Hi there,
I'm volunteering for a non-profit, helping them set up their first information management system. Here's what they're looking for:
1. Donor Management
2. Client Management
3. Volunteer Management
4. Project Management (not that important)
Right now, there's not even an Excel file for most of this information. They are a small non-profit, with basically no overhead budget (all the staff personally fundraise for their own salaries). They are very low-tech and need something quite simple. And I'll be honest, I'm not very tech-minded myself.
Here's the hitch, though. It's based in Hong Kong, with sites throughout China and SE Asia, as well as the US. I'm looking for something that will be accessible for those that are working within mainland China, despite the Great Firewall. VPNs aren't always reliable, even if they are purchased. I like Drupal because of it's ability to translate to Simplified and Traditional Chinese (Management are native English speakers, but a lot of the staff is Chinese (native Mandarin and Cantonese)), and the fact that it's open source will allow the users to get help even though there is no IT department in the organization.
In your royal professional opinion, is Drupal a good fit for the org? Any advice about jumping the GFW with Drupal?
Comments
Drupal would be a fantastic
Drupal would be a fantastic choice for what you need.
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and i don't think the gfw has anything to do with drupal-- they will block whatever they want to block, regardless of the mechanism used to produce the html sent to the browser.
I think Drupal will work fine
I think Drupal will work fine for your needs, make sure to browse through the more technical forums to get some insight on how to best customize for each project. Overall it can be a smooth transition for most small business.
Here's the Answer
It comes down to how technically savvy the eventual day-to-day admins will be.
From the outline you've given, any CMS should do.
But you know, it's like work: it's not about your salary so much as the folks you work with.
Working with Drupal, and by extension the Drupal Community, is for developers.
If you're not tech-minded, I'd say, save your hair!
I tried working with Drupal 6 three years ago and gave up. But I love the promise of Drupal, and so checked it out again this past summer.
But it's a developer's platform. Not a "site-in-a-download."
If you're not a computer programmer, STAY AWAY!
Check out the forums and see how even technical folks are confused about things....
anything else?
Hi Aminka,
Okay, thanks for that information. The employees are very low tech and I don't imagine that they will have the time or motivation to develop or work on anything themselves. It's really up to me to set it up and to make it as absolutely user friendly as possible. I can put in the work and figure it all out, but I doubt they will be able to help at all.
Do you have any other suggestions?
Cheers.
CMSs exist to simplify
CMSs exist to simplify websites, so the average Joe can create new content without knowing any HTML. It would fall on you to learn the basics of Drupal, once the site was developed the company wouldn't need to know how it works behind the scenes. If you aren't picky on looks, you can use a pre-made theme and add the features you want relatively quickly. It will take some effort on your part to learn the basics, but everything is doable from the user interface in the browser. If you decide to go with Drupal, feel free to ask questions to the community in the forums, especially the "Post Installation" forum. Good luck!
I Recommend WordPress
Look at it this way: Drupal is like strict veganism. Do-able in theory but hard in reality for most people.
Please don't make the mistake I did three years ago. Unless you have interest in and aptitude for computer programming kind of work, just go with WordPress. There's still a learning curve, to be sure, but nowhere near as steep as Drupal.
This past summer I checked out Drupal again, but it was still as esoteric as ever.* In desperation, I even contacted a big Drupal Community stalwart, a Drupal website development firm that wound up quoting me almost US$12,000.00 for a website that I'm now making on my own for $200 in premium plugins, with all the capabilities I'd wanted: shopping cart system, affiliate program, live chat, fancy AJAX effects...the difference in expenses involved and "plug-n-play" DIY ease-of-use is truly astonishing.
The only CMS experience I have as a lay user is Drupal and WordPress, the two extremes: Drupal's more a framework that can be used for creating a CMS, while WordPress is a blogging platform that's now taken on functionality which allows it to be used as a CMS. Maybe something's even better out there, depending on your circumstances, but between these two your non-profit is much, much more likely to get more out of WordPress.
* I'm in love with the idea of Drupal, the power and versatility it promises, but it simply isn't for the vast majority of ordinary folks. I just happened by again recently due to a link from WP Tavern about how the Drupal Community is trying to catch up with WordPress' success at welcoming newbies.
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I have to disagree with Aminka when she says stay away if you are not a developer. When I started with Drupal, I was not a developer, not a website designer, and knew absolutely no PHP. Six months later I was making my own modules and knew enough PHP to have companies interested in what I've done to talk about positions using Drupal. I am by no means a professional Drupal developer, though.
The only thing I had before starting with Drupal is one college course on basic HTML. So I did know what a div tag was and I did build simple HTML websites prior to picking up Drupal.
