Keela: The best alternative to eTapestry
What is eTapestry?
Blackbaud eTapestry is an all-in-one cloud based donor management and fundraising software for nonprofits. At its core, there is a donor database and constituent relationship management (CRM) system, dashboards and custom reporting, marketing tools for email and direct mail, and data analytics.
If you are looking for a classic CRM experience, eTapestry has all of the conventions that you are looking for and would come to expect. But it also includes the common problems that people have with CRMs: unsuitable business requirements, clunky interfaces and overly complicated functions that pack a lot of power.
Who uses eTapestry?
More and more, the nonprofit sector is using technology to help make them work more efficiently. There is a constant lack of time, money and capacity — so tools that make work more efficient are a great solution for these teams.
Small, medium and growing nonprofits turn to eTapestry as a way to help boost their efficiency, with the hopes of saving money in the long-term. Whether it is keeping organized, reducing the duplication of effort or automating manual processes, tools like eTapestry can certainly help nonprofits get back to their work in a meaningful way.
While it’s great that nonprofits can have access to such a robust tool — it can also pose a problem for some. With such a complex tool, many users have problems with cleaning up data, running queries and reports. Some might even have to hire an external consultant to help them with eTapestry.
One of the biggest reasons that Keela is the best alternative to eTapestry is because we take away the complication that exists. The barriers that usually stop people from using technology are alleviated with Keela’s accessible and easy-to-use solutions.
But here are a few more reasons why you should consider Keela over eTapestry.
eTapestry vs Keela: Integration with multiple systems
Having tools speak to one another is one of the most important things to think about when investing in new technology. It is rare to find one tool that does every single job you need it to do. That’s why the integration ecosystem is so important.
Keela’s integrations
Keela offers integrations with some of the most popular technology solutions found in the nonprofit sector. In addition to offering a suite of purpose built tools, Keela also integrates with:
- Mailchimp
- Eventbrite
- QuickBooks Online
- Stripe
- Paypal
- Sendgrid
- Google Calendar
With these essentials, Keela remains lean and connected to the tools that are most needed to get work done.
eTapestry’s integrations
eTapestry also offers integrations with a limited amount of third-party integrations. But, it’s not as easy it seems. Using eTapestry’s API integrations require custom programming knowledge and expertise. This means that you can customize a whole lot — but it also means that you need to have skills that most small nonprofits might not have in-house.
eTapestry vs. Keela: Reporting and Insights
Nonprofits are improving their fundraising efforts using data. Most of this is unlocked through reporting and insights.
Keela’s reporting and insights
With Keela, users have 16 pre-made reports (as well as unlimited custom reports) and over 90 filters that help your team make sense of donor activity. You can create your own filters as well. Keela’s Analytics gives users the tools to analyze key metrics and visualize data.
By combining filters, nonprofits are able to customize an endless amount of reports with different features and configurations. But the best part is that it’s intuitive. It’s easy to create reports and add filters so you know exactly what you’re looking at. This ease-of-use makes the reporting tool usable — by anyone. And that’s a difference-maker.
eTapestry’s reporting and insights
eTapestry’s standard reporting displays simple lists and segmentations. Users must pay for access to “Executive Reports” to view comparison information and reporting.
The reporting function is also known for being pretty hard to use — especially if you’re not familiar with CRM software. It is not the most intuitive tool, often forcing users to go through multiple steps before producing a simple report. That can be frustrating.
What makes Keela different from eTapestry?
Starting Price
Keela is far more affordable – starting at $49/month compared to eTapestry which starts at $175/month.
Support
Keela offers unlimited ticket support, a Knowledge Base Center, as well as a Community forum. However, eTapestry charges anywhere from $49 – $99 per month for support.
Contracts
Keela does not have any contracts and does not hold your data hostage, but eTapestry forces a strict 2-year contract.
Reporting
Access all of Keela’s reporting tools immediately. Unfortunately eTapestry limits the amount of reports you can access.
Donation Forms
With Keela, you get access to unlimited forms. eTapestry includes 3 forms and charges $350 per form after that.
