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Overview What is The Empowered Non-Profit? What kind of non-profit organization can benefit from The Empowered Non-Profit? What other software is required to run The Empowered Non-Profit? How much does The Empowered Non-Profit cost? Who manages the development of The Empowered Non-Profit? What is “Open Source”? What are some examples of Open Source Software? Where can I learn more about Open Source? How is The Empowered Non-Profit licensed? Why would Database Austin develop code and give it away? What is The Empowered Non-Profit? The Empowered Non-Profit is a free, open-source software program designed to help you manage your non-profit organization. The program has features to manage people, families, donations, volunteers, calendars, fund raising events, and much more. (top) What kind of non-profit organization can benefit from The Empowered Non-Profit? The Empowered Non-Profit can be used by the smallest to the largest non-profits. It can be installed on a single computer or used by a handful of computers in a small local area network. It can be configured for a single chapter of a small organization. For large organizations, The Empowered Non-Profit can be installed as a web application. The software can be configured to manage multiple chapters at different geographic locations. Each chapter manages its own constituent, volunteer, and donation base. At the agency level, users can oversee the operations of the individual chapters. (top) What other software is required to run The Empowered Non-Profit? The Empowered Non-Profit requires the following software:
How much does The Empowered Non-Profit cost? It is free. You can download the software and use it without paying any licensing fees. (top) Who manages the development of The Empowered Non-Profit? We are fortunate to have an advisory board comprised of leaders in the business, technology, and non-profit sectors. This advisory board provides direction, establishes development priorities, and reviews feature requests from our users. Currently the code development is through Database Austin (www.dbaustin.com). (top) What is "Open Source"? You have access to the source code. You can make changes to the code if you desire to fit the specific needs of your organization. You can also redistribute either the original source code or the code you have modified. This is detailed in the software license agreement. This has several important benefits for you. The software is available to you for free – there is no license charge, nor will you be required to pay upgrade fees. You will never have a situation where you need modifications or bug fixes to the software, but do not have access to the original code. Since the source code is available to everyone, programmers around the world can assist in providing new features and finding bugs. We have intentionally developed The Empowered Non-Profit using some of the most popular software development environments possible. If you require assistance, there is a large pool of software developers familiar with this technology. We believe that using obscure or proprietary technology to create a monopoly on software would be a disservice to our customers. (top) What are some examples of Open Source Software? Some of the biggest names in software are distributed as open source – the Linux operating system, the Apache http server, mySQL database management system, the php programming language, Word Press blogging system, and on and on. (top) Where can I learn more about Open Source? There are many good resources for information about open source software. We recommend visiting the web site of the Open Source Initiative. Their web address is www.opensource.org. (top) How is The Empowered Non-Profit licensed? The Empowered Non-Profit is distributed via the GNU General Public License (GPL). You can read the license information at http://www.opensource.org/licenses/gpl-license.php or at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html. (top) Why would Database Austin develop code and give it away? Database Austin (formerly Casa Grande Computing) has been developing code for non-profits, both on a consulting and volunteer basis, for over a decade. We are committed to assisting the non-profit community and feel that some of the most important societal work being performed today is accomplished through the missions of these non-profits. At Database Austin, we would rather see 10,000 organizations benefiting from our open-source software than from sales to a few hundred customers. We don't believe it is our mission to squeeze every nickel out of every line of code. Rather, we provide managed hosting of our software, as well as consulting and custom enhancements for our software users. However, you are free to use, modify, and host the software anywhere you'd like. (top) |
