Look for software that matches how your program runs day to day. It should take applications from a phone, keep one record for each household, reach people by email and text, run volunteers, and count who you served without a spreadsheet.
Then check three things before you commit: what it costs as you grow, who owns the data, and how long setup takes. Advocate is program software built around those checks, and it is free to start.
Which features matter most in nonprofit program software?
The features that matter most are the ones your program uses every week: applications, household records, messages, volunteer shifts, and a count of people served. A long feature list matters less than whether a volunteer can check someone in on a phone. Advocate puts all five in its free plan.
Who should help choose the software?
The people who will use the software every day should help choose it: the program manager, a volunteer who runs check-in or intake, and whoever reports to the board. If the executive director approves the budget, bring them the cost and data ownership answers, not the demo.
Advocate is built for the program manager to choose and set up, with pricing an executive director can approve.
What should you ask before you commit?
Ask how the price changes as you grow, what you own, and what happens if you leave. These answers decide whether software still works for you in year three. Advocate's answers are on its Pricing and Trust pages.
- Is it priced per staff user or by people served?
- What happens when we pass the free or starter limit?
- Does our organization own its data?
- Do the people we serve agree to what they share?
- Can it run more than one program, and more than one location?
- Who sets it up: us, or your team?
- What does it not do? (For example, HIPAA.)
How do you avoid software nobody uses?
Start with one program and the people closest to it, not a launch for the whole organization. Test the application on a phone, one-handed, the way a parent would fill it out. Walk volunteers through it in ten minutes. Advocate is built for that kind of start: no long setup project, and you can grow into more programs later.
How does Advocate answer those questions?
Advocate is priced by people served, with a free plan for up to 500 people. Your organization owns its data, and the people you serve agree before you see their information. You can set it up yourself, or have the Advocate team set it up with you. Advocate is not HIPAA compliant today.
About Advocate
Advocate is nonprofit program software built by Reciprocity in Pontiac, Michigan, for nonprofits across the United States. Program managers use it to take applications, keep one record for each household, send email and texts, run volunteers and events, and run programs such as sponsorship, food pantries, and fundraisers. It counts the households and individuals each program serves while the work happens, and it is free to start.
