CharityTracker Reviews

Pros
Navigation of the software is as easy as navagating a common webpage. History of modifications eliminates the chance that another agency might update (and loose) an address or phone number that you need. The Alert system is very helpful for quickly communicationg to other agencies.

Cons
That every agency in the whole community isnt using it!

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
We have used CharityTracker for several years. I love that we are able to share information about how we have helped people in our community as well as see how other organizations have helped too. The alerts and notes are great tools. I can't imagine running a ministry that assists approximately 40 families per week without CharityTracker.

Cons
Nothing. We love CharityTracker and would recommend it to any organization or church that is doing benevolent ministries in their community.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
I like the connecting of local charities to help those in our area with their needs. It helps prevent so much abuse of charity organizations by habitual takers who have not interest in bettering themselves and just want others to pay their bills.

Cons
This software functions very well. From my prospective there are no negatives with the software.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 9/10

Pros
I love using Charity Tracker. Our agency has been using this software for years and it has been a lifesaver. I love that Charity tracker allows you to see services that clients are receiving from other agencies in the network. This has helped us tremendously in keeping down the amount of persons who abuse social services in the community.

Cons
Charity tracker freezes a lot! I mean at least 4 or times in an hour of use. Some days we can't even get into the software and getting someone to assist you is almost impossible. They make you put in a request which sometimes it's a week before we get a response. Anything that needs to be updated or worked out, you have to go through this lengthy process and it's just annoying.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 8/10

Pros
Ability to view and cancel gives new users confidence to 'look' through the system. For folks that only have to input new and/or update data, the users feel confident because the software is not written in 'computerese'. Although I cannot get all the reports that I want as an administrator, the system has a large a variety of reporting options.

Cons
The lack of auto-population affords more opportunities for mistakes/keystroke errors. There are nuances to every software and because we did not have adequate training there has been too much 'learning on the job' when we are dealing with reports and data that impact grant requirements. There is verbiage that is confusing and used in different ways i.e. 'Show Assessments' in Projects versus 'Assessments' and Services/Assistance/Categories (with all three overlapping/conflicting when using). There are categories that have to be reflected under and agency's services which are (either one or both) used when you want to request or input an Assistance.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 7/10

Pros
-the ability to update/change/customize the software at-will -the responsive staff whenever I have questions -the ability to run my own reports and pull-data quickly without having to interact with a support person.

Cons
What bothers me the most is that it is not fully HMIS integrated​ into the HMIS software that our county uses. It is vastly easier and more intuitive than HMIS and I wish we could use this instead of doing double entry on some cases.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
This tool allows me to work towards the goal of our organization - moving individuals and families from dependency to self-sufficiency. A simply glance on charity tracker allows me to see the depth of their dependency on other local organizations and then move ahead with setting goals and finding solutions.

Cons
The software is amazing - but only as good as the number of organizations that use it. In our community, we need to see more "direct service providers" using this tool. There is no way to know of the services they are receiving throughout the community unless those organizations participate by sharing their information in this incredible tool.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
Easily monitor grant funders for nonprofits by keeping track of donations and manage the number of donors for yearly fundraising.

Cons
Does not help with grant writing but it does monitor the number of grants you write and keeps track of contribution dollars.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 9/10

Pros
I like that this software keeps me connected with other non-profit organizations. When an organization posts, I am immediately notified, and vice versa. When I have information or a family who needs immediate help, Charity Tracker is where I go to first! It is an invaluable resource and tool!

Cons
I have experienced a difficult time posting a flyer that is 2 sided - my operational knowledge level may not be up to par - but that may something that should be looked at in a future update of the software.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 9/10

Pros
It is an easy program to use and us very beneficial to our organization. It gives a lot of options for reports.

Cons
You can’t remove clients from list that haven’t been to any of agencies for over 2 years which makes the client list really long

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
What I like most about the software is that is easy to use, user-friendly for a variety of skill levels and intuitive. Also that the system is web-based, because that means I have access virtually anywhere.

Cons
What I like least about this software is that it can take upwards of 15 minutes or more to pull a CSV file report. Also, while I like the variety of reports available, the amount of options/combinations can make it confusing to know which information to pull and how to pull it.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
It is easy to get input for programs that is specific for the need of our organization. The programs as administrator are easy to edit. As administrator I can edit funding sources, I can make any necessary changes by just clicking a save change button. Like the reports sub-tab where I can go and run all the reports that pertains to this agency. I can customize agency reports. Running the reports could not be easier. I can filter the reports, I can choose the fields for the agency reports. I can easily get data for demographics reports. When using search it is not complicated. It will list all possible duplicate cases if any exists. If it is a duplicate case you can merge those cases, which is an excellent tool.

