ToucanTech Reviews

One software for alumni relations, communications, donations records, moves management and online community feature Ease of use Excellent support and training Attractive user interface Continual expansion and development of the product following feedback from users Ease of migration from previous provider to Toucan Tech Commitment and knowledge of the product from all the staff from top to bottom An understanding of Development Office work and what customers want

No major complaints - any queries have been dealt with quickly and efficiently

ToucanTech has a simple to use and navigate user interface. It manages multiple functions which is great for a small office. The customisation is good and I have been impressed by the product enhancements and development since we started using the software.

The fundraising and donation logging feature could be improved. I would also like to see more ability to managed the news images that are uploaded.

My two favourite things about TT are: 1. it's intuitive: you can work out what you need to do, ease of use, common sense approach 2. the online community accessible to our network is part of the package, not an add-on

I think the app should be included with the annual fee, not as an optional add-on.

It's comprehensive and obviously has many features that are not relevant to some users

It's not intuitive, and no hints are given when an error occurs

This is easy to use and intuitive. Its an excellent way of keeping in touch with former pupils and updating records. Recently we have launched our first fund raising campaign using the site and have found it invaluable, keeping us up to date with donations, making gift aid claims simple and linking back to the record of the donor. We also love the ease of setting up news items and galleries and sending mass emails.

We have a number of donors who give on a regular basis. Each of these donations have to be added manually each month. It would be really helpful if this happened automatically. This is the most difficult part of the site to navigate

We have been using our new alumnae platform, which is powered by ToucanTech, for about a year now. It offers much greater functionality than the previous site and the engagement levels have soared accordingly. It allows events to be organised efficiently and effectively and we are now seeing increasing use of the more interactive elements of the platform, such as our mentoring schemes and alumnae clubs. Over the past 12 months, ToucanTech have continued to develop and improve the software and are always working on new features and welcome additions to their offering.

The ToucanTech support team offer an effective and well-run helpdesk and customised training. They were very hands on with the set up and integration of the new platform. The software has designed to be very user-friendly. The team work hard to resolove any issues or queries.

Everything is in one place. You can track, record and maintain you relationships for fundraising, communications and events. It is intuitive. The reporting stats are easy to read.

I was nervous of the migration of data over but with the support of the TT team I overcame this very quickly.

It's very easy to use and the support Toucan Tech provide is very personal and they always resolve any issues you send. Having our alumni website, fundraising data and email manager in one database has been the biggest advantage. This allows us to much more effectively report on engagement, identify new prospects and link up better between fundraising and alumni relations.

The initial move was tricky as our data is quite complex. However, the data team are very used to migrations like ours and helped us through the process. Any issues are very quickly fixed even when you've moved to the live site.

Toucan Tech is very user friendly and has been designed with School use in mind - which is fantastic! Data entry is straight forward. Emails can be designed by template or you can create your own and the fundraising function is superb.

We have not found too many complications. It can be frustrating having to enter the same address multiple times when adding details of a family.

Easy to use and personalise, great customer support.

Currently only accepts small image size uploads, but feedback has been noted by Support Team.

The number one stand out feature is customer support. Having made contact with at least three other companies offering similar services, ToucanTech's "pro-activeness" was immediately apparent from the very first phone call I had with them. They had a "can-do" attitude. ToucanTech were patient as we groped towards deciding which software company to go with. I'm sure it must have been frustrating for...

Read more

When making our initial assessment of what systems are available across the market, ToucanTech looked expensive. But that is not the case. (There are no hidden extras. Most of what you want is included in the price quoted and which is prominently displayed on their website. There are add ons at extra cost, but again these are easy to find and quantify.)

The set up process was pain free, and from this support has been readily available with hints and tips being shared regularly. Overall, the ToucanTech software is easy to navigate and offers a lot of features. We have mostly been using this to maintain our alumni database and to promote and manage our events and news, however there are plans to build up our mentor network, open an online shop and to eventually begin fundraising - the fact that we have a piece of software that can do it all is fantastic.

I don't have any particular negatives about ToucanTech. The staff there have been completely supportive from the initial contact to today (4 years later!). The software can take a bit of time to discover and there are some steps that you need to remember, but that is no different to any other platform.

I have used a number of member databases with online portals in my time in alumni relations and by a long stretch, Toucan Tech is the most intuitive and easy to use. It looks lovely with all the different colours and is clear and not overly complicated. If you can't figure something out initially , there is a brilliant list of resources on their support website. When we have had the odd further...

Read more

There honestly isn't much to criticise! Small gripes are currently the list of member records does not come up with the most recenty viewed first, which I have found a useful feature in previous systems for instance if you working through a load of data entry. When you are embedding a video in a news article, you have to have a static image at the top of the page (and the video link beneath) whereas due to social media and Youtube users now expect to be able to click on the image and go straight into a video playing. That's about it!

