Aplos

Aplos is easy to use and I appreciate the Fund Reports and the Budgeting Reports. Learning the software was very easy and there are a number of help topics to assist you. Today I ran into a snag and used the chat box and received an answer back very quickly. Aplos has always be very responsive to any inquires.

It would be nice to have more reporting options. What is there is great, however it would be helpful to have some more analytical reports for number nerds like me. Also 1099 reporting.

I like that everything is all together in one spot - donor software, accounting, newletters and online giving forms. I like how when someone gives online through your forms that it automatically incorporates into your accounting and saves info from the giver into your contacts.

Their customer service and support is their beacon of light. Extreme strong point. It's almost as if you have nonprofit accountant on your staff to answer your questions. They answer you quickly, and their answers are always helpful. And often times they've logged in and completely helped me fix an issue. This is the best thing I love about them and something that makes them completely unique. This was a game changer for me as a brand new nonprofit and didn't know what I was doing. I can't say enough about this! This is what makes me recommend them to everyone I know that's a nonprofit leader.

The newsletter email templates and online giving forms are very template-y and don't give you a lot of control. The final product can help you get information out, however it looks pretty amateurish, which in turn makes your nonprofit/your brand, look amateurish - which is more important than most people know. If Aplos could follow constant contact's lead on design formatting they would be top notch.

The other thing I don't like is often I'm fundraising for events and have options for customers to pick (example : I want to buy tickets for an event and a tshirt for two people), or want them to be able to buy multiples of items and it really needs somewhat of a "cart" option for online giving forms.

Third, I get lots of complaints from customers about the transaction errors which make it hard to give. I get this a lot. Which can hinder givers, often they won't go back again and give again when they get an email way later that the transaction didn't go through, so you lose donations. I've addressed this with them several times, but there hasn't been any resolution. I think it has to do with that the provider they use does a micro-transaction to the bank and then banks don't approve it.

The software is pretty easy to use for the most part. But what made it even better was the fact that [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] literally helped assist me with some features in my books I wasn't sure of. I was so confused, and he was SO PATIENT! I love being connected to great customer service and overall great people!

I hate that I have reconnect my bank account on a monthly basis