to keep things simple.