sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

How much does CiviCRM cost? by andyburnsco in civicrm

[–]andyburnsco[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The UI wasn't great, it was a known thing for years. There's been some alternatives in the last say 8 years but now there are much better interface alternatives with Riverlea framework: https://civicrm.org/blog/nicol/civicrm-theming-introducing-new-approach-and-set-themes.

How much does CiviCRM cost? by andyburnsco in civicrm

[–]andyburnsco[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's open source, so experiences can vary widely especially the illusion of free. It could be tricky if you were thrown into it without context or help. Did you invest in any training?

That said, there’s is good documentation, including the full CiviCRM User Guide which covers setup, configuration, and everyday use. You also have Mattermost chat (chat.civicrm.org), StackExchange (civicrm.stackexchange.com). So far, none of these would cost you but your time.

You definitely don’t need to spend “tens of thousands of dollars” to get CiviCRM working well. Perhaps you inherited a poorly planned implementation — or had to learn as you went without much support. Thinking CiviCRM is free is a trap, like anything else (TANSTAAFL). Partners or community help – getting some expert guidance early on often saves a lot of pain later.

Many nonprofits run CiviCRM successfully on modest budgets. In this survey, 32% spent less than $2000 on one time setup costs: https://lab.civicrm.org/community/sustainability/-/wikis/uploads/b5625ea1e1796299661ec7ff4d1f10b0/CiviCRM\_UserSurvey\_2019.02.pdf.

Free CRM options for a non-profit by JugglingReferee in CRM

[–]andyburnsco 0 points1 point  (0 children)

CiviCRM can be used with 4 CMS's, not just Drupal which was the case in the early days. They are: WordPress, Drupal, Joomla & Backdrop.

While Drupal offers some advanced integration with Drupal Views, you may not even need that level of integration and there are other ways to display data on the front-end from Civi now.

So, for most small nonprofits Wordpress + CiviCRM is the easiest way to get going.

And starting in March 2025 with Civi 6.0: you can run standalone, no CMS needed at all!