Articles

Little Green Light is a cloud-based donor management and constituent management tool that is intended to not only be powerful, but also to be affordable. The company is very conscientious about offering users support and includes this as part of their overall cost so there aren't extra contracts and concerns about having support time eat into the budget. The tool is pretty easy to use, as well, and it allows for the management of a variety of types of communication with an organization's supporters.

Little Green Light is intended to:
• Be simple to use
• Allow for third-party integration
• Be affordable
• Include outstanding support

In Use
Little Green Light is a CRM designed for management of a nonprofit organization's donor base. It is a web-based tool that can be accessed via the Internet. Any web-enabled device can be used to access it, and there isn't a limit on the number of "team members" that have access, although you are able to limit it on your end according to the roles (volunteer, fundraiser, administrator) you choose to assign them. It handles a variety of the tasks that an organization needs, including a calendar (that can be synched with other calendars) and giving histories. The interface itself is quite intuitive, removing some of the shock of the learning curve that often comes along with a new CRM.
Based on giving histories and other factors, the system itself can be used to quite easily create mailing lists that can be imported into the email marketing program of your choice. You can also use it to make financial projections based on pledges. The programs keeps track of updated financial totals, as well as volunteer hours.

Functions include:
• Donor info
o Unlimited donors
o Relationships
o Affiliations
o Communication logs
• Prospecting
o Manage donors
o Tracking capacity and interests
o Reminders
o Reports
• Mail Merge
• Event Tracking
o Tracking registrations
o Nametags
o Tracking payments
• Add/Track Donations
o Individual gifts
o Gifts, pledges, in-kind, soft credit, matching, memorial, in honor of
o Notes
o Reports
• Queries and Reports
o Criteria-based lists
o Multiple filters
o Filter by size, campaign, time period, fund, event, appeal, and more
• Integration and Accounting Support
o Exports in .csv format
o Synch with accounting system
o Batching

It can also be integrated with forms from third-parties, allowing you to create exactly the types of forms you need. When a user updates a form, say signing up to volunteer at an event, the information is automatically updated in Little Green Light. Some of the third-party integrations available include MailChimp, Constant Contact, Wufoo, and PayPal.
Little Green Light also offers tiers when it comes to data migration, allowing you to migrate your own data for free or to take advantage of their expertise for more complex migration.

Technology Employed
LGL is completely web-based, and is accessible through any web-enabled device. This allows for quite a bit of flexibility, as users in the system can view and/or update information from their desktop, tablet, smartphone, etc. Access is through SSL-encrypted connections, and all data is backed up on multiple servers daily, with backups being stored for 90 days. The servers are protected by hardware firewalls.

Ease of Use, Configuration, and Deployment
Again, Little Green Light is completely web-based. There is no software to be installed. For nonprofits with an existing system, however, there may be a need for data migration. The company offers various methods for making the integration happen. The interface itself is straight-forward and shouldn't require considerable training to get operational, and it can also be customized to meet a particular organization's needs. That said, the company does provide training and both phone and email support as a part of the subscription fee.

Recap
LGL is a solid web-based donor management ?CRM system that is used by a large number of nonprofit development professionals. It is customizable to meet the needs of different types and sizes of nonprofits from schools and religious organization to arts and culture organizations and more. It is strong in relationship management, allowing users to more efficiently manage communications, memberships, volunteer engagement, alumni affiliations, etc. Fundraising activities including events, segmented appeals, and grant management are also possible within the system.

Pricing is based on the number of constituents tracked in LGL, and includes support but not data migration, which can range from free up to $395.
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Subscription Rates
Up to 2,500 constituents $39/month $421/year *
Up to 5,000 constituents $49/month $529/year *
Up to 10,000 constituents $59/month $637/year *
Up to 20,000 constituents $69/month $745/year *
Up to 40,000 constituents $79/month $853/year *
* Get a 10% discount when you pay for 1 year up front

Advantages
• Intuitive interface
• No installation
• Easy access from devices
• Affordable

Disadvantages
• Limited capabilities (relies on third-party products)

My Opinion
This product seems like a pretty great tool for what it is. While many of the products I review here are more comprehensive—including accounting, registration, and other modules, for example—Little Green Light is a more basic tool. While that means it can't do all of the heavy lifting in a nonprofit, it also has some nice advantages, such as not being nearly so cumbersome. This also allows for the lower pricing than many of the other products, and since it integrates well with other low-cost options, this could be a very nice way for smaller nonprofits or those being exceptionally economical to consider organizing and managing their donor data in a useful way.

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