Trail Blazer PAC Manager is a cloud-based FEC reporting software developed primarily for political action committees (PAC) and nonprofit organizations. The solution is hosted in a secure cloud facility and can be accessed by users via the installation of a remote application on Mac, iPads and Windows devices. The solution is primarily useful in managing and reporting financial details, party expenses and donations received.
With more than 50 customizable templates, Trail Blazer's PAC solution provides versatile reporting capabilities to party treasurers and PAC managers for having a real-time view of their financial conditions. The solution is capable of collecting & recording complete donor information including their name, address, occupation and other details required for FEC (Federal election commission) audit purpose.
Trail Blazer PAC Manager allows users to store important documents such as voter records, party manifesto, expense reports and others in an online repository. Users can run ad hoc queries on the central database and have better insights on campaign progress. The solution also offers instant donation capability wherein political parties can accept donations from their Facebook followers. Donors can fill donation forms shared on social platforms and send funds directly to the party’s bank accounts.
Trail Blazer also provides ready to use form templates including form 3x for PAC reporting, Form 3 for candidate declaration, form 1, form 2, form 8 and form 99 among others. The solution complies with PCI standards of data protection and ensures complete safety of the clients’ information in their cloud facility. It also integrates with PayPal and Authorize.Net to process online and credit-card payments.
Generally good. It does what we need for a reasonable price, and with great support by the Trailblazer team. The downsides--remote Mac access, ugly interface, manual importing--are a hassle, but we're used to it.
Generally good. It does what we need for a reasonable price, and with great support by the Trailblazer team. The downsides--remote Mac access, ugly interface, manual importing--are a hassle, but we're used to it.
Pros Fantastic customer support. Pretty intuitive to navigate. The right level of features for my fundraising program--all the functionality I need, but not too much to clutter my dashboard or brain. Easy to train colleagues.
Cons Quite challenging to use on a Mac platform, which seems to be the predominant OS in educational/university settings and also among many non-profits. You have to use helper "remote connection" software even to reach the Trailblazer server, and then it looks and works like you're on a PC.
Which leads to my other con: The interface is unimaginably ugly. Looks count, and most other CRMs are now clean and beautiful. Definitely affects the user experience to use attractive sites and software all day, but then to have to switch to early-'90s Windows land for database work.
Also, Trailblazer doesn't work directly with the payment gateway required by the university where we're based. (Cybersource/Secure Acceptance) That means donations aren't entered automatically, but rather we have to import them manually. I see this as more of a limitation by our university than by Trailblazer, but it's still a hassle.
Outstanding. I wish the vendors in other areas that I deal with were this committed to customer support and satisfaction.
Pros The software has many features that have worked well for our group which is a membership based nonprofit. Over the few years that we have had it, the company has made substantial improvements on a continuing basis. However, the assumptions underlying the software's design and features must be a close match to your real world operations or you will likely need to adjust how you do some things to make the software work for you.
However, the software is very adaptive, it has many features we need and quite a few we have not implemented. Also, and this is critical for us, the software support, training and consulting is worth every penny you pay for the annual license and more!
Cons There are some issues but these are the nature of the beast with a product with so many features. One is the learning curve (although you can restrict access to certain features on a user by use basis to let them "grow" into the system). Another is that for a membership based system there are design assumptions that we have had to "work around" - but the programmers and tech support have been wonderful to make changes, tweaks and suggest alternative ways to get things done.
Now that I've been using it for a while, I'm able to get things done very quickly and efficiently. I greatly appreciate the ability to sort donors into super specific groupings. Trailblazer has allowed me to segment my donor base with amazing flexibility, with just a few clicks.
Now that I've been using it for a while, I'm able to get things done very quickly and efficiently. I greatly appreciate the ability to sort donors into super specific groupings. Trailblazer has allowed me to segment my donor base with amazing flexibility, with just a few clicks.
