Selecting a Database Management System
in the Non-Profit Arena

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Application Specifications

Donor Management Systems

Asset Management Systems

Future Implications

Sample Asset Management Systems
 

Price

$25,000

Starts at $17,000

Starts at 50,000

System Requirements

Does the application operate on both Mac and PC platforms?

Mac - through browser access    

Is a server required with the system?

Yes

Yes

 

What operating system is recommended for the server housing the application?

W NT, Microsoft SQL Server

W NT, Sun, SGI, Mac OSX

Iris, Linux

What backend database does the application use?
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MS SQL Server, Oracle, Informix

MS SQL Server, Oracle, Informix, MS Access

Oracle, Informix

Data Integration

Does the application support drag-and-drop data integration?

 

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Yes – into Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Indesign, QuarkXpress, Adobe Illustrator, Freehand, and Corel Draw Yes – into QuarkXpress Yes – into Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Indesign, QuarkXpress, Adobe Illustrator, Freehand, and Corel Draw

Security/Access

Does the application allow permissions to be assigned by individuals and groups?

Neither

Individual and/or Group

Individual and/or Group

Does the application provide for remote access of the database?

Yes

Yes

Yes

Does the application provide a Web access interface?
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Yes

Yes

Yes

Customization

Does the application provide access to the program codes? What kinds?

 COM automation API for custom browser interfaces

C++ APIs for task automation between application servers

C++ APIs for customizing and extending metadata and content   services

PERL APIs for prototyping and rapid application development

Enhanced Asset Transfer Service (ATS) network facility for building   lightweight client applications

Does the application provide open text-entry memo fields? How many? What size limitations are there (i.e. number of characters)?

No

Yes
Multiple
No limitations

Yes
Multiple
No limitations

Can multiple users access/edit these memos?
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  Yes  

Data Retrieval/Analysis

Which fields/tables can be queried?

All

All

All

Is full text searching supported?

No

Yes

Yes

What specialized query interfaces are provided?

Keyword, hierarchical

Keyword, hierarchical

Keyword, hierarchical

Can the system save queries – and the result set?
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Yes

Yes

Yes

Other Functions

What file formats for catalogued metadata does the application support?

 

 

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GIF, JPG, BMP, EPS, EPS BITMAP, PSD, TIFF, TIFF w/ LZW Compression, TARGA, STING

ASCII, GIF, JPG, RAST, BMP, EPS, PNG, EPS BITMAP, DCS, FLASHPIC, PSD, PICT, TIFF WINFAX, MPEG, WAV, MP3, QUICKTIME, PDF, RICHTIFF, TIFF, IT, TIFF w/ LZW Compression

ASCII, GIF, JPG, RAST, BMP, EPS, PNG, EPS BITMAP, DCS, FLASHPIC, PSD, PICT, TIFF WINFAX, MPEG, WAV, MP3, QUICKTIME, PDF, RICHTIFF, TIFF, IT, TIFF w/ LZW Compression

Donor Management Systems
Future Implications