As the company says, "Colleges and universities have complex needs to manage their alumni, board, members, scholarship donors and recipients, and more."
In Use
This product manages all types of gifts including pledges, honors and memorials, and planned gifts. It automates communication processes, such as salutation and address selection, for example. The concept was designed to serve mid-sized to large nonprofits with sophisticated fundraising needs like those found in higher education fundraising.
Agilon's Rel@y email delivery system is fully integrated with the Agilon ONE donor management system and RuffaloCODY's CAMPUSCALL phonathon software, so users can set up campaigns to run automatically on a nightly basis for pledge acknowledgements and reminders.
Agilon's ONE is entirely web-based, so users can access it from anywhere, including their mobile phones. Web-style navigation and collapsible menus are used as a means to make it easy for nonprofits to use the system. A constituent header instantly gives the user key information about a donor regardless of what screen they're looking at.
There are a variety of modules available for the product, which is most heavily marketed to institutions of higher education, but it is good to note that each module is also its own independent system. For example, the University of Memphis uses Rel@y in conjunction with RuffaloCODY's CAMPUSCALL to streamline its annual fund, but it does not require Agilon's ONE to do so.
Technology Employed
Agilon's ONE is typically installed on-site at a client's location. The system is entirely web-based (built on Java), so it can easily be accessed by staff and administrators from anywhere using the Internet. This has the added benefit of allowing Agilon's staff to manage the system remotely for organizations that need more assistance.
Ease of Use
Agilon's staff performs all of the setup, configuration, and data conversion in cooperation with its clients. As an added precaution, once setup has happened, clients must review the data. Oftentimes, the client reviewing the data is the most time-consuming part of implementation, so buyers should be aware of the importance of this step in the implementation process.
Of course, user experience will vary depending upon the involved modules. For this reason, among others, Agilon offers extensive support, as well as training for new or existing staff. Agilon representatives offer both on-site and web-based training, depending upon the client's needs. Additional hour-long web sessions are offered throughout the year and around the time of its annual release.
Recap
Agilon's ONE is a comprehensive product that really strives to cover nearly every aspect of running a nonprofit organization.
- Capital Campaign Reporting
- Donor Information Data Entry
- Contact Management
- Gift & Pledge Processing
- Direct Mail Appeals
- Donor Recognition & Gift Clubs Reporting
- Major Gift Proposals
- Planned Giving
- Scholarship/Endowment Management
- Event Registration
- Merchandising
- Constituent Connection Online Community
- Online Giving
- Memberships
- Email Marketing
- General Ledger
- Accounts Payable
- Accounts Receivable
- Budgeting
- Fixed Assets
- Endowment Pool Investment Management
- Bank Reconciliation
- Human Resources and Payroll
- Procurement Management
- Project Costing and Billing
- Reporting and Analytics
- Business Process Automation
Additionally, it has the added flexibility of being compatible with a variety of other products. One of Agilon's goals is to combine a sophisticated software system with an intuitive interface. The company works with clients to ensure the integrity of their data during the installation process and is also available for support issues.
One of the more difficult aspects of doing an overview of Agilon's ONE is the fact that it is so comprehensive. Those interested in learning more would definitely benefit from scheduling a demonstration for themselves.
Pricing varies, based on the number of users and the modules implemented.
Advantages
- Good technical support
- Numerous modules and functionalities
- Integrates with other brands
Disadvantages
- May not be a good fit outside of Higher Education
My Opinion
There are clearly a lot of advantages to this particular product, such as the fact that you can use it with other popular programs and systems and that it just covers so many areas, ranging from accounting and fundraising to event registration and planned giving. Agilon's ONE is definitely geared toward institutions of higher education where there is a lot of competition for an institution's IT dollars. It seems like ONE would be worth putting on the list of products to review and consider.
