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CRMs

  • 1.  CRMs

    Posted 01-28-2021 02:21 PM
    I am the Marketing Director at a small museum. We have been using CharityProud as our CRM for a few years now, but want to make a change. We are looking for a system that will handle membership, donors, the POS and shop inventory, timed ticketing, and event registrations. We aren't interested in a Blackbaud product. I'd love to hear what other museums are using, and any good or bad experiences with their platforms.
    Thanks very much.

    ------------------------------
    Mary Delaney
    Marketing Director
    Museum of Russian Icons
    Clinton MA
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  • 2.  RE: CRMs

    Posted 01-29-2021 09:16 AM
    At the Thomas Edison Center at Menlo Park, a small museum in Edison, NJ, we are using PurplePass for timed ticketing and SquareUp for our gift shop and inventory.  We were closed for seven months and reopened in October, both have proven beneficial and both provide useful analytics.

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    Kathleen Carlucci
    Museum Director
    Thomas Edison Center at Menlo Park
    Edison NJ
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: CRMs

    Posted 01-29-2021 09:38 AM
    Mary,
    At the Lowe Art Museum we are beginning implementation of Veevart, a full integrated system with all of the elements you have mentioned. The platform seems robust and is fairly affordable for smaller institutions. https://veevart.com/

    ------------------------------
    Mark Osterman, Ed.D.
    Digital Experience Manager and Head of Education
    Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Coal Gables, FL
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: CRMs

    Posted 01-29-2021 09:44 AM
    Thanks, Mark. We had a demo of Veevart last week. I'll be interested to hear how you like the platform. We're also looking at Versai. Are there any other systems that you considered? I'd love to hear about your process for picking Veevart.

    ------------------------------
    Mary Delaney
    Marketing Director
    Museum of Russian Icons
    Clinton MA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: CRMs

    Posted 01-29-2021 09:44 AM
    ​I'd like to know why you are not interested in Blackbaud (we use ETapestry).  Is it the price?

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    Ilene Kent Director of Dedications
    National Infantry Museum & Soldier Center
    Columbus GA
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    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: CRMs

    Posted 01-29-2021 12:17 PM
    Hi Ilene, yes the price of Blackbaud products is a big concern, but also ease of use, support, the fact that you have to buy separate modules to have more features. We switched to Altru at another Museum where I worked and regretted it, but I'll admit I haven't researched ETapestry. We were hoping to get a product that included shop inventory, POS, membership, event management, timed ticketing, etc.

    I'd love to hear your thoughts on ETapestry. Does it offer solutions in all of those areas?

    Thanks,
    Mary

    ------------------------------
    Mary Delaney
    Marketing Director
    Museum of Russian Icons
    Clinton MA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: CRMs

    Posted 01-29-2021 01:17 PM
    I agree with your concerns about pricing. We're a larger museum and since we're affiliated with the US ARMY we can't charge admission. I'll find out what our concessions/large screen theater manager used when we were open for 3 was while soldiers were on block leave.

    ------------------------------
    Ilene Kent
    Director of Dedications
    National Infantry Museum & Soldier Center
    Columbus GA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: CRMs

    Posted 01-29-2021 01:32 PM
    That would be so helpful, Ilene. Thanks!

    ------------------------------
    Mary Delaney
    Marketing Director
    Museum of Russian Icons
    Clinton MA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 9.  RE: CRMs

    Posted 01-29-2021 03:04 PM
    He uses Veezi . Right now we only use it to track donations 

    Sent from my iPhone



    Original Message


  • 10.  RE: CRMs

    Posted 01-29-2021 03:09 PM
    Oh okay. We're going to get a demo of Tessitura. We've looked at Veevart, Versai, and Doubleknot.

    Thanks for your help!

    ------------------------------
    Mary Delaney
    Marketing Director
    Museum of Russian Icons
    Clinton MA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 11.  RE: CRMs

    Posted 01-29-2021 01:26 PM
    Edited by Chris Steins 01-29-2021 01:26 PM
    A number of cultural arts organizations that we work with use and like Tessitura: https://www.tessituranetwork.com/

    I don't know about pricing, but I think it's tiered based on size.

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    Chris Steins
    Urban Insight
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    Original Message


  • 12.  RE: CRMs

    Posted 01-29-2021 01:31 PM
    Thanks, Chris. I'll look into that.

