DEAL!

Client: Riley Children’s Foundation (raising $30 million annually, supports Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis).

Services: Donor management software.

Issue Addressed: Replace five-year-old donor management system, which was designed for higher education fundraising; wanted to register and track gifts, plus evaluate future prospects.

Winning Vendor: eTapestry, signed September 2006 after six-month search.

Terms: $114,000 initial cost, $25,000 annual maintenance fee.

Selection Team: Seven-member committee led by John Baldwin, information technology director, and Jeanette Bogren, development services manager.

Number Vendors Considered: 35; sent RFPs to seven in July, received four responses.

Finalists: Blackbaud and SofterWare.

Evaluation Tools: A “vendor matrix” scorecard of multiple components, including gift processing, acknowledgements, mailing list management, accounting and reporting. Also checked references and watched demos.

Deployment: Set for go-live this summer, with eTapestry remotely hosting the system.

—Gary Baldwin