How international?

[Josh Berkus]

Steven,

> The first thought I had when reading the introductory press release was
> that the not-for-profit entities will not all have the same
> requirements.  Some will just want simple accounting and others will
> want a system to manage an enterprise that just happens to be a NFP.
> That's quite a gulf to bridge with one application.

As I discussed in another forum, there are multiple different kinds of
NPOs (just in the USA):

a. general charitable foundations
b. fiscal sponsors & donor-directed funds
c. non-profit medical providers
d. churches
e. performing arts organizations
f. cultural groups
g. political advocacy groups
h. election campaigns
k. museums
l. mutual benefit groups
m. trade associations
n. non-profit publications
o. social service providers
... and probably a few I'm not thinking of.

Once you leave the US, you encounter other kinds of "non-profits" such
as independant government agencies, not-for-profit businesses, and more.

There is absolutely no way we can write one software package which will
cover all of the above.  Raiser's Edge, which is 15 years old with 25+
add-on modules, doesn't do all of the above.

As I understand it, the goal of this project is to work for types (a)
and (b) only.  (b) is especially critical, since it's the type of
organization Conservancy is (and SPI is), and is not well-covered by any
existing software we know of.

> btw .. I am an accountant and have been implementing ADempiere ERP/CRM
> (and previously Compiere) for 10 years. If ADempiere appears on your
> list of 'possibles', I would be happy to provide information if it helps
> with the surveying of existing solutions.

The plan calls for a review of existing accounting software with an
estimate on the difficulty of adapting it to NPO needs.  So yes, this
would be valuable.  Your knowledge as an accountant will be even more
valuable.

-- 
Josh Berkus
PostgreSQL Experts Inc.
http://pgexperts.com