Anthology Encompass vs. Slate for Advancement

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.

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What features/functionality pushed your team to select Slate for Advancement? The main winning aspect from our perspective was that all touch points of the donors record would be managed, maintained, updated in one location. We would not be reliant on a third-party vendor for main aspect like e-mail or texting or calling or payment processing. Slate for Advancement has an approach to technology that is embracing of our modern world of technology that I have not seen in other vendors. What lessons learned can you share? Any migration for your CRM is a huge change management project. If you don't have a strong project manager onsite then consider bringing one in as a consultant. If you could make the decision again, would it be the same one? Absolutely What peripherals were you able to replace with the Slate solution (giving portal, events mgmt, etc)? Our institution was a little bit different where we had already built out custom solutions for our alumni portal our event management and our honor roll of giving. Being able to replace those with a platform that's supported by a vendor and has a large community of knowledge base that can be leaned on was huge and another main consideration in moving to slate. For us one of the main selling factors was the depth and willingness of the community to support the rest of us in the effort of making slate for advancement successful in our institutions. And this continues to be the case to this day.

• It allows us to create fields as needed.
• Creating an export of data is really easy.
• Merging of records is fairly simple.

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• Amazing community support
• You don't have to be a huge tech person to use Slate for Advancement
• Just about everything can be customized to meet your needs

• User Interface, Clunky appearance.
• Can require deep customization.
• API can be fragile.

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• Dynamic reporting and data visualization

It does not have the automation or event tools that we are desperately needing at this time.

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Perfect tool for our institution and it only keeps getting better.

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.

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It is usually up and running.

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No integration.

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I usually get an accurate response to issues. Your service techs are knowledgeable in how the software works and is set up.

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Slate's business model does not assign a person to service your instance of the application. To receive effective support, you MUST engage in the online forums involving the greater Slate community. Once you embrace that model, the support team meets or exceeds any service standards I've experienced over the last 20 years.

N/A I've only attended webinar training, which is great when you are on live, not so much when watching a recording.

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Most are recorded, so questions that arise are not easy to get answered.

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Unknown. I wasn't here.

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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.

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Slate for Advancement was more customizable, there is more community support, less expensive both overall and they don't overcharge you for phone calls and texts (if I remember correctly, they charge the customer what they are charged for each phone call or text). Overall, Slate for Advancement was the more innovative option. We switched from Banner to Slate for Advancement, with Banner we constantly had to create workarounds for what we wanted to do with the software, we no longer have to do that. If we dream it, Slate for Advancement can most likely do it.

• Single solution for multiple options is a positive ROI. Only one vendor needed.
• Other vendors may excel in one area (like events), creating a trade-off between a single user experience and the use of multiple vendors.
• It can easily take in 10X the dollars vs. the annual cost.

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• Reducing the number of other systems needed, saving overhead and man-power to automate data integrations
• Crowd fundraising capabilities that allow for real time reporting and decision making
• Campus-wide partnerships