Cons
I would like to be able to go back into the relationship tab and make corrections as to if it is a dependent or living together without having to go all the way back to the beginning and edit the relative out and input again. I need this feature because I have volunteers that will not always input this data. I am not sure if it's my fault or the input of area we serve as the crisis. I have not been able to change that. For instance pantries- We have 5 pantries I would like for a heading to be for each pantry with the sub heading name of pantries. I don't know how to do that. I would like for the listing of our assistance program to be revised. I am not sure if I can do it, I have not call nor asked for help with this issue. I believe rearranging things that will best give us a more accurate count. I am not sure how to get a count from the sub heading of agencies, that is confusing to me. Again I have not spoken with anyone lately about it.

Rating breakdown

Pros
Charity Tracker is easy to use, regardless of your computer skills. Someone who has very little knowledge of computers and data entry can easily be trained on this software. This is very handy as a non-profit, because many times an unpaid team member is using the system, and they are not always well trained. Charity Tracker makes tracking of services for clients very easy as well. It is great to see what services the client has already received in the community. This helps to better assist the clients overall, and makes connecting them with services much more efficient. Also, Charity Tracker's tech support is fabulous. Anytime I have a question, or need help running a report, I call their help desk. Within minutes, I am in contact with a technician, and they stay on the phone until my issue/need is addressed. The value for the amount you pay can't be found with most software.

Cons
Although Charity Tracker can run reports, the reports are not as sophisticated as I would like to see them be. We use the data collected by Charity Tracker to assist in grant writing, and there are times that I can not manipulate the data in the manner needed to get exactly what I need. Also, the data is only as good as the quality that is entered. I would like to see a feature that tells you when data is missing in a client's file. For example, if entering a new client, if you miss the DOB box, I would like to see a box pop up that says "You forgot the DOB for this client. Would like you to enter it or ignore it?" I know that sometimes it's not possible to enter ALL the information, so an ignore button would be nice. If this popped up every time you enter that client's file, it would be annoying enough that you would enter it to not have to have the box pop up anymore!

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
We are a faith based non-profit that with partners that extend county wide. Charity Tracker offers a framework to track assistance given among many churches, community agencies etc. Excellent case management tool as well as being able to track stats for reporting purposes, grants, etc. We have many ministries under The Hope Center umbrella and this offers us the opportunity for the right hand to know what the left hand is doing. It is simple to utilized even if the individual user is not computer literate. We utilize the alerts often and also use the caution, chronic, danger specifications that help us stay on track with so many different volunteers that may be serving the same guest.

Cons
With the number of volunteers that benefit from access to Charity Tracker, the cost of bases. Also, because of the amount of users on our network, we do end up with a lot of duplicates that go undetected. Would their be a way for a more pronounced alert to be developed that would even prevent a user from going forward until they used the search tab? Also, it is sometimes difficult to know what fields to select( or not) when running reports. I've learned most by trial and error and it seems like it is clunky. Perhaps it's just me and my inexperience but I wish the reports were more user friendly and as easy as the case management arm of Charity Tracker.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
Charity Tracker is valued asset to any community willing to put forth the effort into making the program work in their community. As a case manager for 10 years - Charity Tracker has been a part of our community for the past 4 or 5 years, paid for through our local United Way office and it is money well spent! I was fortunate to be on board when Charity Tracker was implemented in our community and still fortunate to this day to work in the same community. Charity Tracker makes it easy to get information to community members or even get information from the community. Charity Tracker allows for key community members to collaborate about new ideas. Along with new ideas - Charity Tracker allows for all community partners to track and follow assistance given. This information on an agency level or community level is valuable information allowing for discussion topics to open up about funding or bringing in other resources into our community. With Charity Tracker we are able to see what we do well as a community and where we need to improve - what needs are being met and what needs still need to be met.

Cons
Limited to service areas - all communities should have this program - would be helpful to be tied in with other Charity Tracker communities across the state.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
CharityTracker is an excellent way for charitable organizations within a community to share information. It allows those of us trusted with donation dollars to be good stewards of other people's money. Most everyone seeking assistance is honest and forthright, but CharityTracker gives local agencies the opportunity to work as a team in stopping those who try to abuse the system.

Cons
If I could change one thing about CharityTracker it would be to only list money, material goods (clothing, food, etc.) or services with a dollar value under the heading of Assistance. Oftentimes, I'll see an applicant with a VERY LARGE number of Assists only to find out that a great many of those Assists were for prayer or spiritual tracts. Don't get me wrong -- prayer is very important and greatly needed, but I don't think it should be added to the number of times a person receives Assistance. It makes that applicant appear to be a frequent flyer, so to speak -- seeking too much help. If our goal is to make sure no one is abusing the system by duplicating funding efforts, why track prayer? Prayer is free and unending and always available in abundance. Donation dollars are what we should protect against abuse.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
I like how easy it is to use. We utilize a lot of volunteers at our organization, many of which are with us one day a week or even a month. The straight forward nature of the software helps to ensure these volunteers have little difficulty using the software even if they have not accessed it recently. I also like that it is a shared case management software so members of our organization can not only see assistance and notes entered by our organization but other local organizations as well.

