Likelihood to Recommend Siriusware seems best suited for organizations that are working with many programs and events that are running at different times. You are able to easily check registration for different events at the same time which is very helpful. If you have staff that are focusing just on data analysis and reporting then Siriusware would be very useful for them. On the flip side if you need to train seasonal staff on the point of sale and process multiple sales in a quick amount of time then this is not the best fit. The interface can be clunky and slow especially when you have internet problems.
Read full review Well suited for smaller organizations that want to centralize many systems. Smaller organizations will have less constituents to manage and fewer events (our organization has 100,000+ constituents, daily programs/events, and a large donor base). Many areas within Altru are not updated to be functional for 2020. Because of this, we do not use the merchandising feature, the volunteer portal, or marketing communications. It does a little bit of everything "okay enough" to be better than having separate systems. It's restrictive in many areas, but being able to do SO much in one database outweighs the negatives! It is 100% necessary to have a data manager who spends all of their time in Altru doing data cleanup, researching and writing policies and procedures, training new users, keeping staff up-to-date on new processes, creating queries and running reports, creating workarounds for "unfixable" issues within the database.
Read full review Pros Some support agents are helpful Basic front end is good Up-time is good Read full review Ticketing and tracking many different types of admission sales including group, facility rental, individual tickets, and class registration. Membership management, including membership card mailing, recurring memberships, and renewal reminders. Being an all-encompassing database rather than forcing you to use multiple databases. Great customer service and client support, including ongoing updates to better the system. Has a merchandise inventory management system. Read full review Cons The integration with our CRM (Raiser's Edge) leaves much to be desired. It is kind of a mess. There are a lot of moving pieces and if something gets inadvertently skipped during the backend set-up of forms, it can create real headaches. It is not especially intuitive to use, in my opinion. Read full review Query system not user-friendly for management with limited database background. Limited company-to-user support outside of an online community of users. No long term account managers for program. No email analysis tools for eblasts. Limited merchandise capabiity for shop use, though the program does allow third party programs to work with it. Read full review Support Rating They are always available and very knowledgable. Many times I am able to come up with a solution before they've finished troubleshooting just by having talked through it with them. I really appreciate the Chat feature to answer simple questions in a timely fashion. The training I received was top notch and very detailed.
Read full review Alternatives Considered Any POS implementation is a lot of work, and a lot of learning for Admin, IT, management, end users, etc. This was selected by a consultant we hired. We have many regrets regarding the process, but are now kind of stuck and it is basically getting the job done. It is not ideal, but the people who chose this have learned a lot in the process.
Read full review We switched from Raisers Edge in 2012 due to the need to have all processes in one database. Group Sales/Rentals had to use a separate database for their sales than the Members and Donors department. We also could not sell tickets for events and programs in one space. Being able to have all of these in one database is why we chose Altru.
Read full review Return on Investment It has allowed us to look at our total revenue more easily and figure out where we are falling short. We do face more issues from the customer having difficulty registering for programs because of some of the limitations when being used as a online ticket point of sale. It has allowed us to process refunds ourselves, which we were not able to do, which has allowed for better customer interaction. Read full review It has become very tedious to account for registrants in each session of a class or camp, because you have to "sell" them into each session in order to have an accurate class roster. It is very easy to process payment and entry fees to our Museum and programs. It is easy to retrieve accurate information and records of patrons. Read full review ScreenShots Blackbaud Altru Screenshots