I got a letter from the national LP asking for donations for a $94,835 database. I'm thinking of contributing because I think having a good database that is compatible with the databases of the affiliates is one of the most important functions of the national LP, but I have no idea whether the database they are thinking of buying is worth that much money.
Do any of you think it is worth that much?
Kelly
I got that letter too. From the description, it's not clear to me what is in this database or what is being developed. If it's just a membership database, then I would think they could purchase an of-the-shelf solution for far less than that amount. There are even free ones made specifically for non-profit organizations.
Here's the first Google hit on "membership database solutions":
http://www.techsoup.org/howto/articlepage.cfm?ArticleId=261&topicid=6
Transferring the information to the new database is probably a $10K consulting job.
-- Steve
IIRC from an occasional skim of my http://www.dehnbase.org/lpus/
folder, they're talking about
<http://www.blackbaud.com/solutions/raisersedge.asp>. There was a
long discussion maybe six months ago. I seem to recall discussion
participants expressing skepticism that the package would be useful
after spending whatever the proposed budget was at that time.
Barely apropos, but I'll use this opportunity to paste a nice quote
from a sidebar to a story about the SF school district's disasterous
Peoplesoft "implementation."
http://sfweekly.com/issues/2000-11-22/sidebar.html
"They sell you on a completed house, you know, with a nice lawn,
planter boxes, and all that," says Joe Moriarty, of Claremont's
Kerry Consulting Group, a firm that investigates technology
purchases. "What they actually sell you is a tool set and a
load of lumber."
Caveat emptor.
Let's put it this way. A couple weeks ago, when I got the "50 for
50" mailing about ballot access but didn't have the cash to send in a
check, I used a magnet to put the form and envelope on my fridge.
But the nearly-six-figure membership database mailing went right into
the recycle bin.
For an organization with the number of employees LPUS has, the
company I work for (Vintara) would deliver an entire ISO
9000/14000/17000 or Six Sigma solution (quality management is what
LPUS really needs) for less than that price. That would include not
only our Customer Satisfaction database (they'd have to put LP member
names in the Customer field, though I can't say that would be a bad
thought exercise for them), but also 13 other databases that they
sorely need, like Nonconformances, Corrective Actions, Metrics,
Planning, Training, etc.
I'm thinking some consultant found a bunch of rubes to take advantage
of, and now we're being asked to pay the price.
Rob
--- In lpsf-discuss@yahoogroups.com, Kelly Simpson
<KellySimpson@p...> wrote:
I got a letter from the national LP asking for donations for a
$94,835
database. I'm thinking of contributing because I think having a
good
database that is compatible with the databases of the affiliates is
one
of the most important functions of the national LP, but I have no
idea
whether the database they are thinking of buying is worth that much
money.
See section 4 of the link I sent:
"Until a few years ago, groups that could not afford expensive commercial software pretty much had to build their own simple databases in-house or with volunteers. While some groups have managed to create solid, effective tools, the overwhelming majority of groups we know that chose this course have wound up with dysfunctional databases and disgruntled staff.
Given the ready availability of good tools such as ebase, e-Tapestry, and the various commercial software products, only groups with very unusual needs and a high level of technical skill (or the money to rent it) should consider this route. We strongly recommend against having a short-term volunteer develop a customized database for you. If you're going to hire a database consultant, be sure to budget for ongoing maintenance, and for enough training to get you to the point where you can make simple changes to your database in the future."
The most important things to remember when developing custom software is the risk involved. Typical estimates are that 80% of all software projects fail and most substantially exceed their budget and schedule.
-- Steve
Rob,
This is LP Chair Geoff Neale's project. He says he has experience with business software. I sent him a letter questioning the expense (actually the failure to hold people accountable for making mistakes with previous software that led to the expense), but I am not knowledgeable about the technical aspects. If you're confident that you know of an alternative that would get the job done and save the LP money, you should share your concerns with him. He's at <chair@...>.
Yours in liberty,
<<< Starchild >>>
There has been much discussion on the LPUS-DATA list about Raiser's
Edge, the originally $80,000 proprietary database package the NLC wanted
to buy. Most of the participants were opposed to the idea, figuring we
had enough hackers and open source advocates in the party to put
together a working solution with volunteer labor at a fraction of the
cost. Indeed, many of us are already in the business of administering
databases and we all knew that this product was way overpriced. But
Geoff Neale was insistent that we needed this Rolls Royce database
(which is really more of a fundraising tool than an organizational
tool). From the tone of the letter I received, it sounds like the LP
has already purchased the product, but doesn't have the money to pay for
it, now that the price has skyrocketed from $80,000 to $94,000.
Again, Raiser's Edge is a software package designed primarily for
fundraising. Yes, the LP needs to improve its skills in this area, but
there are cheaper ways to do it. Raiser's Edge can be tweaked to serve
as a membership database, but that is not its purpose. And, of course,
such tweaking can only be done by Raiser's Edge certified contractors,
who will charge the Party for these services.
Personally, I won't send them a dime for this project, since they
ignored the recommendations of the experts who tried to discourage them
from falling for this sales pitch. I will send them another $50 for the
ballot access campaign, but I will not support this mistake.
Terry Floyd, MCSE, MCDBA,
Treasurer
Libertarian Party of California, East Bay Region
Thanks to all who answered my question about the new LP database.
Kelly