Frequently Asked Questions

Open Source Software

What is open source software?
Open source software is computer software available at no charge (no license fees) to anyone for his/her use, including use of the source code. Because a user has access to the source code, he/she can change and improve the software and participate in the open community.

Why is open source software important? What's the big deal?
Open source software is an important alternative to proprietary software for several reasons. It gives an organization more control over adding new features and functionality to its technology system. An organization also can move as quickly as needed to add make changes and innovate. There's no need to wait on the company that originally developed the software, which may or may not want to make those changes or moves too slowly for a customer.

There also are cost advantages. Proprietary software holds a customer hostage - you have to pay for new modules or releases whether or not you like the price and/or need the new features and functionality. If you don't like the new offerings, your only option is to replace the entire system. With open source software, you don't have to incur these costs.

MPower's New Offering

Why is MPower's software now open source?
Moving to an open source model has been our plan for some time now. Over the last year, although we have made significant enhancements to our product and service offerings, we also have recognized the inherent shortcomings of the proprietary software business model. Under the old proprietary software model clients lack control and options for having the features and functionality they need when they need it. They also have to pay for new modules and releases whether they like them or not - or they have to replace their entire system.

All of us at MPower strongly believe that moving to an open source model is the right thing to do generally and absolutely the right thing to do for the nonprofit community, which needs software that's as full-featured and powerful as products for the commercial sector. In the proprietary software model, the product roadmap moves only as fast as the proprietary company's development team priorities. Additionally, the company has no incentive to release new code on a regular basis because they need to create value for costly upgrades by holding back valuable enhancements for major upgrades.

How mature is MPower's software offering? To what extent will MPower rely on the nonprofit community to develop it?
MPower is already a market-leading constituent relationship management software. It is a full-feature, mature offering used by hundreds of nonprofits, including some of the world's largest and savviest groups, especially when it comes to direct marketing and fundraising. We have always been a company that works in close partnership with clients and we will be even more collaborative under the open source model. However, we plan for our development team to do 90 percent of the core product development - focusing on architecture and database work as well as core features and functionality.

MPower's Business

How will MPower generate revenue if its software is free?
Our business model now is based on providing support and services. Because MPower will be freely available and widely distributed, we'll grow our client base much faster than under the proprietary model, so there will be more clients needing support and services.

We see the development community increasing our product velocity in the areas of integrations, add-ons, smaller modules, and ancillary features that are usually specific for segments of the market or smaller groups of users.

How will the company stay in business during the transition from license fees to services and support fees?
First, MPower is a profitable company and has been since shortly after its founding. We have always been on solid financial footing and remain a long-term player for the sector. Second, giving up license fees will result in an interim dip in revenue, so we have raised funds from investors who believe in our product and business model, and who support the work of the nonprofit community. These funds will help us withstand the short-term loss in license fees and prepare the company for the growth that we foresee in the future under the new business model.

How will MPower succeed as an open source company serving nonprofits when most others have struggled and often failed?
People often confuse open source projects with open source companies. Mostly, there have been businesses consisting of a couple of developers working out of a garage who have had a seed of an idea and looked to nonprofits to help them build out their products. These operations typically have been characterized by little structure, fledgling products, few employees, and no support or services. By contrast, MPower provides a full-feature, mature and powerful, market-leading product that we will continue developing even as an open source offering. We also have hundreds of clients and a complete team of employees with expertise in all critical functions. That includes a significant and growing support and services organization.

Other software companies serving the nonprofit sector say their solutions are open - why does MPower says it's the only truly open software solution?
It's easy to understand why there might be confusion about this because a number of software vendors serving nonprofits today are recognizing the value of collaboration and making their products more open. We applaud those efforts as a first step that will be beneficial to their clients. But none of the major players is truly providing an open source solution. Only MPower is doing that.

Some companies are helping nonprofits add other software to their proprietary solutions but typically the vendor has to handle these implementations. No company other than MPower provides access to its source code to enable clients to develop the functionality they want when they want it. This is a key characteristic of open source software. Also, true open source companies provide a full gamut of support and services pertaining to the software and governance for the user community - including things like managing the source code, aggregating new code, and providing quality assurance and product documentation, plus managing the client forums and knowledgebase.

Helpful Information for Clients

Will clients have to use MPower's services in order to be successful with the company's free software?
Absolutely not! Just as we are moving to an open source model, in part, because we do not believe it's right for software providers to hold clients "hostage" (especially resource-constrained nonprofits), we also believe that clients should be able to freely choose their service providers. That's why we are expanding our network of partners at the same time that we are moving to the open source offering. Through the MPowered Partners program, we team with the top services companies for systems integration as well as marketing and fundraising consulting so our clients will have simplified access to all the expertise they need. (We also partner with providers of complementary products that clients can easily add to their MPower systems for building CRM solutions that meet their organizations' unique needs).

How do I determine whether I should change from my current CRM system and move to MPower?
We would be happy to talk with you about your organization's current system to help you determine whether MPower would be a better solution. We also can refer you to our technology partners, if you'd prefer an assessment and counsel from a third-party.

Is switching CRM systems a big deal and highly disruptive to an organization? How will MPower make this easy and minimize disruption to my nonprofit?
Unlike some proprietary, all-in-one, CRM vendors who have a vested interest in extending implementations, MPower has simplified the deployment process with standardized methodologies and tools. Each client gets a dedicated MPower professional to work with who oversees everything including total project management, data conversion, product analysis, and training.

What type of support can I expect now from MPower? How much will it cost me to get the support I need?
You can expect even better support going forward because our business now will be heavy focused on providing support and services. We are expanding our own in-house MPower team to keep pace with what we expect will be a significant increase in clients now that our product is free and will be widely distributed. Support costs $100/seat and includes live and online support, access to the client community, which includes online training, forums, knowledgebase, as well as participation in product governance.

Will paying for support and services for my free MPower software end up being more or less expensive than before - when the company was charging for the software?
Our support rates are comparable to those of proprietary software vendors in the nonprofit market. The way to really look at this is total cost of ownership, which we expect to be 30-60 percent less than other companies over a five-year period.