Is CiviCRM for you?

CiviCRM is powerful software that could help your organisation reach its goals, but it will not be the right choice for every organisation. To decide whether it meets your needs, you can:

• Identify your organisation's needs.
• Read case studies about how similar organizations use CiviCRM.
• Try one of many free CiviCRM demonstration sites.
• Talk to others who use CiviCRM.
• Talk to a CiviCRM consultant.
• Try CiviCRM Spark to get your own installation of CiviCRM up-and-running in minutes on SaaS hosting, starting from $15 a month. You can cancel at any time. CiviCRM Spark is suitable for testing and trialing CiviCRM, or for on-going use by smaller organizations and activities with up to 10,000 contacts.
• Download and install a test CiviCRM database for free.

Talking to others who use CiviCRM

If you know another organisation that uses CiviCRM, ask about their experience. An organisation similar to yours may offer the most relevant perspective. If you do not know anyone who uses CiviCRM, contact a CiviCRM Expert, look at case studies on CiviCRM.org, or try your local non-profit technology mailing list.

You can also ask questions on CiviCRM StackExchange and find answers there. Formulate your question before posting, then submit it as concisely as possible. Where you can, use CiviCRM's names and terms rather than those used by your business model. Questions are answered by volunteers, so making your question easy to understand can help you get an answer more quickly. You must register a Stack Exchange account before asking questions or contributing to discussions.

Talking to CiviCRM consultants

Another option is to talk with a professional. The CiviCRM website lists contributors, partners and sponsors who can walk you through CiviCRM. You may also find a local website company with CiviCRM experience. Consider arranging a meeting with a consultant to discuss how CiviCRM could help your organisation.