October 22, 1998 | Read Time: 1 minute
A data-base program aimed at helping non-profit groups keep track of activists and donors is now available free on line.
“Ebase” was developed by Desktop Assistance, a non-profit group in Helena, Mont., that helps charities use technology to fulfill their missions. The program allows groups to keep tabs on such information as how much money people have given to the organization, the topics on which activists want information, and how people prefer to be contacted.
Marshall Mayer, executive director of Desktop Assistance, says that the data base is unique in a couple of ways. First, because Ebase was designed with the Internet in mind, non-profit groups can e-mail members or donors directly from the data base. Second, the program is easily modifiable so that organizations can add or delete fields depending on their needs. To make modifications, however, groups must own FileMaker Pro.
Ebase has been available for “beta” testing for the last year, during which about 400 people downloaded the software. Mr. Mayer says that changes were made during that time to make Ebase easier to use and to make it possible to attach a file to e-mail messages.
“It’s designed for the smaller non-profit organization that doesn’t have a lot of skills in data-base management,” Mr. Mayer says.
To get there: Go to http://www.ebase.org.
