Anthology Encompass, formerly from iModules which is now part of Anthology (the company formed from iModules 2020 merger with Student Labs and Campus Management) is an integrated online communication and engagement solution built to help institutions strengthen relationships, increase engagement, and drive donations. It comprises modules for CMS, email marketing, event management, online donations, and social networking. Core market is educational institutions.
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Bonterra OneCause
Score 8.8 out of 10
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OneCause supports fundraising with online and event fundraising solutions that help nonprofits reach more and raise more. Since 2008, OneCause states they have helped 14,000 cause-driven organizations to raise over $8B through more than 90,000 fundraising events and campaigns.
Great for the simpler side of online transactions and not-so-complicated events. Is not as robust as other programs when trying to accomplish complex events (like a Homecoming weekend) that span multiple days and venues. It does require some level of expertise with the system to get the most out of it. It's less WYSIWYG and more coding/customization.
OneCause is great for managing online and mobile bidding, managing event registration and ticket sales, processing donations during the event, handling checkout and payment collection after the auction, and significantly reducing manual work for event staff. On the other hand, OneCause does not handle complete donor history or constituent relationships, which would be super helpful to have
OneCause could improve their messaging - the fact that custom emails are not as easy as custom texts can be frustrating. I wish all the automated messages were possible over email as most of our professionals that we work with, they prefer email over a text.
OneCause could make it easier to copy and paste text into site design or other features. Having to re-type out the text is a time-suck, when it would be easier to adjust the text to the font default without having to type it in the HTML editor on it's own.
PLEASE make it easier to resend the "assign tickets email". The fact that the main way to do that is when you first enter them into OneCause, but then are not able to resend that message to ticket owners at a later date makes it difficult for them to find what they need when they are ready to assign their tickets.
We are a very small non-profit and are actually looking to use another service just to cut costs, but we may not stay with them and will coming running back to OneCause if we can't make the other option work! The ONLY reason to move would be to reduce the over-head cost of the platform.
Includes nice features like click-through tracking, where an email recipient can click a link and land on a gift or RSVP page with their information pre-filled. Though it requires some back-end customization to really make it hum, in areas like user fields, taking the time to do the work allows for some really neat role-based experiences where certain criteria deliver a different experience to different individuals. However, those fields and roles require manual manipulation instead of automatic attribution.
Use of the software is generally fine, but the setup and implementation are not always intuitive. Though the knowledgebase is robust and covers a lot of areas (and the support team is pleasant and knowledgeable), the event setup process (particularly when setting up payment and bank information) can be a bit cumbersome and should really be streamlined
Shelbe was my point person and she was available for me at absolutely anytime. No question was stupid or obvious in her eyes and she always gave me the exact responses and resources I needed to succeed. Could not be more complimentary of this software! Just have to convince my team to use it for more areas now!
We hired OneCause to guide us through our first event after we signed up with them. The staff they sent were pros. They gave us professional guidance and support. Once we had been shown the ropes, we knew we could take the reins and confidently run our next event
I don't know if my insights are key but I can say that implementation was done in-house without any outside support for the solution. The staff influencing the solution had very little technical expertise and ability as well which showed just how easily the software was to implement.
Encompass provides the closest thing to a single-vendor service for many engagement activities. An entity like GiveCampus, while it excels at microcampaigns, is also highly limited to that functionality. Encompass offers Advancement offices the opportunity to manage one API, define a superuser, and extend features on an as-needed basis, customizing them to the user experience.
We looked at Auctria and GiveSmart, though we didn't go into great detail with either. We ultimately selected OneCause based on the recommendation of another local school that used it for its auction software. The customer service and support as we made this decision and transition was a confirmation for us.