Access to features
With Keela, you access everything at one price, with no hidden fees. Full access to eTapestry would set you back upwards of $399/month.
eTapestry vs. Keela: Support and help
Purchasing software for your nonprofit has the potential to be very stressful. That’s why feeling supported is extremely important.
Keela’s support offering
Keela offers unlimited online-only support through email. They also offer live online webinar trainings every two weeks, and a full Help Center with over 100 articles and documented best practices. Keela’s Customer Success team has consistently high customer satisfaction ratings.
All of this is included in the monthly cost of any Keela subscription.
eTapestry’s support offering
eTapestry charges $99 per month for Phone Support, as well as an additional $49 per month for Learn More Training or $99 per month for Learn Everything Training. In most cases, this would mean you have access to premium customer service. Unfortunately, there are consistently poor ratings for their support, long wait times for their phone calls, and poor customer service, especially for smaller teams who might need the support the most.
eTapestry vs. Keela: Saving time on recurring tasks
Saving time is one of the major reasons any nonprofit would consider either Keela or eTapestry. Both solutions have tools that make it more efficient to do the task that are essential in the sector.
Saving time with Keela
Keela offers several automations that make life easier for the sector. Some of those include:
- Automated, compliant tax receipts for donations
- Pre-made email marketing templates
- Pre-made report templates
- Reports and analytics available in as little as 3 clicks
Many of these functions can be found in other solutions as well. But one of Keela’s biggest differentiators is the ease-of-use. Keela offers a friendly user interface that is easy to navigate.
Saving time with eTapestry
eTapestry’s user interface is very familiar to anyone who has used a CRM before. It is robust, and has tons of functionality — including time-saving features that help with recurring tasks.
Because of how robust the tool is, some options can get a bit complex — making simple tasks take a bit more time.
In the world of efficiency — every click that you don’t have to make saves you time that compounds over time.
eTapestry vs. Keela: Pricing and contracts
Nonprofit technology is an investment. But every investment is different — even for similar solutions. These differences are apparent between Keela and eTapestry.
Keela’s pricing and contracts
Keela’s pricing is straightforward. There are no hidden fees or add-ons. What you see on the pricing page, is exactly what you pay, and you have full access to the tool. This includes:
- Unlimited forms
- Full access to donation tools
- Full access to reports, analytics, and intelligence tools
- Unrestricted access to all product updates
The only factor that affects pricing is the number of contacts being imported into Keela.
Keela starts at $49 per month for up to 500 contacts — and this can scale all the way up to custom packages.
And the best part — there are no contracts. This gives you the flexibility and peace of mind to know that your data is not held hostage.
eTapestry’s pricing and contracts
eTapestry has a bit more complexity to their pricing. Their starter package is lean but effective. Starting at $175 per month, eTapestry’s starter CRM includes:
- 3 online giving forms
- Unlimited users
- Direct mail and mail merge
Some limitations to this package include:
- Reporting is limited to segmenting transactions and donors
- No ability to attach documents
- Limited security options
There are also add-ons for other major features:
- Additional DIY online form: $350
- Online gift store: $100 per month
- Advanced user security: $100 per month
In theory, your team can get the exact solution your are looking for, without the bloat of features you wouldn’t want. It’s just going to cost you more money on top of your monthly subscription to accomplish that.
The other major thing to note here is that eTapestry locks you into a minimum two-year contract. That means that if you decide that you actually don’t like their tools — you’re stuck with them.
The Bottom Line
eTapestry is a robust CRM solution with a very familiar user interface. There are many features catered to the nonprofit sector, as well as access to responsive support.
The major differences between eTapestry and Keela exist in ease of use and pricing flexibility. While eTapestry comes equipped with robust functionality, it can often be a bit clunky to use — potentially leading to frustration and stress. And, unfortunately, eTapestry’s pricing and contracts are often prohibitive for smaller nonprofits – especially with the costly add-ons.
Keela’s solutions are lean, intuitive and easy-to-use. Keela also places a major priority on making their tools accessible at a low price-point that is all-inclusive.