In every nonprofit organization, cooperation between its team members, donors and partners groups is essential. Today, technological advances allow much more effective collaboration between all parties, always based on the commitment of growth and mutual support.
Open source tools are the best technological solution for the nonprofit sector. They share the desire to improve the world through solidarity work in which the contribution of the different participants and collaborators benefits the whole. In addition, working with open source technology generates important benefits that we will analyze below.
Advantages of working with open source tools
Open source programs are characterized by allowing their use, modification and distribution to anyone who accesses them. Users can get involved in the different phases of development to solve possible errors or deficiencies in the spirit of continuous improvement.
At iXiam, we are convinced that these tools are the ideal solution and the one that offers the most benefits for the nonprofit sector. For this reason, we are committed to providing and supporting open technology with their many advantages, including:
- Absence of license fees. For nonprofit entities, cost reduction is a key point, since they have tight margins and budgets. With open source tools, the organization will not have to expend key resources in user licenses or annual updates. This way, you can direct the money to other budget items directly related to your mission.
- Your data, your code. You have full ownership of the system including the data and the way in which you modify or extend the system. With this, you are able to freely adapt it to your needs without asking for permission from a central source / group of people.
- No vendor lock-in. Flexibility is an intrinsic characteristic of open source technology. A nonprofit is not dependent on a single vendor and users can modify the source code or add additional modules or extensions. Therefore, the nonprofit can collaborate with the vendor of its choice based on its specific needs and the proposals it makes.
- Community support. In open source software, the community is the foundation that manages its use and its modifications. Collaboration between all developers makes it easy to launch innovative ideas and continuous improvement and updating, which is beneficial to organizations that use this type of software.
- Stability and fast bug fixes. Built and maintained by a community, there is constant and collective review, which leads to an early identification and solution of any issue that may occur. The most used features get more eyes and with that, those fixes are put back into the core code base.
- Security and data protection. In line with the previous point, the fact that we have a team of specialists means we are attentive to what is happening in all aspects of software allowing any security gaps to be identified and closed quickly. Any of the developers can detect a vulnerability that compromises the information that users share. And because you have full data ownership, you can rest assured it will only be used for your nonprofits mission and goals.
Open Source tools are always present in our services
CiviCRM projects
The use of CRM software today the best way to save costs and improve productivity. At iXiam we work with CiviCRM, an open source program that we integrate seamlessly into the websites we build.
Among other services, we also create custom modules, offer technical support packages to carry out the work and provide training so that the client can get the most out of the tool.
In addition, we have developed Civi-Go, a CiviCRM cloud service that allows organizations to benefit from the agility, flexibility and increased productivity that this kind of environment facilitates.
Solutions for congresses and events
Today technology makes it easier to expand the dissemination of organization events. CiviCRM also becomes a great ally for contact management or mailing integration, among others. In addition, we put all our knowledge at the service of clients to develop hybrid events in which the face-to-face and the virtual are combined.
Creation and design of web portals
In order to spread your message, inform about your services or gain funding, it is necessary for nonprofits to have an engaging, interactive website. We create specific web portals adapted to the needs of each organization. To do this, we work Drupal, an open source software that is constantly being improved by the developer community.
Fundraising
We also create specific pages to enhance their fundraising efforts with a built-in payment processor and, as always, with the help of open source tools. We offer all nonprofits the best solutions to increase donations and retain those who have already engaged with them. Your CRM can help you do this by understanding what motivates each donor and segmenting accordingly.
Do you want your organization to enjoy the benefits of working with open source tools? At iXiam we help you make your dream projects become a reality. Fill out our contact form to schedule a discovery call today.