Pros The best thing about Trailblazer is the customer service. The guys are extremely accessible and helpful. They are willing to walk me through a process, or just do it for me - whichever I request. After trying two other donor management softwares that offered little or no help, Trailblazer's amazing service is a welcomed benefit.
Cons The learning curve for Trailblazer is long. Therefore, whenever I wanted to do something new, I'd run into a wall. It seems like the first six months - at least - were pretty frustrating because there was always a glitch and I could never just get something done quickly. The glitch was in the training, not the software. I'd like to see a series of training videos that we could have our staff watch, in order, so that a general level of proficiency could be attained up front.
I love TrailBlazer! It is the best single decision I've made for my non-profit in the past 10 years! The customer services is outstanding, and I love the system.
I love TrailBlazer! It is the best single decision I've made for my non-profit in the past 10 years! The customer services is outstanding, and I love the system.
Pros It does SO much! It is light-years beyond Excel and serves us better than any other online system that we've looked into! Everything we do can be exported to an Excel form, it tracks people, finances, events, emails, relationships and so much more. It is easy to use and navigate and keeps us organized. I can run thousands of reports and customize all of it to meet my needs. Training is easy to understand and straightforward.
Cons The email creation tool could be easier to use for those not skilled in HTML. It can do a lot but it isn't drag-and-drop easy like other systesm.
Good experience with Trail Blazer product and team
Reviewed 2015-01-08
Review Source: Software Advice
Customer support, particularly during the training and start-up phase, has been excellent. They are quick and responsive. And their solutions have nearly always been positive -- almost never a "Sorry we can't do that" or "It doesn't work that way" or "We don't have that feature."
Pros Customer support, particularly during the training and start-up phase, has been excellent. They are quick and responsive. And their solutions have nearly always been positive -- almost never a "Sorry we can't do that" or "It doesn't work that way" or "We don't have that feature."
Cons It was not clear to me before I signed on -- and I can't say whether it should have been clear -- that as a Mac user, Trail Blazer is "non-native" in the sense that I have to use Microsoft Remote Connection to access the Trailblazer server and then use a Windows interface. It's reasonably fast. There's almost no lag time with this setup, and it's not as clunky as it could be. But it makes the experience of using Trailblazer a lot less pleasant. I frankly hate the way Windows looks, acts, and feels, and the remote connection is a couple extra steps each time I use the database. The whole reason I use a Mac is so as not to use Windows!
• Trail Blazer PAC Manager eliminates manual reporting activities involved around FEC & state compliance reporting.
• Parties can track their donation records with complete donor information to ensure transparency around fund raising activities.
• Parties can also integrate Trail Blazer's PAC solution into their website and sell tickets and other merchandise directly from their websites.
• The solution easily integrates with social media accounts such as Facebook to reach donors and share campaign details through post and messages and collaborate efficiently with supporters.
FAQs for Trail Blazer PAC Manager
Below are some frequently asked questions for Trail Blazer PAC Manager.
Q. What type of pricing plans does Trail Blazer PAC Manager offer?
Trail Blazer PAC Manager has the following pricing plans:
Pricing model: Free, Subscription
Q. Who are the typical users of Trail Blazer PAC Manager?
Trail Blazer PAC Manager has the following typical customers:
Non Profit, Public Administrations, Small Business
Q. What languages does Trail Blazer PAC Manager support?
Trail Blazer PAC Manager supports the following languages:
English
Q. Does Trail Blazer PAC Manager support mobile devices?
Trail Blazer PAC Manager supports the following devices:
We do not have any information about what devices Trail Blazer PAC Manager supports
Q. Does Trail Blazer PAC Manager offer an API?
Yes, Trail Blazer PAC Manager has an API available for use.
Q. What other apps does Trail Blazer PAC Manager integrate with?
Trail Blazer PAC Manager integrates with the following applications:
Authorize.net, PayPal
Q. What level of support does Trail Blazer PAC Manager offer?
Trail Blazer PAC Manager offers the following support options:
FAQs, Knowledge Base, Online Support, Phone Support, Video Tutorials
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