iWave offers their nonprofit fundraising intelligence platform, for performing prospect research online with VeriGift, the company's donor and donation database.
N/A
Slate for Advancement
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
Slate for Advancement is a CRM built exclusively for higher ed advancement and alumni offices. A license to Slate for Advancement is unlimited -- no additional add-ons or costs. Slate enables users to create a personalized constituent experience at scale with custom giving forms, donor portals, video messages, phone calling, and directories. Users can automate processes at scale while having control and access at every level of the system. And the platform includes inbuilt reporting.
iWave is a great resource for getting a big picture understanding of a donor and their potential alignment to your organization. There may be times if you are wanting to dive deeper into a particular facet of the donor profile that you would need to continue researching through other sources. Overall iWave has a user-friendly interface and is a must-have program for any prospect researcher.
Slate has allowed information sharing and data integration, reducing our CRM needs from over 6 different systems into one. For example, the student call center is not managed solely out of Slate and all data is captured, collected, and then reported out of the system so that students can receive call lists, review the records they're calling, perform the call out of the system, collect gifts or other information through a form submission, communicate follow up with donors through email, text or video. All of this is done out of Slate allowing for all users to see interactions of donors / records, and easy triggers for follow up to be automated and occur
iWave is very user friendly. It did not take long at all to figure out the most efficient way to use their website. There are many Training Webinars and a support center. Customer Support is very helpful.
The credits you purchase are only used if you use a batch screening. Individual screening is unlimited.
We have found that the information discovered in iWave about our donors is up-to-date and accurate.
The Foundations/Charities search function is particularly helpful. You are able to see the financials, 990s, grants awarded, and the people connected to the organizations all in one place without having to search the internet.
The biggest piece of missing functionality has been data integration with Raiser's Edge, but iWave is working feverishly with Importacular to make that an option for users as well. I expect that process to be more user-friendly in the next year or so.
I love that iWave is always adding new data sources to their 360 Search with Database USA being the newest piece. I hope the "COMING SOON" section of that data source will be populated soon.
The community support that Slate for Advancement offers is a huge reason, but also the number of things that we never dreamed of doing that we can now with Slate for Advancement. They also are constantly improving and bringing new tools and ideas to the table for their customers to use.
I think it's very usable, but think the variety of different search functions, search by features can get confusing and overwhelm the user. I would prefer a "master" search function instead of having the user need to figure out to search by company name, employee's name, employee's title, etc. The website is a great resource and my team utilizes its uses often.
iWave customer support is more responsive than most software platforms I currently use. My requests are always handled promptly, and support is incredibly responsive, friendly, and patient. Plus, I can always get someone on the phone immediately if I need a problem resolved right then and there. In addition to the live and personal support, the iWave knowledge base is frequently update with new content, including video webinars that help you become a more powerful user of the software.
Slate's business model does not assign a person to service your instance of the application. To receive effective support, you MUST engage in the online forums involving the greater Slate community. Once you embrace that model, the support team meets or exceeds any service standards I've experienced over the last 20 years.
W e originally selected iWave because w e believed the return on our ROI would happen faster than it would with Donor search. Looking back, I wish we had realized that is kind of how it goes with major giving in general. We also didn't have a system the linked to DonorSearch at the time and iWaves reports pulling seemed simpler for our database type.
Slate for Advancement was more customizable, there is more community support, less expensive both overall and they don't overcharge you for phone calls and texts (if I remember correctly, they charge the customer what they are charged for each phone call or text). Overall, Slate for Advancement was the more innovative option. We switched from Banner to Slate for Advancement, with Banner we constantly had to create workarounds for what we wanted to do with the software, we no longer have to do that. If we dream it, Slate for Advancement can most likely do it.
Every year following our annual gala we run a list of all event attendees to learn more about their interests and giving history. This has led us to new board and/or major donor candidates.
iWave helps us understand details and less-known interests of our current donors, which helps us with donor stewardship. In today's digital age, these personal details help craft relevant stewardship and communications plans with our existing supporters. With so many competing charities, these small differences can account for a supporter to choose your organization over others who aren't making that personal connecting to the donor.