For you, I'd say Drupal can be everything you need. Yes, Aminka is correct in saying if the end admins aren't willing to learn they are not going to be able to manipulate what you've given them on the code level so you need to make sure what you give them is simple enough for them to use. They probably aren't going to be able to do upgrades or anything so if they grow they will have to hire someone.
But as long as you give them a system where there are several role types and people can apply for those roles I think you'll be right where you need to be in terms of getting a good start.
What I'd like to know is what you mean by each staff member fundraises for their own salary.
I agree with RKS in
I agree with RKS in disagreeing with Aminka. Sure, you have to be willing to spend some time learning how to do things with Drupal, but you certainly don't need to be a software developer. (I still haven't learnt PHP, and find that if I'm willing to compromise a bit I can find the features I want in existing modules.)
You might want to check out http://civicrm.org/ for your site. I tried it when I started using Drupal several years ago, but for my needs it was overkill. But from what you describe it might be a better fit for you.
From what I've heard, one big advantage of Drupal over many other CMS's is its functionality for multilingual websites. (I haven't tried others, though.) Sounds like that would be useful for you.
Semantics
I guess there's ambiguity over the term "developer." As things become ever simpler, more and more people become "developers" or, rather, assume tasks that were once the exclusive province of developers.
Sure, you don't need to be a "developer" to use Drupal successfully -- just like you needn't be a lawyer to get into Congress. But most of the effective Congressmen and women do have a background in the law, for good reason.
Likewise, most Drupal users have a technical background, modest as it may be compared against "real developers" (like those who made Drupal!)...that's all I was saying.
If someone's content with the default Garland theme (or whatever it is in 7) then fine -- but then they'd be content with any number of CMSes and CMS-like platforms out there. The whole point of Drupal is its power and versatility.
But that comes with quite a bit of technical expertise. And it ain't for "ordinary folks."
Good link for the OP, BTW...very helpful.
(Now, as a personal aside, I have to confess that all this Drupal talk has made me nostalgic for the bad ol' days of shriekin' and hair-pullin'...I've just revisited David Mercer's old Drupal 6 book last night, actually, and I must say that I'm curious how his current Drupal 7 book is -- and, by extension, Drupal 7 itself....)
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It goes without saying that if you're a developer than Drupal will be easier for you. Of course...if you're a mechanic than fixing your car will be easier. If you're a doctor performing surgery will be easier for you. I can't think of an example where an expert in a particular field or subject would be on even keel with someone who wasn't.
I too started DYI with Drupal after getting multiple $25,000 quotes to build the site I wanted. I wonder where you get your stats that "most Drupal users have a technical background." If you read up on some of these very prolific module creators, some of these people had no knowledge of developing before working with Drupal. Now they have modules that thousands of people can't live without.
I can agree with you that more and more people are jumping into the developer role. Once they get past the intimidation of computer code they sometimes start to like it and see that it isn't as hard as they originally thought. Drupal is extremely efficient at performing this very task. It gets people in the door with the ease of out-of-the-box features and then when people start thinking about what they want to add and go searching they start getting into doing things for themselves.
I'm not trying to jump all over you. I know the written word is easily taken out of context and tone so I assure you there is no tone here.
I am very thankful for Drupal. When I started, I couldn't even find the right jargon to search the Internet for what i wanted. All I wanted to do on my first site was make something where users could upload a document and the system automatically creates a page for the document and updates the main listing to include a link and all that. I didn't know what a CMS was and I was tearing my hair out trying to come up with search terms to find out how to do what I want. finally I posted somewhere and some kind soul told me I was looking for a CMS. the rest is history. You can do it. Anyone can. I truly believe you can't teach talent but anyone can learn technical skills. No one can give you the inherent ability to design an awe inspiring, visually aesthetic website but Drupal certainly can give you the ability to create an awe inspiring functioning one.
Thanks!
Thanks for everything, guys! This is all really helpful. I will look into these options more and play around with things before making a final suggestion. Maybe even learn a little PHP. Introducing myself to programming with Python at the moment.
This is my first time on the Drupal forum, and y'all are super nice, I gotta say.
And in regards to fundraising the salaries, I mean that there is no money in this org. Most of the staff members have to spend 2 months out of the year going around asking people for money so that they can actually get paid to do the job full-time the rest of the year (but, this ensures that the money you donate goes right to the projects). This org is certainly not efficient, but hopefully with an info system they will become more so.
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I think you would do well looking into a method of accepting donations on the site as well. You could use the new Commerce module to set that up. With it you could sell donations at variable prices, sell charitable merchandise, etc. That way perhaps they could skip spending two months away asking for money and do the job year round!