I have no experience administering a website so was a little daunted at first. However, the training we received was effective and practical. After being shown the features of the site I found it was set up in a logical way that was easy to understand and use. Adding content and news items is very simple and they look great when published. I also like the flexibility of the design hub which gives me...

Read more

Some of the advanced filters are difficult to master. However, the support site is very helpful and has lots of resources available to use when we are stuck, or we email the support team for advice.

I am extremely pleased with site and the support from the Toucan Tech team. As a state school we are very mindful of cost/benefit and we needed to througherly understand what was available to invest in an easy to use, agile system that holds our data in one place with the opportunity to create dynamic and creative communications. This site does all this and more. It's agile, very easy to use, and we've had some great feedback from our users - it's easy to navigate, professional and content rich and importantly, it's mobile friendly. A great return on investment for our School.

Actually, very little. There is always the opportunity to feedback and request minor tweaks and these are invariably actioned unless there is a justifiable reason why certain requests cannot be done.

ToucanTech is an incredibly user friendly piece of software and it's very easy to build the online portal. The features we use the most are the mass email function, the events page, the online shop and the news section. Recently we've launched a second online portal for a different section of our community that can all be managed from the same database.

There isn't a feature of Toucan that I would say I like the least. We were early customers of ToucanTech and the features and functionality that have been developed since we first used the software have only improved what was already a very good product.

Easy to use Links to SIMS so makes downloads easy FUN for our end users If you see improvements they really will listen! Additional Services they provide e.g. Report on how your network is performing making it easy to feedback to your school They have a network where you can link in with other people using the software to share ideas/experiences

No cons were added to this review

The online alumni community is very impactful, the news stories create a real feeling of community and there are many features such as Clubs, Events, Support Us, Forum, etc. which can be developed over time. I also like the fact that when you capture new members they update their contact details straight into the database. The software is very user friendly and is a pleasure to work with.

I don't think there is anything I don't like about the software. The company is constantly reviewing and upgrading features and software and respond to customer feedback where appropriate. I am still learning to use the fundraising software and I think it would be great to have some webinars on the fundraising side of the database as well as how to create clubs, etc.

We were offered a tailored training day before setting it up - we could specify the main features we would use so the training was adapted to our needs, eg, how to produce reports we needed to replicate. It is pretty intuitive, but online / telephone support is good when needed. The team are very friendly and helpful, and will 'take over' the PC to talk you through solutions if necessary. The weekly support emails are helpful and let you keep on top of new developments. Graphics are good, we have had good feedback about the 'look and feel' of communications from our alumnae community.

Integration was quite a significant task due to volume of data but it was well managed on both sides. The advanced filters and mass emails are possibly the least intuitive parts to use but this was resolved with good support and increased user familiarity.

The design hub is extensive so you can really personalise your network, however at the same time, it is straightforward to learn and implement and helps to create a professional looking site. I particularly like the customisable layout of the homepage and the types of menus you can select. The recent update allowing drop-down menus is also beneficial in creating a more user-friendly network. Lastly, the content editor is simple and allows for excellent article-creation in no time at all!

I feel there is further scope to boost engagement, such as enhanced capabilities to 'like', 'comment' and 'share' other users' content. There are often small bugs or technical errors when using the 'advanced filters' to organise records for emails etc.

The ToucanTech software is engaging from the word go! Its bright, colourful appearance does not betray what lies beneath. The best thing about the software is its intuitive design which make operations simple, straightforward and easy. Almost everything you want to do/find is underpinned by logical thought and programming, so that the user can navigate easily around the software.

I am honestly not sure there is an answer to this question. My whole experience with ToucanTech to date has been positive, from sales, to customer service to to the user end of the software. Although a cost is involved, I would say the value for money and customer care makes this well worth the expenditure.

It is an all-in-one product so we did not have to purchase a separate database. It is user-friendly making it easy to use and understand. It has revolutionised our ability to contact our alumni and store information on both alumni and current pupils . The support team are always willing to help and are constantly offering webinars and networking days. The analytics offered enables us to tweak our communications to meet our customer needs.

I have nothing negative to say about this software.

It is aesthetically pleasing and easy to navigate with clear and simple titles. The team are often improving the software and listen to the end users requirements. The 'Dashboard' gives and instant picture of activity within the alumni community and the statistics provided are clear and concise.

I would like a spell check built into the system.

Customer service, issue resolution, responsiveness, new product releases, ease of use, competitive pricing, willingness to find custom solutions, training, and lots of resources, a community of users.

Can have slow load speeds at times and other bugs (but those are quickly fixed with support)

Ease of use for non-database professionals - you don't need to be a professional to retrieve the information and reports you want. Appearance - clear and accessible screens with good explanatory notes Integration - database, comms and outward-facing web presence all in one place

Tendency to slow down from time to time making searches and adding images or news difficult Tendency for blue "shading" to appear over every word and element of a search