Introducing Karani, a cloud-based CRM for fundraisers

Finally, the project that has consumed my free time can be revealed: Karani, a cloud-based CRM (constituent relationship management) tool for fundraisers. It’s a web app, and it will look great on your computer, phone, or tablet.

The word Karani is Swahili, and it means “bookkeeper”, “clerk”, or “steward.” Karani is a tool primed to help individual fundraisers manage a few sets of information as effectively as possible:

• “Constituents”, or in our case, donors, prospects, and other people of interest in our fundraising endeavor
• Pledges, or “intentions to give”
• Gifts
• Newsletters/mailing lists/email distribution lists
• Tasks (upcoming interactions with the constituent) and Interaction history (previous interactions with the constituent)

In doing this, Karani will make it easy for you to create lists of all of your donors’ emails, all of your donors who are behind on their giving, all of your donors whom you haven’t sent a thank-you in the last 6 months, and more.

It’s in alpha testing right now, and you can visit Karaniapp.com to sign up to be included in the alpha. I’ll keep the rollout on those invites pretty slow, but we’ll be inviting either for beta or for full release within the next month or so, so look forward to that. Also, check out Karaniapp.com for a video overview.

Unless Karani receives some very generous sponsorship, in the end I’ll be charging for access to it; however, I know what the budget of campus ministers looks like, so I’m going to keep the cost as affordable as possible. The alpha and beta testing will be entirely free, and if at any point you decide not to stick with it, I’ll make it very easy for you to get your information out. Also, the alpha and beta testers will get a discounted price when the final product is released.

What are you waiting for? Head over to Karaniapp.com and sign up to receive an email when a slot is available. They’ll come in on a first-come-first-serve basis, so sign up now!

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