MPower's Open Source CRM Software for Nonprofits Yields Three New Tools

A Dallas-based company that provides open source CRM software for nonprofit organizations today announced that it’s rolling out three products developed by agencies that use its tools.

 

Officials from MPower say the offerings – developed by Precept Ministries International, Amazing Facts and Turning Point – will aid nonprofits that share similar concerns and challenges in fundraising and CRM.

 

The company’s founder and chief executive officer, Randy McCabe, said the roll-out marks a “truly exciting day” for MPower and nonprofits.

 

“It is the beginning of an era in which nonprofits really have control over the technology they depend on to make their organizations operate effectively,” McCabe said.

 

The tools may be coming at an ideal time for nonprofit organizations, which receive special status under the IRS as tax-exempt organizations.

 

According to a recent article in The New York Times, a decision made by authorities in Minnesota is leading to questions about whether the nonprofits deserve special treatment.

 

“One issue is the growing confusion over what constitutes a charity at a time when nonprofit groups look more like businesses, charging fees and selling products and services to raise money, and state and local governments are under financial pressure because of lower tax revenues,” writes Times reporter Stephanie Strom.

 

According to Strom, the recent hubbub stems from a December ruling in a state Supreme Court where a judge ruled that a nonprofit day care agency here had to pay property taxes “because, in essence, it gave nothing away.”

 

Precept Ministries, based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, says its mission is “to establish people in God’s Word.”

 

“People who are established in God’s Word should be exemplary followers of Jesus Christ, studying the Bible inductively, viewing the world biblically, and serving the church faithfully in the power of the Holy Spirit,” the company’s Web site says. “Our reach is to everybody, everywhere, any time, any place, any language, and any age with one message: the Bible, and one method: inductive study.”

 

For its open source solution, the company reportedly worked with Global Software Solutions to develop the event management product, which fully integrates with MPower.

 

“A comprehensive event management solution for turnkey handling of tours, conferences, conventions, classes, workshops, seminars and more including features for registration, payment, transportation, housing and other logistics,” officials say.

 

Another tool was developed by Amazing Facts, whose application “provides mobile access to donor profiles in MPower so fundraising professionals can, via their cell phones, have critical constituent data at their fingertips while away from the office, for example, when traveling to call on major donors or working remotely for other reasons,” according to the company.

 

For McCabe, the innovations speak to the promise of open source CRM for the nonprofit world.

 

“Although we at MPower continue to develop our software, our call-to-action to nonprofits everywhere is that we’re all partners in making the world a better place so if you use MPower, dream it, build it and share it – we’ll support it,” he said.