    ------------------------------
    Mary Delaney
    Marketing Director
    Museum of Russian Icons
    Clinton MA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 13.  RE: CRMs

    Posted 02-01-2021 09:07 AM

    Hello Mary, 

    The Kalamazoo Valley Museum is a small community regions history and science center with a planetarium. We've been a client of Versai by Explorer Systems now since 2015 and couldn't be more pleased with the software, tech service, and continued advancements made with the program. Previously we were free general walk up admission, but now moved to timed ticketing. We also utilize the web interface for these bookings and will be launching the gift shop webpage this month. Since we are a small museum that doesn't earn a lot of revenue due to our funding model we are very happy with our annual fees for the software, this includes the 24/HR tech support. We do not use the donor features, as I mentioned our funding model doesn't require it, therefore can't speak to that. But the patron CRM information and customization is great for our needs. I'm happy to discuss with her our experience if you have more questions. 

    A number of other cultural/museums in the area are apart of the Tessitura consortium. You could reach out to them to see how they like it. One is the Air Zoo in Portage, Mi and the Gilmore Music Festival (I believe) is another. 

    Good luck with your research! 



    ------------------------------
    Megan Osetek
    Interpretation Manager
    Kalamazoo Valley Museum
    Kalamazoo MI
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 14.  RE: CRMs

    Posted 02-01-2021 09:39 AM
    Thank you, Megan, that is incredibly helpful. We looked at Versai and are making an appointment for a demo of Tessatura. I may reach out to you if I have specific questions about Versai and will contact some of the other organizations you mentioned about Tessatura. It's great to get feedback from actual users.

    Thanks again for your help.

    ------------------------------
    Mary Delaney
    Marketing Director
    Museum of Russian Icons
    Clinton MA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 15.  RE: CRMs

    Posted 02-01-2021 01:27 PM
    hi Mary, Roller Software (https://www.roller.software/) is a pretty good solution for smaller institutions, and it's built around ticketing and events, but also has POS and CRM functions. It has a simple and well defined interface, and solves for most scenarios. There are a couple of minor limitations that I ran into, but they were easy to work around.

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    Sundar Raman
    Director of Technology
    Dubai
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    Original Message


  • 16.  RE: CRMs

    Posted 02-01-2021 02:15 PM
    Thanks very much, Sundar. I'll check it out!

    ------------------------------
    Mary Delaney
    Marketing Director
    Museum of Russian Icons
    Clinton MA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 17.  RE: CRMs

    Posted 17 days ago

    Hi Sundar -- I am curious if you would still recommend Roller Software today?  



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    Catherine Shotick
    Director
    Westerly Museum of American Impressionism
    Westerly RI
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    Original Message


  • 18.  RE: CRMs

    Posted 02-27-2021 01:48 AM
    Hi Mary,

    We're also a small-medium museum currently evaluating potential new CRMs. I'd be interested in hearing how you think Tessitura stacks up to the other options you mentioned here. It's currently our frontrunner, but switching would be a huge commitment.



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    Gabbi Frasco
    Marketing Specialist
    Montclair Art Museum
    Montclair NJ
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 19.  RE: CRMs

    Posted 12-10-2021 11:39 AM
    Hi Mary,

    I found this thread by doing a search through Museum Junction and was curious if you have an update. How did your search go? Did you find a winner? 

    We might soon be in the market for a new CRM, so anything you have to share would be appreciated.

    Thanks!

    ------------------------------
    Natalie Stetson
    Executive Director
    Erie Canal Museum
    Syracuse NY
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 20.  RE: CRMs

    Posted 12-10-2021 12:08 PM

    Hi Natalie,

     

    Thanks for writing. We ended up going with Veevart as our new CRM. It uses Salesforce as the basis for its application. We were looking for a product that would integrate reporting, the shop POS system, membership, donations, and event ticketing.  https://veevart.com/

     

    We're happy with it. There is a learning curve with Veevart, especially with reporting. However, the team at Veevart is extremely helpful and accommodating. The training is excellent, and if you need help, you can make an appointment directly on your customer rep's calendar. I've never had to wait more than a day to get an appointment. If you need help immediately, you can email your representative directly, and there is no time limit or extra cost for support. Some products are an add-on to the basic package, so you pay for what you need. It is certainly more affordable than a Blackbaud product.

     

    I recommend checking them out. We found when interviewing companies that some gave a broad overview of the product and didn't have time to answer specific questions. It was frustrating because we all know our sticking points and want to ensure a significant investment like this will address them. If you have any questions, please let me know, and I can answer them or pass you along to the person at our museum who handles that area.

     

    Good luck, and please let me know what you end up getting.

     

    Best,

    Mary

     

    Mary Delaney, Marketing Director

    she/her

    Museum of Russian Icons

    978.598.5000 x111

    www.museumofrussianicons.org

    15-Logo-email

     

     




    Original Message


  • 21.  RE: CRMs

    Posted 12-13-2021 10:55 AM
    Hi all,

    Here is a post the team at Cuseum put together about choosing a CRM for your museum. Hope this helps those still following this thread!

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    Dan Sullivan
    Partnerships
    Cuseum
    Boston MA
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    Original Message


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