Cons
I wish there were more layers and higher capabilities related to the report pulling functions. I do most of the reporting for our organization and very often I have to pull multiple reports, export them to excel, merge them into one document, and edit them to get the report I need. More detailed and higher level reporting options would make this task less cumbersome. I also wish it was HIPPA compliant. We provide some medical services at our organization and because Charity Tracker is not appropriate for health related information we are required to do double entry. Also very often if a medical clients is accessing outreach services or vice versa you do not get the full history since some information is in Charity Tracker and some is in our medical software.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 8/10

Pros
It is simple and connects many of the agencies in our community by allowing us to see shared data on clients in need.

Cons
The ability to roll up and create reports is exclusive to the administrator, and I need this same option at the user level. It would prevent duplicate reporting that I do for my own agency, and allow me to see how other agencies are using the system. My organization pays for many of the agencies in our network to participate in Charity Tracker. The intent was so that we could evaluate how the clients are being served but I do not have that capability as a user.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
I like that all of the buttons are easily identified and large enough to see to access different parts of a client's file. I like that you can link profiles together so we can keep track of multiple people who use our services who are connected or identify potential problem people linked to a client. I like how the client's identifying information is easy to read as soon as you look at their profile.

Cons
I don't like the way the Release of Information feature is set up. I wish it was a fill in form that we could input who the ROI is filled out to, so that if someone calls into the front desk they know whether they can confidentially speak with that person or not versus having to pull the physical file and call back. It would be nice to be able to either fill out a form format or scan in our ROI form. The one CT uses isn't appropriate for our clientele and business. I also don't like that there can be SO many options/fields under the different tabs. I know that has to do with the way our office person helped set it up, but it would be nice for the CT person to offer some advice regarding what information needs to be put in and deleting unnecessary fields that take up space. I also wish that when you type a name in the search field and previous search entry pops up that you could arrow down to it and just press enter once to have it search instead of having the press enter twice.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 7/10

Pros
Previously, we were keeping all our assistance applications in notebooks and carting them around in a big cart from place to place so we could refer to them when clients applied for assistance. They were big and bulky and not always dependable. With Charity Tracker, everything is accessible with the touch of a finger and all involved can access it from various places at the same time. The ease and dependability of this program has revolutionized our Caring and Sharing program. I value the Notes section greatly because we can include information that we could never pull from memory down the road and it has saved us from being taken advantage of many times.

Cons
Actually, I can honestly say there is nothing that I dislike about this software. It fulfills all our needs and more. People from various organizations have visited my office to check it out.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
I like the functionality of what we can track, reports, and client data. This program tracks names, DOBs, household members, visits, amounts given, income and expenses, relationships, and services received. We use this data to collect demographic information on what our needs are, how we are serving these needs, and comparison to other organizations, comparison from year to year, and reconciliation with our financials. This also allows us to keep notes on clients and repeat visits to see if our programs are making a difference long-term, or if we are seeing the same people repeatedly.

Cons
Sometimes the server crashes. I would also like to see the addition of a feature that would bring up potential matches of data when things are misspelled. Right now, typos mean that a case might not come up even if there is already one created.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 9/10

Pros
CharityTracker is very user friendly. Most people can use the software. The HELP desk and customer service are amazing and provide everything you need. It has an excellent reporting feature and the flexibility of customized reports is very helpful. The data it can provide has helped our community make many program decisions. The Bulletin Feature provides a very efficient and effective way for us to communicate community information. It can be used during a disaster to get information out to the community about where services are available. It has an incredible capacity!!!

Cons
I believe there is much more we could do with CharityTracker. It would be great to see how other communities use it and what features have been created for them.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
We love Charity Tracker because it allows us to streamline the tracking of services throughout our community. It is easy to use. The standard features paired with the customer service team allow us to manipulate the program to fit our community and agency needs. We also really enjoy the photo feature paired with the ID card. This allows our clients to easily use services but not be assigned just a number. The program has also helped to reduce abuse of services and increased communication between local partner agencies.

Cons
There are very few things I dislike. However, it would be nice if we had more access to surrounding communities as we have many clients that migrate into our town from other areas across the state. See past history with other agencies outside our network would be very helpful. Also, it would wonderful to have a way to assign and track case loads to a particular case worker.

Rating breakdown

Pros
The ease to customize to our agency needs and ease to use. Extremely supportive staff and tech people. Knowledgable. Able to adapt and make changes as our agency needs and services have grown. Affordable. Ability to network with other local service providers has strengthened our partnerships and ability to recognize clients with multiple needs.

Cons
The reports are not as adaptable, changeable, or as flexible as needed when making statistical reports for multiple funders all requesting different information. Not all networked agencies are as professional as others and not always confident they are confidential or nonjudgemental with clients. Would be nice to select which members in a network see all of our information, while limit what some others can see. Feel the need to protect those seeking help from judgement .

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
Charity tracker enables our department to safeguard the effective use of our resources to meet the needs of our community because we can easily accessthe information regarding how we have assisted a client in the past as well as important information on the resources which have already been provided by other local agencies.

Cons
The search process is not as effecient presently as it has been in the past making it necessary to sometimes search through 15-20 pages of names to find a name which should have popped up when the name was typed into the search box.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10